[ad_1]

Takeaways

  • Your email list should be one of the most valuable assets in your coaching business.
  • Quizzes are a great way for coaches to grow an email list. Fast.
  • Consistently sharing valuable content and resources is one of the easiest ways to promote and grow your email list.

Are you a new coach without an email list?

Too many new coaches focus on the wrong tasks when starting their businesses.

They’re building a website, spending hours on social media or taking a course.

They don’t realize that growing an email list is more important.

Just ask world-renowned business coach, motivational speaker and New York Times bestselling author Chalene Johnson.

“Your email list is like everything. E-VER-E-THING. Everything. I don’t think you should try to build your social media or anything else. Or write a book. Or record a podcast. Or sell a product. Or blah blah blah. Or blah blah blah. Or blah blah blah. Until you build your list.”

Chalene Johnson, business coach

But too many new coaches underestimate the power of an email list.

Why should you grow your email list?

An email list is critical to growing a successful coaching business that will still be around five years from now.

Unlike social media — where the rules of engagement constantly change with algorithm updates — your email list is something you control.

And since you own your email list, you can communicate with your subscribers whenever you want, without paying for advertising or going through a 3rd party.

Important notes about email list building

Before diving into the seven fool-proof methods I promised to grow your email list, here are a few key points to bear in mind.

The best time to start and grow your email list is now

If you’re new to email list building, don’t feel intimidated. Every single marketer or brand starts with a list of 0 and grows from there.

Source

No matter where you are in your coaching business, there’s never a wrong time to start growing that email list.

But start now.

You’ll be well on your way to a growing list of subscribers using the seven methods in this post.

List building takes time

Buying an email list is never a good idea.

The companies that sell lists can never guarantee those contacts’ validity, regardless of what they tell you in their marketing copy.

The best way to build your email list is gradual, over time.

When it comes to email marketing, slow and steady definitely wins the race.

Consistency is key

Like many things in life, growing an email list requires consistency.

It’s never one and done.

For best results, it’s important to take an “always be promoting” attitude.

You should always be promoting your offer (quiz, checklist, free video training) to get subscribers onto your list.

Email lists decline over time

Over time, the quality of your email list will decline.

People change their email addresses, change jobs, get locked out of accounts, or — stop opening their emails.

This is why it’s so important to always be growing your email list.

That way, you’re consistently adding new subscribers to replace the ones you lose.

Include a welcome sequence

Can you imagine a stranger walking up to you to promote themselves or an offer without introducing themselves? Crazy right?

Have we met? gif
Source

When you start emailing your subscribers without any introduction, you engage in that same absurd behavior.

Before you start promoting or selling anything, introduce yourself and your brand to your email list with a welcome email sequence.

Add value before asking for something in return.

7 ways to grow your email list

1. Create an irresistible offer

Having an irresistible offer is one of the easiest and surest ways to grow your email list with minimal effort.

Creating something people want and giving it away for free in exchange for an email address is a foolproof approach that works.

Your irresistible offer will depend on your audience, so do your research.

A few ideas that work well are resources (video, pdf, template, infographic, checklist) that teach subscribers how to do something.

Copyhackers has a free introductory course on Conversion Copywriting.

Conversion Copywriting 101 by Copyhackers - Main screen with CTA button
Source

All that’s required for enrollment is a name and an email address.

Subscribers can also sign up with Google or a social account like Facebook or LinkedIn.

Conversion Copywriting 101 by Copyhackers - Opt in form
Source

Whatever you decide, remember you need to ask for a valid email address in exchange for the resource.

2. Use a quiz

For most humans, our favorite topic is ourselves.

We love learning more about ourselves, and quizzes are a great way to indulge that need while growing your email list.

Which makes quizzes one of the best ways for new coaches to build their email list fast.

Using a tool like Typeform or Interact, you can create your quiz and collect email addresses.

The most effective way to use a quiz to generate leads is to gate the quiz results.

That means requiring an email address for respondents to see their quiz results.

In this Tutorial Tuesdays video, Chanti Zak teaches how to grow your list with quizzes.

3. Popups

If you do already have a website, consider adding a popup.

I know. I know.

I hate popups as much as the next gal. But despite what you or I may think, popups actually work.

Popups capture your website visitor’s attention and get them to take action quickly.

“The top performing popups average a 9.28% conversion rate.”

Sumo – Pop-up Statistics: Findings From Analyzing 2 Billion Pop-up Examples

Popup conversion rate chart from SumoMe - How to grow email list
Source

Drink brand Olipop uses a colorful popup to invite website visitors to sign up for their newsletter and 10% off their first order.

Olipop pop up - How to grow email list
Source

4. Implement a referral program

Referral programs can be an effective tool for growing your email list.

With a tool like ReferralKit, you can automate the process and incentivize your subscribers who share your newsletter with their audience.

For best results with referral programs, it’s important to explain the incentive clearly and make it something attainable.

In the example below from Brennan Dunn of Create & Sell, Dunn gives subscribers multiple options with clear terms.

It takes three referrals to unlock Behind-The-Scenes Access, and he explains what’s included in that access.

Create& Sell newsletter - Brennan Dunn
Source

5. Add an opt-in at the end of blog content

Already have a blog?

Adding an opt-in at the end (or even in the middle) of your blog content is another great way to grow your email list.

It encourages readers to sign up for email updates if they enjoy the content.

Of course, this works best when you’re providing amaaaazing value.

Since readers come from all across the internet from various sources, it’s good to have a form that encourages them to get on your list if they like what they read.

ActiveCampaign has a standard basic opt-in form at the end of each blog post.

The form only requires an email address, making opting in easy.

ActiveCampaign opt-in form at the end of blog posts
Source

6. Use social sharing buttons

Adding social sharing buttons to your content is another great way to grow your email list.

It allows you to tap into your reader’s audience and get new readers (and hopefully subscribers) from those shares.

Copyblogger uses social sharing buttons at the beginning and end of their blog posts.

The buttons are colored to stand out against the minimalist black and white website color scheme.

Coppyblogger blog post with social share buttons
Source

7. Add links to your social bios

Your social media bio is valuable real estate.

Whether you’re on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or another platform, adding a link to your bio is crucial.

For better conversion results, it’s essential to link to a landing page with no menu and a single call to action button that promotes your email list.

Marketer Katelyn Bourgoin uses her one Twitter link to share multiple links, one of which is a link to her newsletter.

Katelyn Bourgoin Twitter profile
Source
Katelyn Bourgoin Linktree page - How to grow email list
Source

Mindset coach Ari Hale uses her Instagram bio link to promote her email list.

Ari Hale Instagram Profile - email list building
Source

Bonus tip: Send emails consistently and make them valuable

There’s no point in building an email list if you’re not going to share content consistently.

In addition to sending emails regularly, you must also make them worthwhile.

People are busy, and their attention spans are low.

Michelle Obama shrugging at the challenge of growing an email list
Source

So if you don’t provide value, your subscribers will lose interest and opt out of your emails.

To lower the number of people unsubscribing from your list (because you will always have unsubscribes), focus on sharing information your email readers care about.

Email content they’ll look forward to reading.

Don’t forget to welcome your new subscribers

I’ll say it again…

Welcome emails are a must.

Welcome emails let new subscribers know what to expect from you and how often.

Subscribers can learn a little about you. And you could learn a bit about them.

Including a welcome email or a welcome sequence could mean the difference between turning a subscriber into a future client…

Or not.

But many email newbies forget to send a welcome email.

Don’t make that mistake.

Here’s a quick tutorial (and a free template) for writing an engaging, welcome email to new subscribers.



[ad_2]

Source link