2 builders who never spoke to each other

Point every post at the pre-launch signup

Put a standing subscribe call to action on the profile and at the foot of posts for months before the first edition or product exists, and actively push traffic to the pre-launch page rather than waiting for it to be found. Each post then does double duty as content and as list growth.

The method

1. 01

   Set up a one-click subscribe card on Twitter and pin a tweet about the newsletter to the top of your profile, so passing visitors hit a call to action

2. 02

   Put a subscribe call to action on every social post for months before the first edition exists, and sharpen it as the topic narrows.

3. 03

   Actively drive traffic to that pre-launch page through influencers, social posts and search rather than waiting for it to be found.

What it returned

• 300

  Tom Alder started with a plain mailing list link, then rebranded the prompt once he had niched down. Individual posts that took off delivered 300 to 400 subscribers each and one brought over 2,200. After two months of teasing it he published to roughly 5,000 subscribers.

Sources

• What raves and software have in commonJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · How does this relate to your startup idea? · undated
• 9 email marketing wins that take less than an hourNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · 2. Set up Twitter cards, pin a tweet to your profile · 2015-04-08
• Friday Feature: Strategy BreakdownsTom Alder · sparkloop.app · #1 - Launching your newsletter to thousands of subscribers · undated