It seems as if every marketing blog or podcast over the past few years has been obsessed with mailing lists. It has been made clear that if you have a popular website but are not doing all you can to capture your visitors’ email addresses, you are an idiot.

The idea is that your website is only the starting point in your relationship with your readers. If the trust you establish through your content is enough for them to give you their email address, you now have the ability to regularly reach out and update them on what is going on at your site (or, more realistically, to remind them that your site exists).