If you’re a freelancer who’s established yourself with a great blog and/or website, then the chances are more-than-good that you’d like to build on that achievement by creating an email list for marketing purposes. Sure, it’d be ideal to just put up a subscription button or form and see those signup numbers climb higher and higher each day. Of course, though, as with all worthwhile endeavors, building an email list is going to take some planning.

Go for quality, above all.

Have you ever noticed how, on social media, some business accounts have oodles of followers, yet no one’s really engaging with their posts? You most certainly don’t want to take that approach with your email list, because that’d defeat the entire purpose of having one in the first place!

So, what do you do? Well, yes, use social media, but with thoughtful, eye-catching style – websites like Canva can help with the graphics part.

As for your blog or website, you should regularly monitor data like clicks and conversion rates to see what elements are and aren’t working in terms of squeeze pages and landing pages. It can, understandably, all get very confusing, so here are two incredibly comprehensive resources for your perusal:

• Elna Cain’s Email Marketing Strategy (although she’s specifically referencing mom bloggers here, these tactics work for most, if not all, niches – pay particular attention to the Start Building Domain Trust section).
• “30 Super Useful Tools to Create Awesome Opt-In Landing Pages” by Mary Fernandez for the OptinMonster blog.
• “All the Right Stuff: 30 Squeeze Page Examples To Leverage for More Conversions” by Ted Vrountas for the Instapage blog.

When it comes to actual incentives, offer free access to people-really-should-be-paying-for-this content that you’ve personally created, such as:

• eCourses (these could be articles, videos, or both).
• Printables (this could be anything from schedulers to checklists).
• Webinars with a free resource offered at the end to all those who subscribe within a certain timeframe.

Think of your email list like a garden – it must be carefully cultivated in order to reap the rewards.

Learn the laws.

It’s important to mention that if you do choose to create an email list newsletter, and you live in the United States, you have to include a physical mailing address, per the CAN-SPAM Act. https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business . For the sake of both safety and privacy, many email marketers choose to rent a Post Office Box.

Live in another country? If you use a popular email marketing service like MailChimp   or Constant Contact, you’ll still have to abide by the CAN-SPAM Act:

• MailChimp’s Anti-Spam Requirements for Email
• Constant Contact: CAN-SPAM Act and How It Affects Your Campaigns

You might be subject to additional laws regarding how emails are regulated, too, so be sure to do your own research to make sure that you’re fully in compliance.

Also, if you use Amazon Associates, note that they don’t allow affiliate links in emails. Amy Lynn Andrews provides additional information about this via her post, “Are You Violating the Amazon Associates Program Policies?”

Creating an email marketing list is a challenge to be met with perseverance, and, above all, honesty. Market to your audience with content with content that’s valuable to both the mind and the wallet, and your business endeavors will be all the better for it.

Please note that all Fabulous Freelancer posts might contain affiliate links.