Getting an email list to work for you is tricky. In part 1 of the article, we already saw how people's distaste for emails is leading to technology fixes to prevent it. The good news is that marketing tools are better now than they ever have been, and we're also better at marketing (right?), so we can work around these hurdles. Let's look at some ways that can help:

Continuously Attract More Readers

There's a famous coaching axiom that says "If you're standing still, you're moving backwards," and that's true for email marketing. If you aren't at least giving people a reason to sign up, then you need to re-evaluate your efforts. 

If you're creating great content, people will find it and share it. They'll either find it through search engines, or through social media, and if it's good, they'll want to get it to their connections. Leverage this by thanking people for sharing, and encouraging people to sign up to recieve more content from you automatically. Newsletters are the key way of doing this, although some people set up dedicated twitter accounts for their blogs. 

What's important is that you're continually using your content to attract more readers, so make sure it's easy for them to engage somehow.

Not All Emails Are Created Equal

Once people get on your email list, do they all get the same content? If they're all identical, that's fine, but if not, try to find ways to make your content more relevant to them. Experiment with list segmenting, and look for more quantitative information on your contacts, ideally through a CRM. 

Look to break people out into different customer types, and then focus on what's important to them. The internet has no lack of content, but it's still in it's infancy when it comes to context. Treat your list special, and they'll sing your praises. 

Targeting different segments according to their interests can help you see which groups respond most strongly to what you send. Plus, when people begin to engage with and look forward to your email newsletters, no amount of technology fixes can stop them.

Use Offers to Pull People Into the Funnel

Do the people on your email lists ever become customers? That's the whole point, right? Stay in front of folks, and when the time is right, they'll remember your name. 

But do you have a clear path for how they can become more engaged? Lots of people on your list might not be ready to sign on the dotted line, but more targeted information for them could do wonders in terms of getting them to that point. 

Look for ways to let your contacts self-identify as more interested in what you offer. Provide educational offers such as ebooks or slide decks and collect who's interested in them. Down the road, maybe a free 30-minute consult with them can help you both identify whether you can help or not. Creating ways for them to have a soft approach can help contacts become more comfortable with the idea of working with you.

Bonus: Make Marketing That People Love

I touched on it earlier, but the best way to prevent your email list from atrophying is to make great content. Send out something useful to your list and they'll always respond. Improve upon this with context, and you'll be amazed. 

Sending out everything you blogged about recently is a start for a newsletter. But moving beyond it to offer relevant content depending upon who's viewing it is the goal. Finding ways to marry content and context is the next step in marketing, and there are lots of tools that can enable this.

Most importantly, just put yourself in your reader's shoes - what would you want to read? Do this and you'll do great.