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30 Ways To Grow Your Email List (For Free)
Here are all the best ways to grow your email list for free — even if you’re a beginner or don’t have a large social following.
Matt McGarry
October 05, 2024
DEEP DIVE
Here are all the best ways to grow your email list for free — even if you’re a beginner or don’t have a large social following.
1) Lead magnets
Lead magnets are a force multiplier.
You can use them to convert a large percentage of a small audience into subscribers — or to grow your audience.
Here’s what I mean…
The lead magnet, comment, and DM strategy
Here’s how it works:
Promote a lead magnet and ask people to comment on your post so you can DM them the link
DM a link to your email opt-in page where they can get access to the lead magnet after entering their email
Automate this with Tweet Hunter or Taplio
Or do it manually (copy & paste)
The replies/comments to your post will amplify your reach. And if your lead magnet is good people will happily enter an email to get it.
I’ve seen these promotions drive 200-500+ subscribers and followers for small accounts.
But there are more ways to use lead magnets…
In a social post
As your social profile link
In a cold email, message, or DM
In your Instagram or TikTok stories
At the end of a thread, long post, video, or carousel
And more
What makes a great lead magnet?
Here are the best types of lead magnets to use:
Cheat sheet
Checklist
Database
Report (1-5 pages)
Swipe file
Tool/resource list
Template
Short video (<10 minutes)
ebook (<20 pages)
Summary
Understanding which types of lead magnets to use is key.
Your lead magnet should:
Provide immediate value
Be <15 minutes long in reading time or watch time
Solve a narrow problem — don’t share a comprehensive solution (that’s for your paid content products)
People don’t want to learn. They want answers. Easy fixes. Turn-key systems.
Imagine you’re back in high school:
Would you rather have a study guide or the answers to the test?
Most people would say the answers. And that’s exactly what people people want from a lead magnet.
Also, if you’re worried about subscriber quality from lead magnets…
If the lead magnet content is good and aligned with your newsletter content — your subscriber engagement will be too.
People ask me all the time: “How do I grow my newsletter without an audience?”
Here’s my answer: Start building one.
Starting from scratch is hard. But that’s how we all started.
If you want to grow a newsletter organically, post on a social media platform and grow your audience there.
There’s no way around this (unless you’re using paid ads).
You need to:
Post free content on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, etc (pick one platform to start with)
Ask people to join your newsletter (calls to action)
If people like your content, they’ll join your newsletter for more content.
It’s simple. Don’t try to avoid this with fancy growth hacks.
Newsletters are content businesses. Don’t be afraid of creating content!
Now… here’s the good news:
You don’t need to post new and original content every day
You don’t need to post on every platform
If you’re starting from scratch, do this:
A. Pick one platform.
I’d recommend starting with a text-focused platform like LinkedIn or Twitter.
But if you’re good at video, YouTube or Instagram can work great too.
B. Create ~3-5 high-quality posts per week by repurposing your newsletter.
Every newsletter you write should generate at least 3 pieces of social content.
There’s no reason to limit content to your newsletter only. Create once. Distribute forever
C. Add a call to action (CTA) after each of those posts.
Auto-plug your newsletter (or lead magnet) after posts
Add a CTA at the end of threads, LinkedIn carousels, or videos
Add a CTA for your newsletter in your bio (and don’t use a linktree)
D. Post a pre-newsletter CTA and post-newsletter CTA every week
Pre and post-CTAs will convert more followers into subscribers and add 2 additional social posts per week to your arsenal.
Here’s how to use them…
3) Pre and post-CTAs
A pre-CTA is where you tell people about what your newsletter covers ~24 hours before it’s sent.
A post-CTA is when you tell followers about your newsletter content after it was posted.
Pre-CTA example
This tactic makes it easy to post about your newsletter.
You’re simply telling followers what you’re writing about and asking them to sign up to read it. If they’re interested in that content, they’ll subscribe.
These posts also create:
Fear of missing out (FOMO) on your content
Urgency to sign up and get access to the content
Curiosity to see what the newsletter content is about
For more on this, read my deep dive with 30+ examples.
4) New follow auto DMs
Send an automated message to new followers and connections about your newsletter. If your goal is subscribers, it can’t hurt to ask.
Limit your DMs to 25-50 max, and keep them short and sweet.
