Every writer’s blog ought to have an opt-in box where you offer a trade—an email notice of any new posts in exchange for the visitor’s name and email address. Deliver vital content on your blog and interested people will want to hear about anything new you post.

To encourage subscribers, create a free product to offer as an incentive. This could be a free short story, an action poster or a mini-guide. Upload this product to your web host.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Set up an autoresponder account such as at AWeber or GetResponse or another service.
2. Create a mailing list for your blog subscribers.
3. Write a welcome message (with a link to your free offer) and load it as the Follow Up email.
4. Using the autoresponder’s options, create a simple web form asking for the first name and email address of the visitor. In the header of this web form, offer something free to those who subscribe.
5. Capture the html code of the form.

Now, go to your Wordpress blog admin area:

1. Click on Design.
2. Go to Widgets.
3. Go down the left column to Text and click Add.
4. A new bar will appear at the bottom of your widget column to the right.
5. Click Edit on that bar.
6. Paste the html code for the web form into the Text Box and click Change.
7. Drag the text box to the top of your widget list so the opt-in box will appear at the top of the column for maximum exposure.

That’s it. Go to your blog and put in your own name and email address, so you can follow the process. Check your autoresponder to see your name in the list of subscribers. Check your email for your welcome message. Add a new post to the blog and watch for your notice.