The Ultimate List Builder's Resource Guide: 111 Links to Double or Even Triple Your Subscribers

It’s okay. You can admit it.

When people ask about the size of your email list, you either exaggerate, or just plain lie.

Why? Because the real answer is embarrassing.

Particularly when you keep hearing that subscriber numbers even trump traffic as a measure of blogging success. (If that’s true, your numbers paint a bleak picture.)

You keep meaning to work on getting more subscribers – and you’ve read plenty of tips on how to do it – but in truth, your list size has barely changed.

Unfortunately, when different experts give you contrasting tips, you can struggle to know which tip to follow. And so the only smart solution is to become an expert yourself.

Fortunately, a surefire way to become a list-building master in record time exists.

Totally immerse yourself in the topic.

Because when you study a subject in detail, patterns emerge that more easily allow you to choose the right path for you and your blog.

So here’s a monster list of links to tips, tools, case studies, and other list-building resources that will make you an expert – fast.

Are you ready to jump in?

The List-Building Links That’ll Make You an Expert – Fast!

1. Copy the strategies Michael Hyatt used to grow his blog from 1,000 subscribers to 20,000 subscribers in one year.
2. Learn the three strategies Noah Kagan used to triple email subscribers for AppSumo.
3. Or take your cue from Derek Halpern and get 17,000 subscribers in 11 months.
4. Discover the simple formula that explains how four powerhouse bloggers attracted almost 500,000 subscribers.
5. Then see what the other pros are doing with these list building tips from 9 world-class bloggers.
6. Find out how StartupDigest got 100,000 subscribers in a year.
7. Hear how Social Media Examiner grew their list by 234% using a simple pop-up.
8. Follow The Honest Company’s lead and use Google AdWords to drive signups.
9. Embark on a 30-day list building challenge inspired by this case study.
10. Consult Marketing Sherpa’s chart to discover the most effective list building tactics based on research.
11. Go from zero to 1,634 subscribers in five months using these 12 strategies.
12. Or use one of these eight strategies backed by research.
13. Dodge the more obvious pitfalls by reading MailChimp’s 10 common rookie mistakes.
14. And avoid these 19 surprising list-building mistakes too.
15. Convert more traffic to subscribers by plugging these 3 website “leaks.”
16. Make sure you don’t miss out on these 7 ways to attract more loyal subscribers.
17. Double your email list in 90 days by using the Pareto Principle to get more from less.
18. Focus on just one social media channel and get 10 times more conversions – just like Quanticate did.
19. Share the list-building workload by getting other people to happily build your list.
20. Design a high-converting opt-in landing page by following these 35 examples.
21. Make sure your landing page answers these four questions.
22. Try using video on your landing page to double your opt-ins.
23. Remove landing page friction to boost your click-through rate by 173% and get more signups.
24. Get serious about optimizing your opt-in page by learning about A/B testing.
25. Then test these 23 elements of your page.
26. Use Heat Maps to discover where people are clicking so you know where to put your opt-in forms.
27. Or cut to the chase and learn the 4 high-converting places to put them.
28. Include bullet points on your opt-in box telling people what they’ll get when they sign up – you could get 83.75% more signups.
29. Test different opt-in form button colors to boost your conversion rate by 21% or more.
30. Boost your conversion rate by using fewer fields on your opt-in form.
31. Follow the “one column” rule and boost signups by arranging your fields vertically, not horizontally.
32. Or break all the rules with a Mad Libs style opt-in form that could boost your conversions by 25-40%.
33. But avoid CAPTCHAs at all costs – research shows we suck at figuring them out.
34. Test different images in your opt-in box to double or triple your signups.
35. Use an emotive image, like a picture of a sad puppy, to get 20% more people to confirm their subscription.
36. Use an exit intent popup to sign people up just before they leave, to enjoy a 10-15% uplift in the conversions.
37. Use benefit-based headlines for popups to increase conversions by 40%.
38. Use a 5-second delay on your popups to more than double your opt-in rate.
39. Get nine different ideas for creating an irresistible bribe to give readers a real reason to subscribe.
40. Learn how to create a bribe in record time.
41. Become an author and write a Kindle book that uses a free bonus to boost your email list.
42. Get into the heads of potential subscribers to understand what’ll motivate them to sign up to your list.
43. Quadruple your opt-in rate by giving people at least one persuasive reason they should subscribe.
44. Give people a nudge to subscribe with Qualaroo and grow your list by 500% in less than a year.
45. Use social proof to convince new website visitors to subscribe to your list.
46. Prominently position your testimonials – it could improve your conversion rate by 34%.
47. Remember to keep these 7 key things in mind whenever you’re using social proof to attract more subscribers.
48. Leverage media mentions to grow your email list.
49. Prominently display your media mentions to help bump your conversion rate by 400%.
