1. Don't bury your subscriber form, place it on your home page and or every page and make it VERY easy to find.2. Add a one-liner to byline section of your online published articles. For example: "You can subscribe to [name]'s free e-newsletter by visiting [URL]."
3. Give people an additional incentive to subscribe. Give them a free ebook or ecourse that has valuable content on a topic that will attract exact type of ideal clients/customers for you.
4. During network events, ask them if you can sign them up for your newsletter. Then you manually add them when you return from function with a double opt-in feature. Explain opt-in feature to them when you ask them to subscribe. This gives them a way out if they were just being polite. Keep asking and don't stop. Practice a simple two or three liners to explain frequency and purpose of your e- newsletter.
5. Contact any trade organization or associations you belong to or membership has your target market. Ask for their member list. Member's usually get this free, they may charge you if you aren't.
6. After you have organization's or association's member list, send a direct mail letter, and offer a free subscription and another other free offers you have that help them get aquatinted with you, type of services you provide, and benefits of working with someone such as yourself. You can educate them through free ecourses that were created from your e-newsletter articles.
7. Recommend your client's company's newsletter in your e- newsletter. Ask them for a reciprocal recommendation. Both of you win with new subscribers.
8. Write reviews or provide feedback to other newsletters (electronic or printed) you read and enjoy. Many times your comments will get posted in a future issue, along with a link to your site.
9. One of top ways to attract people is by giving them various ways to interact with you at your web site. Use questionnaires, contests, giveaways, games, or ask for post survey questions and post statistical responses. Send out a special e-mail announcement when results of questionnaire, survey, contest is posted on your web site. The Sales Lead Report, http://www.imninc.com/macmcintosh, adds a survey with each issue, then uses information in his PR campaign with phenomenal success.
10. Offer a different writing style. One that is warm, comforting, as if you are talking to a friend on phone. Write conversationally with a personal tone. Add I's, me and you.
11. Always encourage your readers to forward a copy of your e-newsletter to friends, colleagues, and co-workers. You can even write a "forwarding e-mail paragraph" at beginning so it is even easier for them to forward.
12. If you do speaking engagements or sales presentations, use one of first few slides or last slide to invite them to subscribe to your e-newsletter. Don't turn off screen so it is displayed after you are finish speaking if possible.