How to Build an Email List as a Coach (Grow & Monetize in 2025!)

Struggling to grow your email list? Learn proven email list-building strategies that every coach needs to know! 🚀 Join the FREE community https://www.readysetcoachprogram.com/

In this episode of the Ready Set Coach podcast, Emily Merrell and Lexie Smith reveal essential email list-building tactics for coaches. With social media platforms constantly changing, building an owned email audience ensures you maintain direct access to potential clients and leads. They compare popular email platforms—including Flodesk, Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, and Substack—breaking down their pros, cons, pricing, and best use cases. Plus, they share step-by-step strategies to attract subscribers, leverage your network, and create high-converting lead magnets. If you're a coach looking to build, grow, and monetize your email list, this episode is packed with actionable insights to help you succeed! 

What You’ll Learn:

✅ Why coaches NEED an email list (and why social media isn’t enough).

✅ The best email platforms for coaches—Flodesk, Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign & Substack. 

✅ Smart strategies to grow your email list using social media, events, and partnerships.

✅ How to create high-value lead magnets that actually convert. 

✅ The BIGGEST mistake coaches make when trying to build an email list. 

🔹 Follow Em & Lex on Instagram: @readysetcoachcommunity

• 00:00 - Introduction
• 01:45 - Why Coaches Need an Email List
• 03:30 - Best Email Platforms for Coaches
• 07:15 - How to Get Your First Subscribers
• 10:50 - Lead Magnet Mistakes to Avoid
• 14:20 - Social Media vs Email List Growth
• 18:05 - Final Thoughts & Next Steps

Transcript

Emily Merrell  0:03  

I like when we record, we even if you can't see us, we just start sitting up straighter. I'm

Lexie Smith  0:09  

like as I hunched over on my microwave. I have to start today with my gripe. If you are watching on YouTube, Emily looks lush and tan and like she just got back from Tahiti, and that's cool for her, but it's making me look extra ghost like, like my whiteness level and my paleness level are elevated to new heights right now. So we are very contrasting.

Emily Merrell  0:31  

Is that your hair or your skin, I can't tell they just can't tell. I'm blending

Lexie Smith  0:35  

with my white wall and my white door behind me. Okay,

Emily Merrell  0:38  

I have to tell a quick Instagram story that I saw. But I saw this guy. He dressed in all black, and I guess his headboard was black, and he hid in the headboard while his wife was sitting on the bed. And he kept taking away, like, her book, and then she would, like, look around for her book, and then like, it'd be thrown back, and she would just kind of be like, Okay, that's weird. I thought, you know, kind of felt like she was going crazy, um, you know, he would have things drop on the floor. He

Lexie Smith  1:06  

was like, holding the headboard, but all in black, and she didn't see him. He didn't

Emily Merrell  1:11  

she didn't see him. He was completely like, head to toe black, like, laying behind the pillows in the headboard.

Speaker 1  1:18  

And it was so funny. I watched probably, like, a minute of this

Emily Merrell  1:24  

because I wanted to see if she finally figured it out, and then finally, like, he, like, reached and grabbed her, and she lost her shit and figured out he was there. But I was like, girlfriend really doesn't have survival skills. She would have been

Lexie Smith  1:39  

I have random funny in my brain, content ideas all the time. And then I go, should I just make an anonymous, random account and see if other people think I'm funny? And then that's the end of the idea. And then it dies right there. And then I talk myself out of it, and then I crush my own dreams the end.

Emily Merrell  1:59  

Can we? Can we live one of those content dreams out on this podcast. What do you want to start?

Lexie Smith  2:03  

I have a lot of, like, relatable content that I think would be relatable between, like, husband and wife and for moms and like, Okay, this is one that came to me yesterday. This is not gonna sound funny. Watch. This is gonna be terrible, but in my brain it sounded brilliant. So, you know, Sour Patch Kids, first they're sour, then they're sweet, like doing a real montage of that with our kids, because it's so fucking true. Toddlers are like sour patch kids, right? Well, we'll f off to them. I haven't seen it done, so for me, that's unique idea. So cool. See, I don't need them. I crush my dreams because you crush my dreams. What hasn't been done, though, to be fair, like at this point, everything's been done. It's just about doing it with your own flair. And I have, like, a vision of how I'd chop it up in the real and

Emily Merrell  2:58  

go for Lex. I think it's a great idea. I think I want to see your version come to you.

