How to Build an Email List for Beginners: 7 Email List Building Steps

Email marketing is still one of the best ways to build a connection with your audience.  If you haven’t started building an email list, it is time to start! In this post, I am giving you 7 key email list building tips to get started.

This post contains affiliate links.  Please see my disclaimer page for more info

Let’s first start with the basics:

After someone finds your website or content via Google, social media, or a friend, they then read your blog post, listen to your podcast, watch your video, etc. From there, there are two choices that someone can make:

1. They can choose to move on to something else or
2. Choose to learn more from you and become a lead.

What is a lead? 

A lead is someone who takes an action after reading, watching, listening to your content, or even just landing on your website.  They are in a sense raising their hand saying- “I want to learn more about this from you.”   

How does someone consuming your content become a lead? 

Someone officially becomes a lead when they give you a way to stay in contact with them. This is typically via an email address.

Despite growing technology and social media platforms, email is still the best way to keep in touch with your audience.  

99% of email users check their inbox daily, so if you have an important message that you want to ensure your audience receives, email is still your best bet. 

Learn 6 more reasons why you need to be building an email list here

How do you get someone’s email address?  

The days of creating a small form on the side of your website that says “Sign up for my newsletter” are over. 

People’s inboxes are flooded with messages these days and nobody has time for another newsletter!

You need to provide your ideal person with something of value for free that is worth them handing over their email address for in return.

This freebie should give them a quick win and be directly related to what you are selling.

Whether you are selling your services, a course, printables, or another digital product, your freebie (aka lead magnet) should get them one step closer to solving their problem.

They provide their email address via a form on your site or landing page. (See step 4 below) and they become a lead on your email list.

Once they are on your list, you need to nurture the relationship to help them build a know, like, and trust factor with you.  Provide valuable content that educates but save the specific how-to content for your paid program or product, where the complete solution is found and their problem is solved.

Example of how this works

Let’s say your ideal audience is beginners who want to learn how to play the guitar. A good freebie idea could be a video showing them how to play 5 basic chords every beginner needs to know.

Then from there, you will send more emails educating them further about getting started, beginner mistakes to avoid, etc. This then leads them to a point where they want to continue learning more from you and you can introduce your course for a limited-time, discounted price.

If they don’t buy, you will continue to provide value (but not step-by-step instruction) and you can present the offer again at a later time.

People do business with people they know, like and trust.

An email list helps you convert random consumers of your content into conscious subscribers. It assists in building a connection with your audience on a more intimate level, and helps you sell your products/services with confidence.

Now let’s get into the specifics of how to build an email list for beginners. 

Email List Building Step 1: Start with the end in mind

This involves asking yourself,  What is your ideal person’s biggest pain point?  What problem do they need help solving? 

This is something I always tell my students and private coaching clients to get very clear on. 

Before you create any content or opt-ins, you want to make sure that you have done actual market research. This is to ensure that you are clear on what your actual audience needs and wants. 

I know market research is not exciting, but it is 100% necessary to avoid wasting a ton of time and money creating content and products that no one wants.  

Once you are clear on your ideal person’s pain point and desire then you can begin to reverse engineer the whole process.  

Start by asking, What digital product/service would best serve my audience and solve their main problem?

Then ask yourself- What type of content do I need to create to educate them and get them ready to purchase my product?

From there, take it back even further and ask, What type of freebie would give them a quick win and get them on my email list so that I can continue to provide value and build a relationship with them?

Then, ultimately solve their problem and have a big impact on their life with your course, coaching, digital product, or whatever you offer.

Everything needs to be closely connected.  

Email List Building Step 2: Create a freebie

Create an incentive that will make it a no-brainer for them to opt-in.

There are a ton of different ways to get someone on your email list. 

You can offer a simple freebie like a cheat sheet or checklist. Maybe a free video lesson or spreadsheet if it fits with your niche. You could host a free event like a webinar or challenge that provides value and then gives them the opportunity to work with you further at the end.

