7-Step Guide to Growing Your Email List

As a website designer and marketing strategist, one of the top questions I get asked is about email marketing, growing an email list, and getting leads.

The business owners I talk with fall into four different categories of email marketing frustration:

• “I know I should be growing an email list, but I don’t know where to start.”
• “List building feels hard. I have a lead magnet but no one opts in.”
• “I have a list, but I don’t email them consistently.”
• “I have a list and I email them regularly, but I am not getting clients from it.”

Which group are you in?

I get it! Been there. Done that.

Let me show you how to fix it!

Step 1: Get Clear on the Clients You’re Trying to Attract

As you’ve likely heard me “preach” in the past, everything starts with your ideal client—what they want most and the problems, pains, and frustrations standing in their way.

Yet, everyone rushes through this process. Don’t rush! This is the most important step.

You probably have spent a few hours at least, considering demographics such as:

• Gender
• Age
• Income
• Location

Maybe you’ve taken some time to think about her goals and dreams and possibly their problems and challenges.

And you may have even considered her personality in the process. (If you haven’t it would be a good idea to do so!)

Example: If you’re the type of person who is sarcastic, tell it like it is, live life out loud, swear when you feel inspired (which is all the time) … a quiet middle-aged mom who volunteers her time running the church nursery may not be the best fit for you, even if she needs your services.

Maybe you’ve even given your ideal client a name and a little story behind her.

“Always Rushed Amy is spread thin, trying to grow a business, keeping up her home, and be the mom and wife she knows her family deserves. She spends so much time caring for others that she’s stopped taking care of herself…”

But do you REALLY know her? Have you talked to 50 or more “Always Rushed Amy’s?”

Are you sure the goals, dreams, problems, and challenges are really what she’s struggling with, or are you guessing?

Can you describe the struggle in her words?

Action Step: Start a Collection of “In Your Client’s Own Words”

I keep an Evernote file of things my ideal clients have said, in their own words, regarding their goals and the different challenges they face.

Gather these things from:

• phone calls
• social media
• blog comments
• testimonials
• your competitors’ testimonials
• book reviews
• videos
• podcasts, etc.

Step 2: Pick ONE Problem to Solve & Solve It

I’m sure you’ve got lots of tricks up your sleeve to help your clients get results, but I want you to pull out your BEST trick that wows the crowd every time!

What’s the one problem your ideal clients are yearning to solve that you can fix easily and quickly?

• It this a problem your ideal client is aware of and actively looking to fix?
• Is your ideal client determined to change this one thing?
• Is she willing to do just about anything to get results?

Are the answers to these last three questions, yes, yes, and yes?

Fabulous!

We’re going to fix this problem for them with a cheat sheet, checklist, guide, resource list, printable, habit tracker, etc. that they can get FOR FREE in exchange for their email. It can be as simple as a list of resources or a short how-to video that answers a question.

This freebie is called a “lead magnet”, “opt-in gift”, “free incentive”, “irresistible free offer”, etc.

Action Step: Set a Timer and Create a Lead Magnet that Solves Their Problem

Give yourself an hour. Open up a Google doc and start creating this free gift.

• DO: Give them your best stuff
• DO: Keep it quick and easy for you to create and quick and easy for them to consume
• DO NOT: Create a 100-page ebook or a whole bundle of downloads. You’ll end up overwhelming your leads rather than helping them.
• DO NOT: Make this harder than it is! Remember this is what you’re great at! You’re working in your zone of genius. This content is in you already. Don’t overcomplicate it, just let it flow.

Bonus Action Step: Make your Lead Magnet Pretty!

Your lead magnet is your ideal client’s first experience of working with you. We want to make a good impression, right?

Sending them a plain Word Doc isn’t making a good impression. Yes, even if the content is the same the packaging makes all the difference. A well-designed lead magnet will increase the perceived value of your content.

I’ve created a Lead Magnet Template Bundle in Canva and Google Sheets to help you. You can get that here.

While you’re in design mode, make a graphic representation of your lead magnet for your landing page. A program like Canva is perfect for this.

Step 3: Create a Squeeze Page/Landing Page

High-five! You’re zooming through this checklist. Now I want you to create a new page on your website that we can use to promote your lead magnet.

What makes this page special?

There are only two choices someone can make when they land on this page, opt-in or go away.

