Hey Reader!

My front yard has a bit of a slope, which means that the soil drifts slowly downward until it slides over the curb into the street. So several years ago I started to build this tiny fence made of wine bottles.

It's just high enough to keep the yard from migrating to the street, and I think it looks pretty good.

The challenge with this project is that there's a fairly brief window in which to work on it. When the nearly daily rain has stopped the soil is moist enough to dig up easily. Then the weather gets nice and that dirt hardens into something akin to concrete.

This is the excuse I've been using for years now to explain why this sweet little solution covers only about a quarter of the distance from my driveway to the neighbor's.

The truth, however, is that while I'm an excellent starter of projects, I'm not always a great finisher.

I'm really hoping to get this little glass wall finished this year. I've done around 10 feet so far but I've probably got another 15 to go. The soil is starting to really dry out, so we'll see.

It's not like I don't have 100 other outdoor tasks to work on. 😁

All this is to say that some projects require planning and the right conditions and undivided attention, and are hard to accomplish.

Others, however, are simple!

List-building, in general, is a long game with lots of strategy and moving parts. But there are some very simple things you can do to make it easy for people to join your mailing list.

Here are five things you can probably finish up in 15 minutes - a half hour tops.

1. Make sure a visitor to your website has SEVERAL opportunities to sign up. It's amazing how often I want to get on a mailing list and can't figure out how to do that.
2. Put a link in your email signature. It's such a low-stakes ask - you're more likely to get a response to that than to anything that takes more than 20 seconds. If you've got a lead magnet this is a great place to advertise it.
3. Put links in your social media bios.
4. Do you use an online meeting scheduler? You may be able to add a checkbox: Would you like to join my mailing list? This might be something you can integrate with your email platform or you might have to add the contact manually.
5. Put a SUBSCRIBE button at the bottom of every email along with the suggestion to forward it to a friend.

There are plenty of other strategies as well, but start with these. They may not garner thousands of contacts but let's make it EASY for the people who are interested to hop on your list.

That's it for today, I've got bottles to bury. 🍾

Your in being productive,

Julia

PS - I finished this email during Consistency Club - an hour of writing and one on one help I offer every Wednesday morning. Learn more here. You'll be amazed at what you can accomplish in an hour!

​XTC knows the power of five, and so does this email. Forward it to someone who could use a quick win.