29 Ways to Collect Email Addresses for Your Business
Janine Popick lists 29 ways to collect email addresses on the Vertical Response blog. Here are the first 10:
- Put an offer on the back of your business cards to get people to sign up for your newsletter.
- Tradeshows – Bring a clipboard or sign-up book with you to tradeshows and ask for permission to send email to those who sign up.
- Include a newsletter sign-up link in your signature of all of your emails.
- Send an opt-in email to your address book asking them to join your list.
- Join your local chamber of commerce, email the member list (if it's opt-in) about your services with a link to sign up to your newsletter.
- Host your own event – Art galleries, software companies (one here has a party every quarter and invites the neighboring businesses), retail shops, consultants (lunch & learn) can all host an event and request attendees to sign up.
- Offer a birthday club where you give something special to people who sign up.
- Incentivize your employees – Give them $ for collecting VALID email addresses.
- Giving something for free like a PDF? Make visitors sign up to your opt-in form before you let them download it.
- Referrals – Ask you customers to refer you, and in exchange you'll give them a discount.
