How to Start an Email List for Your Blog

How to Start an Email List for Your Blog

Without a doubt, Email Marketing is among the most powerful monetization methods. For this reason, you should implement it on your blog as soon as possible. In this post, you’re going to learn how to start building an Email Marketing List.

According to Salesforce (and many other statistics/marketing sites), Email marketing has an average ROI (Return on Investment) of 3800%! This actually means that you can earn up to $38 for every $1 invested!

Also, Leighton Interactive refers that 3.7 billion people globally were using email (for 2017). This number is expected to grow to 4.1 billion by 2021! That’s almost half the Earth’s population!

To better understand how it works, let’s take a look at this example:

You have an email list with 1000 subscribers.

Also, you just discovered a new product/offer that can really benefit your readers. You sent them an Email (using an Email Marketing Service) to let them know about the offer.

Let’s assume that you can promote this product through an affiliate link with a commission of $20. If 150 of your subscribers buy the product, you’ll earn 150×20=$3000. Just by sending a simple email!

I’m sure you can see the true potential of it here.

Further, maintaining an email list is so important because:

  • You can send traffic to your blog when you publish a new post, or even to older posts.
  • It lets you connect and communicate with your audience whenever you want to.
  • It helps you build a better relationship with your readers, so they can trust you more.
  • You can let them know when you create a new project, a new blog, or send them offers they need (not spamming).

start an email list for your blog

How to Start an Email List for Your Blog for Free

To start building your list, you’ll need:

  1. An Email Marketing Software (that automates the email-sending process) along with a “Sign Up” form.
  2. A way to attract and collect email subscribers.

{Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links (AWeber). If you purchase AWeber I will receive a commission. However, I only promote it because I personally use it and it has greatly helped me to raise my online income!}

The Best Email Marketing Service for starting out is AWeber because:

  • It offers by far the best value for money.
  • It has the best email delivery rate (almost 100%) compared to other similar more expensive services. Many people take it for granted, but it’s actually not. Email Services with lower delivery rate may result in losing money.
  • It offers a 30-days free trial, so you can earn your first dollars even before the trial ends. Other similar companies offer a 15-days trial.
  • It’s simple, easy-to-learn and easy-to-use. You can create your email “Sign Up” forms and email campaigns from your first day!
  • It lets you create multiple “Sign Up” forms and segment your subscribers based on their interests.
  • You can add “Tags” to your subscribers (e.g. dog owners, cat owners) so you can send them more specialized emails.
  • It lets you run splits tests to figure out what kind of emails perform better.
  • 24/7 fast and excellent customer support.
  • All the analytics you need to see how your email campaigns are performing.
  • After your free trial ends, the cost is $19/month, which is the lowest on the market, considering AWeber is among the best 3 Email Marketing Software. The other top 2 services charge from $50-$200/month. They’re good companies but they offer features you absolutely don’t need if you just starting out building your list. Note you can transfer from and to AWeber anytime without losing your subscribers.

Avoid using MailChimp at all costs as it prohibits affiliate marketing and affiliate links. If you use it for affiliate marketing or sponsorships, they’re going to delete your account. As a result, you’ll lose all your subscribers and campaigns you worked hard to obtain.

How to Start an Email List with AWeber

First, click this link to get started with AWeber.

Also Read: The 6 Best Drip Alternatives

Then, choose your plan (the first month is free). Quarterly and annual plans offer a discount.

setting up AWeber

Fill your personal and billing information, confirm your plan again and click “Start My Free Trial”. You’re ready to use AWeber and set up your list!

How to start building an Email Marketing List

How to Set up an Email “Sign Up” Form

1st Option: You can use AWeber’s forms. After you log in, click Sign Up Forms -> Create Sign Up Forms -> Sign Up Form.

create Sign Up Form

There you can select a premade form and edit it or create your own.

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#1 Template Gallery: Choose one of the premade templates.

#2 Elements: You can edit the elements of the form such as the text size, color and the fonts. Also, you can add or remove elements and even upload your own images. It’s pretty simple to use. Don’t forget to let them know the gift they’re going to receive as soon as they join your list!

#3 Type: Here you can choose how you want your form to appear.

  • In Line: Your form will appear where you set it (e.g. at the end of your post)
  • Pop-Over: You can set a timer (e.g. 40seconds) and after this time passes your form will appear in the middle of the screen.
  • Lightbox: It’s identical to Pop-Over but the screen behind the form will get dark.
  • Pop-Up: Your form will open in a new window. It’s not a recommending option because the majority of browsers will block it.
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#4 Recurrence: Select how often this form will appear to your visitors (if it’s a Pop-Over form), so it will not be annoying.

#5 Remove/Add Elements You can click any element to edit or delete it.

When you finish editing your form, click Go To Step 2.

Here you can choose what message you want to sent to your subscribers once they sign up or a message if they’ve already subscribed in the past.

AWeber has a premade “Thank you” message but you can always edit it and add your personal style.

