You might’ve been wondering to yourself, “What are some great ways to not only grow my email list, but connect and show my expertise to my audience, to my existing followers and to my new followers?” And guess what? This can all be done with one simple tool called an opt-in page. Or, in other words, a freebie.

A freebie is a powerful tool that takes your audience off of social media, and onto your email list so you can engage with them regardless of what happens to social media platforms. An email list can stand the test of time.

For example, two of my friends and clients got their Facebook pages hacked the other day and they lost so many people from groups they had been building. And, the first thing I asked them was, “Have you been getting people onto your email list?”

Because the best thing about an email list is that it’s yours. It’s not owned by a third party and it’s not subject to a specific platform. Basically, all your eggs aren’t in one basket.

So imagine TikTok goes away and you lose a hundred thousand followers, or Instagram gets shut down and you can’t communicate with your 2,000 followers. How would you sell your products and services? What would happen to your business? It’s time to make your business dependent on no one but you, while also making it a place where you can give all of your followers exclusive access to your content and offers. Basically, moving your business away from the influence of algorithms by finding people who are interested in your content, who say “please have my email and I’ll see you in my inbox.”

And consider this… you’re giving people a valuable GIFT in exchange for their email! To me, this is a win win!

Another super important reason why having an email list is so clutch is because it actually serves as clout and is great when you’re ready to start running Facebook and Instagram ads. 

Now some of you might be thinking, “Ari, who reads emails anymore? Everyone is on social media!” I am here to tell you - I read emails, good emails that is. I buy stuff from those good emails I receive and, most of the time, I actually don’t see those people in my social media. And, I spend quite a bit of time on social media (shame on me for not always working on my business!). 

We’ll get into email writing tactics in another blog post, but for now, let’s focus on growing your email list because without at least 100 subscribers, creating lengthy and value-rich email campaigns won’t be your best ROT (return on time!).

Now here are some freebie ideas to showcase your expertise and truly serve your audience the best way you know how!

Freebie 1: A Checklist

It could be a wellness checklist. It could be a diet checklist. It could be a lifestyle checklist. It could be a financial checklist or business checklist. People love to know about themselves. And, they love to know if they’re doing things right.

Remember, since you are the expert, you have all the knowledge. People want to get their sources from a trusted individual and you are that person.

A checklist can be easily created on Canva, or you can even start it in a word document!

So now, how do people get this checklist? Well, number one, you could simply ask people to DM you or leave a comment and then you DM them. 

You don’t need a whole opt-in page and a landing page, or an email sequence. Not in the beginning. I love to ask, “How can I run my business on bare bones?“ Well, this is one of those ways. You could simply say, “Hey! Whoever wants this checklist, DM me your email.”

But, what if you are looking to start your digital marketing portfolio? Then you’ll want a simple opt-in page where people can leave their name, email and a phone number (optional). After that, they get a very simple automated email sequence that delivers the freebie and follow up emails that help the prospective client get to know you better so you can nurture the relationship. You could use software like: Go High Level or Active Campaign, which are my personal favorites.

Freebie 2: A Quiz

Do you guys remember when we had magazines like Cosmo or 17? There was always a quiz, like an astrology quiz or a love quiz, and you would take it and tally up all your points, then read your results. You were super excited! This is the energy that we are building with our potential clients. We are creating excitement based on a quiz.

Like I said, people love to learn about themselves. I do, too. I still take quizzes!!!

I recently created an awesome quiz with a client of mine called: “What are your love blocks?” And, so far, she’s been able to grow over 180 people onto her email list, just from organic social media interactions on TikTok and Instagram- and she did it in 2 weeks!

So, what does it take to build a quiz? There are a lot of different software platforms like TryInteract and Typeform you can use to build them. 

Now, the cool part about the quizzes is that then you show up as the one who gives them the results. You create the results based on the questions that they answered. And it gives you a chance to show off your expertise again and be able to really connect with that person and help them out by giving them those initial suggestions on how to be a better lover, how to be healthier, how to sleep better, how to detox their bodies, how to grow their wealth, how to improve their business, etc.

 Freebie 3: A How-To 

I love my really easy-to-follow guides that help me avoid blunders or that help me learn from a common mistake. These guides can be PDF’s or even videos. To me, videos are quicker to make, but this is not the case for all. Also, you have to know your audience well: will they consume a video or rather read… OMG you can maybe even do BOTH! 

We’ll talk about content repurposing later down the line.

But for real, a good guide that shows me the way to achieve a micro win and how to potentially avoid some crazy mistakes is extremely valuable. And honestly, for you as the expert, it might even be the easiest to make since you’ve worked with clients before and know how you’ve helped them, and at the same time achieve certain goals or milestones. 

So, go back into your client rolodex and start putting together some good ideas!

Freebie 4: A Challenge

Now there’s paid challenges and there’s free challenges. Free challenges are a great way to indoctrinate and work with people. These could be prerecorded or these could be live.

When you create at a challenge, be mindful that it is more of a time investment and a longer process than a quick quiz, but at the end of the challenge, you are selling a higher level offering or service. Whether it’s a physical product, an online course, coaching, retained services, or an experience – all of it can be sold in a challenge.

Think about the challenge as a very invested experience. It’s a wonderful way to generate leads and to have them experience a transformation over a series of days so that they already receive your results. With some quick wins, the challenge gives you the opportunity to really show up as the expert to your subscribers so you can offer your services.

Freebie 5: A Video Series

A video series creates education and solution-awareness. It could perhaps be three training videos, or a recording from a recent talk you gave. It’s very easy to reach out to your audience and say, “Hey, put your name and email here and get these three training videos to help you XYZ.”

I always tell people to give examples of the transformation, the benefits they can expect from watching these videos. And you could, once again, let the videos come via email, or you can give them access to a little online course or membership site where they can experience the videos. Maybe even have a question or two that they answer to encourage some next steps.

Remember, as the entrepreneur, it’s your responsibility and opportunity to keep the connections with your audience alive, strong, and really meaningful.

Here’s your call to action: what can you be doing to grow your email list? What are the steps you can take to create a meaningful relationship with your audience via their inbox? Need a little support along the way? Connect with me and let’s strategize!