If you have a lead magnet to promote, that’s even better.
5) Be the reply guy
Replying to big accounts and popular posts on Twitter can generate a shocking number of impressions, followers, and subscribers.
Ben Tossell used this strategy by replying to popular AI news announcements to grow his newsletter.
6) Use all your digital real estate
Think about all the “digital real estate” you own. Your website, email signature, social media accounts, slack profile, community accounts, etc.
Add a CTA for your newsletter on all of it:
CTA on your website
CTA in your email signature
CTA in your social media bios
CTA in private community profiles
7) Cold email all your “warm contacts”
Make a list of all your contacts:
Every contact in your phone
Everyone in your email address book
All your LinkedIn connections that have public email
If you run a business, all your clients and customers
(If possible) A list of all your past and current co-workers
Even if you don’t have a large network, this should be 200-500+ people.
Then, write an email that tells them about your newsletter and why they should subscribe.
Here’s an example:
In this email, you need to:
Quicky tell people what this is about (your newsletter)
Tell them why they are getting this (you’ve crossed paths before)
How this will help them (your newsletter benefits and topic)
Do not auto-add people to the newsletter. Make sure this is clear in your email.
Add a link to your landing page where people can subscribe.
Then send it!
Send this email to all your contacts using 1 of these 2 methods:
Send 1 email at a time and customize the name and first line
Send the email to everyone with Gmails BCC feature
Either way works.
You’ll get more sign-ups with the customized email, but it takes longer.
When you create a LinkedIn newsletter, ALL of your existing and future followers and connections are invited to subscribe.
This is an easy way to get 500+ “subscribers” fast.
But there’s a catch…
Subscribers are joining your LinkedIn newsletter, not your email newsletter. You don’t get their email addresses.
To convert these readers into email subscribers you can:
Post ~25% of your newsletter to LinkedIn – link to your landing page to subscribe and read the rest.
Send them a LinkedIn message promoting your email newsletter or a lead magnet
Scrape their emails from LinkedIn and send them a cold email
9) 1 reward referral program
Create a newsletter referral program where 1 successful referral unlocks a digital product or download.
If you have a “lead magnet” type digital product you can set this up in <10 minutes with beehiiv.
Promote the referral program in your newsletter and start getting new subscribers on autopilot.
10) Cross-promotions
Swap ad spots in your newsletter with another similar newsletter.
Both parties should track and match the unique clicks they send each other so that the trade is fair.
Find cross-promo partners with lettergrowth.
11) Cross-recommendations
Recommend other newsletters using beehiiv, Convertkit, Substack, or SparkLoop Upscribe.
Find recommendation partners that have similar audiences and can closely match the number of subscribers you send each other.
I suggest aiming for a 70%+ subscriber match rate.
By “match rate” I mean if I send “newsletter A” 100 subscribers in 30 days they send me at least 70 subscribers back.
12) Forward to a friend
Ask readers to forward your newsletter to a friend.
ELEVATOR includes this copy in each of their newsletters to drive growth.
ELEVATOR
13) Build relationships
This may sound cheesy but it works.
Plus, it will help you use other people’s audiences to grow.
When you build genuine relationships with other creators, they lead to:
Your content getting shared
Business opportunities
Podcast interviews
Cross-promotions
Introductions
Referrals
& more
Start doing this by:
Responding to polls and surveys from your favorite creators
Sending emails or DM to creators you can help or collaborate with
Leaving thoughtful comments on 10 other posts in your niche every day
Replying to your favorite newsletters. Tell them you liked the issue or share helpful feedback
Responding to everyone who replies to your newsletter, comments on your social posts, and DMs you
14) Partner giveaways
Partner with 3-5 other newsletters and give away a prize.
Books, apple products, and gift cards work best.
Create a landing page about the giveaway where users can sign up for all the newsletters to be entered to win. Each newsletter promotes it to its audience.
If you don’t have a large audience you can still get into these giveaways by:
Organizing them
Doing the technical setup
Providing the prize to giveaway
If you can’t afford a prize that’s okay.
Get a business to give away products for free in exchange for promotion and/or leads from the giveaway.
15) Be a podcast guest
Go on podcasts in your niche.
Talk about your newsletter on the podcast and ask the host to include a link to your newsletter in the show notes and podcast description.
