How We Got 1,000 Email Subscribers Before Launch

For the launch of my newest content site, They Got Acquired, we checked all the obvious boxes.

We had plenty of content, a professional-looking design that helped people take us seriously, and an About page that shared who we are and what we stand for.

But the most important thing we had in place at launch was something you couldn't see: our email list.

We managed to gather 1,000 emails for people who were interested in the information we provide — guidance for entrepreneurs on how to sell a business — before we launched. And that's what made the launch successful.

How'd we do it?

Since we're bootstrapped, we experimented with lots of scrappy approaches. Here's what we found most effective.

1. Got a landing page live as early as possible

I got our landing page, including an email sign-up form, live in March 2021, months before I was working on the project in a meaningful way. (I went all-in on the company in September 2021 and we launched in February 2022.)

It was a simple page built with Carrd, yet it was compelling enough to garner sign-ups.

What we included:

👉 What we’re building and what's in it for you
👉 Who we are (I linked to my own website for credibility)
👉 When we planned to launch

You can see what it looked like at the top of this post.

Even if you don’t have the whole idea fleshed out or you haven’t started building the product, get your landing page live asap. Not only will this help you suss out whether your idea has any appeal, putting the landing page up early will give you the longest possible lead time to collect emails before launch.

2. Shared the idea on Kern.al

In the early days, before we even had a way to collect emails, I shared the idea for the site on Kern.al, a free community for getting feedback on startup ideas.

Because the idea got a few dozen upvotes, the Kern.al team promoted it on the website and in their newsletter, which encouraged other users to follow our updates.

Once I decided to pursue the project and created the landing page, I followed up with the followers of the idea on Kern.al and let them know there was an option to sign up for the email list. That brought over a small-but-loyal group of people who wanted what we were building. (And we connected with one of our best writers there, too!)

3. Asked for ideas, not for sign-ups

I dropped into lots of Facebook, Slack and Discord groups I already participated in to spread the word, and sent personalized emails to my network letting them know about my new company. But rather than asking people to sign up for our email list, which felt too promotional, I asked for information.

Did anyone know of companies that had sold in the last few years for $100K-$50M that we should cover? I let them know our stories would celebrate these sales, which incentivized some people to share.

Using this tactic, we got some great leads for companies to cover. But the biggest benefit was getting on people's radar in a non-pushy way. Many wanted to read these stories too, so they joined our email list.

Rather than shout about what we were building, we found it more effective to involve others, to ask for help.

4. Sent emails during pre-launch

We didn't wait until launch to email our small-but-growing list of subscribers. And emailing them during pre-launch ended up helping to grow the list.

We let them know what we were building, what they could expect to see at launch, and how they could help. This kept us top of mind in the months leading up to launch, and some subscribers spread the word.

Our pre-launch emails also delivered an unexpected benefit: It gave me a chance to experiment with different kinds of content. I included a "behind the business" message in those early days that I hadn't planned on continuing after launch... but it was so popular that I still include that section in the newsletter today.

I hope this gave you a few ideas for growing your own email list in the early days! I'm happy to answer questions in the comments.