Top 7 Reasons Why Your Email List Isn't Growing

"Why isn't my email marketing list growing?" is a very common question I hear from clients. When you start your list, sign ups are great and your list grows rapidly. However, in a few months you hit a wall and experience a big slump in growth. Not to fear -- this is quite normal! Typically, the problem lies in one of seven areas.

There are some really simple things you can do to rev up your list-building engine and attract new subscribers. Here's my list of the top 7 reasons why your email list isn't growing:

1. Takes more than one click to join your list. If you're making a potential subscriber click multiple times on multiple pages to find your opt-in box, you're losing many potential subscribers. Make sure your opt-in box is readily available wherever you're sending your web site traffic.

2. Opt-in form not on every page. Just because you have a home page to your site doesn't mean that visitors will always land there. Once you add content to your site, they can land on any page that matches their keyword search. Make sure that your opt-in form is available above the fold (without having to scroll down) on the right hand side of every page of your site.

3. Sending visitors to your home page rather than your squeeze page. If you're offering an ethical bribe (what I call a client attraction device) to entice visitors to opt into your list, send them to a squeeze page that describes what you're giving away. If you send them to your home page and there's no mention of your client attraction device, they'll leave immediately. Ensure that they easily find and read about the reason they have come to your site.

4. Requesting too much info on the opt-in form. Visitors are notoriously shy about sharing too much information with someone they've just met online. Ask for only the bare essentials like name and email address when someone opts into your list. Later on, when they get to know you, you can obtain more information when they purchase something from you, or perhaps you ask them to share more information in order to receive a special gift from you.

5. Not having a compelling offer. Does your offer make your visitors think, "Yeah, that's my problem -- I've got to get that!" If that's not what they're saying, you need to re-tool your offer. Be sure that your compelling offer, typically a client attraction device, offers to solve a major problem of your target market.

6. Sending visitors to your Facebook business (fan) page wall rather than to your opt-in form page. If you have a Facebook business page (fan page), don't link to your business page wall. Instead, drive visitors to the opt-in page (which should resemble the squeeze page on your site), with the main objective being to add new visitors to your email list. You might even create a different client attraction device than is available on your site especially for your Facebook fans.

7. Not asking your readers to forward your ezine. Many email marketing services don't let you participate in co-registration programs or tell-a-friend programs because they require a double opt-in via an email confirmation for any new subscribers joining your list. So, instead, request your current subscribers to forward their copy to their friends and colleagues.

Bonus tip: Failure to generate traffic to your site. You won't generate new subscribers to your list unless you have a traffic generation strategy in place. If you're blogging, using social networking, doing article marketing, and repurposing your content, you should have a steady steam of traffic to your site.

Take a look at your web site, your blog, your social networking profiles and your squeeze page to ensure that you're not making any of the mistakes listed above. Make any corrections needed and watch your email list grow!