It took a few years for it to really click with me–I needed an email list. 

I had spent a lot of energy on growing my social media following, not for popularity, but for the opportunity to share with others. The problem is, we don’t always have a whole lot of control over our social media platforms. We get no say in the algorithm or how many people end up seeing our posts. If you’re like me, you do most of your sharing and marketing through Instagram, Facebook, and other social platforms. But, what do we do when we can’t guarantee our followers or potential followers will even see what we have to share?

Maybe you’ve done some research on how to boost your engagement or grow your follower count, but you still want to ensure you’re reaching more people–specifically the people who want whatever it is you have to offer!

A list of email subscribers is a great way to do that, and it’s pretty simple + free to get started. Once I launched my strategy to grow my list, I went from a handful of subscribers to more than 500 in just a couple weeks. In fact, within three days more than 120 people subscribed to my newsletter. Each week I continue to receive new subscribers, which always makes me do a little internal happy dance.

I know the people who subscribe genuinely want to hear from me to some capacity. I also know they are the people most likely to be interested in booking sessions, buying my digital products, or simply just engaging with the content I share online. Sometimes I’m selling an actual thing that costs actual money, but sometimes I’m “selling” content and the “buy” is just them contributing their time to interact with it. Whatever it is I want to share, it’s helpful knowing I have a devoted audience who wants to receive it, and who I know will receive the content.

Want to learn more about how to start and grow your own email subscriber list? Keep reading.

1. Brainstorm some “freebie” your subscribers will automatically be able to access when they subscribe to your newsletter. This is called your opt-in offer. It doesn’t have to be super fancy or difficult, but it should offer value in a way that’s enticing to people. Think: how many times have you subscribed to a company’s email list so you could get a discount on your order? Right?! You can offer a coupon code, a downloadable resource, or some other goodie. Think about what you would like to receive if you were your potential client. I really wanted to bring awareness to the new mobile editing presets I was creating, so I decided to make my favorite one a free download people could access once they subscribed. Then, if they liked it, I felt pretty certain they would be interested in purchasing other presets when I decided to launch those, too!
2.  Create your opt-in offer if you’re doing something that needs to be made and upload to a place like Google Drive or Dropbox so you can easily upload a file or paste a link when you’re creating your sign-up form.
3. Utilize an email marketing platform like Mailchimp to help you start your email list. They have a free option and it’s pretty easy to use. You’ll want to create a landing page or some other variation of a signup form that you can direct people to. Mailchimp can walk you through the steps of creating your landing page, but a little trial and error, googling, and playing around should get you where you need to be. If you have questions, you can definitely let me know or bring them to the Facebook group!
4. Share your opt-in offer with people on your social media platforms, and consider adding a pop-up or embedded form to your website, so whenever anyone visits, they’ll be prompted to subscribe. Mailchimp and Google can give you some direction on this, too! Or, if you have someone helping you with web development, ask about this!
5.  Consistently share your opt-in offer, or create a new one from time to time to encourage growth of your list.
6. Deliver content to your subscribers! A special thing I do for those who subscribe to my newsletter is always give them early, VIP access to launches. They get first dibs on booking sessions, buying presets or other digital goodies, etc. Sometimes, they even get a discounted rate or bonus offer I don’t extend to the general public.A few helpful tips:

   -When you’re creating your forms, landing pages, and newsletters, you’re going to want some good photo content to include. I recommend compiling your own images and using those rather than royalty free stock images. If you don’t have any great photos, I know a photographer (wink wink–it’s me). Save your images to a folder, and then pull from there when you’re creating your content.

   – Don’t let your opt-in offer feel overwhelming to you! Think about what your dream clients would really love and what would make them keep coming back for more. Need help? Post in the FB group! 

   – Keep a link to subscribe to your newsletter in your bio on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. I use Linktree so I can host several links in one spot. It’s another great, free resource you can check out!

   Have questions or need help? Let me know! And make sure to share your signup form when it’s ready so I can subscribe!