Sending a welcome note when someone subscribes to your mailing list is a great way to add a personal touch and build trust in your online business. As the first (and sometimes only) point of contact, it’s worth making the most of. First impressions and all that.

You could use the opportunity of someone subscribing to your mailing list as a way to:

say thanks
ask what they are interested in hearing about from you (this is such a brilliant resource for creating ongoing content, and a nice way to promote personal conversation with your audience at the outset)
tell what they can expect from your blog and how often
let them know where they can find you on social channels

You could set this up as a template copy-and-paste reply that you have ready to send manually to any new subscribers, or use an automatic reply that many mail providers allow you to set up. Just be sure to keep an eye on any responses to your welcome and communicate accordingly. Don’t let the ‘automagic’ remove the personal touch from your comms.

As a side note, it’s important to have your mailing list content strategy in place so that when people do sign up, it doesn’t take a year for them to receive an update from you. Be consistent, relevant, unique, and fresh with what you send to your mailing list.