It’s like fruit: Your opt-in email list should always be fresh. And by applying a few “gardening” tips, maintaining a growing email list isn’t difficult. Think of nurturing your email list as one of your most important marketing activities, second only to building and maintaining an effective website.

1. Simplify the process. Make it easy for visitors to your website to sign up for your newsletter. Display the form prominently from every page of your website and don’t ask for too much information. A name, phone number, company name and email address is usually sufficient. If you have more than one newsletter, allow subscribers to choose which ones they want – and then deliver what they request. Make sure you have a thank you message that displays after subscribers register!
2. Offer an incentive. What are the benefits of signing up for regular online communication from your company? Make these advantages clear to your customers and prospects so they know what’s in it for them. Consider small incentives, such as access to special areas on your website, whitepapers authored by experts or relevant (and free) webinars.
3. Consider social media sites. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn – these are some of the most commonly used social media sites. There are ways to convert your current e-newsletter content to display or link from various social media sites, extending their value and providing one more way to invite people to sign up for your email list.
4. Cultivate relationships. Don’t let your relationship-building efforts come to a halt just because you have your customers’ email addresses. Continue to send compelling and relevant content that adds value directly to readers. This positions you as an expert in the field and keeps your company’s name top-of-mind. Implement the “Forward to a Friend” feature on your emails to allow current readers to help you build your email list!
5. Build offline. Leverage your existing customer and prospect touch points. Collect emails at tradeshows, customer sales visits, when they call on the phone, etc. Create a quick map of how and where you interact with your customers and prospects offline and brainstorm about offline opportunities to collect email addresses.

Whatever you do to build your list, make sure you are creating a relationship – not just a connection -- with your customers or prospects. Just like a garden that will thrive and grow with proper planting and ongoing care, a well-cultivated email list can generate business and sprout new customer relationships!