Simple Blogging Tips and Strategies for Beginners

Last week we chatted about creating a freebie to turn your readers into subscribers, which is a critical part of growing your email list and in turn, increasing website traffic!

But now that you have a super fly freebie offer, how do you get the word out about your email list? How do you get your opt-in in front of ALL the eyes?! Here are my top 10 ways to kickstart your email list building!

PS – If you haven’t, take a quick pause and read last week’s post on creating an email freebie. You’ll need to have an email list properly set up and a freebie to promote to make the most out of your email list building efforts. It also covers creating pop-ups for your freebies.

Preface: LOVE Your List!

Before I get started, I want to encourage you to love on your list, no matter its size. Even if you only have 5 people on your list, those 5 people are engaged and interested in what YOU have to say! They opted-in to receive your emails!

A few months ago I heard, “Treat your email list like your living room. If you had 5 people sitting in there listening to you, wouldn’t you want to make it worth their while?”

When your list is still small, this is a great opportunity to get their feedback, find out what they want to hear about, and cater your content to them. Having a small list isn’t bad – EVERYONE only had 5 subscribers at some point!

Okay, on to the tips!

Promoting via Pinterest Pins

Every month, create 5-6 new pins that specifically promote your freebie and drip them out over the month using Tailwind (learn how I use Tailwind.)

Pinterest loves it when you create new content and new pins, even if they’re for “old” URLs. So, by continually creating new pins for existing content you have more chances to get your pin seen. Try mixing up the keywords you’re using on these pins for maximum exposure.

Promote in Every Blog Post

“Every blog post? Isn’t that spammy?!?” No, friend. Here’s why: While you (hopefully) have a base of loyal readers, new readers are seeing individual posts for a first time and I believe you should ask every reader on your blog to sign-up for your list.

By using the freebie strategy, you don’t have to literally ask, “Will you sign up for my email list?” That can feel spammy. However, you can say, “I created this helpful PDF that will help you bla bla bla. Subscribe here to get it straight to your inbox.”

And your existing readers? I’m sure they’ll want in on your freebie, too! Still have them opt-in to the freebie – they’ll be added to that freebie’s email list, so you’ll have a better idea of their interests. Then, you can cater more content to those interests in future posts. More on this a little later.

In Your Website Menu

This is one of my favorite spots to promote my email list! See at the top of my website I have an entire tab dedicated to freebies? All of those freebies are “gated,” meaning someone has to opt-in to actually access them. To do this, I create a landing page using Elementor (free!) and embed my email sign-up form on it.

On Your About page

If someone has taken the time to actually navigate to and read your About page, then they’re likely already invested in you. This is a super easy spot for you to embed a subscribe form so they can stay up-to-date with your new posts. Cha-ching!

In a Side Bar

This is a common place for many bloggers to include an opt-in form. However, I often see that it’s the only place bloggers put a sign-up form!

If you have an opt-in here, make sure it’s broad enough for your whole audience. For example, instead of promoting my Pinterest Roadmap freebie on the sidebar, I’ll promote my entire Freebie Library or my Blog Planner, since those are resources that interest my whole audience.

On Your Facebook Page

On your blog’s Facebook page, you can create an sign-up button! Here are some simple instructions.

In Your Instagram Bio

If you’re active on Instagram, you bio is a great way to kickstart your email list building. I love using Link Tree so I can share multiple links via the one link Instagram gives you. Then, you can promote your freebie via posts and Instagram Stories, pointing them to the link in your bio!

Promoting within Your Email List

Okay, bear with me on this one! Like I discussed in the freebie strategy post, tyou’ll want to create multiple email lists in your email marketing platform (like MailerLite) for your different freebies. When someone opts in to a freebie, you’re able to track that user’s interests based on the lists they’ve signed up to.

For example, if someone signed up via the pop-up on my website, then opted-in later to get my Pinterest Roadmap, they’re telling me that they’re looking for more help around Pinterest.

If my Pinterest Roadmap is the top opt-in for my website (AKA, has the most subscribers out of all my freebies), I can use that data to create more Pinterest-related blog posts and better serve my audience.

Maybe at some point I could also create a paid product around Pinterest that’s likely to sell because I know my readership needs it!

Making Your Email Content Useful & Shareable

Two of my favorite email subscriptions for blogging-related content are…

• Amy Lynn Andrews, The Userletter
• Lena from What Mommy Does (you can opt-in through this free mini-challenge)

Because I love these emails so much, I’m likely to share them with my friends who are also likely to subscribe.

Lena does a great job at creating super valuable, long-form content in her emails. Like, no joke, her last email was almost 2800 words. I’m likely to save these emails and come back to them later, or forward them to a friend. She merely shares information instead of always pointing you to a blog post on her website.

It’s a great idea to try sharing long-form content in your emails once in a while instead of only pointing them to your blog post. This can encourage readers to share the email with someone else who is likely to subscribe.

Create Business Cards

“But this is 2019, Hayley. No one still uses business cards.” Right, but I can’t tell you how many times I wish I could hand someone a little slip of paper with information about my blog instead of relying on them to remember what I told them!

For my home improvement blog, Hello Hayley, I’ve been meaning to create a business card for AGES. When I’m telling someone about my blog in real life, I often get, “Oh, I NEED to check that out! I want to see your kitchen!”

First, my URL isn’t the easiest to remember and second, my name is prone to typos. Plus, people have bad memories in general, LOL. BUT, if I were to give them something tangible, they’re likely to actually check out my blog and subscribe because they’ve met me IRL.

BOOM, engaged subscriber.

How will you kickstart your email list building?

Which of these email list building strategies stood out to you the most? I’d love to know which you’ve tried or which you want to try next. Let me know in the comments or in my Facebook group. It’s a blogging party! 🎉

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