Lexie Smith  3:02  

Want to see me as a comedy influencer. Well, coming 2020, Ready

Emily Merrell  3:07  

Set comedy is actually our next, um, next iteration. It's us doing stand up comedy. So, and the only people we're doing it too, is to you guys. So I hope, I hope you like that.

Lexie Smith  3:22  

And on that note, we also hope that you like our topic today, which is email list building tactics for coaches. That was an awful transition.

Emily Merrell  3:37  

Oh, I like it. I like that was good. That was really good. Well, Lex, I'm going to ask you a question. Why are we talking about email list building like, why is that important?

Lexie Smith  3:48  

Sure I can answer that for you. Emily, well, first, this was a question that was brought up by another coach in our recent mix and mingle in the Ready Set coach community. A newer member said they are trying to grow their email list, and wanted to pick the brain of the coaches in the room. So that's a little preference. Preface, preface, preface, preface, but why email? I think today, circa February 13, 2025 when the state of the world, the state of the exes and the Twitters and the metas and everything is so up in the air. The importance of having owned audience is more important than ever before. Also, case in point, I was catching up with another coach this morning. She's like, Hey, did you ever get your Facebook back? No, your Instagram is not or your social channels aren't owned. You can be hacked, and it goes away at any time. If you build an email list that is something that can't, well, I'm sure it can be

Emily Merrell  4:46  

hacked. Actually starts getting hives in real time,

Unknown Speaker  4:50  

changes our email.

Lexie Smith  4:53  

Yeah, there's my long winded answer.

Emily Merrell  4:56  

What I miss? No, I think you've nailed it. And I think. So to that point too, there's also parameters of what you can and cannot include in some of those platforms too. So if you were had certain messages or images or whatnot that you wanted to communicate out there might be some restrictions. I'm also assuming everyone is playing safe and within the rules and guidelines of life here, but with an email list, yes, to your point, like you have so much more control, you have so much more ownership, and at the end of the day, you can convert that email list into higher currencies, like look alike audiences on meta, like running ads on Google, like you can do

Lexie Smith  5:40  

look who is paying attention in our ads class so

Emily Merrell  5:44  

much more than just the likes and followers that probably don't even see your stuff on other platforms. Yep.

Lexie Smith  5:54  

So it's important. So let's, let's get into it. I think I'd like to start by we don't need to spend too much here, but if you are, you don't have a list yet, and you're looking to start, or you hate the platform you're on, let's talk. Let's talk over a few of the options in the market today, and kick us off with your favorite. Let's start with your favorite.

Emily Merrell  6:14  

Oh, I hate them all, but I also like that's that's the biggest challenge. I think right now there is, there are a lot of good options out there, but you can cut them in so many different ways. So for example, we I am for my business, second degree society. I am on flow desk, for Ready Set coach. We are on MailChimp. I really like flow desk in that I am not a creative, creative person like I am not a designer. I get really overwhelmed with making things look pretty, and they have great templates that solve for x in that in that realm. I also like with flow desk, too, they don't punish you if your list grows. On the flip side, there's still a lot to be added onto flow desk. It's not, it doesn't have the analytics that I would like it to have. It doesn't have a lot of the sophistication it's getting there, but it has the price point and it has the the design. And those are two huge, huge problems that I I solve for.

Lexie Smith  7:15  

And I'm just gonna, I'm pulling it up right now. Um, because Emily got in back in the day when it was a little cheaper to start with flow desk. Right now, their first paid plan starts at 38 a month. Yeah,

Emily Merrell  7:28  

38 a month. But then again, you could have 100 people on your mailing list, or you could have 100,000 and it's $38 a month. On the flip side, we got on MailChimp. And MailChimp was what I was on originally, back in the olden days, but I got off of it because I was being charged, I think 350 a month, because my mail my email list was so big, and so I hated being penalized for growing my email list. And so at Ready, Set coach, we made the choice to get onto MailChimp because we didn't have a big mail list when we started growing it. And I think it was like $11 a month.

