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10 Proven Ways To Get Your First 100 Email Subscribers (An In-Depth Guide)
Want To Grow Your List? Kick Off Your List Growth With These Tactics
QT Nyathi & Brandon Storey
December 10th, 2023
Table of Contents
Starting from zero?
Grow your email list to the morale-boosting 100 subscriber mark using these tried-and-tested strategies.
Getting your first 100 email subscribers as a content creator is pivotal. We all start at zero.
Growing your prized list of email subscribers is the first significant milestone you reach on your journey to building a sustainable newsletter business. Before you reach the inflection point of 1,000 subscribers, you must get your first 100 email sign-ups.
But when building your list from zero to 100, where do you begin?
If you’re new to the world of newsletters, marketing, or building an audience, then it can be extremely daunting thinking of how you’ll reach 100 subscribers.
Hitting that century mark helps your list-building campaign gain traction and build momentum. It validates your strategies and assures you that you are on the right track to building a highly successful newsletter business.
In this guide, we’ll examine exactly how you can go about building a list of email subscribers. We’ll go through how you can build an email list using paid traffic, but also ways in which you can build a list without spending any money on ads.
By the end of this post, you’ll know everything you need to do to build your own list, starting with your first 100 email subscribers.
Let’s dive in!
It All Starts With Attracting the Right Audience
By the year 2026, it’s estimated that the number of people using email is going to reach 4.73 billion. That’s more than half of the world’s population.
With such an expansive ocean of potential email subscribers, building an email newsletter and growing a subsequent list has never been more important, but just because the majority of humans use email doesn’t mean they’re all going to be a good match for your newsletter.
Someone who’s a passionate reptile owner may not be interested in reading a daily newsletter on stocks and bonds. Someone who’s into growing their tech career may not want to know the latest celebrity fashion tips.
Getting anyone and everyone onto your email list isn’t going to help you push the envelope.
You must understand the type of people you want to attract if you want to build a list the right way. If you try to get everyone to subscribe to your email list, you’ll be left discouraged with such low conversion rates.
Instead, you need to know who you want to attract to your newsletter. This means finding people who use email and who are passionate about the topic you’re writing about in your newsletter or email marketing efforts.
It’s about knowing your audience’s interests, pain points, desires, needs, and styles of communication.
Once you know who you’re after, you can craft the right strategies to reach them most effectively, so they’re more likely to convert and join your list.
After you’ve gained a few dozen subscribers, you can dive into your email analytics to gain deeper insights into who they are.
From demographics to behavioral data — your email platform will give you even more data on your audience that you can use to improve your acquisition strategy.
Once you’ve got some initial data on a small subscriber list, you can begin to segment your audience into different groups to further understand the unique traits of your audience to help you reach new subscribers.
3 Crucial Tips To Know Before Growing Your List
Once you understand who your audience is, it’s time to start implementing the tactics and strategies to draw them onto your list.
But before you dive into the exact strategies to hit 100 subscribers, there are a few crucial best practices you need to implement.
You should keep these tips in mind when working up to 100 subscribers, as they will help you stay the course and even speed up the process.
1. Start With Who You Know
You can think of this tip as step zero since it’s a great place to start on your journey to 100. In order to hit your first 10-20 subscribers, you should reach out to people you already know.
This means sharing your email newsletter with your mom, dad, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, and in-laws to get a few dozen people on your list.
Yes, I know — this tip breaks the rule we just went over above about knowing your exact audience and targeting them.
Let’s face it. Most of your family and friends likely won’t be your ideal target audience for your email newsletter, but getting a handful of initial subscribers can be incredibly motivating. Once you see 10 or 20 subscribers on your list, it’s easier to imagine getting 40, 50, 80, or 100.
Once you’ve told your friends and family about your newsletter, put it out there to your co-workers and make a social media post about it to your personal network.
This tip alone could help you reach your first 50 subscribers.
Some of the tactics we’ll cover below look at leveraging your existing subscriber base (whether that’s 1, 5, 20, or 50 subscribers) to reach the 100 subscriber mark through organic and paid sharing strategies.
