If you had a dollar for every time I mentioned my loves of emails, you’d be able to retire and sail around the world on a private yacht.
But until that moment comes, you’ll need to run a successful surf biz.
List building is a huge part of that success. It’s also one of the most common questions I receive from people who are just starting to build their email list.
Below are the exact methods I used to grow my list from 0 to over 2,000 highly qualified subscribers in 8 months.
No fluff. No fake news.
Just actionable steps to help grow your subscriber list so you can turn those subscribers into frothing (i.e. paying) customers or guests.
What is an email list?
An email list is just what it sounds like – a list of email addresses that you have collected from people who are interested in your business, product, or service.
These email addresses are typically used to send out newsletters, promotions or other content related to your business.
Most surf businesses collect emails when they book, buy or subscribe to something on their website, social media, or in person.
Why is an email list important?
Many surf biz owners I chat to know what an email list is.
They don’t, however, know why it’s important how to build one.
Here are the main reasons to invest time and effort into building your email list:
1. Direct connection with potential customers
Your guests and customers come from all over the world.
You most likely won’t be bumping into them in the lineup, carpark or bar.
Social media is vapid and ever changing, but newsletters allow you to connect with your audience directly and consistently so when they think of product X or location Y, they think of YOU!
2. Personalisation and targeted communication
Personalisation is HUGE in 2025… and it’s only going to get bigger.
With an email list, you can segment your subscribers based on their interests and behaviour, allowing you to create targeted and personalised communication that will resonate with them and increase the chances of conversion.
3. Customer retention
There’s an old saying in the e-commerce world: the more people hear from you (aka see you in their inbox), the more likely they are to book, buy or subscribe.
Your favourite clothing brands are absolute masters at this, and while you may not have the budget for flashy email campaigns, consistently staying in touch with your subscribers ensures you stay front of mind when they are ready to make a purchase or book a trip.
4. Newsletters come with an ROI of 4,200%
Email marketing has been proven to have the highest ROI among all digital marketing channels.
For every $1 spent on email marketing, businesses can expect an average return of $42.
That’s an almost astronomical ROI, and while it may not be as immediate or flashy as social media or influencer marketing, the long-term benefits of a strong email list cannot be ignored.
I attribute newsletters as one of the key factors in the success and growth of my surf biz, and I highly recommend every surf business owner to invest time and effort into building their own.
My most important tip for growing email lists
This isn’t the most revolutionary tip, but by god its worked wonders for me.
I’m a simple man with a simple mind. That means I like to keep things organised and categorised.
When I decided to actively grow my email list, I pulled back on Instagram and SEO blog articles to focus on just that.
I made a plan, put the 5 steps below in action and made sure every piece of content I published over this 8-month block contained a call to action (CTA) to join my email list.
That’s it, nothing fancy.
I just committed to consistently promoting my email list and providing valuable content to subscribers.
Anyone can do this. It only takes time and a little effort.
5 steps for growing your email list
This. Isn’t. Difficult.
The actual steps involved are quite simple when you break them down.
The only trade off is that you need to develop a consistent writing habit and fork out some dough for paid ads.
Here are the 5 steps I followed to grow my email list.
Step 1: Make sure you have an epic newsletter platform
Honestly, it’s all well and good to use Mailchimp or Constant Contact when you have 100 people on your list… but as you grow, those platforms can become very costly, confusing and limiting.
Invest the time to research and find a newsletter platform that will suit your needs now AND in the future.
My favourite is Flodesk.
It’s not exactly the cheapest option, but the ease of use and beautiful templates make it worth the investment.
Chances are you won’t be running super complex campaigns, so for me it’s a no-brainer: stick to Flodesk for an all-in-one email marketing solution.
BONUS: Clean up your current list if you already have one! I know it can be scary to delete emails, but trust me, you don’t want inactive and uninterested subscribers dragging down your open and click rates. If you’re newsletter platform is up and running but you haven’t sent anything in 6 months, send out an email asking if people still want to be on your list. Those who don’t respond can be removed. Nothing worse than a dirty email list… except maybe a dirty block of wax.
Step 2: Create a lead magnet
Once you’ve got the platform sorted, it’s time to create something valuable that will entice people to join your list.
We call this a lead magnet in the marketing world, and it’s essentially a freebie that you give to potential subscribers in exchange for their information.
Nobody is going to hand over their email address for nothing, so make sure your lead magnet is something that will truly benefit your target audience. A few lead magnet ideas for surf businesses include:
- An e-book on surf travel tips/surf destinations/surfboards
- A video series on how to improve surfing technique
- An exclusive discount or offer for your product or service
- A free packing or board-ordering checklist
- A behind-the-scenes look at your surf business
Whatever it is, make sure it’s GOOD! Seriously, the amount of throwaway or clearly AI written and designed e-books I’ve received is astronomical.
Stick to your strengths.
If you’ve been running a surf school for 10 years I’m sure you have some killer tips and tricks up your sleeve that would make for a valuable lead magnet.
Likewise if you’re a shaper, photographer or surf camp owner, you’ll have unique insights and knowledge that your audience would love to learn from.
Mine your own brain. Make the content valuable. The more time people spend with your lead magnet, the more they’ll trust you and want to hear from you in the future.
Step 3: Set up pop-ups AND opt-in forms on your website
Once your newslettter platform is ready to go and your lead magnet is created, it’s time to set up pop-ups and opt-in forms on your website.
Pop-ups are those annoying (yet effective) boxes that appear when you visit a website.
But don’t worry, you can make them less annoying by setting them up correctly:
- Make sure they don’t appear every time someone visits your site
- Offer a clear value proposition in the headline or subheadline
- Keep the form short with only necessary fields (name and email)
- Set exit-intent triggers so the pop-up appears when someone is about to leave your site
Opt-in forms are also important as not everyone will want to sign up through a pop-up.
These can be placed on your homepage, about page, blog posts and even in the footer or sidebar of your website.
Step 4: Promote your lead magnet on social media
Now it’s time to start promoting your lead magnet (aka your sign up form)!
This is when you actively push people to join your list.
Add a signup link to your Instagram bio. Plan out social media posts that tease your lead magnet and link back to your signup form.
If you have a Facebook page or group for your surf business, make sure to share the lead magnet there as well. Drop it into Facebook groups, Threads, Whatsapp groups… wherever!
The more you promote, the more eyes will be on your lead magnet and website.
Once you feel like you’ve exhausted your social media audience you can move onto the next step.
Step 5: Run a short but targeted paid ad campaign
This is the most costly part in terms of time and money, but for me it was as close to a magic solution as possible.
Once I had all of the aforementioned in place, I ran a 2-month-long Facebook and Instagram ad campaign targeting surf business owners around the world.
I’m not a Meta advertising whizz, mind you, so this took me longer to setup and run than it should have.
But hooly dooly… these paid ads worked well.
I saw my email list grow by over 300% in just 2 months.
I began with a small budget and scaled it up slowly as I saw results. I also turned off specific ads that weren’t performing well and created new ones to try different angles.
It’s important to note that I didn’t just throw money at the ads without a plan. I was very targeted in my approach, using specific audience targeting and ad copy that related to my lead magnet.
Keen to grow your newsletter list?
The best time to start growing your email list was 10 years ago. The second best time is now.
Hit me up for more detailed advice on any of the steps above – I’d love to hear how you go!