Back when I started Email Marketing, I had a "minor" problem I didn't have a list.

The thought of slowly building my list one person at a time wasn't an option, so I had to come up with a plan.

A week later, I had a list of 4000 .. you could say the plan worked.

In this article I'll lay out what I did and how I would do it if I was starting over.

0-4000 Subscribers

The first thing I did was what everyone who builds a list does. I created a high-value report about blogging and a landing page on it's own domain.

After that, things got different.

Step 1

I duplicated the report and the landing page and set up a 2nd domain. I now had 2 identical reports and landing pages.

Step 2

I emailed every marketer I'd interacted with who I knew was teaching blogging and related topics and said something along the following lines.

Hi <name>,

I loved the email about XYZ you sent yesterday it inspired me to get my ass in gear (Flattery is never wasted & Show you pay attention!)

I have created a free report about setting up a blog and making your first $100, and I am happy to add your affiliate links to it if you would like to give it to your subscribers.

I'll set everything up and it will be branded with your details including the website.

There will only ever be 2 copies of this report so please let me know ASAP and please forward your affiliate links for:

Product A Product B Product C

Here are all the relevant links… <links>

Let me know if you are interested and I'll set this for Friday.

Step 3

I sent this email to around seven people. Within 15 minutes, I had 2 positive replies, so I set about customising everything for those 2 marketers.

Step 4

I sat back and waited while they sent emails about the free report.

Step 5

The next day I checked my account and had to increase my account size as I had 4000+ new subscribers all hopefully interested in Blogging.

I was shocked, I had expected a few hundred subscribers at the most.

How I Would Recommend Doing This Now

I wouldn't expect 4000 subscribers if I was doing this now, however even a few hundred would be a good start.

I'd then get feedback from the 2 people I'd worked with and use that feedback to work with other people.

To get the ball rolling, I'd start by engaging with 5 -10 marketers in the same niches as me.

I'd comment on their social media posts, offer helpful feedback and even promote their content in my feeds. I'll give them testimonals and feedback on their free content and if I buy something from them I'll post about it.

One thing you need to understand is that most marketers are lazy. If they can run a promo and help thier lists without having to do anything they will.

However, marketing is a two-way street.

So Give Before You Receive

I regularly get messages from people asking me to help them promote their products… but I've never interacted with them before.

Don't be that person!

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