Business Owners

7 Ways to Grow Your Email List

January 8, 2017

You know you need to grow your email list but you aren’t sure how. There are many ways to grow your email list. Depending on your business, some will work better than others.

I find it’s best to incorporate multiple tactics to grow your email list. I’ve used all of the strategies mentioned below and found some success with each.

Mention Your Email List in a Blog Post

If you have a blog, mention your email list in individual blog posts. It could be as simple as organically mentioning that your next email is coming out and including a link where they can sign up. I get the best conversions with this method.

This method is easy for your readers to participate in.

Sign Up Form on your Website

Your email provider has forms that can be placed in your sidebar, footer or used in a slider. The area following a blog post is also a great place for a sign-up form. It’s a good idea to have multiple sign-up forms so that your readers always have the option to sign up. Forms can also be configured to slide in or pop up.

Make sure your sign-up form doesn’t cover the whole page. Google will penalize pages that have the content obstructed by pop-ups. Try one like the sign-up form below.

Social Media

Do you have a great social media following? Put it to good use by encouraging your followers to subscribe to your email list. I find this works best when I create a sense of urgency and capitalize on their fear of missing out. For example, “On Saturday’s email, I’ll share my secret money saving tip for business owners! Don’t miss it! Get on my list today!”

This type of post creates urgency and piques their interest.

Promote at Events

If you attend in-person events, you can have people who visit your table sign up for your email list. Some people will want to learn more about your message. Other people may need a bit more incentive. Businesses can create a small basket for a giveaway. Have a clipboard or mobile device where visitors can sign up, draw a name at the end of the day.

Bloggers will often include the option of signing up for an email list to win a virtual giveaway as well.

Similarly, if you have brochures or printed materials at your table, include a mention of your email list and the benefits they get by signing up.

Video

Video is outpacing other forms of communication and can be used to grab readers attention. Whether you are using video to promote your email list or a freebie (mentioned next), it’s a great method to use if you are comfortable in front of the camera.

Consider using video on your website and social media to talk about what your readers will get when they sign up to your email list? Will they get weekly, monthly, or quarterly emails? Will they get sales pitches, tips or all your new blog posts? Create a short video so they know exactly what they get. You can share this video regularly or create one for each freebie you have.

Freebie

There are a lot of names for this category. Often, people will entice readers to sign up for the email list with free content, content upgrades, freebies, opt in, the list goes on. Basically, it’s bonus content that isn’t included on your blog, that you are giving your readers in exchange for their email address. It’s a trade.

These are a great way to get more names on your list and to see what your audience is interested in. On my other blog, I regularly create meal plans that people can download. These freebies keep new people signing up for my email list every day.

Free Course

Similar to a freebie, a free course is a series of educational emails that appeal to your reader. Each email in the series will contain easy to understand information, typically in small, actionable steps.

Free Courses are often used to sell an enhanced version of a product. This can be very successful at both growing your email list and increasing your sales. Just make sure the free course adds value or you will lose your readers.

Do you have a favorite way to grow your email list? My favorites are mentioning my email list organically in my posts and offering freebies for my readers. I’m planning to expand more into video and free courses in the future.

Which works best for you?

5 Reasons to Grow Your Email List

January 8, 2017

There’s a saying, “the money is in the list”, but what does that really mean?

When you build your email list, you are setting your business up for success and more money. Why? Because your email list is a direct link to your customers.

Your number of subscribers is a key business metric that you should track.

5 Reasons You Should Grow Your Email List

You control your own list/site but you don’t control other space on the internet (such as social media). It is one of the few things you truly own and you can take it with you.
Your list is how you build a following to your brand. People who sign up to your list will continue to follow you. They are essentially signing up to agree to updates from you because they like your brand.
The bigger your list, the more reach you have and you can spread your brand’s message to a wider audience.
It helps you to be clear about your message. What does your audience want from you? What do they not want? Your list will help you narrow this down.
You increase engagement and it also allows you the opportunity to start email conversations with people about your brand.

Now that you have this info to help you better understand why your list is so important, it’s time to start building it. Whether you are starting from scratch or trying to make your existing list bigger, this advice will help you.

Need help growing your list? I’m available! Whether you need help developing a strategy or need someone to take it over, contact me and I’ll create a custom plan to meet your needs and your budget.

How to Get More Followers on Twitter

August 3, 2016

Twitter is a great way for bloggers and businesses to reach more people. You can use Twitter to promote your business but you have to have a decent following. If you’ve struggled to get more followers on Twitter the following strategies will help.

Create Engaging Content

The best way to gain more followers on Twitter is by creating engaging content on a regular basis. Depending on your strategy, you should strive to Tweet several times a day. Also take extra steps to ensure you can reach a wider audience. One of the ways you can do this is by including current events or trending topics in your Tweets.

Make Your Tweets More Interesting

People are more likely to follow you (and continue following you) if your Tweets are interesting. Pushing out your blog post titles with a link or sales links can be part of your strategy but it can’t be the whole strategy. Post pictures, interesting links, and videos between your text-only posts. Give other Twitter users a reason to want to follow you!