In my Email Marketing Blueprint course, I provide you with a printable of 40 freebie ideas that work for all types of niches.

Once you know what freebie you are going to offer, then you are ready for step 3.

Email List Building Step 3: Choose an email provider

An email service provider is a company that provides an email marketing platform whereby you can create and send bulk emails to a list of subscribers.  

Your regular email provider like Gmail or Yahoo are not bulk email providers, so you cannot use them to collect or send bulk emails without them getting flagged as spam or reported.  

The good news is that there are numerous email service providers to choose from for your email marketing needs.  Each has its own unique options and pricing.  

I’ve tried out numerous email service providers over the years and I can say with full confidence that ConvertKit is who I use, recommend, and have loved for 8+ years.

I show you step-by-step how to set up a completely FREE email marketing account with ConvertKit for up to 10,000 subscribers in my free email marketing mini course.

Email List Building Step 4: Create a sign up form or landing page via your email provider. 

Each email provider will have different options for creating these.  ConvertKit provides different premade forms and landing pages to choose from that you can then customize.

In my full Email Marketing Blueprint course, I cover the differences between the two options and when and where to use each. Then I provide a step-by-step tutorial on how to create both and how to add them to your website, within your content, or share on social media.

Email List Building Step 5: Create a thank you landing page 

Your subscribers will be directed to a thank you page once they have signed up.  You will create this within your email provider.

This is an important step because it gives your subscriber/lead a confirmation that they are signed up.

It also provides them with instructions on what steps to take next. 

Plus it’s a great place for a tripwire offer (a one-time very limited-time, discounted offer) which is a more advanced strategy that I teach once you have your email marketing set up.  It’s something that I use to grow my list and income at the same time. It is also something you will want to keep in mind as you grow your business as well

After your form is in place and connected, you are ready for step 6.

Email List Building Step 6:  Write and set up an automated welcome series. 

A lead is most interested in hearing from you right after they sign up for your freebie. If you get them on your list and just let them sit there for weeks without emailing them, it’s very likely that:

1. They are going to lose interest and move on or

2. Completely forget who you are and unsubscribe when they finally hear from you.  

Have you ever gotten an email from someone weeks or months after you signed up for their list and then have no idea who they are or how they got your email address?  Yeah me too! 

You need to nurture your list from the start. 

It can begin with a welcome email that delivers their freebie and then an automated email once a day or every other day for the next 5-7 days providing your new subscriber with relevant content, tips, and info about yours and your clients/students success (if applicable) to build up credibility and trust. 

From there, I recommend emailing your list once a week sharing something related to your niche, a tip, insight or a new piece of content you created. You should also include limited-time discounts on your product or offer every now and then.

In my full Email Marketing Blueprint course, I share my welcome sequences with you and show you step-by-step how to create and automatically deliver your own welcome series.

Email List Building Step 7: Optimize your website for leads

Lastly, once you have all the email pieces in place, you want to make sure to optimize your website to make it super easy for people to get on your list.  One opt-in form on one blog post, won’t cut it.  People need to see something multiple times before they take action.  You want to make sure that you are providing several opportunities for your audience to join your email list.  

Put your opt-in within your written content multiple times. If you are doing a podcast or video, mention it several times. Put a link to it above the fold on your home page, put it on Pinterest, share it with your audience, etc.

Putting it all together

Once someone joins your list, be sure to talk to them like a friend in the emails and be consistent with staying in contact.  I recommend emailing your list once per week with helpful content to help them move forward in their journey.  

If you follow these strategies and your freebie and content are directly related to your offer then you will have a warmed up audience of qualified leads who will be ready to purchase from you!

Want to learn more about setting up your email marketing with ConvertKit so that you can start bringing leads into your business that will lead to more impact and income? Check out my free mini course below to get started.

If you follow these strategies, you will start to build a list of interested leads that will be ready to give you feedback and buy from you in the future. 

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6 reasons why you need to be building an email list