15 List Building Tactics that Actually Work

It’s time for some list building tactics that actually work!

With all the upheaval in the search results and the fickle nature of social media, you know you need to build your email list, but how do you actually do it?

Today we’re sharing 15 simple tactics that really work. Our guest has been studying the biggest newsletters and creators to see what’s working now.

Chenell Basilio from Growth in Reverse and Growth in Reverse Podcast joins us to share strategies that get real results.

Listen to Episode 681 of the Side Hustle Show to learn:

• 15 specific list building tactics with real subscriber numbers
• How to turn one subscriber into two with minimal effort
• Creative ways to collaborate and cross-promote
• Tools and automations that make growth hands-off

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1. The One-Click Unlock – Justin Moore’s Referral Program

Justin Moore runs the Creator Wizard newsletter. He helps creators get sponsorship deals, and each week, he shares opportunities to make money.

Here’s his smart trick: In every email, there’s a gray box with a lock. It says “refer one person to get the secret sponsorship research.” When you refer just one person, the box unlocks. Inside is extra valuable stuff like brand contacts and deal details.

This simple idea got Justin about 5,000 subscribers. It works because it’s easy and valuable. Every week people see it and think, “I just need to find one person.”

How to do this: Use Kit email software with liquid code, tags, or snippets. ChatGPT can help you write it even if you’re not tech-savvy. Think about what’s the next thing your subscribers need, then put that behind the referral wall.

Learn more about Justin’s strategy

Check out his free sponsor audit tool.

I believe you can do this on Kit’s Creator Pro plan, or with an add-on tool like Pete McPherson’s List Gadget. 

2. Newsletter Co-Recommendations

Email platforms like Kit, Substack, and Beehive let you recommend other newsletters. When someone signs up for yours, they see a box suggesting others you like.

The smart move from CJ Gustafson: Don’t just pick random people to swap with. Actually talk to other creators. Get on phone calls. Build real relationships first. Then ask to recommend each other.

Chenell’s tip: When people join from recommendations, send them a special welcome email. Say they came from another creator and put an easy unsubscribe link at the top. This keeps your list quality high.

Chenell got about 10,000 subscribers this way. It works when you do it right.

3. Facebook Group to Email List Strategy

This trick got 7,000 subscribers over several years. Use a tool called Group Leads. It’s cheap and lets you ask questions when people join your Facebook group.

How it works: Ask things like “What’s your biggest struggle?” Plus “If you want our best side hustle tips, enter your email here.” Group Leads sends emails straight to Kit with a special welcome series.

Abbey Ashley has a Facebook group as the top of the funnel for her virtual assistant training business.

This works great because Facebook suggests groups to people interested in your topic. Free growth that you can capture.

4. The Viral Google Doc – Olly Richards

Olly Richards built a $10 million language learning business called Story Learning. When he wanted to start a personal brand, he couldn’t use his old email list. Wrong audience.

His solution is to put everything he learned into a 118-page Google Doc. He gave it away for free.

Here’s why it was genius:

• No email required to read it
• People could share it easily
• Throughout the doc, he offered ways to join his list
• Every newsletter writer started sharing it
• He only spent $10 on a cover design

He bought sponsorships in other newsletters using Spark Loop to get it started.

Results: 18,000 subscribers and $1.2 million in two years from workshops and coaching.

Read the full Olly Richards case study

5. Permafree Kindle Books

Making a book free on Amazon can bring in lots of subscribers. List your book for free somewhere else (like Smashwords), then ask Amazon to match the price.

(I’ve had a permafree book that hasn’t been updated in 2019.)

In the book, include offers like “Download the toolkit” or “Get the free videos.” Most business books do this. It’s brought in thousands of subscribers over 10+ years.

The free part removes barriers and gets more downloads.

6. Paid Guest Posts – Get Paid While Building Your List

CJ Gustafson from Mostly Metrics found a smart way to get paid while growing his audience.

He goes to software companies and offers to write helpful content for their customers. Now he gets paid $6,000-$12,000 for 3-4 posts. Often he just reuses content from his own newsletter.

What he gets:

• Money for writing
• Access to new audiences
• Credit back to his newsletter
• More authority and links

This works in any niche. Think about which companies your ideal customers already trust. Offer to write valuable content for them.

7. The Speaking Circuit – Virtual Educational Workshops

Dustin Lien built his business by hosting free workshops for companies his target customers already worked with. No pitch required — just valuable education.

Example: A microgreens farmer could partner with Bootstrap Farmer (who sells growing trays) to host a workshop on “10 Biggest Microgreens Mistakes for Beginners.”

Then at the bottom, they sign up for your email list.

The company vouches for you as the expert, giving you instant credibility with their audience.

8. Virtual Summits

This is a ton of work to put together.

Pre-record videos with 20-30 experts in your niche. Drip them out over a 3-day “live” event. Everyone you interviewed promotes it to their audience.

