If there’s something you want to put out into the world, you have to let people know about it.   What good is it if nobody has a clue?

One of the best ways to begin to build an audience is to create a mailing list.  This simply gives you a way to contact those who have expressed interest at one time or another in what you do.  You can use a service like MailChimp, which has a nice free level, to get started and they have great tutorials to boot.

Once you have this list, you need to have a way for people to sign up to be on the list (you definitely want to make sure people have permission to be on it).  This is where the challenge comes in.

It isn’t easy to get people to sign up and there are lots of different ways to do it BUT I really want to focus on the importance of putting yourself out there right now.

It is not a bad thing to promote yourself.

You have to let people know you are here.  Simply setting up a list and sticking a sign up form somewhere on your site isn’t going to cut it.  You must tell people about your list and offer things of value for signing up for that list.

Here are some easy ways to promote your list…

• Include a link in your email signature.
• Include information on your social media pages.
• Include links in your blog posts.
• Include info on your business cards.
• Include links on any guest posts you write.

And be sure to let people know how signing up will benefit them.

The most important thing is to get out there and share.  Be creative.  What tips do you have for others?  What techniques have worked well for you?  Share below (and let us know if you have a mailing list as well that might be of interest to our readers.