Going from zero to 100 subs using Kit (formerly ConvertKit)
The first thing you need to collect your first 100 subscribers on Kit is an account with Kit!
The good news is that you can get Kit's free 'Newsletter' plan, which allows you to collect up to 10,000 subscribers and includes one visual automation and one email sequence, normally reserved for premium plans.
And don't worry, you don't actually need to have or create a newsletter when you subscribe to the 'Newsletter' plan (although I think you should consider it as a great way to stay top-of-mind with your subscribers).
Okay, so let's break this down into 4 simple steps...
Step #1 of 4: Get your free account
It's simple to do, just click the button below and click the blue button "Start a free trial";
Step #2 of 4: Get the attention of your ideal subscribers
Contrary to what some may think (or say), people will not join your email subscriber list for the sake of it - you need to give them a good reason to be on there.
And, for me, there have to be two reasons if you're to have a successful email marketing system - initially, your subscribers need a good reason to join your list, but equally importantly, they need a good reason to stay there, and it's your job to deliver on both.
One of the most commonly used 'reasons' to join a subscriber list is known as 'lead magnets'.
These are giveaways that you create to solve a problem or overcome a challenge that your ideal subscriber has, and to get it, they're willing to give you their name and email address.
An example of a lead magnet I use in my business is a guide on how to get started with email marketing - people who want to know about starting email marketing, specifically using Kit (formerly ConvertKit), find it a great resource to accelerate their learning process.
An example of one of my lead magnets:
How to design and create your first lead magnet
Here is the most effective way to come up with your lead magnet;
Free your mind of everything that's going on in your business right now and put yourself in the shoes of your ideal subscriber.
Once in that headspace, ask yourself "What's my biggest problem/challenge right now?".
Start scribbling down all the answers that come to mind.
Once you reach AT LEAST ten items on your list, review the answers and look for a trend - you'll probably find there is one. For example, in my business, my ideal subscribers' problems/challenges fall into one of three areas;
- They are new to email marketing and have no idea where to start
- They have some knowledge of email marketing, but the tech scares them.
- They are using email marketing, but ineffectively due to having no strategy.
So, figure this out for your business and go create the lead magnet you know will help overcome the problem you identified - if you see the value in it, so will others.
Step #3 of 4: Create a place to collect subscribers
With your compelling and attractive lead magnet locked in, you now need to create an easy way for your subscribers-to-be to access it, and in return, give you their name and email address.
The two most common ways to collect subscriber details are a 'landing page' or an embedded 'opt-in form'.
For this article, I'm not going to recommend an embedded form because that involves a couple of extra steps that you can take further down the line.
To get started with your first 100 subscribers, build a landing page in Kit.
Landing Page
A landing page is essentially a web page that can be hosted either by any website hosting platform (e.g. GoDaddy, Hostinger etc.) or, more commonly, by your email marketing platform, i.e. Kit.
To create your landing page in Kit, head for the menu option 'Grow' > 'Landing Pages & Forms';
This will take you to a page where you'll see a '+ Create new' button;
Clicking this button will bring you to this screen, below - choose 'Landing Page';
Now, you'll see a list of templates to choose from - know that you can edit the page once you create a copy from the template to make it look and feel more like your brand/style.
Once selected, you can use the page builder to edit the page as you wish, however, all the clever stuff happens underneath the 'Settings' link;
Clicking on the 'Settings' link will bring up the form shown below - I'll walk you through the 3 top-most menu options, as the other 2 are for more advanced features;
The screen above shows the 'General' settings; you have two options to choose from - either show a success message (which you can edit) or direct the subscriber to an external web page (e.g. a website page, a social media profile etc.).
To keep things simple, select "Show a success message" and edit the message to suit your preferences.
In the 'Domain Name' option, you will create the URL that you'll share with your audiences. The part of the URL with the grey background is not editable, however, the suffix is editable and can be anything you wish, provided it's not already being used.
For example, let's say you're giving away a free guide, you might create a suffix of 'free-guide', giving a complete URL (using the example shown above) of provenflows.ck.page/free-guide
Finally, in the 'Incentive' option, you can configure the email that will be sent to your subscribers, with a link inside that they need to click before being marked as a 'Confirmed' subscriber in Kit.
Clicking on the 'Edit Email Contents' button allows you to edit the email new subscribers will receive after submitting their email address via the landing page.
The last option on this 'Incentive' form informs Kit what to do after a subscriber clicks the 'confirm' button inside the incentive email - there are two options;
- Send them to a URL
- Send them to a page where they can download a file (most common)
The former can be any URL of your choosing. The latter requires you to upload whichever document you want to share with your subscribers (i.e. your lead magnet) and Kit will then deliver it to your confirmed subscribers.
Okay, well done for getting through that - you have just one final step, and that's to 'publish' your landing page - this is easily achieved by clicking the 'Save' button, and then the 'Publish' button - both positioned at the top-right corner of the screen;
Step #4 of 4:
Now, with all your Kit assets in place, it's time to share your lead magnet with as many right-fit people as you can, across all your audiences.
To do so, it's simply sharing your published URL (the one you created in Kit) regularly.
Even though you may feel like you're always sharing your landing page, others won't think the same - they'll only see a small percentage of shares you make, so you need to be consistently posting.
Examples of where you can share your link to your lead magnet (i.e. your landing page URL) include;
- Your social posts (e.g. I share mine on LinkedIn)
- Your website
- Your social profiles
- Your email signature (on your regular emails)
- The footer of your proposals/invoices.
- The description section of your YouTube videos.
- Your podcast show notes
- Your book, printed or digital
- + any other place people come across you!
Be consistent
You must build in consistency of sharing if you're to grow your email list.
Whenever your first landing page is ready and your lead magnet is available, share it with your most active audiences and ask them to subscribe - you'll find you'll get an initial uptake on your offer and those who know you will join your list and by sharing their findings/feedback on whatever you share, you'll then build a subsequent wave of interest and gather more subscribers.
I recommend you schedule at least one post per week that has the sole purpose of growing your email list - pick a day and stick to it!
Below, is an example of me sharing a lead magnet on LinkedIn - just one of many that allow me to stay consistent in sharing at least one to grow my list;
⚡️ Summary
You now have everything you need to start growing your email subscriber list and to get your first 100 subscribers by sharing your link to your landing page.
Whatever you do, don't let perfectionism get in the way of progress - you can always improve over time, and getting started is the most important step!
And if you're the type of person who responds to gamification or goals, set yourself a target and track your subscriber numbers (Warning: do NOT be tempted by vanity subscribers - they must be right-fit subscribers!)
Have a go and let me know how you get on - good luck!