So, you’ve heard that having an email list is essential if you want to grow your business and online community…but you’re wondering, “Where do I start with email marketing?” Well, m’friend, you’ve come to the right place!

When I first started my business, I didn’t really understand the point of an email list. What do I send to my subscribers? And how is it different from what I’d post on my blog?

I wasn’t fully on the Email List Train, so it took me almost two years to grow my list to 2,000 subscribers. I’d share opt-in forms in passing, advertising my vague “free newsletter.” It’s a wonder that so many people subscribed in the first place! But I couldn’t deny it: I’d hit a plateau. My list wasn’t budgin’.

But then, things started to change dramatically.

I started becoming more savvy with online marketing and kept hearing over and over again that my email list is my business’s biggest asset. I doubled down on growing it (using many of the strategies you’ll find in today’s blog post!) and the results were ah-mazing.

Within a year, that 2,000 person email list had grown to 35,000 people.

One year after that? My email list was over 100,000 subscribers! And today, it’s hovering around 200,000 people. Wild!

List-building is one of my favorite things in the online business world because it involves two topics I adore:

• Building community (your email list will undoubtedly be full of your biggest fans, and it’s a wonderful place to connect with people).
• Online marketing (it’s also the place where you’ll make most of your sales if you know what you’re doing).

So without further ado, let’s dive into today’s post! You’ll learn 5 MAJOR steps when it comes to growing your email list, making your subscribers fall in love with you, and using your email list as your #1 sales asset.

Let’s begin with step numero uno…

Step 1: Create an Opt-In Incentive

The problem that many people make when trying to grow their email list is that their content and opt-in forms are too general and vague. In short: they don’t give people a reason to opt-in.

Your Opt-In Incentive changes that. 

(By the way, in case you’re new to the lingo, Opt-In Incentives, Lead Magnets, and Content Upgrades are basically the same thing. Kind of like how a Puma is a Cougar is a Mountain Lion. I know, confusing much? But don’t worry, if you remember that they’re all the same thing, you’ll be golden).

First, you want to make sure the content on your website is designed to help or teach someone. What I recommend is that you focus mainly on Informational Content as opposed to Inspirational Content. I explain this concept in depth inside of this post!

Why is Informational Content important? Because it means that you’re teaching people about a certain topic. These are usually “how to posts,” tutorials, or “list posts” with lots of information in them (hint: like this one!).

Informational Content lends itself perfectly to growing your email list because people will know exactly what they stand to gain by joining your list, since it’s clear that you’ll be teaching them fresh tips on a certain topic.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s chat about your opt-in incentive.

Is there a topic that’s EXTRA juicy to your ideal subscribers? Is there a question you seem to get from your audience repeatedly? A subject that they always need help with?

This is the basis for coming up with your opt-in incentive: figuring out what PROBLEM you want to solve for them.

For example, let’s say your blog is designed to help first-time moms adjust to their new life with a baby. And you’ve noticed that you always get questions about Postpartum Depression (which happens to be a topic that you know a lot about!), then this could be a great “problem to solve.”

Your opt-in incentive topic may be something like, “6 Holistic Ways to Heal From Postpartum Depression” or “18 Journal Prompts to Help You Come Back to Yourself When You Have Postpartum Depression.”

After coming up with your topic, you obviously want to make your opt-in incentive! The beauty of this is that you can create it in virtually any format you want.