Use Hashtags to Your Advantage

The right hashtag can make all the difference when it comes to connecting with Twitter users. Make sure that your hashtags are focused and relevant. One of the things you may want to do is search Twitter for similar posts and see what hashtags other users have assigned to their Tweets.

Don’t make the mistake of using hashtags that are not related to your content. More people may see your Tweets but they will see them as spammy.

Follow Other Twitter Users

When you are first starting on Twitter you will get more followers by following other users; some may follow you back. If other users follow you first, you may want to follow them back. It’s usually considered a common courtesy to return the follow, you don’t want to appear as though it’s a one-sided arrangement. In some cases it may not be a good fit to follow users who follow you.

Direct People to Your Twitter Account

Perhaps one of the easiest ways to get more people to follow you on Twitter is by asking them to. Include a Twitter icon that links to your account on your blog or website. You can also encourage people from other social networks, such as Facebook, to follow you on Twitter too. Including your Twitter handle in your email signature is another great way to gain more followers.

These are just a few of the ways you can get more followers on Twitter. Keep in mind that gaining followers is only half the battle. Keeping them engaged with new content and adding value can help ensure that you will keep your followers.

Can a Social Media Manager Grow My Business

July 3, 2016

You’ve worked really hard to build your business, don’t let a lack of skills hold you back. Many small business owners fall into the trap of trying to do everything themselves. Knowing when to add people or skills will help your business grow to the next level. Read on to see what a social media manager can do for your business.

Outsource with a Social Media Manager

Maybe you’ve never thought about using a social media manager for your business but there are many situations where it might be helpful. If you’re feeling overwhelmed with your social media, or if you just don’t have the time to manage it yourself, you might consider hiring a social media manager to help.

Here are some things a social media manager can do for your business:

Create content and post to your social media channels.
Reply to messages and provide social customer support.
Help you track conversations about your brand online.
Help you define strategies to build and enhance your fan/follower base.
Work to create promotion campaigns, paid advertising, events and more.
Select tools and apps that can be used to help manage your social media.
Building, managing, and administrating your social networks.

Sometimes there are other roles that a social media manager will do and sometimes the SMM takes on more of a community manager role in addition to these tasks.

Multiply Your Time By Hiring a Social Media Manager

Think about how long it takes you to handle all of the social media platforms, review sites and customer questions online? Does it add to your bottom line? Hiring a professional that specializes in social media will lighten your load and give you a better return on your investment. How much is your time worth?

Is it Time to Hire?

It’s all about your needs and requirements. You might want someone to help you with strategy and advertising, or just someone to post replies and create new content. You might want a manager for just one network while you handle the others, or someone to handle all of that completely for you.

If you never thought about hiring a social media manager before, now you have some basic reasons to consider it. You could allow a professional to focus on the social media while you get back to the things you do best – running your business.

4 Reasons Your Business Needs Social Media

May 31, 2016

As a business owner you know it’s important to have a steady stream of new customers. Your specific type of business is one factor that will determine where those customers come from. Whether you are a marketing director with a big budget or a soleperneur; social media is a great way to expand your customer base.

4 Reasons Your Business Needs Social Media

How do you get most of your customers? Do you have a great location, amazing word of mouth, a dedicated customer base or some combination of factors that bring in regular income?

An effective social media strategy can magnify those factors and help make up for deficiencies.

Social media is an ideal location

Where are your customers? I don’t mean their zip code although that is important too. More than likely they are on social media. Depending on the demographics you serve they may be on Facebook, Instagram or elsewhere.

Social media can put you in front of your ideal customers in a place they spend time every day. Think about it, customers may not stumble upon your shop but how much time each day do they spend browsing social media.

Social media helps spread the word

Do you have a good mechanic, stylist or babysitter? Of course you do. I bet you are happy to share your recommendation formally on review sites and informally in your personal social media profiles.

Most people (83%) trust recommendations from people they know. When your customers are happy they will want to share their experience with friends. The same goes for when they are unhappy so make sure you provide a great product or service.

Shoppers are turning to social media to find products and services to meet their needs. In an evolving world of selfies, people are more than happy to show off their latest finds. You can encourage customers to connect online or tag your business.

Happy customers love to share

Everyone loves the inside scoop. Your dedicated customers will follow your business on social media if it will benefit them. Specials, discounts or even a behind the scenes look at the business will be enough to get them to follow you and stay engaged long after the sale is final.

If your business has a consistent social media presence your customers will take notice. They will check in, tag and share their photos and experiences.

Social media provides instant results

Do you rely on traditional advertising? While it’s generally effective it can also be expensive and have a considerable lag time between purchase and outcome.

Social media can provide instant results for your business. Depending on the platform you will be able to see how many people can see your posts, who liked it, how many people shared it and more. If you choose to advertise on social media you can target your audience based on their demographics and get a pretty good outcome with a little amount of money.

Even with a great location, word of mouth and a dedicated customer base… an effective social media strategy will amplify your online presence and allow you to reach more potential customers.

If you need help with your social media management, strategy or reporting send me an email to info@hollyyzquierdo.com. I can set up your accounts, manage them or teach you or an employee how to do it.

Still need convincing? Check out Can a Social Media Manager Grow My Business?