Building A Great Email List with the Help of Your VA

Did you know that your Virtual Assistant can build an email list for you? If you require someone to help you with your lead generation by building a database of prospects to email, a VA can easily assist. Your VA stands as an important part of the lead generation process. In so doing, a VA is an extension of your sales team.

To do this, you don’t even have to have a structured way of gathering leads, your VA can put structures in place too.  He/She can decide where they will source information for your database based on the target market you give him/her. You can use the database to send email campaigns and make more sales.

Here are suggested ways your VA can build your email list:

1. Run a contest or giveaway. This always works to get more email addresses. Make sure that the product you are giving away is aimed at your target market. Run the competition for at least one week to maximise on email signups. Let your VA manage this competition, pick a winner and announce it. Lastly, your VA can start sending email campaigns to the list at least once a week.
2. Give a free EBook. Let readers who want to receive a free eBook sign up to your email list. Your VA can create an opt-in button that prevents the download until the reader has given their email address. There are tools like Mailchimp and Aweber that can help you do this seamlessly.
3. Block certain blogs. There are tools and plugins like Opt-In Panda that helps you to block other content besides EBooks. With these tools, you can block blogs, pages and much more. One great way to build an email list is to research which questions your target market wants to be answered and let your VA write a post packed with insightful responses. Make sure that the blog can only be unlocked when someone enters their email address. To bump this up a notch, search for the most popular keywords by using a tool like SemRush and write another blog related to the keyword. Block this content as well. When someone finds your blog in search engines, they will have to insert their email address to unlock the content. This will result in a self-sustaining database of leads for your business.
4. Run a referral program. Your VA can manage your company referral program. For each customer that successfully signs with you, request at least three referrals. If the three referrals are legitimate, the customer can get a discount. This will help you to collect email addresses of people who may be interested in what you offer.
5. Try Google ADS. You can create an AD for Google using specific keywords or catch phrases that you know your target market will search for. Link this AD to your landing page that gives a bit of explanation of what you do and then requests an email address. Your VA will then be tasked to collect all email addresses that come through from the landing page. He/She must thereafter send email campaigns to these email addresses.
6. Go the traditional route. In the past, businesses would contact random people from the yellow pages. You can still do this today, just a little bit differently. If you’re a B2B business, you can search for your target market online. For example, if your target market is insurance companies in Johannesburg, a simple Google search for ‘insurance companies Johannesburg’ will give you thousands of hits. Your VA can go to each website, collect email addresses and send emails to those people.

You can also automate the entire email sending procedure. This means that each time someone gives you their email address via any of the processes 1-5 above, a tool automatically starts sending email campaigns at certain times. Our Virtual Assistants are well skilled in this. Contact us today if you want us to help you.