Getting Subscribers

• sending people emails inviting them to subscribe (avoiding ‘spam’ as mentioned elsewhere in this book and remembering that ‘harvesting’ – searching the Internet for email addresses and then collating these into a database and selling them on – is illegal in many areas)
• having a page on your website where people can subscribe
• asking existing subscribers to forward their issue to other people
• buying mailing lists (an expensive option that is probably the least recommended way of building a list; also mailing lists are often out of date as soon as they are produced so a lot of wastage can occur)
• publicising your newsletter in other people’s newsletters
• getting on a electronic newsletter-promoting directory (e.g. New-List. com)
• offering incentives to subscribe (free reports on relevant topics can be attractive – these can be produced by you, or acquired free, or at low cost, from other sources)
• including reference to the newsletter (and also possibly a link to your website for subscription) in your email ‘signature’ – the text at the bottom of emails where you give a bit of publicity and contact details for your activities). You can also mention your newsletter on your business cards and any other appropriate stationery

How To Subscribe

It is important to give people the opportunity both to subscribe and to unsubscribe. Although you can rely on people just asking for a subscription, it is often better to ask them to confirm that they have requested the subscription. It is not unheard of for others to request subscriptions on behalf of people who do not want them; it is also possible for people inadvertently to subscribe to publications they do not want.

By giving them the opportunity to decline – or to unsubscribe once they have subscribed – you can save problems caused by unwanted subscriptions. You can obtain software that allows you to offer subscription options – use a search engine to find the best ones for you. There are three wasy to invite subscriptions:

• The first is simply to send an email inviting people to return the email if they wish to subscribe. (It is, in any case, worth having an email ‘signature’ on all of your e-mails, whether to do with the newsletter or not. An email signature usually contains your name, contact details and a short message, and you can include in it details of your EN, plus a link to your website where people can find out more or subscribe.)
• The second is to invite them to go to your website and then click on the invitation to subscribe, when they will find an automated email comes up and they just have to put the word ‘subscribe’ in the subject line or click the ‘subscribe’ button.
• The third is to invite them to visit your website and complete a subscription form there.

The last of the options gives you more information about your subscribers; the other two simply give you their email address; however, setting up forms can be complex and is more of a task for potential subscribers to undertake, so you need to consider carefully which option to go for. When directing people to your website it can be useful to do it via ‘deep linking’, whereby they are directed to a specific subscription page within your website, rather than just the home page.

And remember to include an email address on your web site so that if something goes wrong when a person is trying to subscribe, they can contact you for assistance. Finally, avoid making too many answers compulsory on your form, or you might lose some of your potential readers.