This is tons of work but can be incredibly effective. In the early days of Self-Publishing School, Chandler Bolt made about $1 million from a self-publishing virtual summit.

Pro tip: Get companies to sponsor your summit in exchange for promoting it to their customer base.

9. Pop-Up Newsletter – 30 Days of Crowdsourced Content

Chenell’s “30 Days of Growth” was a temporary newsletter with tips from 30 creators. It got 1,750 new subscribers in 30 days.

How it worked:

• Asked 30 creators for one growth tip each
• Sent one tip per day for 30 days
• Everyone promoted it to their audience
• After 30 days, had both subscribers and a great lead magnet

It’s like the old “30 experts share tips” blog post, but spread out over time.

10. Social Media Office Hours and AMAs

Tom Orbach from Marketing Ideas posted on LinkedIn: “Drop your website URL below. I’ll reply with a specific growth hack for your company.”

Results:

• 250 new subscribers from LinkedIn
• 400 from Substack
• 650 total from two posts

Under each post, he plugs in his newsletter and many people who just watched (didn’t comment) still subscribed.

See Tom’s AMA strategy breakdown

11. Bundle Sales for Growth

Participate in bundle sales where 30-50 creators contribute digital products for a low price (typically $49 for $5,000+ worth of products).

Everyone promotes the bundle to their audience, and customers enter email addresses to claim individual products. Only people who claim your product join your list. Contributors earn $0 from sales but gain subscribers.

I’ve generated several thousand subscribers over 3-4 years with similar quality to my main list.

Popular bundle sales include Ultimate Bundles or BC Stack.

12. Strategic Collaborations and Promo Swaps

Team up with other creators for cross-promotions. Alex Garcia from Marketing Examined worked with Pat Walls from Starter Story:

• Pat made a video featuring Alex (when Pat had 15k YouTube subscribers)
• Alex gave Pat a big shout-out in his newsletter
• Pat’s YouTube channel later grew to 500k+ subscribers
• That video kept bringing Alex subscribers for months

Maja Voje also used this strategy to grow from 3,000 to 20,000 subscribers in 8 months by collaborating with bigger creators.

13. Buying Newsletters – Codie Sanchez’s Strategy

Codie Sanchez bought an existing newsletter to jumpstart Contrarian Thinking. Instead of simply importing the list, she positioned herself as a guest author or sponsor for weeks or months first.

This let her:

• Build the audience gradually
• Test what content worked

She built trust gradually, then sold the original newsletter back to someone else. She gained subscribers without losing money (probably made money) and maintained the newsletter’s original mission.

See Codie’s growth chart

14. Podcast Guesting

Codie also did tons of manual outreach and podcast guesting in the early days. Going on other people’s podcasts to share her unique angle about buying businesses vs. building them.

Chenell created a visual showing Codie’s podcast appearances directly correlating with newsletter growth spikes.

The key is having a unique angle that makes you an interesting guest and gets people to remember you.

15. Viral Content with Lead Capture – Tori Dunlap’s Quiz

Tori Dunlap had one TikTok video go viral. But she was ready with a money personality quiz funnel. When the video exploded, she got 100,000 subscribers in a week.

You can’t control going viral, but you can control having the right funnel ready when it happens.

Her quiz has now been taken by 1.16 million people — all email subscribers.

Tools You Need

Email Platforms:

• Kit – great for smart features and liquid code
• Substack – easy discovery and collaborations
• Beehive – modern and clean

Growth Tools:

• Group Leads – Facebook to email
• List Gadget – referrals and engagement
• Spark Loop – paid recommendations

What Makes These Work

The best list building strategies all do these things:

1. Give value first – Lead with something helpful
2. Make sharing easy – Low effort, clear benefits
3. Build real relationships – Don’t just use people
4. Keep trying – Not everything will work, but keep going
5. Use other people’s audiences – Tap into groups that already exist

Remember Chenell’s advice: “Just try stuff. Some things get zero views, but some might get 10. Those 10 people might become your biggest fans. Don’t think small numbers mean you’re failing.”

Whether you have 200 subscribers or 20,000, these 15 tactics can help you grow with people who actually want to hear from you.

Chenell’s #1 Tip for Side Hustle Nation

“Just try stuff, experiment, start somewhere.”

Episode Links

• Growth in Reverse
• Justin Moore Case Study
• Olly Richards Google Doc Strategy
• Story Learning
• Tom Orbach AMA Strategy
• CJ Gustafson
• Codie Sanchez Growth Chart
• Creator Wizard Newsletter
• Kit Email Marketing
• Substack
• Beehive
• Group Leads
• Abbey Ashley’s Virtual Assistant Business
• List Gadget
• Mostly Metrics
• Marketing Ideas
• Dustin Lien
• Contrarian Thinking
• Marketing Examined
• Starter Story
• Ultimate Bundles
• Spark Loop
• Smashwords
• 30 Days of Growth
• Chandler Bolt

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