We all know to collect email addresses on our websites, but if we interact with our target audience other places such as your store, a craft fair, tradeshow or speaking event it can be a little more difficult. The standard solution has been paper and pen. Once you collect those addresses on paper, someone has to then type all those contacts into your email software. This takes a lot of time and can be difficult to do if you have trouble reading people’s handwriting.
Let me introduce you to one of my favorite tools, MailChimp Subscribe. Subscribe is an app that runs on your iOS or Android device and allows you to create email subscription forms. Interested subscribers can fill out the form on your device by typing in their information which will subscribe them to your desired list. If you are on the Internet, the new subscriber will instantly be added to your list, if there is no WiFi, they will be added once your device is again connected to the Internet. This app saves you so much time and helps your accuracy from the old way of doing things with paper and pen.
I have used this app at craft shows while selling our soaps. We tied a chance to win something if they signed up for our newsletter and because it was so easy, we had several people subscribe. At speaking events, I also use MailChimp Subscribe on my iPad to allow interested people to easily sign up after my presentation. I haven’t done it yet, but I intend to put the app on my phone, so when I am at networking events and discussing my business, I can invite them to subscribe right then and there.
In addition to it being time-saving and more accurate, the app, itself, can become a great conversation starter because many people have not seen anything like it before. The app is easy to use and you can brand your sign-up form with your logo and coloring helping you stay consistent with your messaging. If you are a MailChimp user, be sure to download this free app and give it a try.