50. Learn how to simplify your messaging around your signup offer. (If you confuse people, you lose them.)
51. Take advantage of a friend to discover if your landing page is clear enough.
52. Don’t say, “We will never spam you” – it could decrease your conversions by 18.7%. Say this instead.
53. Get three times more signups simply by changing the wording on your opt-in form button.
54. Learn why people unsubscribe from your list so you can make sure more of them stick around.
55. When people want to opt out, first give them the option to “opt-down.”
56. In fact, why not optimize your email preferences center so your subscribers have more control and fewer people unsubscribe completely?
57. Follow these 5 tips from a former White House writer to boost your conversion rate by 3,000%.
58. Turn your opt-in page into a social squeeze page to lift your conversion rate.
59. Optimize your blog posts for conversions so that more readers become subscribers.
60. Decrease your page load time to boost conversion rates. (And use Google PageSpeed Insightsto find out what needs fixing.)
61. Be smart and add social media share buttons to your thank you pages.
62. And while you’re at it, create a “share this with your friends” link too.
63. Optimize the images on your opt-in page to attract more subscribers on social media.
64. Create a blog series to encourage signups from people who don’t want to miss the next post in the series.
65. Make your popular posts work harder by using them to create more opportunities for people to subscribe.
66. Convert a popular blog post into a SlideShare presentation and use an embedded opt-in form to get signups.
67. Get 492% more subscribers with a content upgrade on your blog posts.
68. Use the Skyscraper Technique to get 1,000 subscribers from your next blog post.
69. Add an opt-in form on your About Page to increase your conversion rate by 446%.
70. Send first-time commenters to your opt-in landing page using the Comment Redirect plugin.
71. Or let all blog commenters subscribe with just one click.
72. Simplify your website design to boost your conversion rate.
73. And make sure your opt-in forms are mobile friendly – or risk losing 50% of potential signups.
74. Give the top-bar method a shot and you could boost your subscriber rate by 532% in one month.
75. Make sure your opt-in box is above the fold to triple the number of subscribers you get.
76. Add a link to your opt-in landing page in your site’s navigation bar.
77. Learn how to add an opt-in box to the bottom of every blog post.
78. Use one of these 67 tools to skyrocket your list growth.
79. Install one of these 9 WordPress plugins that work so well it feels like cheating.
80. Display different messages to new and returning visitors to entice signups with the What Would Seth Godin Do plugin.
81. Spy on your competitors using BuiltWith to find out what technologies they’re using to build their lists.
82. Make your Facebook page’s cover photo clickable to drive more traffic to your opt-in landing page.
83. Turn Facebook page likes into subscribers using any of eight different ways.
84. Create a nifty Twitter autoresponder that prompts new followers to sign up for your email list.
85. And when you thank people for tweeting your stuff, remind them to subscribe.
86. Use Lead Generation Cards to get people from Twitter onto your list with a single click.
87. Check out 6 ways the pros are using Google+ to get more subscribers.
88. Use LinkedIn groups to grow your list (most people miss this trick.)
89. Get visual and follow these 3 steps to using Pinterest for attracting more subscribers.
90. Create a YouTube video with a clickable link to your opt-in page.
91. Run a podcast? Remind people to join your email list in every episode.
92. And turn your podcast listeners into email subscribers using this formula from Clay Collins.
93. Use a webinar as the ultimate email bribe and get 1,054 subscribers in 28 days.
94. Or find a partner for a joint venture webinar and grow your email list from 700 to 12,000 subscribers in nine months.
95. Run a simple contest and add 500 new subscribers to your list.
96. Advertise a giveaway on Facebook to attract 17,800 subscribers in just 6 weeks.
97. Use these five tips to create a successful Facebook contest that will grow your list.
98. Try using a “lucky URL” to boost contest entries – you could get 200,000+ subscribers in 11 days.
99. Use sweepstakes to get current subscribers to grow your email list for you.
100. Use tests or quizzes to boost your conversion rate by 1,900%.
101. Use the guest blogging strategies that Gregory Ciotti used to grow his email list by 36,733 subscribers.
102. Write an expanded guest post and get 500 subscribers in just one week.
103. Build mutually beneficial relationships with influencers and get 1,000+ subscribers in 24 hours.
104. Turn “Page not found” errors into new subscribers by customizing your 404 page.
105. Put a link to your opt-in page in your email signature using WiseStamp.
106. Get customers to give you their email addresses at the checkout.
107. Go offline and use direct mail to create a unique experience, grab attention, and compel more people to sign up.
108. Or pick up the phone to grow your email list by 23,028 subscribers.
109. Copy this old-fashioned technique that a speciality beer store used to get 8,400 new subscribers.
110. When networking at conferences and events, ask new contacts if you can add them to your list.
111. Got a booth at a conference or tradeshow? Collect business cards in a fishbowl, or use a tablet to collect email addresses.