There is no menu, no blog sidebar, no links, and no distractions. Only a form, a picture of what they’re getting, and some copy.

Note: You can definitely add your lead magnet to other pages on your site, like your home page, about page, blog side-bar, etc. but for today’s project, I want you to create a separate page for your lead magnet that we can use to increase conversions.

Action Step: Create Your Landing Page

Set a timer and get it done. This should take you 30-minutes. Don’t over-think it.

Keep this page simple.

• Headline – You need a catchy headline that speaks to the benefits/results your lead magnet will give them.
• Opt-in form – Grab this from your email service provider, like ActiveCampaign* or MailChimp*.
  • Call to action – Enter your name and email for instant access.
  • Button text – “Submit” or “Subscribe” are not very exciting, are they? Use phrases that tell them what they’re getting, like “Get the Checklist!” or “Send Me the Video!”
• Graphic representation of your lead magnet – Give them a peek at what they’re getting.

Make sure the call to action is above the fold (they don’t have to scroll down to see it) and that there is nothing to do on the page except to enter their name and email (no menu, no sidebar).

If you don’t have the ability to create a simple page like this on your website, consider using a landing page builder. But for most people, creating a landing page on your website should be just fine.

Step 4: Create Your Welcome Email

This is the email they receive after subscribing that gives them their free gift and welcomes them to your list. You will create this email in your email program, like ActiveCampaign* or MailChimp*, and set it to send immediately after someone subscribes.

Action Step: Write Your Welcome Email

I feel like a broken record … but set a timer, get it done, and keep it simple. This should take you 30 minutes tops.

Here’s what to include in the email:

• Congratulate them on downloading the free gift & welcome them to the family
• Give them a link to download their gift
• Remind them what the lead magnet will do for them
• Tell them what to expect in future emails (frequency, topics included, etc.)
• Invite them to the next step of your funnel (book a discovery call, join a Facebook group, etc.)

Step 5: Test Your Opt-In Process

Make sure everything works! Subscribe to your list with a new email to make sure the landing page form adds you to the email list and you get the welcome email.

If it works – great! Move on to the next step.

If it doesn’t work:

• Check your spam folder
• See if your name was added to the list?
  • If you were added to the list, make sure the autoresponder was turned on and set to send immediately.
  • If your name was not added to the list, make sure the form was set up properly.

Step 6: Promote, Promote, Promote!

You could have the most amazing lead magnet in the world, but if no one sees it, you won’t get subscribers. I want you to take the link for your landing page and paste it EVERYWHERE!

• Your social media profile links – don’t send them to your home page, send them to your shiny new squeeze page!
• Link to it in your email signature
• Promote the graphic of your lead magnet on your social media banners
• Promote it in Facebook groups that have “free promotion days”
• Tell people about it
• Blog about your lead magnet
• Promote it to your blog sidebar
• Tell people about it to your home page
• Include links to it in your blog posts
• Send traffic to it via paid ads (This is my favorite way to promote my lead magnet!)

You’ll be growing your email list in no time!

Step 7: Email Your List Regularly!

So now that you’ve got a lead magnet set up and people joining your list, it’s time to nurture your list!

Your list isn’t the only list your leads are subscribed to. So if you’re not emailing them on a frequent basis they’re going to forget about you.

Think of your new email subscribers like baby sprouts coming up in the garden that need water, sunlight, and protection from rabbits. In the beginning, they need more nurturing. As they grow and mature the nurturing can taper off.

You’ll want to add additional emails to your autoresponder to nurture your leads and invite them to your next step in your funnel.

Here’s the cadence I use:

• Immediately: Be Welcoming: Send the welcome email (We did this in step 4.)
• Day 1: Be helpful. Maybe an additional tip to get the most out of the lead magnet.
• Day 2: Be relatable. The goal is to build a rapport with your audience and have them feel understood.
• Day 3: Be trustworthy. We want to build know, like, and trust, right? What makes you someone they can trust?
• Day 5: Be knowledgeable. What makes you the thought leader/expert in your topic?
• Day 7: Be persuasive. Give them a little FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). Make an offer with a deadline.
• Every 7 Days: Be present. Email them a blog post, newsletter, relatable story, lesson, tip, etc. at least once a week.

Tada!

High Five!

That wasn’t so bad, was it?

If you’ve taken action, you are ready to start growing your email list, nurturing those new leads, and turning them into clients!