Tips for growing an email marketing database

I’m getting ready to make a push for new customers in the fourth quarter of this year. One tool I’m using to generate new customers is email marketing. Do you have any advice to offer on building my email list?

Consider these tips for building your email list:
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• Say what? What will you say to get individuals to open your email or even subscribe to your email list? As you build your list, you should also be building compelling content. Also, consider, what call to action you want individuals to receive upon opening your email.

• Back in the day. Going to conferences, networking at business events and word of mouth still work as channels to meet new people. Utilize these channels as a source to build your list. Do you have marketing tools like a business card that can direct people back to your website or social media sites? Once there, they can explore your compelling content and decide to join your list. If you have a robust email marketing platform, you can add text or a QR code to the back of your card, giving individuals a way to join right away.

• Get heard. Instead of talking to individuals one-on-one, consider making a statement in front of an audience in your industry as a guest on a radio show or as a columnist in a local newspaper. Now that you have their attention, educate them on your compelling content and interest them in joining your list.
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Omar Muhammad, who heads the Morgan State University Entrepreneurial Development and Assistance Center, can be reached at omarsmuhammad@gmail.com.