But here’s the thing — and I’m going to be blunt.
If your newsletter sucks, no one’s going to share it with a friend.
Just because you start a newsletter doesn’t mean it’s going to be an immediate success. Before you build a successful email list, you need to know how to create a successful email newsletter.
This means spending time pouring value into your newsletter – whether it’s helpful tips, up-to-date news, or entertaining storytelling to engage with your readers.
It also means understanding how to format a newsletter and design it so it’s easy and engaging to read.
You should leverage beehiiv’s poll feature to gain subscriber feedback on your individual newsletters, so you can improve them after each issue. This is something Young Money by Jack Raines does well (as seen below) to keep the newsletter quality up.
His dedication to consistently publishing high-quality content is part of the reason his list has grown 17x in size since switching to beehiiv).
3. Commit to Learning From & Connecting With Experts in the Field
The fastest-growing newsletter operators all have one thing in common: their obsessive commitment to learning.
If you want to fast-track your email list growth and hit your first 100 subscribers, then you need to be constantly consuming content on growth strategies. The beehiiv blog and beehiiv YouTube channel are great resources you can come to every week to find new, helpful information on growing your email list and establishing a successful newsletter.
However, you should also learn directly from others who have tapped into rapid email list growth strategies. Here are some of the fastest-growing newsletters on beehiiv (and their strategies on how they grew so fast):
If you want to grow fast, one of the best ways is to get close to others who have done the same. Follow them on social media and subscribe to their newsletters. You’ll gain new insights into list growth that will help you succeed in no time.
Now, let’s dive into the top strategies you can implement immediately to kick off your journey to 100 subscribers and beyond!
10 Tips for Your First 100 Email Subscribers
1. Use a Welcome Gate On Your Website
Another simple yet effective way of getting your first 100 email subscribers is setting up a welcome gate on your website.
A welcome gate is a full-screen CTA that appears before first-time website visitors can access any content on your site. It's like a gate visitors must go through to read your content– hence its name. Since most people who visit a website never return, it’s vital to make the most of the first visit.
Welcome gates convert a significant 10% to 25% of visitors into email subscribers.
Below are a few best practices for creating high-converting welcome gates:
Display it once - because welcome gates block access to content and cover the entire screen, they are annoying. As a standard practice, show it only once and only to your first-time visitors. Showing it repeatedly may anger visitors who don’t want to subscribe.
Don’t redirect users to another page - when a user clicks on a link, they expect to see the content they requested. Taking them to an entirely different page is bad for user experience and kills conversions. Plus, it’s bad for SEO, as Google penalizes such unscrupulous behavior.
Boost email signups with specific offers - besides the usual newsletter offer, get more people to subscribe by offering them your lead magnet. Experiment and A/B test your lead magnet offers, and settle on the best-performing one. This way you will get the highest number of subscribers as you march towards your first 100.
Here’s an example of our welcome gate here at beehiiv.
What strikes you immediately is that it’s simple and free from any distractions. It draws visitors' eyes toward the email sign-up field. The visitors sign up for the newsletter, or they leave.
Another plus is that the signup form only requires an email address. Demanding more info from readers can lower conversions.
Finally, the “let me read first” link at the bottom allows those who aren’t ready to sign up yet to proceed to the blog content.
Here’s how you can set up your own welcome gate with beehiiv:
Once readers start engaging with your content, set up pop-up sign-up forms on your pages so they opt-in to receive your newsletter.
You will get a handful of subscribers each time people visit your site. Admittedly, popups can irritate, especially if they are not set up correctly. But they work like a charm despite their terrible reputation.
A recent survey by OptiMonk showed the average conversion rate for pop-ups is 11.09%.
Here are a few tips to help you get your popups right:
Make them unobtrusive - the in-your-face nature of pop-ups is disconcerting enough; don’t make things worse by blocking users’ view so they can’t access the content they are after. Not only will users leave your site immediately, but Google may also penalize your site. Make sure your pop-up is small and doesn’t cover the entire screen.
