6 Stupid Easy Promo Hacks to SPEED Up Your Email List Growth

GRRRR.

Grunt.

Ugh.

Moan.

Long sigh.

Those are all the things you feel/think/have happen to you when you think about growing your email list.

Listen. I get it. It’s a huge pain in the behind.

Growing your list is ANYTHING but easy.

But, as with many things in life, it’s not always easy… but it’s so incredibly worth it.

And just because it’s not easy, doesn’t mean it can’t be made simpler.

I’m a huge fan of streamlining things. I love hacks. I love workarounds. I think that if we HAVE to do something, we might as well find ways to do them efficiently and maximize our efforts.

That’s the inspiration behind the next 1000 words of content for you.

These are real-life, practical, totally achievable email list building hacks that you can use to speed up your email list growth and get more subscribers on your list.

Because that’s the goal, isn’t it? More qualified subscribers.

Let’s get to it, then.

Related: Grow your email list on a budget​

1. Create 5 blurbs for your freebies

One thing many bloggers struggle with is proper promotion. Far too many people don’t PROMOTE their stuff nearly enough.

They schedule a few posts here and a few posts there… and that’s it. Nothing else. Nada.

But, you see, that’s a huge issue.

In order to get the sort of traction you want, you need to get yourself out there… like a lot.

This means you need to be sharing tweets, instagram pictures, facebook posts. One post here and there just isn’t a strategy that will generate dozens of new subscribers. Sorry!

To streamline social media content creation, I create about 5-10 template “blurbs” for every piece of content I generate (blog posts/freebies) immediately after I've written the post (while the topic is still fresh in my mind).

Here's an example of what I mean by little blurbs... these are template tweets that I created for a guest post on my site by my friend Pete over at DoYouEvenBlog.com.​

Once these little blurbs are written, I store them in my notes app and just copy and paste the blurbs quickly into my social scheduling tool when it's time to schedule.

Why does this help?

It means that every time I need to go and schedule social posts, I don’t have to think, “Hm… what should I write?”

All I have to do is head to my notes, copy and paste one of those blurbs and I’m done.

I use my 5 template blurbs and schedule them each 10-20 times. That's anywhere between 50-100 posts on social media that promotes my blog posts/freebies.​

It also means that it takes me about a quarter of the time to create 100 social media posts (and yes, that IS the sort of volume I'm talking about when I say it's "time" to schedule social media promo posts). ​

Simple. Easy.

Related: How I got 700+ new subscribers in one month​

2. Create multiple graphics at once

When you include graphics and images with your posts, they are more likely to get engagement and attention.

For each of my freebies and blog posts, I create graphics upfront.

Then I store all of these graphics in a file on my computer that’s just dedicated to my freebie. This way, when I go to share my freebie, I can quickly grab an appropriately sized graphic.

So if you know you're going to need images for your posts, why not just make them WHILE you're publishing the blog post? Might as well get everything done in one fell swoop, am I right or am I right?

Trust me...I'm right.

Related: How to build your first email funnel

It's easiest (not too mention most strategic) to create the images upfront, rather than making new ones each time you go to share it. Who has time for that anyway? What a pain.

You can use canva to create your graphics (or any other free tool). ​

3. Add content upgrades to your most popular Posts

Go head on over to Google Analytics. Make a list of your 5-10 most popular blog posts. Then brainstorm content upgrades for each of those blog posts.

A content upgrade is a freebie that is directly related to a specific blog post.

For example, I have a blog post on how to guest post. My content upgrade for that post is a PDF file that contains several examples of successful guest post pitches I’ve submitted in the past. The content upgrade is really just a freebie that “upgrades” the content of the blog post.

Content upgrades usually have high conversion rates because people who are reading your blog post are ALREADY interested in that topic, so they’ll be inclined to download the upgrade.

If you upgrade your most popular blog posts with content upgrades, you’re essentially squeezing all the juice you possibly can out of that blog post traffic by captivating them with an enticing content upgrade offer. In plain English, you’ll be able to convert more of your traffic into subscribers with a blog post that already exists…

So get to it… this is a GREAT strategy.

4. Link your freebie to an affiliate program

One of my favorite ways to get rapid email list growth is to leverage an affiliate network.

Many people think that having affiliates for your product is great just because they help you grow your earning potential. But that’s not true.

You can also get your affiliates to help you grow your email list.

Here’s how you do it.

Create a freebie that directly relates to the product with the affiliate network (you should have this anyway because any successful sales funnel should have a lead magnet – freebie).

Then make it possible for your affiliates to share the freebie with their affiliate link. This means that if someone were to make a purchase on your product through the affiliate link for your freebie, that affiliate will get rewarded.

Teachable is a wonderfully easy to use system that makes this simple method possible to execute.

All you'd do is host your freebie on teachable and your paid product on teachable. Your affiliates can then direct their readers to your freebie using their teachable affiliate link! Could that be any easier? (ummm no). ​

5. Ask your fans to share

If you already have a handful of subscribers who downloaded one of your freebies, take advantage of that!

Send them an email and ask them to spend 60 seconds sharing your freebie. Think about it... if 30 of your past happy subscribers share your freebie twice... that's 60 social shares all because you asked nicely. 

And if any of those 60 social shares get shared again (pinned, retweeted, whatever)... that's another few dozen shares.

You see how this simple method can really add up?​

To make it incredibly easy for them to share, include click-to-tweet and click-to-pin text in your email to them. This will allow them to easily share your freebie without having to exhaust any energy at all.

Why does this method work well? ​

Reason 1: Fans who know you and know your stuff are far more likely to share something on your behalf than a random person.

Reason 2: People online are far more likely to click a link to a freebie if someone OTHER THAN the creator of a freebie shares it... it just seems more authentic that way.

So don’t be afraid to leverage your relationships with existing subscribers in this creative, strategic way!

6. Get testimonials

Testimonials are proof.

Really, in the most basic sense… testimonials are ways for you to show the world that other, real people have, in fact, accessed your freebie and enjoyed their experience.

If you had to a landing page and see a freebie advertised with several, high quality testimonials from happy recipients, you’ll probably be more inclined to sing up than if that landing page didn’t have testimonials.

So go ahead and ask your existing subscribers to submit a testimonial. Then place those testimonials on your landing page or even on your freebie forms. Pay attention to your stats… you may just find that your conversion rates will climb!

Remember... blogging (aka marketing) is a numbers game. The goal is to increase your conversion rates!​

Final Thoughts

Growing your email list might be something that overwhelms you, but there are always simple ways to refine your approach, make your life simpler and get more subscribers. 

So don't be afraid to branch out, try something new, and see if it works for you.

Do any of these ideas resonate with you?

Do you have a tip you'd like to share?

Leave your thoughts in the comments!​