How to Add a Mailing List to a Website
Having a mailing list is essential to a business. In the online world, they say that the money is in the list. So how do you get a list that will not just want to hear from you, but buy? What a business wants are people who will not think they are spammers and who have interest in the product service or have tips. You will find that it is relatively easy to find those people online.
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Instructions
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Find a list management program. There are programs such as IContact, Constant Contact, My Mailing List Provider and others that will manage your lists. As mailing lists get larger, you will find that they become difficult for you to maintain on your own. There could be opt-outs (take off list), changes in email, double emails and additions. Imagine doing that for a list of 10,000.
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Set up your provider. This is usually relatively easy. It is just a matter of picking out a template, colors and, in advanced cases, branded information. You will set up the terms of opting in, your required information and welcome/good-bye messages. The provider will make a button for you to put on your site, so your contact goes directly there. You will receive a message whenever you have a new subscriber.
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Name your mailing list something creative and give something away. Just asking people to sign up for your mailing list does not work. They generally want something of value in return for their email address. This could be a free report, ebook or tip sheet. The key thing is that it has to be free.
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Place an opt-in box in a prominent place on the website--generally above the "fold." You do not want the reader to have to scroll down to find your mailing list opt-in.
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Write to those on your list consistently. In the marketing world, it is said that it takes seven "touches" before a customer will buy from you. Once a week is about right. If you contact prospective customers too often, they will not be happy, but if you don't contact them enough, they may forget you.
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Collect names offline, too. If you are at events, you can add people to your mailing list by having a drawing and asking for their information. You must tell them they will be hearing from you. Then you can input the information into the list management system. It will either confirm them or just allow you to list them.
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Tips & Warnings
Most people like tips, so even if you are providing products or services for sale, add a tip they can use.
List providers will be familiar with laws about whom you can and cannot contact and about how those on your list must be allowed to unsubscribe easily. But you should know the laws, too, to avoid having an account closed for spam.
