List-Building Simplified: How To Build Your List In 5 Simple Steps

Smart business owners know this simple fact: the money is in the list

You need a list—the never ending source of clients.

It doesn’t matter if you run an online business or a brick-and-mortar business, or even if you are a real estate agent or a network marketer; you need a list.

How else will you grow your business?

However, if your list consists of names from business cards you’ve collected at networking events, or from people in general that did NOT give you permission to be added to your list, then you are violating the law.

Does this sound like what you’re doing?

Then it’s time to go pro and start building your e-mail marketing list correctly and effectively.

I am going to show you how to do this easily, even if you think you are not computer savvy.

What I am about to show you will require the use of an e-mail newsletter provider—don’t worry, some of them offer free options for you to test out.

Why I recommend you use an e-mail service provider

1. Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail and other e-mail service providers do not give you the ability to capture e-mails on your website, which is the KEY to building your e-mail list; not to mention these are not made for business. Of course, you can still use them for correspondence purposes, but they are NOT suitable for marketing and generating leads, which is what you need to grow your business.

2. These e-mail services limit the number of e-mails you can send to your contact list and do not have an unsubscribe option, which could alienate your customers and cause them to mark your e-mail as spam.

3. They do not provide stats or insights to help you analyze your open-rate and test the effectiveness of your e-mails.

Your 5 simple steps to building your list:

1. Open an account with a reputable e-mail newsletter provider such as:

Convertkit
Mailchimp
GetResponse
Aweber
Emma
Mad Mimi

Mailchimp is what I’ve been using for years, and I recommend them to my clients. But do your own due diligence and pick what’s best for your business.

If you are starting out building your list from zero, use Mailchimp’s free account to get started.

I’ve recently moved some of my list to ConvertKit which I am very happy about.

If you don’t have a website yet but want to get started building your list, I recommend ConvertKit. Their service allows you to create and host your opt-in within your account.

2. Your next step is to create your opt-in form

Log-in to your account to create a list.
Next is to create the corresponding sign-up form.
Get the form code (HTML) and paste this code in your website’s coding. If this is too technical for you, have your web designer do it. You can also contact me. I may be able to help if your site is on WordPress.

The best way to capture more leads and subscribers is to have the opt-in (subscription) form on more than one place, such as your home page, at the end of your blog articles, on the top right column, and maybe in the footer.

Here are samples of my sign-up forms.

3. Create a free giveaway or host a webinar where people can sign-up to receive your giveaway or attend your webinar. Here’s an example of my free giveaway.

4. Add a subscription button on your Facebook page.

5. Add a pop-up sign-up form on your website. Although I hate this tactic, and therefore don’t use it, many people swear that it works. So it’s up to you.