Learn more with this video tutorial:

Also Read: 10 Ways to Increase Your Business’ Profit with Online Content

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Once you’re ready, click Go To Step 3 and then “Save Your Form.

Then, choose “I Will Install My Form” and copy the Javascript Snippet code. You can paste this code wherever you want your form to appear (at the start, middle or the end of every post).

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When you paste the code, make sure you have selected the “Text” mode on your WordPress editor. After you paste it, you can switch back to “Visual” mode.

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Congratulations! Your Email Sign Up form is ready!

2nd Option: Use “AWeber’s Web Form Widget” for WordPress. It’s a method similar to the previous one but you manage your forms via AWeber’s widget for WordPress. They provide an instructional guide here.

3rd Option: Use another WordPress widget for email Sign Up forms. There are many widgets for capturing emails that offer more options and landing pages. The majority of them are not free though. The best free one is called “Optin Forms” by FancyThemes. You can download it from your WordPress dashboard.

Setting up your Email campaign

What is actually an Email Campaign?

An Email Campaign is a sequence of emails that your readers will receive after subscribing to your email list. This is why we need Email Marketing software for sending emails automatically.

You’ll have written these emails beforehand and you can set how often you want your subscribers to receive them.

As an example, you can prepare a 4-day course for teaching something to your audience. When someone subscribes to your list, he’s going to receive the first email immediately. Then, 24 hours later he’ll receive the second email, 48 hours the third email and 72hours (3 days) later the fourth email.

In the process, you can promote some products (through affiliate links) to your subscribers that you believe that can help them achieve their goal.

This way, you teach something valuable and you earn some money at the same time!

How can I set up my Email Campaign?

The process is pretty straightforward! On your AWeber Dashboard, click Messages -> Campaigns -> Create a Campaign.

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Now, you have three options available. To use them, simply drag and drop a box.

set up email sequence
  • Apply Tag: This feature is useful if you want to create multiple campaigns. For example, you can create a campaign for summer travelers and one for winter travelers. When someone subscribes to “Summer Travelers Form”, he/she will be tagged as “Summer Traveler” so you can segment your subscribers and send them emails about summer vacations.
  • Send Message: After you drag and drop the Send a Message box, click “Create a Message”. Then, you can choose if you want it to be a “Plain Text Message” or if you want to use the “ Drag & Drop Email Builder”. This way, you can insert different elements to your emails such as images, videos, premade templates, logos and many more.
  • Wait: After you’ve created an email, you can drag and drop the “Wait” box below your email. Then, you’ll set when you want the next email to be sent (e.g. after 1 day).

Also Read: 6 Ways to Explode Your Business’s Online Presence

Note that the first number of your sequence will always be “Trigger campaign for “All subscribers” or for “Tagged Subscribers”.

When your campaign is ready to launch, click Messages -> Campaigns -> Activate. Now, when someone subscribes to your Email Form, he/she will start receiving your emails!

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In the case you want to send a simple email to your subscribers, click Messages -> Broadcasts.

How to Collect Email Subscribers

In order to convince your visitors to join your email list, you should offer something that has value to them. In exchange, you get their email addresses.

What can I offer to them?

The most successful methods that have proven to work and are used from the majority of bloggers/online marketers are:

  1. Free email courses: Free courses are awesome! You’re teaching something that your audience wants to know and at the same time, you build trust and credibility. Further, you can recommend some products in the process that will drastically help them. Don’t force them to buy these products though.
  2. EBooks & PDF files: It’s another great way for collecting subscribers. It doesn’t have to be a big one. Even 5 pages it’s enough as long as it contains valuable information. Also, don’t forget to give it a promising title.
  3. Cheatsheets & Check Lists: Help your readers save time by listing everything they need to have for achieving their goal.
  4. Contests & Giveaways: Who doesn’t want to join a giveaway for free? Make sure that the prize will be something relevant to your niche, so your audience will be interested in subscribing.
  5. Podcasts/Audio files: This method is similar to offering an eBook, but it has an audio form.
  6. Discounts/Coupons for Products or Services: It’s a very attractive way if the product has value for your audience.
  7. Exclusive Content: Offer them unique content that will be available only for your email list’s members. Learn how to create high-quality content here!

These are just some popular methods for collecting emails. Don’t hesitate to be creative and offer something with value that will attract your visitors!

Don’t just offer them a subscription to your newsletter because it has no real value. You should add it as a bonus to another above-referred gift.

For example: “Subscribe now to receive our 5-day free course and be the first to read our fresh content/newsletter!”

More tips for building  successful Email Marketing List from Hubspot

Summing It Up

Email Marketing is a powerful monetization method. You should take advantage of it and include it to your blog from your first days!

First, create an “Email Sign Up Form”. Let them know what gift you’re offering if they join your list.

Then, create and activate your campaign. As time passes, your list is going to grow along with your earning potential!

Did you find the post helpful? I’d greatly appreciate it if you share it with your friends or on your Social Media. Also, feel free to ask me anything in the comments below!

Last but not least, join my email list to know how an email campaign should look like!

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