Give value first - don’t bombard readers with pop-ups before they interact with your content. Allow users to get valuable insights from your content first. By deploying the pop-up after readers have enjoyed your content, you are more likely to get a signup. That’s because giving value first triggers reciprocity.
Optimized call-to-action (CTA) - your CTA is vital because it’s the last step to getting a subscriber. First, get your CTA button design right. It must be prominent and use colors that pop out from the rest of the form. Make it simple, clear, and direct, e.g. get weekly marketing tips, not newsletter registration.
Below is an example of an excellent pop-up.
The pop-up is effective because it doesn’t cover the entire screen.
Users can dismiss it easily if they don’t want to subscribe. Also, notice how the form’s heading, “Enjoying this post,” ties in with the reader’s experience, ensuring the reader transitions smoothly from reading to subscribing.
Inserting popups like the one above is a simple 3-step process with beehiiv.
Go to Website Settings on any post.
Navigate to Advanced Email Capture.
Select Popup
That’s it.
From now onwards, on cue, your first-time visitors will be asked to type in their email details while reading that particular post.
3. Offer readers content upgrades
Another proven strategy for getting email subscribers is content upgrades.
Content upgrades or bonus content are extra resources that supplement a topic discussed in a specific blog post. They enrich readers’ knowledge of the topic.
Because content upgrades are highly specific and dovetail into a particular piece of content, they often have higher conversion rates, as readers seek to complete their knowledge of the subject. The simplest content upgrade you can offer readers as a creator is a PDF version of a long post.
Here are a few tips on how to maximize email signups using a content upgrade:
Make it relevant - your bonus content must be super relevant to your blog post topic. The more relevant your upgrade, the higher the chances of getting readers to sign up for it. If there’s a disconnect between your article and content upgrade, you will lose both credibility and email signups.
Produce immediate wins - a powerful upgrade has actionable advice that helps readers get instant wins connected to the article they’ve been reading. Seeing the potential instant value, most readers sign up straight away.
Boost signups with inline call to actions (CTAs) - garner more subscribers by teasing readers with CTAs as they read your posts. An inline CTA is a signup form that’s added to the body of a blog post. For the best results, make your inline CTAs contextual. Insert them in places where you discuss points connected to your upgrade.
Focus on your best posts - creating excellent content upgrades takes time and financial investment. Therefore, only create bonus content for high-performing blog posts.
Make it congruent - your content upgrade must be in harmony with your business goals. Don’t use the same content upgrade for many blog posts because they will be incompatible. For congruence, create separate topic-specific upgrades for different posts. Bonus points if you segment your content upgrade email lists and match them with specific product offerings.
Take a look at this content upgrade offer from OptinMonster.
What makes this bonus content offer effective?
First, it uses an inline CTA just after the introduction. It’s right in the reader's eye line. This boosts conversions as more readers will download the resource than if they placed it on the sidebar, for example. It’s also hyper-relevant, as it offers readers a convenient cheatsheet with a downloadable list of the power words discussed in the post.
4. Create an attractive lead magnet
Fourth, create a lead magnet to give readers in exchange for their email addresses.
A lead magnet or signup offer is a free resource you offer to readers as an incentive for them to sign in to your email marketing list. Examples of proven lead magnets include:
Ebooks or mini-guides
Cheat sheets
Courses
Webinars
Checklists
Reports
Whitepapers
Roadmaps
Training videos
Templates
Free trials or product samples
This list is not exhaustive. No matter which type of lead magnet you want to use to entice your audience to subscribe, see that it’s:
Relevant - people won’t give your lead magnet resource a second look if they think it won’t address their needs. To get their attention, and convince them to type their details into your form, tease them with something that scratches their itch.
Specific - generic lead magnets aren’t appealing. For best results, hone in on a specific audience’s needs. Better to have several lead magnet offers for specific audience segments rather than a bumper generic one for everyone.
Value-packed - effective signup resources have a high perceived value. For potential subscribers to sign up for your lead magnet, they must deem it valuable. Pack it with so much actionable information people wouldn’t hesitate to pay for.
