Email Is Not Dead.
If I’m being honest (hopefully I always am)...I haven’t always believed this statement.
As a social media coach and speaker, for a long time I believed that email was dying because social media was taking over. But recently, my opinion has began to change.
Here’s why...
This is a big what if, but what if social media went away? Or what if Facebook starting charging $100/month to use it? Or what if the government decided that they can’t control social media so they started manipulating it’s abilities?
If all of our eggs are in that basket, we are in big trouble.
What can never be taken away from you? YOUR EMAIL LIST. Period.
So, whether you have an email list of 1000 or an email list of zero, let’s start leveraging it now the right way.
Here’s a quick 5 step process for building your email list and creating value for it.
#1 - Use MailChimp.
There are a ton of of different platforms, but MailChimp is really simple to use and it’s free as long as you’re under 2000 on your list.
It has simple templates to make you look awesome and they are all plug and play. Set up that account now.
#2 - Decide what you want out of the email and develop your “topics.”
Please don’t create an email campaign that is all about you. Nobody cares. Add value. Think of what you’d like to see in an email and start there. Then think through what your gifted at and how you can use that gift to add value. And this is huge....DON’T ASK FOR BUSINESS FOR AT LEAST SIX MONTHS!
You have to earn this right through email. Add value first. Get people to get excited about seeing your email pop into their mailbox. Here is what I talk about...
I give a brief word of encouragement to start. Then I highlight my most recent blog. Then I have 3-4 other sections that are quick! Social Media Tip of the Week, Act of Random Kindness, The Book I’m Reading and my Quote of the Week.
By doing all of this, I’m giving several different reasons for people to look forward to my email.
Nobody cares if the majority of your email is why they should use or buy something from you.
#3 - Start collecting emails.
One big thing first, don’t add people to your email list that didn’t ask to be there! That is the fastest way to annoy a lot of people and get a small open rate when you send things out.
Grow your list the right way. Here are a few ways to do it...
- Ask your Facebook audience if they would like to sign up. Then give them a link to use or just ask them to comment their email and you sign them up yourself. Quite a few people will want to be a part of it. This is how I personally added 100’s quickly to my email list.
- If you speak or teach on a regular basis, make sure you create some sort of form you can provide people with to opt in to your email list. I created mine in Canva. It was super easy.
- Facebook/Instagram ads. Give a quick overview of what they can expect from signing up and them run an ad at the form. This is a straight forward way to grow your list beyond your sphere.
- Use “free downloads” then have them give their email as the way to unlock what they are wanting. The biggest part of this is making sure you have something of value to offer that people would be willing to give their email to have access to.
#4 - Commit to value for at least 3-6 months.
The long term goal of an email list is to ultimately sell something to someone. Right? Let’s not over complicate things. Well, if you want that to go well, you HAVE to come from a place of value. If you add someone to your email list and then instantly start selling to them, they will quickly unsubscribe and you will watch your email list shrink faster than it grows.
Don’t get antsy. Realize that this will produce far greater results if primed over time than if you just get impatient and start selling.
Ask yourself this question...what does value look like for my followers? Now provide it.
#5 - Don’t get complacent or boring.
Keep your emails fresh! Once people feel like they are all the same, they are more likely to start checking out.
Add a new segment every few months. Keep track of what you’re talking about so you don’t become repetitive. And keep your ear to the ground of the newest news coming out of your industry. A lot of your people aren’t following the same sources that you are as often as you do. So, if you will simply choose to reproduce things for them that you found from somewhere else, they will be pumped about it!
Email is not dead. It’s very much alive when done the right way for the right reasons.
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