How do I set up an email subscriber box on my home page?

I have a free website with Earthlink. I would like to stay in touch with visitors that look at my website. How do I set up an email subscriber box on my homepage?

Congratulations on setting up your temporary website!

You're right to be concerned about staying in touch with visitors. Businesses do well because of the relationships they build.

I recommend that you proceed in three steps:

1) Educate Yourself First. The fact that you’re asking this question leads me to believe that you're not well-versed in online/e-mail marketing. So, you might also want to familiarize yourself with these topics *before* settting up your mailing list. There's definitely a way it should and should not be done. You don't want to risk offending your new contacts. Start with the resources available right here at Entrepreneur.com:

Gail Goodman's Email Marketing column: https://www.entrepreneur.com/columnists/gailgoodman/archive77684.html

And, the Online Marketing channel: https://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/onlinemarketing/index.html

2) Know the Law. Yes, there are laws. As a budding online marketer, you want to familiarize yourself with the provisions of the CAN-SPAM act: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/canspam.shtm

3) Select the Appropriate Service Provider. There are many services that will allow you to collect email addresses and manage your list through their software a few I recommend are:

http://www.aweber.com (offers IP address collection for CAN-SPAM compliance and offers many ways to 'slice and dice' your mailing list to run reports on any statistics you would ever need - # of subscribers, dates, split testing, etc.)

http://www.constantcontact.com (to my knowledge does not collect IP addresses for CAN-SPAM compliance but does offer double-opt in)

Take these steps - in this exact order - and you'll be well on your way to e-mail marketing success.

Good luck!