Aligned - powerful lead magnets align with your business goals. They are focused resources that are linked to specific products or services you offer. The more lead magnets you create for specific customer segments, the more subscribers you will get.
This Smartblogger offer is a brilliant case study of a potent lead magnet.
Most bloggers and content creators, the target audience of this blog, struggle with creating impactful headlines. So this is a relevant lead magnet that addresses a real pain point for creators. They offer a cheatsheet, which gives the readers the impression that it has hacks that’ll simplify headline writing.
Tip: Shorter, concise, and simple lead magnets often outperform longer, more complex ones. Test and see what works for you.
So far we’ve covered list-building strategies you can execute on your site. Next, let’s look at off-site tactics.
5. Guest post on niche websites
Next, guest post on niche websites to build your email list.
Guest blogging or guest posting is writing a blog post for another website to drive traffic to your site.
To get the most subscribers from your guest posting campaign:
Focus on niche sites - to get high-quality subscribers, only write for niche blogs whose reader profile matches yours. Writing for generic or blogs unrelated to your blog topic will produce inferior quality leads. Such people won't be interested in your products or services and will eventually unsubscribe from your email list.
Use dedicated landing pages - have separate landing pages for different guest post campaigns. By making tailor made offers for each guest post you write, you will get more visitors to say yes to your offers.
Optimize your author bio - to get people to follow you from the host site, you must optimize your author bio. Link to your lead magnet landing page on your bio. Also, drive action by using the active voice in your CTA.
Here’s Henneke Duistermaat’s author bio, taken from her guest post for Copyblogger.
Her guest post on Copyblogger is about how to write emails that get clicked and read. Clicking her bio link at the bottom of the guest post takes readers to her landing page below.
This landing page hits all the right notes because it’s a dedicated landing page. It doesn’t have any navigation or links that’ll distract readers and take them elsewhere. This keeps readers focused on the lead magnet offer and increases the chances of getting email email signups.
The writing course lead magnet connects directly to her blog topic about how to write powerful emails, so everything aligns.
Plus, Henneke uses the power of social proof at the top by showcasing all the renowned sites that have featured her. This shows readers she’s the real deal. Many of them will sign up because her impressive profile sways them.
Getting organic traffic and sign-ups via SEO strategies is getting tougher.
Besides, SEO takes months before you see results.
For quick sign-ups, combine organic SEO campaigns with paid social media advertising. Drive traffic to your lead magnet landing pages with Facebook ads or Twitter ads, for instance.
The best part?
Social media advertising platforms have hyper-specific targeting capabilities. You can target people who fit your customer avatar perfectly, down to the smallest details. You get high-quality subscribers and leads.
Here are some quick tips on how to grow your email list with social media ads:
Promote your best posts - don’t waste your advertising dollars by driving traffic to mediocre content. To maximize email opt-ins, drive traffic to your best and proven articles that are optimized for conversions through inline CTAs.
Dedicate landing pages - run different ads for different offers hosted on dedicated landing pages. For example, run one ad campaign for your newsletter landing page and another for your lead magnet offer. By having dedicated landing pages and offers, you will have more people signing up because you have focused offers.
Use the right social platform - advertise on platforms frequented by your ideal customers. Such traffic will convert better than visitors from a popular channel whose users don’t suit your customer avatar.
You don’t always have to pay to play to get email subscribers using social media.
Do you have a strong social media presence? Turn your influence into a sleek email subscriber growth engine. Grow your newsletter subscribers with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or whichever platform you use.
Here’s how.
Optimize your bios - your social media account bio occupies prime space above the fold of your page. It’s prominent. Users don’t have to scroll to see it. Encourage users to sign up for your newsletter or lead magnet by linking to them in your bio. It’s a simple hack that can get you many subscribers on autopilot.
Promote your best content - get your best content seen and clicked by promoting it in your social media updates. Once your followers click through to your blog posts or landing pages, they’ll opt into your optimized sign-up offers.
Run a giveaway - Run a giveaway or contest for your social media followers. The key to a successful giveaway is a valuable prize. To maximize conversions and the organic reach of your contest, ask users to spread the word about the contest to take part, e,g. Retweet to enter on Twitter. Also, boost reach through a trendy hashtag.
