When you first start your blog, you will feel excited and overwhelmed. There is so much to do, from writing blog posts to attracting your ideal audience. Many bloggers place emphasis on social media and numbers. Did you know that building an email list is even more important? Below are some tips on how to gain your first 100 email subscribers.
How to Gain Email Subscribers
How do you even get started attracting followers to your email list? It may sound difficult, but it is easier than it sounds.
You do want to do some planning and brainstorming before sending out emails to your audience. Below are some things you can do to gain your first 100 email subscribers (or 1,000!).
Start a Blog
If you haven’t started a blog yet, now is the time to do it! I started my blog on WordPress three years ago, and haven’t looked back since! Make sure to be self-hosted if you want to make money with your blog. I use Siteground, and highly recommend them!
Sign Up with an Email Provider
You want to find a great email marketing provider. There are several great ones that offer a variety of services for free up to a certain amount of email subscribers.
I’ve been using Mailchimp from the start and have been happy with their services. I made my pop up through them, as well as my newsletter and other services they provide.
You can use their services for free up until you have 2,000 email subscribers. You can find out more about Mailchimp by clicking on the image below.
Powered by MailchimpUse a Pop Up Subscription Form
A pop up subscription form is a great way to let readers know about your email list. I created mine through Mailchimp and have it timed to pop up a few seconds after someone visits my blog.
I have read that many bloggers complain that it may annoy readers to see a pop up, but studies show that pop ups work really well to help bloggers gain more email subscribers. You can always play around with this and test out using one for a period of time and see how it works for you.
Below is part of an image of my pop up.
Know Your Audience
This is very important, especially when you create your opt in to get your followers to subscribe to your email list (which I explain more below). Where do they hang out, what do they do, what is their age, where do they live, and so on. A great place to find this out is on Google Analytics.
You also want to keep track of your most popular posts and use this information to attract email subscribers to your list by mentioning it in these blog posts.
Have a Great Opt In
If you want readers to sign up on your email list, a great way to attract subscribers is to offer something to them for free. The next question is, what do you offer them?
Offer your subscribers something valuable within your niche. Make your incentive something simple, like a list or getting started guide. Since my main niche is gardening, I offer a free toolkit on how to start a garden.
Below are some more ideas for opt-ins you can offer your subscribers.
- mini book
- how to guide
- checklist
- images
- free printables
- planner
- and so much more!
You can also do some research to see what other bloggers in your niche are offering for free on their email lists. Join a few if you think they would be of value to you as well. You can also take these freebies and create your own based on what you know your audience needs.
Do you like what you are reading? Stay informed on everything going on here at Blooming Anomaly by joining by email list. As a thank you, I will be sending you a FREE tookit on how to start your own garden, as well as a monthly newsletter about everything happening here. Join today!
Mention Your Email Subscription List Everywhere
Let everyone know about your email list! Have a “subscribe to email list” notice all over your blog. I mention my email list on my pop up, on my side bar, and throughout blog posts.
The more places you have your “subscribe to mailing list” form, the more likely a reader will join your email list!
Why Should I Join Your Email List?
This is a great question, since you probably get so many emails a day yourself. Remind your audience of all the great blog posts, tips, giveaways, digital products, and free stuff they can have access to by joining your email list.
Tell Your Followers on Social Media
Don’t forget to mention your email list on your social media platforms as well. I mention mine in the description section of my profile on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I also made images to include on these sites about my email list as well.
Try Guest Blogging
Guest blogging is another great way to get your first 100 email subscribers. By writing a great post on another blogger’s site, you can attract those readers onto your site, and gain more email subscribers who would not otherwise know about your blog and all the amazing information you have on there.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to other bloggers in your niche to collaborate with them. You never know who will be happy to help out or enjoy having a guest post on their blog.
Write Amazing Posts
This doesn’t really need too much of an explanation. If you write amazing blog posts, your readers will want to keep coming back for more and will be happy to join your email list.
If you are a beginner blogger, write as much as you can so that you become a great writer in your niche. Practice makes perfect!
Keep Your Email Subscribers Interested
Now that you have a small list of email subscribers, what do you do with them? Have a weekly or monthly newsletter to keep them up to date with new blog posts, your life as it relates to the blog, giveaways, sales, or anything else that may interest your readers.