Lexie Smith  8:03  

It started free, dollar free, yeah, it was free. Yes,

Emily Merrell  8:07  

free. Started that. Then it was 11. And then we have a bigger list now. And now we were getting we're getting it with more money. So I think that they have a lot more. How do I say that? Workflow optimization, I have a

Lexie Smith  8:22  

lot more features. It's definitely clunky, but they do have a lot more capacity built into the platform.

Emily Merrell  8:28  

Yeah. So those are two that I've had experience with, and then the last one I've had experience with, when I worked with an agency, was called Active Campaign, and that was a lot more expensive, but it's kind of like the Cadillac of emails and email marketing. It has a lot of different functionalities, and you have can if this, then that pretty much everything in your life. I'll

Lexie Smith  8:50  

add, there's ConvertKit, that's what I'm on for, the PR bar. I mean, there's so many. The other one I wanted to add, though, is sub stack, which is different than all the other ones we've talked about, because substack is becoming, or it is its own platform of sorts. Um, it's also gives you an opportunity to monetize. So it's a different, a little bit of a different play. It runs a little bit more like a blog. Um, you have to be more consistent with it and but I do think it's very up and coming, and there's a lot of benefits. So like step one here right is figure out what's important to you. Is it ease of use? Is it price? Is it functionality? Do you want to go get nerdy with it, with the data? Do you want to monetize it, maybe, and go to sub stack, knowing there might be some limitations, because it isn't on another platform. So there's not necessarily one answer for everyone. Those are some places to get started. Now, once you get started, you have it connected. You're plugged in. How do you get people to sign up?

Emily Merrell  9:55  

Oh, the million dollar question. So I have a few. Different angles that I like to take on this, I think so often people will start looking to the ocean to find people to join their email list when they've got a fully stocked pond in their backyard. So how can you invite those people from your pond to get onto your mailing list? And this could be as simple as a BCC, email, a LinkedIn post, an Instagram post, letting people know that you have a newsletter with a link in which to subscribe, so then you can invite them. You're letting them opt in, and now you're having eyeballs on your content. I'll also say utilizing social media platforms and letting your followers know when you are posting a new newsletter and giving them the chance to either opt in to join your list by like, including a link and or dropping like a question box with like, hey you want to get on my list, give me your email and then letting and then adding them manually to the list. And you can tease out the content of the email too. Like, today I'm going to do a deep dive on list building. Want to be the first to know about X, Y and Z. Drop your info here

Lexie Smith  11:11  

per Lexi fashion, I'm going to come and, like, outline this for you. So number one, Emily said, talk about it, right? And invite the people in your pond. Then she went over into category two, which is social media. So let's dive even deeper there. There's a lot of ways you can leverage social media to grow your list. Emily kicked us off. I'll also add partnership campaigns. You can do giveaways. There's certain types of content you can play with. With the call to action the CTA being pushing people to your list. You also want to make sure your link in bio, if your primary goal is to grow your list, put that as your link in bio. Make sure you're being really consistent with the ask of people. Don't say, follow me here. You know, book a discovery call here. Get my freebie here. Pick one call to action. In this case, it's building your list, and that's where you want to put. Where you want to push people. I'll also share what was I going to say? Kaylee, can you edit that part and just cut me off? And then I'm going to ask a question. Back to Emily. So there's a million in one ways, whether it be Instagram, LinkedIn, you can, you know, pin a link, use your platforms and your profiles to grow your list.

Emily Merrell  12:27  

Yeah, I think that's great. And you had mentioned some other things, like with the social campaign giveaways. And I think to paint some color around that, that means partnering with another brand. So say Lexi from the PR bar and Emily Merrell of second degree society. Want to give away a free networking and coaching PR coaching session. We could promote it on both of our Instagram platforms, and the ways in which they have to enter are by, you know, subscribing to our newsletter, lighting us on Instagram, and tagging a friend. So, like, it could be, like, three different, three different things, but now we have more emails, and then we share the emails that are collected across both of our platforms. I think that's a really awesome way. And Lex, you kind of talked on this. But events, I think events are truly like one of the best list builders out there, and definitely something you should not be sleeping on.

Lexie Smith  13:28  

Category three.