As an example, TSM Growth promotes its free writing course on the brand’s Twitter page.
One click and followers land on this page:
Followers get the free course the brand promised.
That’s how you do it.
If you play your cards right, your on-site and off-site strategies will get you a decent number of newsletter subscribers and move you closer to that morale-boosting 100-subscriber mark.
8. Get High-Quality Subscribers Fast With a Referral Program
Now, let’s start leveraging the subscribers you already have as a launchpad to get more.
How? By using the highly-effective beehiiv newsletter referral program.
Here’s how it works. You grow your audience by rewarding your subscribers for sharing your newsletter with people in their circles. Because of the power of social connections, people are more likely to sign up in droves since the newsletter endorsement comes from someone they trust.
Referrals produce fast and scalable subscriber growth.
This strategy assumes that you create super duper content worth sharing. I’m sure you know that as a newsletter writer.
Besides top-notch content, the success of your referral engine hinges on the quality of your incentives. You can reward readers who share your newsletter with friends in two ways:
Digital rewards such as tokens, community access, and exclusive content.
Physical rewards like sports games tickets and swag items such as stickers, coffee mugs, AirPods cases, etc.
Launching your referral subscriber growth engine is easy.
Just add your rewards and milestones and you are all set.
9. Leverage beehiiv’s Newsletter Network for Free With Recommendations
Next, let’s tap into the entire beehiiv network of newsletter publishers to fuel your list growth for free.
One of beehiiv’s niftiest growth features (which is included in beehiiv’s free plan) is called Recommendations.
With Recommendations, you can now leverage the vast beehiiv community of newsletter operators — and their email lists — to scale your audience for free.
Here’s how it works:
As soon as someone subscribes to a newsletter built on beehiiv, they’ll be asked if they want to subscribe to a few other related newsletters via Recommendations.
In doing so, a percentage of new subscribers from one newsletter will subscribe to other recommended newsletters.
For you, as a newsletter publisher, you can enable this feature to recommend other newsletters to your subscribers, but it also means other newsletters can recommend yours.
By using beehiiv as your email newsletter platform of choice, you’ll be able to tap into this automatic growth feature for free.
10. Use beehiiv Boosts To Fast-Track Recommendation Sign-Ups
Finally, to top off your growth strategies and hit your first 100 subscribers, it’s time to tap into one of the newest beehiiv features: Boosts.
We just went over beehiiv’s Recommendations feature above in point number nine. While beehiiv offers this feature to everyone for free, there’s another way to fast-track getting recommended by other newsletters.
With Boosts, you can pay other newsletter operators to feature your publication as a recommended newsletter once someone subscribes to theirs.
This means you can double-down on growth by agreeing to a set price per recommendation and fast-track your journey to 100 subscribers (and beyond).
How beehiiv Can Help You Get Your First 100 Subscribers & More
beehiiv can come in handy on your journey to getting your first 100 email subscribers.
Here are the many ways our all-in-one newsletter platform can help you get to the milestone much faster than you imagined.
Automated welcome emails for you to roll out the red carpet to new subscribers, so they stay on your email list
Embedded signup forms to help you create many sign-up forms such as full-width, fixed-width, and inline CTAs
Website and blog hosting for you to enjoy the convenience of managing your website, blog, and newsletter list-building campaigns in one place
Analytics dashboard for you to see your total number of subscribers, active/inactive subscribers, free versus paid subscribers, and more
Referral program for rewarding your current subscribers for sharing your newsletter with their friends, so you drive more subscriptions
Author bio feature for you to create, optimize, and display your bio in your newsletter, blog posts, and social media handles
Add your social media accounts, so you can grow subscriptions via social media
Recommendations for free access to subscribers through similar beehiiv newsletters
Boosts for fast-tracked acquisition from the beehiiv network via featured recommendations
In short, we are more than a newsletter. We help you integrate all of your digital marketing efforts in one place.
Take your newsletter and list-building a few notches higher with a proven platform.
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