Although email marketing may not be as sexy as social media, it’s still a critical piece of most small business’s marketing plans.

A lot of companies have email signups, but they just state: Join our Mailing List, which sounds like code for “Please Spam Me!”

We’ve found that we greatly increased our subscriber rate by adding a giveaway for subscribers. In our case we have a few articles depending on where you see our email sign up:

• 10 Questions to Ask Before Setting Up a Website
• The 11 Biggest Mistakes Small Business Bloggers Make, and
• 10 Questions to Ask Before Setting Up a Facebook Business Page

Do you have email bait? What is it? Has it worked?

I think it sounds like you will have a low optin rate DJ. Asking people to answer five questions is more work than most people are willing to do if it involves writing a comprehensive answer. A short survey with a random drawing might be better, but check the legal requirements for contests. The tradition route is a free report, ebook, or mini-course and has been successful for list building.