Yes, I get it. This is easier said than done. But if you’re creating high-quality content and building relationships you will get booked on podcasts.
And don’t be afraid to ask to come on the show!
Writing a newsletter every day or week is hard.
Writers are looking for guest posts so they can take time off (I certainly am). This is your opportunity to get in front of tens of thousands of new readers.
After you have a catalog of 3-5 high-quality posts, reach out to newsletters in your niche and ask if they’re open to a guest post — or a guest-written section.
Provide examples of your writing and ideas about what you can write in their newsletter.
A ton of newsletters have curated link sections (including this one).
Writers and editors are looking for great content to share with their audience.
If you have a blog post that’s a great match, share it with them!
Then make sure your blog/newsletter archive is optimized to email capture.
18) Engagement groups and relationships
Every big content creator has a group or list of 10+ people they swap comments with on social media.
Start building an engagement group or list of other creators
Comment on each other's posts
Start boosting your reach
Partner with a blog or media company to republish your content on their website.
They get new content to share. You get traffic and subscribers from readers joining your newsletter from the links in the syndicated content.
Also, submit or republish your newsletter content to:
Hacker News
Indie Hackers
HackerNoon
Medium
And other sites that accept submissions or UGC.
20) Online communities
Join multiple communities in your niche or industry.
These could be online, in-person, free, or paid. If there’s an established community in your space that’s active you should be a part of it.
If you have something relevant to share in the community, share it.
If you can help someone in the community with a problem or question, do it.
It’s easy to quickly become “known” in private communities. If you participate, you’ll become the go-to person for your expertise.
That will lead to subscribers, customers, and relationships.
21) Reddit
Eric Lam has added 5k+ subscribers from Reddit organically by using posts and comments.
Here’s his strategy.
22) Website email capture
Convert your website and blog visitors to newsletter subscribers with:
Banners
Pop-ups
Footer sign up form
A newsletter sign up page
Header or nav sign up form
In-line sign up form in content
Bottom boxes with sign up forms after content
90%+ of websites do not have enough email capture forms and pop-ups.
23) Work for free
Work for a popular creator in your niche for free in exchange for education and promotion.
A few years ago I worked for a large Twitter creator for free for 2 months in exchange for:
A few retweets and comments on my posts
3 coaching calls on Twitter growth
1 shout out
It was well worth it.
When working for free, make sure you have a clear agreement:
Scope of work and deliverables for your service (don’t do anything outside of that for free)
Written deliverables on what you’re getting from the client in exchange for your services
A timeline or duration of the free work and rewards. (Example: I do X for free for 2 months to get Y. Then my fee is Z per month).
24) Quora
Find questions on Quora that are relevant to your newsletter and expertise.
Write an answer and link to your newsletter at the end of the post.
If you’re writing articles or deep dives in your newsletter, these can be edited and optimized for SEO.
26) Launch on Product Hunt
Multiple newsletters have added 1000+ subscribers from a product hunt launch.
Here’s a great case study (see example #8).
27) Billboard backpacks
Advertise your newsletter at a conference with an animated backpack sign.
Because… Why not? This is actually a great conversation starter at events.
28) Virtual events and webinars
Online events and webinars are lead magnets with built-in scarcity and urgency.
By limiting the number of attendees and using a deadline for the event, more people will sign up.
Plus, if you bring on guest speakers, you can ask them to promote it.
29) Milestone giveaways or events
Give away a prize, host an event, or do something cool when you reach subscriber milestones.
For example:
“When I reach 100 subscribers I’ll host a zoom call for all my readers”
“When I reach 1000 subscribers I'm giving away my book for free”
“When I reach 10,000 subscribers I'm giving away a Macbook to one reader for free”
This is a great way to get readers excited to share your content or to use your referral program.
30) Milestone Referral Program
Create a milestone-based referral program where readers can share your newsletter and earn rewards. Rewards are unlocked after readers reach a milestone.
The best tools to make your referral programs are beehiiv and Sparkloop.
This blog post by Tyler Denk is the best guide I’ve found on how to use them to drive growth.
BONUS: 31) Referral Giveaways
Give away a product (or your time) for free. Readers enter to win by referring. 1 referral = 1 entry to win.
Here’s more on why these work and how to set them up:
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