8 Ways to Get More Email Addresses On Your List ... Today

Whether you've got 100 or 100,000 people on your email list, chances are you can optimize your web page to better feature and promote your ezine. Here's a few ways to capture more customers and leads - without having to increase your traffic.

Give Something (Or a Few Things Away)

Studies show that most people will only subscribe to about a dozen email lists at a time, and given the number of lists out there, you've got to seriously compete for your customer's email address. Giving away free bonuses is a great way to push you over the edge.

A few things you can give away are:

Free ebooks. This is a strategy many marketers use - and it's a little worn out. Not just any free ebook will do anymore. Still use it, but make sure your ebook is something your customers crave. Ebooks like "10 Easy Ways to Make Your Skin Look Younger" and "7 Ways Moms Can Make Money On Ebay Today" will get you a ton of email sign-ups.

Free courses. This is a lot like the free ebook strategy, except you break up your course into a sequence using an autoresponder. This works well if you want to be in constant contact with your prospect for a few days or weeks.

Exclusive coupons. If you're in the retail or service business, offer up a few exclusive coupons for list members. Make them little bonuses (like a free handbag with a clothing purchase of over $100 - or free facial with any cut and color). 10% off isn't likely to make your customer jump - but a free goodie will.

A birthday offer. This works especially well for restaurants, women's retail, and travel. Invite visitor's to join your birthday club - and in return give them a free meal, little gift, or night at your B&B on their birthday.

Write a Killer Headline

Having no headline for your ezine ad is a mistake many new marketers make - but bad headlines can be almost as damaging. "Join Our Email List" or "Get Site Updates" just doesn't cut it anymore. Your headline needs to have a strong call to action or benefit. Here's a few excellent examples:

Free 7 Day Course - How to Lose Weight Without Carb Restriction
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Have a Compelling Name for Your Email List or Ezine

Selling discount designer handbags? Call your list the "Chic Yet Cheap Club." Advertising your day spa? Call your ezine "Ultra-Relax VIP Circle"

Most people are members of "enough" email lists, discussion groups, and ezines. However, they always seem to want to join more "clubs" and "VIP" groups.

Give a Bullet List of Benefits

No matter how good your copy is, the fact remains that surfers scan. By outlining your benefits in a bulleted list, you'll grab wandering eyes - and summarize your case nicely. Here's a sample bulleted list for a local Italian restaurant.

- Free "Taste of Italy" cookbook, with 25 easy to make recipes
- Membership to our birthday club. On your special day, you're dinner's on us.
- VIP coupons (free desserts, entrees, and wine)
- Exclusive tasting nights. We close our doors to the public - and invite you to sample our new menu first.

Give a Bulleted List of Objection Killers

Why aren't people signing up to your list? That little nagging voice in their head wondering if you'll spam them, if you'll email them to much, if the emails will be boring. A short list of objection killers can take care of this nicely. Here's an example.

- You'll hear from us (and only us) once a week. If you get sick of us, you can easily say "no thanks"
- We keep your email completely private - you'll only hear from us. Our privacy policy can be found here (link).

Make sure you do include a short version of your privacy policy in your list, with a link to your full privacy policy on a separate page. More and more surfers are looking for privacy policies every day.

Provide a Sample Email or Two

If the emails you send out are content filled and well written, by all means show a couple of them off. A lot of ezines are boring, poorly written, or worse, just blatant ads. If you show surfers that your emails are worthwhile, they'll be much more likely to sign up.

Make Your Ezine Ad Standout

Many marketers take the time to set up an email list, write the issues, and then bury or hide the sign up box.

Feature your sign up box as prominently as possible, using bright colors (I'm partial to a yellow background).

Include a photo in your ad when relevant. Diet ezine? Show a woman satisfied with her fit body. Parenting advice? Happy moms with their kids.

Experiment with the size and location of your sign up box. Does it work best on the side, above the fold? Or in the middle of an article? Usually bigger is better when it comes to ads - but test unusual shapes (like a square or long rectangle) as well,

Don't Ask Them to "Join" or "Subscribe"

You can make your submit button say whatever you want, so why not re-enforce your marketing message with a strong call to action? "Get Your VIP Coupons" or "Download 7 Easy Ways To Look Younger"