How to Use Google Sheets and Twitter to Grow Your Email Newsletter List
Do you want to start and grow your email newsletter but don’t know how? It can be tough to get started, but not impossible.
In this week’s newsletter, I will show you how to use Google Sheets and Twitter to grow your email list and get your first ten subscribers.
With a few simple steps, you can start building relationships with those subscribers that will help you grow your audience.
Step 1: Create a Twitter List and Add Everyone Following You
Following someone on Twitter is like sticking a note on their back that says, “Hi, I like you. Follow me back, and we can be friends.” If they don’t follow you back, it’s like they never got the note. You’re just talking to yourself at that point. But if they do follow you back, it’s like, “Hey, I got your note. I like you too. Let’s be friends.” So the first step in this process is to create a Twitter List of everyone you are currently following that also follows you back. While a follow is a shallow signal of commitment, it’s enough to get us to the next step.
Pro Tip: If you have a website or a comic you’re looking to promote, making your list public, giving it a cool logo (which you can get cheap via Fiverr), and making the list name YourThing.com will get people’s attention and visits to that very website.
Step 2: Spend 15 Minutes a Day With The People On This Twitter List
The goal here is to slowly turn the people on this Twitter list into friends, or at least acquaintances. The best way to do that is to actually spend time with them.
I know. Duh, right? But you’d be surprised at how this seemingly obvious thing often isn’t/
So set a timer for 15 minutes, and every day, go through your Twitter list and like some tweets, retweet some tweets, and reply to some tweets. If you do this every day for a week, you will see some of these people responding to you.
Pro-Tip: This won’t apply to you if you have a social media account just for fun. But. If you have a social media account, and the only thing you use it for is to grow your audience, then make sure the link in your bio goes right to the sign-up form for your newsletter. (Unless you have a lead magnet, but we’ll get to that thing some other time.)
You also want to make sure you explain in your bio what you do in your newsletter, presented in a way that answers the Internet’s most infamous question: “What’s in it for me?” That’s all anyone cares about, whether we like it or not, so you need to phrase your newsletter offering in such a way that answers your question. Easier said than done, mainly because you have so few words to do this by. Try your best.
Step 3: After a Reasonable Amount of Time, Make Your Pitch
Once you’ve built a little rapport with the people on your list (a month should do it, three months is better), you can start to make your pitch.
The best way to do this is to DM someone using the following script:
(Question that’s of interest to the person you’re contacting.)
(Your pitch, in as few words as possible.)
Ask for permission to send them a link if they’re interested.
If they say yes? Add them to your Google Sheet. We’ll talk about what to do with this info next time.
For now, you just want to keep track of who says yes, their username, and email address. It’s going to be important later.
Twitter can be a great way to get in touch with potential leads and customers. By creating a list of people who are interested in what you do, spending time engaging with them, and then making your pitch, you can start building an email newsletter list that will continue to grow over time.
Do you have questions about how to grow your audience online? I’m here to help. So reply to this email with your questions, and I’ll answer them in this newsletter.
See you next week.
-BJ
