Many new bloggers never give a second thought about gaining subscribers, a handful may not have even heard about subscribers or building a subscriber database for their blog.The bottom line is, once you have your blog set up you should be then looking into gaining those all to important email subscribers, getting your visitors to subscribe to your blog, start to increase newsletter subscribers and initiate targeted mailing lists. By starting the lay the foundations early you will be able to reap the returns sooner and engage with your newly found audience.
Simply put, having a substantial subscriber database for your blog means you have an audience for life (unless they un- subscribe obviously). With this powerful list you can reach your audience directly and connect with them on a 1-on-1 level, not only that you’ll also have the opportunity to target your blog subscribers with affiliate offers, newsletters, promotions, and targeted mailing lists.
OK so just how do I build my blog subscriber database?
Firstly if you've not already done so you’ll need to signup for an email marketing provider so you can start to build your list, without signing up for a service like Benchmark Email you can't even think about moving onto the next steps.
I have mentioned Benchmark Email as a recommended email marketing provider but I should also point out that there are many other companies out there to choose from like Aweber, or MailChimp just to name a few. However I have found that Benchmark Email is one of the easiest to set up and get running especially if you are new to the whole email marketing world and want to start building your targeted mailing lists.
Basic ways to build your email subscriber lists.
Building your blog subscriber list at face value is relatively straight forward and here are a couple of really easy ways to do this:
Include an email op-tin form on your blog: This is what I like to call the "no brainer approach", simply put an op-tin form on your blogs side bar, ideally at the top and by doing so hopefully catch the attention of your visitors and readers as they browse your blog. this is a really easy and simple way to increase newsletter subscribers.
Another way to entice and increase email subscribers is to include an email signup form at the bottom of your posts, this is really a great way to reel in those hard to get subscribers. You can easily put a "one liner" sentence at the bottom of your post asking your readers if they would like to signup to your newsletter or subscribe to your email list or you could use something like OptinSkin to really grab your readers attention and really reel them in.
Add a popup to your blog: By using some simple software on your blog like PopUp Domination you can stop your blog visitors in their tracks and ask them directly if they would like to signup to your email list.
I have heard of bloggers increasing their opt-in rates by 200%, sounds to good to be true right? well you may be surprised. I have had some good results in the past on one of my other blogs using software like PopUp Domination to increase my Facebook Fan Page likes, I almost doubled my fans over night.
I don’t seem to be getting many new subscribers, how can I increase my op-tins?
Trying to reel in potential subscribers is often quite tricky, there are literally 1,000s of blogs in the blogosphere all competing for new subscribers just like you, so how can you stand out from the competition.
One of the best methods is to offer something for free, what I mean by this is tell your readers that if they signup to your email list you will give them a free ebook that you’ve written or a video training series or whatever you think is appropriate for your niche and target audience.
You will be surprised at how many new op-tins you will get from offering something for free, everyone like freebies right?
Conclusion
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post you can't under estimate the power of email lists, you will have a direct route to your readers and the ability to drop in a few affiliate offers to make a little bit of extra cash should not be over looked, none one would begrudge you that.
With the forever changing search engines and Google updates you never now what may be lurking around the corner ready to knock your blog off the top spot. If you have a substantial blog subscriber list then whatever happens to your blog you are safe in the knowledge that you still have your audience to engage with and take with you wherever you may be.
"it's all about the lists"
