Email marketing is one of the best online marketing tools in use today. Even with the multitudes of emails that people receive on a daily basis they are still quite receptive to a well planned email marketing campaign.

I like to call this educational marketing.  That means that you are not hard core selling but sharing information that adds value to the persons life and soft selling in the process.

You might have heard the saying that a businesses email list is its most valuable asset!  If that is true then growing the list with potential pre-qualified clients is a necessity.

There are a number of ways you can successful entice website visitors, customers and prospects to join your email list:

1. Bribery! Not in the monetary sense, but in the “Let me make you an offer you can't refuse” sense. Offer a free, original e-book to anyone who subscribes to your email list. This method works especially well if your subscriber can only get the e-book from you. Don't have an e-book to give away? Try writing 5-10 original articles on your niche topic and compiling them into a PDF. It's a quick, easy and cost-free solution to create a unique product.  Audio downloads work great as well.  Using a bridge line from someone such as Instant Teleseminar will allow you to record your information and send it out as an attachment.

2. Add a subscription form to every page of your website. The upper right side is considered the best location, but if that doesn't work, choose a spot which is above the fold and add it to every page. Above the fold means that you can see the spot the moment your webpage opens without touching your mouse.  Another name for this is an autoresponder opt-in box.

3. Update your Facebook status with a note about your newsletter or Tweet about it. Encourage your FB friends, Fan Page members and family to subscribe and tell their followers. Be sure to thank them when they do.  Same goes for Twitter.  Ask people to retweet to their friends and offer a free ad to any of your followers who subscribe and email you their Twitter user name.

4. Promote your mailing list instead of your website. Then use your mailing list to promote your other offerings. Your goal is to capture the names and contact info of your prospects and customers. Once you do that, you can steer them to your website, products and services.

5. Create a separate sign-up page (also known as a “squeeze page”) for your mailing list and link to it from every page on your site. Include sample content and detailed information to let your visitors know why they should want to give you their email address. Make it worth their while by offering something they can't get anywhere else except through you (see hint #1 above).

6. Include a link to your subscription page in your email signature (sig file), as well as in your signature on discussion forums and groups you belong to. Most forums will allow you to do this automatically though by customizing your profile. This method is an easy way to capture names from prospects without their having to visit your blog to learn about you.

There are many other ways to promote your mailing list, but the main thing is to do it, and do it now! Use every means at your disposal to spread the word and encourage subscribers. Building a mailing list is the best way to build your business online, and promoting it wherever you can is the best way to grow your list.

OK Here is a bonus for you! Ask subscribers to forward and share your mailing list with their friends, family and colleagues. Include a line at the bottom of every email asking your readers to forward the information on if they've found it useful. You might even offer an incentive, such as a free ad or a special discount for every subscriber they refer to you.