Advice needed on building an email list

**opensesame** · 22-10-11

Hi,

I'm looking for some advice on how to build up a email list, im sure plenty of people here have had some success doing so and I was just wondering if you would be kind enough to shed some light on a few things you did to get it going?

Thanks.

**cc976a** · 22-10-11

A competition, freebie / giveaway or an offer code or discount are generally the quickest ways

Facebook, Twitter or YouTube viral campaigns can work too.

A very well crafted press release can work but to ensure it gets to the right hands it can be costly, plus you'll have to have something worth the valuable column inches

**opensesame** · 22-10-11

mmm interesting, thanks for the reply.

I suppose I could keep my eye out for a really good code over on some of the voucher code websites and use that, as im only interested in building my list it doesn't matter if its exclusive to the VC because im not interested in getting the commission for it anyway, I dont even need to be signed up to the merchants program.

The only thing that worries me cc976a which you mentioned in my other post was the quality of signups a competition would bring as like you said, they could just well be interested in the prize only.

Any ideas on how to help combat this?

Cheers

**cc976a** · 22-10-11

There's nothing to specifically combat but look at the audience. The people wanting to enter competitions will of course buy other products and it's whether this demographic of person fits in with you own product or service

Generally it tends to be women entering competitions, and from experience running a competition site, these tend to be aged 25-35 with an average of one child (again this is just a generalisation but allows you to see if this audience would be interested in your product)

Could you see this demographic being at all interested in your product - if so you shouldn't have any concerns as you are reaching your target audience..........it's just how you engage with them

**opensesame** · 23-10-11

Very helpful, thank you.

So im looking at giving a prize away which is similar to the products I sell, which will help build a list of subscribers who might also be interested in my products.

So now its down to how to getting exposure for the comp.

One way you mentioned was to find competition sites in the UK and submit which looks good.

How about using something like this as well - Social Media Promotions

Have you or anyone else had any experience with this sort of thing?

I was also thinking of creating an press release around Christmas gifts and plugging the comp in there as well, and was thinking of using this to get it out there - Pricing - News Releases - PRWeb UK

Cheers

**nts123** · 27-10-11

When you have a list make sure you get the balance of sales to information right or you will very quickly see people askin to be removed

**Sue_Neal** · 30-10-11

Hi - one effective strategy is to provide a mine 'ecourse' - a series of, say, five or so emails with quick tips and advice on a particular subject in your niche. Another strategy is to provide even more content via a newsletter (weekly, bi-weekly or monthly), including some promotional material as well as educational/informational content - this can take a while to set up, but once you've written the content for a series of newsletters, they're set up to run on auto-pilot, delivering high quality content to keep your list engaged, as well as delivering promotional material at the same time.