When Will You Become a List-Building Master?

There you have it. 111 list-building links to help you double, triple, or even quadruple the size of your email list.

If you immerse yourself in these hand-picked resources, you’ll know more about list building than 99% of the bloggers out there.

And when you’re done, pick just a handful of ideas to implement. (Don’t worry, you’ll know which are right for you.)

Remember, success is a combination of knowledge and action. The knowledge can be found in the list above. The action … well, that’s up to you.

So get to it. Become the expert list-builder who can grow your blog faster than you ever believed possible.

After all, you must be curious to know.

Just how big can your list go?

http://boostblogtraffic.com/email-list-building/

2 Ways To Unite Social Media and Email Marketing and Double Conversions

There’s nothing more disappointing as a marketer than slaving over a great piece of content, then not getting the downloads, registrations, or views you were hoping for.

Smart marketers know that whether you’re marketing for a B2B or B2C company, providing value in your marketing content is one of the best ways to entice prospects to take action and become a lead in your marketing automation system.

So, assuming your free eBooks, educational webinars, blog posts, and newsletters do just that, why are your new lead numbers plateauing?

Two of the most popular ways of promoting your company’s marketing content are social media and email marketing. Most likely you’re utilizing both of these already - but, are they intertwined? 

In this post, I won’t discuss email and social media marketing on their own, but I’ll show you two ways you can unite your social media promotion and email marketing efforts to double the views, conversions, and ultimately new customers from your marketing content.

1. Ask For The Share Via Email

Are the people who are registering for your webinar sharing it with their friends and colleagues? Have you made it easy for them to do so?

As the old saying goes, “birds of a feather flock together.”

Likely the people who are engaging with your content have friends and colleagues who would like your webinar too - if you can effectively extend your reach through sharing calls-to-action, you can easily double your audience.

Here are two ways to ask for the share in your email marketing.

1. Share Links in Email Blasts

If you are using an email marketing system, there should be an option to include share links for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and email within your blast.

First create a “web page version” of your email blast and use that URL as the link to the share icons.

For the best results, don’t leave these valuable share icons hiding in the corners of your email; call attention to them. Try using a header or footer banner image with an arrow that points to them, or literally writing out in the email a call to action to use the share link.

It’s not a big ask; people love to share valuable and helpful tools with others because it makes them look good.

