In order to grow your business exponentially, you are going to have to start building your own customer base. Which is an email list. 

How to build an email list from scratch starts by building a healthy email list. If you build your email list from a bunch of freebie seekers, you won't make much money. And therefore you won't have a very healthy profitable email list.

After all that has been said and done, your email list is one of the only online assets that you have 100% control over. 

You don't have control over Google's algorithm changes. Google can shut down your YouTube account when they feel like it with no explanation. 

If you use a web 2.0 property such as Blogspot and NOT your OWN website, you’ll always be at the mercy of new and changing algorithms or terms of service updates.

Your email list, on the other hand, is yours, free and clear. These are YOUR subscribers and customers. To build an email list from scratch, you can use your website and your social media capital to attract visitors and followers. 

As you are engaging with them, encourage them to sign up to your email newsletter. This gives you the opportunity to contact your prospects at any point in the future.

To see an indepth tutorial on how to build an email list from scratch, please visit this post.

Getting Started: The Basics

1. Sign up with an email marketing service or autoresponder

An email service provider or aka autoresponder service will provide you with all the marketing tools, templates and services you need to get subscribers, test your campaigns, and manage the day-to-day requirements of your list. Here is an indepth training tutorial on how to get started with autoresponders.

2. Create an irresistible lead magnet

Before people hand over their email address, you’re going to have to offer them something enticing in exchange. 

This could be free software, access to a case study, or the promise of discounts or deals exclusively for your subscribers. 

You could even re-purpose some of your existing blog content and turn it into a guide or resource list. Whatever you decide to offer, make sure it is high quality and your potential subscribers will receive REAL value from your lead magnet.  

3.  Create an opt-in form.

Every autoresponder service will give you the tools to create an opt-in form for your website. When creating your form, I suggest only ask for your potential subscriber's first name and email. 

This way, you can personalize your emails. However, asking for any more information beyond these two fields can decrease conversion rates significantly.

4. After creating your opt-in form, put the opt-in form on your website. Your autoresponder service will provide you with a snippet of code to place your op-tin form on your website. 

You can put your new form in your right sidebar. This is the best locations to put your form because it is more visible.

After your subscriber's have opted into your email list, you want to give them easy access to that irresistible lead magnet that you created in step #2 above. 

You can include a download link on the page that subscribers are directed to after confirming their email address.

The Fun Part: Getting Subscribers

This is where all the fun begins when it comes to getting traffic back to your opt-in form or squeeze page. 

I typically send all of my paid traffic to a high converting squeeze page. To learn more on how to create squeeze pages, please visit this tutorial.

If you want a profitable email list that will make you money over a long period of time, you have to be very selective on where you get your traffic from.

Getting traffic is not hard at all. You can go to traffic exchanges, safelists, free-for-all (FFA) websites, and classified ad websites. But in my experience, this type of traffic quality is poor and rarely converts into any sales.

These are 3 good ways on how to build a profitable email list

Way #1 You can use solo ads

This is where you are leveraging other people's email list. If you can find a solo ad vendor in your niche, you can purchase so many clicks for a set price. This is most often done in the make money online niche. To learn more about how to buy a profitable solo ad please visit this tutorial.

Way #2 Get the word out with press releases

You can promote your business by writing a press release. When using this method, pay attention to keywords, especially in title and first paragraph. Use a few anchor text links to specific pages on your website. 

Then post your press release through release distribution services like PitchEngine or PRWeb. Although these two services are not free, they will get you some good search engine traffic. Your new press release may get picked up on online publications and regional newspapers.

Way #3 You can do some guest blogging

Guest blogging is a great strategy for getting high-quality inbound links to your website. Guest blogging increases your online visibility, and of course getting new subscribers onto your list. A well-executed guest blogging strategy can yield a strong ROI, and will support your SEO efforts.  Along with social media and email marketing efforts simultaneously.

To find some guest blogging opportunities and to help syndicate your content, you can search for “niche term + syndication” or “niche term + content/blog syndication” may reveal guest blogging opportunities which you can apply to be a part of.

Most websites that encourage guest posting allow you to link back to your website, either from within your article or in your author bio. Including a link to your offer in your author bio or at the end of your post is a great way to capitalize on the visibility you’re getting through your guest post.

The effort you put into building your email list is one of the best investments you can make online. Having access to the inboxes of targeted prospects means you can continue to build and nurture relationships over time, and become a trusted source of valuable industry knowledge. Then, when it’s time for your prospects to buy, you’ll be the first one who comes to mind.