I recently came across a conversation on Facebook regarding how a new entrepreneur can build their business without an email list.
If you’ve read articles or watched videos from successful entrepreneurs, you may have heard many of suggesting focusing on building an email list.
If you have an email list already, of course, it would be easier to market your existing tribe but that may not always be the case.
Below I’m going to share the same strategies I give to my clients and today I have put together a list of 10 ways YOU can build your online business without an email list.
One of the first objectives before building the list would naturally be to bring visitors to your site so that they CAN get on your email list, whether it just signing up to get blog updates from your site or an awesome lead magnet.
So, let’s begin…
1. Be a part of conversations and engage in Facebook Groups
Join Facebook groups, be where your target audience is (or where you think they are). Look for clues in their posts of something they are struggling with and genuinely try to help them. A little kindness in a blog post that can give them a quick win in public can entice your potential clients/customers to check out your Facebook profile and eventually to your website.
2. Build a private Facebook group
Building a Facebook group and inviting your audience to hang out where other like-minded individuals are can really help strengthen your authority as well as make it easier to market to. In a private group, your messages don’t get lost in their feeds and through the plethora of other posts that people have to go through daily on Facebook.
3. Deliver value and offer free strategy sessions
Give away some free services. These are perfect to build authority when first starting out, it helps you practice your pitches and fine-tune your message. If you did a good job and brought true value and a transformation to your client, you could easily get a testimonial out of them.
Ask for a video testimonial and you’ll really kick it up a notch. Testimonials will really escalate the trust value and your authority to other potential site visitors and help make a buying decision easier for them.
4. Use Google AdWords to direct visitors to your sales page
You could go through a traditional route and pay for some Google Ads to get you started with getting traffic or getting people to end up on your landing page with an enticing lead magnet.
Offer a free download to an ebook, checklist, free video or mini-course that will bring them instant gratification and immediate results. This will go a long way, especially if your lead magnet solves a big problem. Later when you have them on your email list you can upset them to more of your offerings.
5. Create 1-to-1 connections and add people as friends on Facebook
Talk to people one on one in groups, ask them questions and get to know them better. Ask them what the biggest challenges are and what they struggle with. If you truly listen to your target audience, they will give you clues and the language that you can use in your email and website copy that will resonate best with them. Since you are using the same words that they use, you will connect better and they will feel that you really “get” them and their issues. Once you build the trust, they are more likely willing to do business with you.
6. Write great Facebook posts
Share a powerful message in Facebook groups. Try to write an inspiring message or a great tip that will help your target audience without asking them to buy anything. If you show yourself as being genuinely wanting to help and provide value, most people will check out your profile to see who this powerful message came from.
Again, they check out your profile, then your website and then hopefully sign up for your email newsletters for more great content.
Try out a post of 300-400 words just to keep it short. You might be able to even take an excerpt from a longer post on your website, grab about 300 words and put a link to your website for the rest of the article. But check with the group rules before trying this one.
7. Engage in public speaking
Here is another approach by using public speaking to get your message and business out there. Public speaking shows authority, and when you show authority then people want to do business with you since you are perceived as the expert.
If you do end up doing public speaking, get some business cards printed up that have a URL to a lead magnet and offer it as a free gift to your seminar attendees. Next thing you know, they are on your list.
8. Ask for referrals from existing clients
Have a few existing clients already? Ask them for referrals! If they love the work that you do and are please with your services, most clients would be happy to refer you to others. Maybe even offer them an incentive that would make it worthwhile for them. Maybe a percentage or dollar amount off for each new client that signs up with you, kind of like a finders fee.
9. Give back to the community
This one is very similar to #1 above, but for this, I would suggest starting the conversation. Create a new post and get people to engage and keep the conversation going. Ask a question that people would be interested in knowing the answer to.
Try sharing a great tip that people would want to share or learn more. Maybe even offer a free webinar that shows them how to do something that relates to your niche. Try opening up a few seats to free sessions, one to one coaching or training. This will help get the word out and hopefully get them to sign up for your paid services. You could even try asking them for a public post recommendation on Facebook.
10. Work on building relationships on social media
Building relationships don’t have to be limited to just Facebook. Tweet with others on Twitter and engage with people on Instagram and Google Plus. Thank them for following and share their posts and in time, those people will share your stuff too.
Startup real conversations with your followers, check out their profiles and websites. See what they are all about and what their likes/dislikes are. Those relationships can take you pretty far if you are genuine.
Remember it’s about them, not you.
Let me know in the comments below if you have tried a strategy that I didn’t list here or which one of these tips you are going to take action on.