2. Post Form-Fill Sharing Shout-Out

Don’t forget about the people who already downloaded your eBook or registered for your webinar, they have more value beyond just their own conversion. Include in your follow-up email or follow-up workflow messaging a call to action to share the fact that they just registered for your webinar or downloaded a piece of your content. 

One great tool is Click To Tweet, which allows your prospects to literally tweet in one click a message that you’ve pre-created for them. For example, at Likeable Local, we craft share messaging like, “I just downloaded this free #socialmedia eBook for #SMBs from @likeablelocal. Check it out!”

The key to post-form-fill sharing calls to action is making them as simple as possible. Anything that allows people to share in under 15 seconds will render the greatest results.

2. Socially Retarget Prospects with “Cold Feet”

The conversion rate of your landing pages and campaigns is an important metric. How many people viewed that webinar registration page, but didn’t sign-up? How many people clicked the link in your email to go to that page, but didn’t sign-up?

Clearly the click and the view indicate interest, but why didn’t they take the plunge and convert?

Sometimes, these “cold feet” prospects just need a little reminder to come back to your content dangled in front of their noses (repeated exposures to your messaging can have a nurturing effect, helping them progress toward that "Yes".) 

Facebook retargeting ads are a super effective new way to do this. Here’s how you can retarget your “cold feet” leads on Facebook in three steps following your initial marketing email.

1) Make sure your marketing campaign has both an initial form fill page and also a “thank you” page  that is triggered when they convert.

2) Create a custom audience in Facebook Ads Manager based on “website visits.” Include people who have viewed the first form fill page and exclude those who have viewed the “thank you” page. This will isolate only those who have not yet converted.

3) Run a Facebook Ad campaign towards this custom audience to this particular piece of content.

Now, as you continue to push people towards your content, those who have expressed interest but have not converted will continue to be reminded when they're on Facebook. The good news is, Americans spend an average of 37 minutes per day dedicated to social media so you’re bound to get some good air time!

To summarize: email marketing and social media marketing are both powerful tools for lead generation, but together they have twice the potential. You can extract double the value from an email marketing blast by incorporating social sharing and social retargeting.

By the way, if you want some great tips on social advertising, Likeable Local's eBook "Driving Success Through Social Ads" might hit the spot. 

How do you plan on incorporating social media marketing into your next email campaign? Please leave a comment below.

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-business/nicole-kroese/2015-07-15/2-ways-unite-social-media-and-email-marketing-and-double?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Social+Media+Today+%28all+posts%29

HOW TO BUILD A THRIVING EMAIL LIST USING FACEBOOK

When you’re planning to build a new blog or an online business, creating a sizeable subscriber base should be one of the first things on your mind. With people on your mailing list, you can work on building relationships and converting subscribers into buyers. Some marketers believe that email lists are not as important as they were a few years ago because of Facebook.

But the stats suggest otherwise.

• In the last year, 66% of all US consumers below 15 years of age made a purchase because of an email.
• 91% of consumers check their email at least once a day.
• 64% of decision makers read their emails via mobile.
• Over 70% of mobile purchasing decisions are influenced by email.

This clearly suggests that email marketing is not only alive, but more relevant than ever before. Facebook, on the other hand, is the world’s largest social network. For many users around the world, it is more important than emails.

Every month there are

• 4 billion visitors on Facebook
• 700 million visitors on Facebook groups
• more than 700 billion minutes spent on Facebook globally

Every day there are

• more than 890 million people on Facebook
• 1+ billion searches on Facebook
• More than 3 billion video views on Facebook
• More than 7 billion post likes on Facebook

These are mind boggling stats.

But what if we combine the exposure of Facebook with the power of email marketing? It’ll be any marketers dream.

Why You Should Route Facebook Users To Your Email List

Although Facebook offers you extraordinary exposure and reach, relying on it for your long term business strategy is risky. No matter how many Facebook page likes you have, they’re still not your property and can be taken away from you by just one algorithm change. Facebook is also tightening the screw on page owners, and does not give you the same free exposure that it once offered.