I use to send out an email list every Tuesday morning to let my email subscribers know about my newest blog post, as well as what I was up to that past week.
Life has gotten busier, but I still keep my email subscribers informed of my latest blog posts and what I’ve been up to for the past month on my monthly newsletter.
Find a schedule that works for you and be consistent with it. This may be weekly or monthly. If you choose to send your newsletter weekly, make sure its on the same time and day. Your readers will expect their email from you on those days and times, so stick with a schedule.
Why You Should Have an Email List
Why should you bother growing an email list in the first place? These people are your most important people for the reasons below.
Your First Customers
If you have something to sell, such as an ebook, course, other digital products, or physical items, your email following will be your first customers and the ones most likely to buy from you. Studies show that subscribers on email lists are more likely to buy from you than from any other online resource.
Even if you have nothing to sell yet, start growing your email list right away! When you do have something to sell, your email subscribers will be the first to buy from you!
Don’t Rely on Social Media
There are many ways you can gain followers on social media and many people focus on gaining social media followers. What happens when the algorithms change or the site goes down? There goes your audience.
Social media is great, but you don’t own or have control over those sites. You have control over your email list though. If all social media sites go down, so do your followers.
But if you have an email list, you can still reach followers that follow you because they want to.
You Are in Control
Remember, you are in control of your list so make sure you add amazing things to your newsletter every time you send one out to keep your subscribers clicking into your email and blog.
Your First 100 Email Subscribers
This post was to help you get started on gaining your first 100 email subscribers and beyond. Let me know if you used any of the above tips or others to help you gain email subscribers by letting me know in the comments section below!
Kyra | lovekyra.co.uk says
These tips are so, so useful, thank you!
-Kyra
Ann says
You are welcome! I’m glad to provide tips that help!
Lia Mara Dospetti says
I loved this post, Ann! To be honest, I’m quite shy about starting my author newsletter and a bit concerned about all those GDPR rules. But it looks like MailChimp might have that covered, right? I guess I need to grow and network a little more before starting my own newsletter, so I’m bookmarking this post for later. Thank you so much!
.Lia.
(liadospetti.com)
Ann says
You are welcome! MailChimp does cover GDPR rules, so that should not be a problem. Good luck!
Corinne says
Such a helpful post. Personally, it took me months before I even had 100 email subscribers. I was doing it all wrong and not promoting my optins enough. But since doing that, I’m now getting sign-ups everyday.
Ann says
That is awesome! It can be difficult to gain subscribers if not done the right way. Sounds like you are doing a great job promoting your blog!
Hannah says
Some really great tips and eye-opening points! I haven’t been putting time into gaining subscribers and this is now at the top of my to-do list!
Ann says
That is great to hear! You should definitely focus on gaining more subscribers for your email list. They are the best followers to have!
Steff says
This is a really useful post! I’m currently working on building my email subscribers (amongst the 101 other things that blogging comes with!) so I’m saving it to my faves to refer back to. Thanks! x
http://www.steffsjourney.com
Ann says
I am glad you found this post useful! It can be hard to focus on one thing when there is so much to do when it comes to blogging. Keep building your email list at the top of your to do list!
Sarah Mark says
This post is great! It has been so helpful thank you so much for sharing!
Ann says
Thank you for stopping by and letting me know that this post helps! That is so wonderful to hear!
Alison Kelly says
This has been a real struggle for me. You gave me a few new ideas! Thank you!
Ann says
I still struggle with this too. I just need to devote more time to getting the word out there that I have a subscription with a freebie. I’m glad to be of help!
Beth Gray says
Great suggestions & posts on email subscription! Thank you!
Ann says
You are welcome! Glad to help!
Aliana Ebanks says
I’m trying to increase my email subscriptions and this is very helpful, thank you!
Ann says
Awesome! I’m so happy you found this helpful. Keep up the work and you will increase your subscribers in time.
Bible Momma/Amanda R says
Great post and perfect timing for me! I only have 16 email subscribers and I wasn’t quite sure what to do next. I have incorporated some of your ideas and you have given me some more to ponder. Thanks!
Ann says
That is great to hear! Everyone starts at zero, so 16 is something! Be patient and I’m sure your list will grow!