#124: This Simple Hack Got Me 7,000+ Email Subscribers

This week on the podcast, I’m coming at you with a quick tip episode. 

I’m going to share one simple tactic that grew my email list to over 7,000 subscribers, without doing ANY other type of promotion. 

Honestly, the answer is so simple, it will probably shock you. 

Tune in right now to find out exactly what I did.

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Episode Transcript

I grew my email list to over 7,000 subscribers simply by offering PDF downloads of my blog posts. 

Yep, that’s it. 

I had a website where we tended to publish in-depth posts on relatively technical, science-heavy nutrition topics. They were so well-researched, that I had a hunch people would want to come back to them as references again and again. 

Well, why not make that easy for people?

So I decided to offer downloadable PDF versions of each in-depth blog post on my website. 

And I REALLY didn’t overcomplicate things. 

All I did was copy-paste my blog post into a Word document, add a header to the page where I put our website URL, and then saved it as a pdf. 

I created an opt-in form in ConvertKit and set it up so that that particular blog post PDF would be delivered automatically, via email, when someone entered their email address into that form. 

Then in the blog post on my website, after the introduction and again at the end of the conclusion of the article, I said, in bold text, “Want to save this article? Click here to get a PDF copy delivered to your inbox.”

Then I just created a hyperlink to the opt-in form, which was hosted by ConvertKit, where someone could enter their information to get the PDF and join my email list. 

That was IT. 

I just repeated this each time, for every in-depth blog post. I named each form in ConvertKit the title of the blog post so that I could see which ones were performing the best. 

By including that one SIMPLE call to action and utilizing the power of SEO to craft content that would rank in Google and get traffic organically, for free, I grew my email list to over 7,000 people with just 14 blog posts. 

Obviously, I would probably refine this strategy over time, but this is just a perfect example of NOT overthinking things and how imperfect action is better than no action at all. 

Imagine if I had told myself no, I need to wait until I have the perfect email strategy and funnel set up before creating any email opt-ins. I would have missed out on an audience of THOUSANDS of people who genuinely WANT to hear from me!

And once you have people on your email list, you have the golden opportunity to connect with them more deeply, continue to provide value, and also offer them the ability to work with or buy from you, repeatedly, on autopilot.

And as you probably know, setting up automated selling systems via my email list has been an absolute game changer in my business. It has allowed me to make sales of my digital products 24/7, around the clock, WITHOUT having to do ANY stressful live launches. 

My job is to create awesome content that attracts my people, and my list does the selling for me. 

In fact, for the last two years, I have made over $200,000 each year, by selling on autopilot through my email list, EVEN WHEN I broke my hand and had to do all my work lefthanded for 6 months. Even WHEN I had my first baby and experienced health issues that had us in and out of the hospital for months. EVEN WHEN we moved twice in two years with a young baby in tow. 

Despite all these hardships and time-intensive life events, my business was able to hum along as usual, thanks to the strength of my email list.

So if you’re listening right now, and you don’t have any way for people to join your email list right now, I encourage you to question whether you might be overthinking it. 

What SIMPLE thing can you offer people on your website in exchange for their email address? Pick one thing and try it out. 

That’s it!

That’s all I have for you today. Just one quick tip and nudge for you to try an email opt-in tactic beyond the usual “join my newsletter” message on the bottom of your homepage. 

And if you do take action after this episode, I’d love to hear about it! Share your idea and the results you’ve seen inside our free community – The Unconventional RD community on Facebook.

And if you’re interested in learning more about SEO, so that you can grow a huge audience of people who are interested in joining your email list, you can check out more details about my signature course, SEO Made Simple, at seowaitlist.com.