Emily Merrell  13:31  

Category three activated. So I think hosting events and hosting events, not just for you randomly like hosting them on Eventbrite, that's totally fine, but also getting in front of other communities and hosting those events for them, and then, in exchange for hosting an event, getting the email list of those who have signed up for said event. So I was sharing just a perfect example of sharing with Lexi last night, I hosted an in real life event in Denver, and I partnered with like a luxury apartment building that holds and houses my ideal customer, pretty much. So it was a completely free event for residents of this building, and now they signed up for an event via my email list. And because they've signed up for an event, I'm sorry, via my website, they are automatically added now to my email list. So you know, having that optimization plugged in is also great, and making sure that you are legally popping that into your terms and conditions or privacy policy that like by signing up for something, you will now be added to X list, and we're

Lexie Smith  14:41  

not going to go into all the legal implications of because they're not lawyers. Things right here, not lawyers. We did have a lawyer on our last call say she's never heard of small business being sued over their email list. Everyone. Knock on wood. But one thing to be mindful of if you're growing a list in that capacity, which is a way we've grown it too already. So. Coach, you know, we we did a lot of self hosted webinars and events and workshops and converted those individuals who signed up over to our email list. You want to be mindful of your your first or Next touch. You always want to give them an opt out, and it's best practice to remind them of why they're receiving this email because, in theory, if they didn't directly sign up for your newsletter, knowingly they might be a tad confused and why all of a sudden you're hitting their inbox. So think thoughtfully about your first, your next touch up, or consider even touch up. I mean, reach out and consider even creating a special workflow for people in this category that drips content in a thoughtful way, reminds them and gives them a clear path out too, if they want to

Emily Merrell  15:43  

totally I have 200 emails that I just got from a giveaway, and I'm like, Oh God, I have to build a workflow, because if I just add them to my list, they're like, Who the heck is this girl? I have no idea who this person is. You have to remind them where you met and why there are now on this list and so on and so forth. So, yeah, I think that's great. Lex, what are some other tactics that people can can utilize to grow their

Lexie Smith  16:08  

list? Yeah, I think this is probably the most talked about, but I want to talk about it in a little bit of a different way and maybe uncover some realities. So creating a freebie or a quiz or a downloadable or some sort of content in exchange for email, right? So join my list and receive my workbook for 10 best ways to why that is probably one of the most talked about ways to grow a list in your I'd say in the coaching community at large, the reality, though, or something, we hear quite often, as people rush to build all these freebies, they build it and they think people will just come, yeah, cricket, cricket. We've we've done this too. Just because you have the world's most awesome freebie doesn't mean people are going to organically see it period. So some things to consider, some things to accelerate that are considering putting ad dollars behind a freebie. I know that's not a luxury that everyone has, but if this truly becomes a goal for you, instead of just advertising your coaching services, consider putting ad dollars behind your freebie, and then building out a funnel that eventually nurtures them into wanting to become a client. What are some other thoughts on freebies that you have?

Emily Merrell  17:29  

What I love using a freebie like during a virtual event, when I'm chit chatting with people in the Zoom rooms, and they're like, Hey, I'm looking for Oh, I hate networking. I'm like, Oh yeah, here, here's some networking tips for you, and you drop it in organically, and it then gets them on your email list. Yeah, so and Facebook groups too. Like, I think definitely Facebook groups are great places. Same thing, utilizing your social media for letting people know that you have a freebie on X, Y and Z.

Lexie Smith  17:58  

Do you mean promoting your freebie in a Facebook group? Yes, correct.

Emily Merrell  18:03  

So for example, if someone's like, Hey, I'm looking to move to LA, and I don't know how much I should spend on buying a house, and you're a realtor, you can drop in the in the chat, like, here's my I have a freebie on how to calculate home expenses in LA, yeah. And it gets people on

Lexie Smith  18:21  

their their mailing so if you don't have ad dollars, there's plenty of ways to M's point. You can advertise it on social, in Facebook groups. You can put it on Pinterest, um, you know, look at communities that you're in. See if there's an opportunity to promote your freebie, you're gonna have to promote it. Is the point here, whether it's earned or paid. So freebies are great. Get creative with it. Tools dependent. It's gonna, you know, quizzes. There's a lot of different ones that that work. Well, yeah,

Emily Merrell  18:54  

I think that's great. I'm trying to think of Lex if I missed anything. Yes.

