I wanna start a newsletter next year but haven’t set it up yet. Is there a way I can go ahead and collect email addresses now, even if I don’t have a newsletter or a newsletter plugin in place?
The main reason I haven’t signed up for a newsletter service is that I don’t have a business address yet, and I’m worried about my home address being published. Any advice on how to collect emails safely in the meantime?
Sure thing, go for it! I started gathering email addresses for my newsletter last year, but with all my other commitments, I didn’t actually start sending anything out until this past August.
Ideally, you’d want to start emailing people as soon as you collect their info, but hey, life happens. Sometimes, you just can’t get to it right away…and that’s okay…
If you’re collecting emails but not sending anything, it’s pretty much a waste. After a year, people will forget why they even signed up.
Newsletters are all about building a personal connection with each subscriber, not just blasting out promotions to everyone.
I’m a bit confused by some of these replies. You can definitely collect emails without having a newsletter. Just add a disclaimer saying that by giving their email, they agree to receive newsletters from your site. You can gather the addresses now, and when you’re ready to launch your newsletter, you can send it out. If they want to opt out after that, they can totally do so!
What about offering a “magnet” …a free document or something… that requires them to enter an email?
But if you don’t have a newsletter, what do you need their email address for? Hopefully not to sell.
I don’t think that’s right; I really think you need a provider. I use ConvertKit. They have a free newsletter plan that lets you have up to 10k subscribers without paying a dime. Plus, you can use their business address instead of your own. You can set up a form with them to collect emails and then start sending out emails when you’re ready.
You can totally collect emails from people without a newsletter plugin, but since they didn’t actually subscribe, they might mark your emails as spam. That’ll get your domain flagged as spam by email providers like Gmail and Outlook. So, it’s best to have a proper signup process to avoid that headache…
Why would you need a home address? I’m on Wordpress and use the Newsletter plugin and never provided an address.