Email subscribers, on the other hand, are your real online assets. You have complete control over your email lists and can use them for creating long term strategies. So instead of relying completely on Facebook, the intelligent approach is to use Facebook for building your email lists

Here’s how you can do it.

IDENTIFY YOUR AUDIENCE

When you’re building an email list, it’s not just the number of subscribers that matters. The quality and relevance of your subscribers is equally important. Your objective for list building is to convert subscribers into buyers. So you need people who are seriously interested in what you have to offer.

For this, you need to create the right buyer personas. Buyer persona is a sample profile of your ideal buyer, or someone who is genuinely interested in your offer.

For example, if you’re selling a weight loss product, your ideal buyer could be a 35 to 40 year old man, living in a major US city, earning at least $100,000 per year, and genuinely concerned about his increasing weight.

Until recently, buyer personas were used primarily by content marketers. But innovative social media companies like 99DollarSocial and Buffer have used them intelligently in creating more targeted social campaigns.

CREATE THE RIGHT FREEBIE

Marketers use different kinds of incentives to lure people to their email lists. In most cases, it’s a freebie like an eBook, a free course or a discount coupon. But to attract the right subscribers, you need to create a freebie that is in line with your paid offer.

This is important because you don’t want to attract subscribers who’re just looking for freebies. You want to attract people who’re prepared to pay you for your services in the long run.

For example, if you offer SEO and digital marketing services, your freebie can be a free website SEO audit or an SEO checklist.

Just make sure your freebie has some immediate value for your target users so that they subscriber to your list immediately.

For example, this is the freebie that Neil Patel offer on his blog QuickSprout.

You can see that it’s directly complementing the core services that Neil offers (SEO consultancy, traffic generation, conversion optimization etc.)

CREATE A LANDING PAGE AND AUTO-RESPONDER SERIES

Once your freebie is ready, you need to create a clutter free and high conversion landing page. Conversion optimization is a broad subject and a lot can be written about it. But in summary, all the components of your landing page, including copy, images and your freebie, should point in only one direction – your opt-in form.

Here’s a great example from Noah Kagan’s blog.

You also need to have an intelligent auto-responder sequence set up for your new subscribers. Just like your freebie, it needs to be aligned with your paid product/services.

I typically use a five email auto-responder sequence in which the first three emails deliver direct value in the form of actionable advice and resources. The last two emails are about my paid offer which my subscribers can get at a discounted rate.

There are several auto-responder and email marketing tools on the web, but I prefer GetResponsefor my managing my campaigns (Neil Patel recommended it to me). Apart from email marketing, you can use it to create your landing pages as well.

Creating the landing page and auto-responder is important because you need to give immediate value to your subscribers so that they start trusting you and refer more people to your list.

CREATE A FACEBOOK AD CAMPAIGN

Once you’ve completed the ground work, you can now turn to Facebook advertisements to send you highly targeted visitors. While creating your ad, you need to keep your buyer persona in mind.

Facebook ads have a very precise targeting system. You can use it to zoom in to your target audience and attract the most relevant visitors to your landing page.

While creating your ad, keep the following points in mind.

• Use at least 4 to 5 high quality images for your ad.
• Test different headlines and content for your ad.
• Make sure your ad copy has a clear call to action.
• Start with a small budget for each ad and do test runs to find out the combination.
• Be as precise as possible in your audience criteria.

Once you start your ad campaign, monitor the results closely. If your Facebook ads are getting a lot of clicks and sending traffic to your landing, but the visitor to subscriber conversion rate is low then try making changes to your landing page content and structure. In my experience, Facebook ads have the highest CTR among all other paid advertisement tools.

Wrapping it Up

As I said at the start, Facebook has millions of active members from all across the globe. By using the strength and exposure of this platform, you can attract highly relevant subscribers to your mailing list and convert them into an online asset. However, in order to benefit from Facebook ads, you need to build a solid foundation with your freebie, landing page and auto-responder sequence. If you get it right, you can build a thriving email list in just a few days.

http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/how-to-build-a-thriving-email-list-using-facebook/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SocialMediaExplorer+%28Social+Media+Explorer%29