Email marketing has remained one of the most effective means of marketing online. Businesses of every size can benefit from staying in ouch with their current customers and prospects via email. Irregardless of whether you are simply sending a special offer to customers or just staying in touch, one of the keys to the success of our companies email marketing campaign is the size of your mailing list. Building your list is an important part of your online marketing mix. Here are a few simple ways you can build your mailing list without spending any money:

• Make sure you have a subscription form on every page of your website so users can easily subscribe themselves.
• Collect email addresses from people who make purchases from your business. Perhaps you can hold a monthly raffle to encourage users to provide their email address.
• Include coupons and special offers in your email newsletters and let customers know that they can get the discount by subscribing.
• When you give speeches, presentations, and attend trade shows, collect the names of people you interact with! Offer a prize like a free product or a discount. You can do the same thing if you offer telephone seminars or online courses to your clients.
• Grow your list by conducting joint ventures with a like-minded business. For example, a mortgage broker and Realtor can offer a free seminar on home buying. Both businesses can collect the names of the attendees.
• Submit articles to various websites and ezines. Make sure each article has a resource box with information about your business and a link to a name capture page.
• Of course, anyone and everyone who has ever purchased from you should go on your list. It is much easier and cost effective to cross-sell and up-sell to past, satisfied customers than it is to convert a prospect into a customer. Regularly keep in touch to ensure your company stays in the forefront of their awareness.

These are only a few of the many ways you can build your email newsletter subscriber list. If you have any ideas for building an email marketing list, share them in the comments below.

Tags: Email Marketing, newsletters