To build a large mailing list you need to offer something of value to your subscribers and find a way to connect to possible sign ups. Your offer should have both immediate and long term value.
Start by deciding what you'll give to your subscribers as an incentive for signing up. This can be a small report or it can be an email series describing how something is done. Decide what your subscribers will want, then give it to them. To keep them from unsubscribing, offer them a long term benefit beyond just affiliate emails.
After you plan for both your immediate reward and long term appeal, it's time to get your list opt-in in front of people in your niche. Some of the best ways to do this include giveaways, paid ads in other newsletters, article writing, and forum posting.
If you are in the internet marketing niche, you are probably familiar with giveaways and have possibly used them to build your own IM list. Consider using them for non-internet marketing niches as well. Contact others in your niche and see if they would be willing to contribute to a giveaway that you are forming. Spend time working with the contributors and on marketing the event.
Another way to build a large mailing list is to target readers of other newsletters. If you haven't yet, subscribe to your competitors newsletters. See which ones offer sponsorship in their emails and contact them to see how much an ad would cost. The advantage of this is that the people who opt in to your newsletter are likely to open and read your email.
If you don't have the budget to advertise or the resources to run a giveaway, you'll want to consider free methods such as forum postings and article writings. These methods take time and your list won't grow quickly, but with some effort you will add new subscribers every day.
For forum postings, simple go to busy forums in your niche that allow a web address in the sig file. Follow the rules and don't spam. If you offer helpful information, people will click on your link and sign up. For articles, you want to focus on offering helpful but incomplete information. Use the resource box to encourage users to sign up for the full story.
By taking the right actions, anyone can build a large mailing list.