Lexie Smith  19:00  

Okay, so let's talk about some other small, nuanced things. So this is going to go in a category of miscellaneous. So some other places, some other places to advertise. Your email signature, yes. I mean, when you email people in your Gmail and it says from Lexi Smith, co founder, ready, set coach, under there, add a line advertising, you can either do a freebie or directly your newsletter. Okay, that's one thoughtful place. Also be thoughtful and strategic and where and how you share CTAs, one platform that is a really great opportunity to build your list is podcasts, whether you have one or you're guessing on them again, if you commit to, let's say, for the next 90 days, I just want to list build and you go on a podcast, and they give you an opportunity. Where can people connect with you? Take that opportunity to say, You know what the best place to is by jumping on my email list. Here's where you do it. If you get an opportunity to provide a. For the show notes. Lead with that. If you have your own podcast, do a little mid roll ad talking about your newsletter list. Think of different places, similar to what Emily said, where you can share freebies. You can similarly use your call to action as a newsletter. Another Facebook, one I see a lot too, is if you have your own Facebook group adding, I don't really know what you call it, like a pre qualifier questions. A lot of groups have it says, drop your email here to be part of this group. We will be adding you to your list. So that's another place I've seen it. Seen it done. I

Emily Merrell  20:34  

like that one. I forgot about that one. And then the last one I will add, off the top of my head, is I find it really frustrating when you are in a meeting with someone and they're like, Well, I don't get your emails. I don't know why. So if someone books a call with me, I have them. I have a Zapier on that. It adds them automatically to my newsletter, and they have to, like, opt in and all that jazz. But still, there's this aspect of they can unsubscribe. They can unsubscribe if they don't want to be, but if they are hopping on a call on you, with you, and getting to know you, then you're just saving them a little extra calorie burning, versus them finding the link on your website to get on your newsletter. Then

Lexie Smith  21:16  

again, we are not lawyers. We're not going to the legal implications of all of this. The last one I will add before we go into homework, is being really mindful beyond optimizing your social profiles, test and optimize your website. What do I mean by that? Play with pop ups. Play with announcement bars. If that, if these words are foreign to you, Google it. Play with adding an actual section or an in feed embedded section. Put it different places, put it at the end of a blog. Do a lot of different places, and do a lot of different moments where people can get onto your list. Don't just put it in your your footer and call it a day. Like make sure, no matter when people are navigating throughout your site, they have multiple opportunities to jump on your list. It doesn't need that doesn't mean, like, put a pop up every three seconds on every page, but maybe it's a pop up on the home page, then in in banner on page, call out, you know, on your about page, and then it's a call to action graphic on your blog right. Start testing those. Look at your back end. You're going to learn pretty quickly which are effective and which art.

Emily Merrell  22:30  

Amen. Yeah, I completely Amen. Amen. So Lexi Smith, homework, giver of people, what homework shall our listeners have today to take away about email list building tactics

Lexie Smith  22:43  

for coaches. Yeah, I'd say, depending where you're at, you might be someone who's already on the email list building train, or you might not do it, but take one new action. That's my homework, meaning, start your list or pick a platform. Try one new tactic. Take one action towards list building. That's the homework. And

Emily Merrell  23:04  

I just want to, I want to reiterate on that. I think most people, they want to be a part of your world. They want to learn about what you are building. They sometimes need directions on how to do that. So don't assume that everyone knows that you have an email list, don't assume that everyone knows how to get on your newsletter. And because we know what happens with assuming, right? Lex, with the WHO with assuming,

Lexie Smith  23:30  

oh, it makes an ass out of you and me. Very good,

Emily Merrell  23:33  

very good. We are like, Mom, you're crediting each other's

Lexie Smith  23:38  

sandwiches. Very good.

Emily Merrell  23:40  

Okay, we're back. Jesus is a slow cat and mouse game today.

Lexie Smith  23:44  

And just, I'm just really distracted by the glaring whiteness that I'm seeing on the bottom half of the Zoom screen. And I keep trying to look at you, and then I see me. Can I hide me? I should just spotlight you. Yeah, just hide me. Am I? It's bad. I mean, I'm not bad, but I'm saying like I can't not look at it today. Um,

Emily Merrell  24:04  

anyways, okay, so that that being said, Remember to point people in the right direction, and with that, we will see you the next time on The Ready Set. Coach,

Unknown Speaker  24:11  

gasp, gasp.

Emily Merrell  24:15  

Ghost of Lexi Smith, bye.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai