Want to grow your email list? Started a blog and don’t know where to start on getting readers? Have you had your blog for a while but are stuck on how to get some traction on your email list?

 

I started my blog a while back but just recently have begun focusing on growing my email subscribers. In this post, I’ll share with you how I grew to over 100 email subscribers in one month.

 

 

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS READ MY DISCLOSURE PAGE FOR MORE INFO

 

IN ORDER TO SUCCEED YOU NEED AN OBJECTIVE STEP 1: FIND YOUR NICHE AND HYPERFOCUS

 

In the beginning of my blogging life, I thought I would “attract everyone to my site.”

 

WRONG.

 

I was so wrong guys. Very quickly, after reading up on some really successful ($10k+ per month) blogs I knew I need to segment and find my “niche.” At this point, you should know what a blogging niche is. If you don’t, say “hey Google.”

 

Anyhow, so after I cast my net out super wide I reeled it back in super quickly. After about four months of consistently creating content, working on the quality of my posts and implementing video I was super frustrated.

 

Bottom Line

The only way I began having traction was by laser focusing on my niche and putting all my energy into attracting, engaging with and retaining these subscribers.

 

If you’re not too sure what your niche is. That’s okay. You’re in good company!  Answer the questions below and don’t do anything more in this post and video until you figure that out.

 

Answer these questions

-What am I interested in?

-What am I interested in and knowledgeable in?

-What am I interested in, knowledgeable and passionate about?

 

You’ll want a subject that others are interested in (obviously) and a subject you’re either already an expert in or are willing to invest time and effort into becoming an expert. The fact is no one wants to listen to an amateur on ANY subject. Become super informed with trends and knowledge of your niche.

 

STEP 2: IDENTIFY YOUR DEMOGRAPHIC AND STICK WITH IT

It’s difficult enough to attract traffic from a specific demographic so don’t make it any tougher on yourself with too broad of a demographic.

 

My demo on the fitness page is young men wanting to get more muscle and gain weight. I know this well because this is was me.

 

My demo on the finance bit is Millenials who are uninformed about what to do with their money and how to budget effectively. I know this well because this is what I was not knowledgeable and uninformed.

 

Application: Find your target demographic and double and triple down on the effort in attracting them.

 

The fact of the matter is you will be specific on your demo. Don’t be vague. The vaguer you are the less ENGAGED subscribers you will have.

 

Quality over Quantity is key

 

It’s far better to have 500 super engaged subscribers rather than 5000 unengaged subscribers. That’s why buying follower on social media does not do anything beneficial besides bragging rights to your friends… To me, the return on that investment is not worth it one bit.

 

Just because you don’t have many subscribers does not mean you won’t be successful. I know a girl in the personal finance world who has 5000 subscribers and has hit $10k in blogging revenue monthly.

 

Not too bad right?

 

Remember, the idea here is to have readers who are SUPER interested in your content and not someone who is going to delete 95% of your emails before opening them.

 

 

STEP 3: BE UBER TRANSPARENT AND YOURSELF ON SOCIAL MEDIA

 

When I first started my blog I planned on scheduling each post at a certain time and was going to spend a good amount of time on the most high-quality Instagram posts. After about a week and countless hours spent on these posts, I was pooped. I thought “there has to be a better way.” I took Gary V’s advice on stop creating and begin documenting life. I began (begrudgingly) documenting my smoothies in the morning, my trips to the grocery store, interactions with my co-workers etc.

 

I didn’t see much (any) fruit until I had a young man at the gym come up and literally show me his phone and ask “is this you.” He showed me his phone and a picture I had posted the day previously. I said, “ABSOLUTELY THAT’S ME!” That was my first taste of success in social media.

 

The reality is people connect with other people. No one connects with a product or service. We connect with the story of someone. Look at how popular fiction, sci-fi and fantasy books and movies are right now. The story (narrative) of the protagonists is what people gravitate toward and love.

 

At times I am quotable. I said once “Narratives Sell, Lectures Smell.”

 

Blog posts that are lectures and give a lot of information, in my opinion, suck. If there is no human to human connection being made you are destined to fail. Your audience will see you as going to school. Let me tell you, not many adults (young and old) want to go back to school.  

 

Bottom Line

Share your life with your community and they will connect with the true you. You will gain exposure for being the true you. It’s like being in a movie. But the movie is starring you and it’s real life! Share the good, bad and ugly. Even if it feels intrusive.

NITTY GRITTY TIME: HOW I WENT FROM 1-100 SUBSCRIBERS IN ONE MONTH

 

I’ll break this down into a few different parts

 

CREATE A FREEBIE

 

I cannot stress this enough. This is the #1 top priority if you have not done this on your blog. Stop creating all other content until you have a landing page with an opt-in form for your freebie. Now, your freebie will be very much dictated by the niche you are targeting. Mine, being fitness, was a 5-day workout routine. Figure out what people in your niche need and provide them a solution.

 

MAKE IT SUPER SIMPLE FOR PEOPLE

 

You want your prospective subscriber to click on one link and easily add themselves to your list. I created a link on my Instagram profile. That link takes them to a landing page that has them enter their email. They enter their email and then they’re on my list. That simple.

 

COLD DIRECT MESSAGE PEOPLE

 

Yes, I send DMs to people and ask for their email. This approach may feel too “salesy” to people but I have received quite a bit of positive feedback from this. Even if I only gain one new email per week that is still 52 new subscribers each year. And I promise these are HOT LEADS who will be your best promoters.

 

PROVIDE IMMEDIATE VALUE

 

Have your blog set up so when they provide their email to you (to subscribe) they receive something immediately. I have it so when someone types in their email they are emailed over the freebie right then. Don’t have anything in place that you have to manually accept. Automate this feature as this will help develop rapport with the immediate resource they are wanting. 

 

ENGAGE WITH YOUR COMMUNITY

 

I engage with nearly all comments on my Instagram profile. You can check that link to verify that statement. Yes, this does take some time. But this is helping develop DEPTH with your peeps. Depth is everything. Again, quality is FAR greater than quantity here. You want people who will engage and get excited about things you are posting. These are people who will click through (CTR) on your emails, send the link to their friends, buy your course and be your best promoted.

 

This is what the plan is. To get people excited about you so they do the selling and promoting of your blog/website  FOR YOU.

 

So, engage with your community as this will have a positive return in the long run. If engagement does not have a positive ROI, email me and we can discuss what may have happened.

 

CONCLUSION: ACTION IS KEY

 

The reality is 90% of my readers will do 0% of what I encouraged in this post. Don’t be the 90% and do nothing. You have read this post and now it is action time. Implement at least one of these strategies right this second.

Open up Instagram right now and engage with the last five comments people made.

Direct message the last 10 people who followed you and ask for their email.

 

Do it. And do it now.

What are you most curious about with Instagram or social media? What other topics would you like to learn about? What are you struggling with most on your blog?

 

Don’t hesitate and send me an email right now with your questions. Let’s start a dialogue and I’m certain we will find a solution. DO IT NOW! Seriously, there is no judgment coming from me. I’m here to help you on your journey whether you have negative 5 followers comprising of your mom, dog, and stalker ex or 50k followers and are stuck to get to 100k. That doesn’t matter to me.

 

I’m here to help!!!!!!!!!! Yes, all those exclamation marks were necessary.

 

Always Moving Forward,

||| Max