How to Build Your E-Mail List

"Do you have any suggestions on how to build my own e-mail list? Is there some shortcut that I missed?" --- Briona Shipman

Building your own e-zine or customer e-mail list is of extreme strategic importance, but many don't place a high enough priority on it. These are some of the many ways you can increase the number of opt-in subscribers. Consider trying ...

• Sign up form on every page of your website. One way to do this is through Server Side Includes (SSIs).
• Compelling reason to sign up for your newsletter -- up-to-date industry information, high quality how-to articles, archive of previous issues on your website, etc. With so many newsletters to sign up for, people now need to be convinced why they should receive more e-mail.
• Link to your privacy policy which states, at a minimum, that you will not rent or sell your list to any third parties.
• Incentive, such as a free e-book or white paper or entry into a sweepstakes or contest.
• Pop-up box (or pop-under) that encourages people to subscribe. Make sure that this box only pops up once, since you don't want to alienate your potential customers.
• Registration with e-zine directories. (Search Google for "ezine directory".)
• Ad exchange promoting your list with other e-zines that reach a complementary audience and a similar size subscriber list.
• Explicit encouragement for readers to forward your newsletter to their friends and associates.
• Co-registrations in cooperation with other list owners. Some marketers swear by this approach. I have avoided it thus far, since I think it both increases time competition to read your e-zine and doesn't produce a firm initial commitment to the unique offerings of your newsletter, thus diluting your list and making it less responsive to offers and ads.