How to Build an Email List and Why Your Blog Needed One Yesterday

Would you like to use the free marketing solution that generates 4,000% more paying customers than Facebook and Twitter combined? Would you be surprised to discover that I’m talking about email? It’s true. Email continues to be one of the most successful marketing sources for businesses and bloggers alike. Interestingly, email marketing begins with one simple thing: An Email List!

It is easy to create an email list once you know a little about the process. In this post, I’m going to go into brief detail about how to get started with building an email list and explain why you need one from day one.

*This post contains affiliate links. That means that if you make a purchase after clicking on a link I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. For more information, click here.

What Is An Email List?

An email list is the list of email addresses that sign up to receive emails from you. The people who provide you with those email addresses trust you and your brand with their personal information and privacy. Emails are personal and you should treat them with care and respect.

Your email list is essentially your fan base, full of gushing fans who look forward to opening your emails and discovering new offerings from you. These are your peeps. They already like you, they want to hear from you, and they want to buy from you!

Why You Needed One Yesterday

It doesn’t matter when you started your blog. You need an email list from day one! The reason for this is that you own your list. It can’t be taken from you like other sources of blog traffic.

Imagine that there is a huge algorithm change on Pinterest or Google. Overnight, you could find yourself without an audience from those sources. However, if you have 1,000 dedicated email subscribers, it’s not quite as big of a blow.

Those subscribers can’t be taken away from you unless they choose to opt-out. That won’t happen often if you treat your email subscribers well. That means that you need to provide them with great content and not spam them with ads.

With an online business, you simply can’t put all of your eggs in one basket. It’s not stable. Having multiple marketing streams of marketing and income sources ensures that your blog and income will be more stable.

How to Start Building an Email List

The first step you need to build an email list is to choose an Email service provider. From your email service provider’s website, you can build your list, create forms, and easily set up automated emails to nurture your lit.

Choosing an Email Service Provider

There are dozens of email service providers to choose from. The top three for bloggers are ConvertKit, MailChimp, and MailerLite.

I started out with MailChimp and I loved it, at first. I could create emails with ease and had no issue with customers receiving them. However, I got to a point in my blogging business where I needed automation for my blog to grow and MailChimp simply didn’t offer it on the free plan (at the time).

I began searching for new email service providers for my blog. I checked out ConvertKit first since so many bloggers highly recommended it. While I love the features, they didn’t offer a free option. As a new blogger, I couldn’t justify spending $29/mo. for their lowest priced account when I wasn’t receiving significant blogging income yet.

Then, I read a blog post about MailerLite and decided to check it out. I was floored by all of the features, which were included in the price of all plans, including their free plan, which covers up to 1,000 subscribers. They also offer unlimited emails, free automation, unlimited forms, and everything else that I needed to grow my list.

I signed up for MailerLite and honestly, I couldn’t be happier with their service. Their paid plans are also the best priced among the three services, so once my list can grow with me and I know the price change is very reasonable.

To help you compare the services, I created the comparison chart below. The information on this chart came directly from the ConvertKit, MailChimp, and MailerLite websites. Bear in mind that the prices and services can change without notice, so check the service provider’s website before you enroll.

As you can see, MailChimp now offers automation, but they do limit the number of outgoing emails and your features unless you are a paid user.

Create an Opt-In Freebie

Once you have an Email Service Provider, it is a great idea to prepare a lead magnet or opt-in freebie to encourage your audience to sign up for your emails. Until you have a great opt-in freebie that your readers find valuable, you won’t see your email list grow much.

Examples of great opt-in freebies include; checklists, worksheets, swipe files, printables, calendars, lists, or anything that your audience can find useful. Just make sure it is something they will value or you will never see your list grow.

To create your freebie, use InDesign, Publisher, Scribus, or Canva. Scribus and Canva are free to use. Scribus is an open source desktop publishing software program and Canva is a website that is awesome and super easy to use. I find Scribus difficult to manage, in all honesty. However, I use Canva all of the time.

InDesign is a premium desktop publishing software by Adobe and is part of their Creative Cloud. You can use InDesign via subscription for $20/mo. for the program or $30/mo. for the entire Creative Cloud. It really is the best and easiest program to use, in my opinion, but it is pricier.

Microsoft Publisher is an awesome alternative that is a fraction of the price. If you have the Microsoft Office 365 Suite, you already have it. If not, a personal subscription for one user on 5 devices runs $6.99/mo. It is well worth the price if you plan on creating worksheets and other documents for your blog.

 

Landing Pages

For your premium opt-in freebies, create landing pages and eye-catching graphics for your blog to link to the landing page. You can create a landing page on your email service provider’s website or your own blog and use a sign-up form from your email service provider on the landing page.

Email service providers have templates that you can use. If you choose to create a landing page on your blog, you can use a template from Elementor, like I used in my post, Build Professional Web Pages with a Page Builder (Even if You Don’t Know Code). Either way is fairly simple and great for promoting your freebie.

Be sure to go into detail about your freebie and explain how your freebie will help your reader. Keep in mind that this is similar to a sales page and will greatly increase your conversion rates if done correctly.

Sign-Up Forms

Sign-up forms can be pop-ups or embedded in a post or page. The homepage is the best place to use the pop-up subscribe form, for example. I definitely recommend you use one on your homepage either with a delay after loading the page or upon an attempt to leave the page.

In most other cases, you will likely use an embedded form. These forms can be inserted anywhere within a post or page and are very versatile.

Depending on your email service provider, there are many options, such as; buttons, banners, links, and sidebar forms. I recommend using a banner or standard embedded form at the end of blog posts.

If you are linking directly to the freebie, make sure to upload it to your blog via the “Media” Menu on your WordPress dashboard. Once it is uploaded, copy the web address for the freebie and include it as a link in either an automated thank you email or in your sign-up form.

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Adding the Code to Your Blog Post or Page

Once you have completed your form, you will be sent to a page where you will be provided a bit of code to insert into the posts or pages you wish to display the sign-up form. Copy this link and paste it into your post using either an app, typically from your email service provider, or via the “Text” tab in the text editor of your post or page.

For pop-up codes, you must insert this into your blog’s header. You can find the “Header and Footer” in the “Settings” menu in your WordPress dashboard. If you do not have a “Header and Footer” listed here, simply install a plugin to have access to this feature.

Simply post the code in the header and save it, in order to display the pop-up. If you check your website and it doesn’t display, try opening an incognito tab in your web browser and viewing it again. This will ensure no cookies are affecting the page as it loads, thus enabling you to view the form.

Don’t Be Discouraged When Building Your Email List

You may have to try out a few different methods in order for your readers to start subscribing well. Don’t be discouraged. Keep trying different methods and check out your favorite blogs for inspiration. Note how they are doing it and use some of those ideas on your blog.

If you need more help, there are some great free email courses available to help you get started. Meera Kothand is known for her email marketing skills and offers a few great courses for free. The beginner’s course is this one: Email List for Newbies. I highly recommend it to anyone starting a new email list.

I, myself, have learned a lot from her and will likely continue to do so. She has a clear, concise writing style that I adore, but she also explains things in a way that is easy to understand.

The Power of an Email List

Once you build an email list, you are on your way to marketing gold for your blog. Your blog’s success may depend on your email list as trends in marketing and social media change drastically over the years. Rest assured that your email list is yours for good.

Do you have any hints or suggestions to those starting their own email list? If so, please let others know in the comments.

If you want to receive my own opt-in freebie, “Blog Post Checklists” sign up for my email list using the form below. Once again, thank you for reading!