Every blog marketer knows the importance of having a list. It can't be stressed enough. The bigger the list, the more business potential you have at your fingertips. It is essential that you know how to use your blog to build your email list exponentially to keep that potential alive and flourishing. So how do you do that?

The most obvious and basic thing you can do to encourage sign ups is to provide genuinely helpful and unique content. If you do nothing else, practice this essential consistently to ensure return readers and interested opt-ins.

If you are providing a blog that people are considering valuable, they will be easily encouraged to share and forward your newsletter to others. Naturally, your newsletter should have an opt-in box for the recipients to easily register with. This step presents the opportunity to double your list of email addresses. Think about that - double, with very little effort. All you're doing is asking your readers to share. If they're enjoying your writing, they'll be happy to oblige.

Should you find that you're not getting as many referrals as you'd hoped from doing the above, try a little motivation.

Offer an incentive to those who help you increase your number of registrants. It doesn't have to be costly, though you could offer cash payable through PayPal. People are often pleased to receive a free report about a subject they're interested in that pertains to your business.

If you really want to thrill and excite them into helping you, offer to write a blog post about them. Every person who brings you X number of new sign ups will have their business highlighted on your blog.

You may already be offering a free report on your blog site to entice new sign ups. If so, don't forget to explain that the email address being entered will be added to your list. People don't like feeling that they've been tricked onto a list. Honesty may lose you an address or two, but will win you an integrity that will take you much farther.

Along the same vein, give your readers a feeling of being in control by segmenting your lists according to subject matter. Readers can then sign up only for the topics they're interested in.

Why not try something that survey sites use? Offer a contest ballot each time a reader gets a referral to join your list. The prize could be anything mentioned above, or something else your loyal supporters deem worth winning.

Another benefit to the personal touch is that your readers will feel part of a fold that has the inside track to success. It creates a team atmosphere that will in turn create motivation to help build your list. When this happens, you have people on board that feel rewarded and really want to help. The more interested and involved your opt-ins are, the better your list and therefore the selling potential within it.

Tons of people are using their blogs to implement subscriptions, as well as increase their numbers and keep everyone happy that they signed up in the first place. Have fun with the process and enjoy the interactions with your faithful readers, and the subsequent increase in sales.

Once you learn how to use your blog to build your email list, you'll wish you'd started using the strategy sooner. It's easy, and only involves a little work. The return you'll get on the time spent will be more than worth it.