Do you want more subscribers on your email list?
Most website owners think the best way to grow their subscribers is by adding a “Subscribe to My Newsletter” form to the sidebar of their blog or website. Trust me … I know! I had 5,000 people viewing my blog on a monthly basis but it only resulted in 10 new people joining my email list. Ouch!
How Do The Pro’s Grow Their List So Fast?
I asked around for some advice on how web savvy companies build their email list so quickly and what I discovered is that you need to GIVE SOMETHING TO GET SOMETHING.
“Download my FREE eBook and become a Millionaire Tomorrow!”
Who wouldn’t want to give you their email address to download an eBook that teaches you how to become a millionaire? Of course, it has to be something believable.
I believe YOU actually have something that is better than the millionaire title above … because you know your web visitors really well.
In my case, I took a step back and looked at my blog readers. Most of them were coming to my blog because they wanted to learn how to start a web business. So, I decided to create an eBook called “10 Paying Customers in 10 Days” and give it away for free. I changed my “Sign Up for my Newsletter” form to “Get my eBook for Free by Signing Up for My Newsletter.”
All of a sudden I started getting hundreds of sign ups a month (a 10X increase). I went from a couple hundred subscribers to over 3,000 in less than a year!
On Instant Gratification
You need to give a compelling reason for someone to want to give you their email address. Most visitors don’t really want to join your “newsletter” because it isn’t instant gratification; they usually have to wait a while until you get around to sending your next newsletter.
By giving your readers something for free like a PDF on a topic you’re an expert in, they can get something instantly.
Why This Works
Think about all the newsletters you are currently subscribed to. How many of them did you subscribe to because you simply wanted to get their newsletter and how many were because you signed up for a free service, webinar, free white paper, a coupon, a case study or an ebook?
I did this exercise and found out and that out of the 27 newsletters that I am subscribed to 23 of them were because I wanted the free gift! Most them were free ebooks or services. (I know 27 sounds like a lot – I get a lot of newsletters.) For example, Groupon is a newsletters I get because I signed up for their service.
I hope by now that I’ve convinced you that you need to offer a free gift to get more subscribers. But, now you’re wondering on how to exactly do it! Follow my steps below exactly and I will walk you through it.
Step 1: Figure Out Your Free Gift
The reason the free ebook giveaway worked so well for me is because it is related to my blog and something my new visitors want. You need to brainstorm and get in the mind of your prospective visitors to figure out what they would want.
3 Gifts that Work Well to Get More Subscribers:
If you sell an informational product, I suggest giving away a free bonus chapter, video or webinar.
2.
If you sell a service, I suggest giving away a free ebook, PDF or 15 minute consulting session.
3.
If you sell a physical product: I suggest a downloadable coupon.
A free PDF or ebook is the best thing to give away, because it:
- Makes you look like an expert
- Doesn’t devalue the product you are selling.
- Lets you upsell your paid service towards the end of the document.
Do you think writing an ebook orPDF is a lot of work? My 3 best quick and dirty tips:
- Take your most popular blog post, paste it into a Word document and save it as a PDF.
- Buy a PDF that you can license from a company like Forrester Research.
- Record yourself talking about a favorite topic with a friend for an hour. Then listen to the recording and write it out. Presto magic – you just made your first PDF goodie!
Step 2: Set Up Your Free Giveaway On Your Website
Create a landing page, upload your file to your server, and put a link to it inside your AWeber confirmation email. This way as soon as someone joins your newsletter they can easily download your free gift.
Or, Use Digioh, No Technical Skills Required
If you want an easier way to host your file and have an automatic landing page built then check out Digioh – the easiest subscriber-attracting tool. Simply create your account and upload your PDF/ebook to our website.
After you upload your file, you will get a link that you can paste anywhere: your website, blog, Facebook, etc. Anytime someone clicks on that link they’ll be prompted to enter in their name and email address.
Digioh handles all the file delivery and will also send you an email notification when your file has been downloaded. All new emails collected will be automatically synced to your AWeber account.
For more step by step information on how Digioh’s integration with AWeber works view a quick video here.
Step 3: Enjoy More Subscribers
More subscribers mean more people interacting with your brand. Enjoy the power of having a bigger distribution network.
So, what do you think? Is this a strategy you will use to grow your list like crazy? Let me know what you think in the comments below.