Just when you think you knew everything about email lists, I'm coming in to tell you even more about them! Earlier this year (spot the old wall!) I ran a fun webinar alllll about email lists and how to use them to grow your business. It's jam packed with helpful tips so I just couldn't keep it all to myself you know? Let's dive right in because there's a whole lot to go through! And if you discovered some new tricks, tag me on Instagram @thepigeonletters and tell me what they are.
Pssst...if you rather listen to me deliver the webinar, you can watch the replay here (are you obsessed with me or something? 😉).
First things first, let's address the elephant in the room: do you need an email list if you're just a....? YES. You're not just A someone, you're someone that has passion and drive that you want to share with others - so get that straight will ya?
An email list is your path to direct contact with your audience, carved out and created specifically for you by...YOU.
You know what else is made for you? This cute little purrmaid that will be your personal cheerleader while you're hustling away building your email list. Put it on a jacket to always have with you or pop it onto your botanical canvas pen pouch as a reminder that YOU CAN DO IT.
Let me tell you my story. I was already successful at what I do when my email list was at 1,500 subscribers. I wasn't putting a lot of effort into it either, it's just something that was there. I didn't have a method of what content was being sent out, I didn't have a nice space for it, unlike now. But then I realised that an email list will be CRITICAL to my growth and scale because I need a way to contact people directly.
My email list went from 1,500 to 20,000 in 8 months. That's a 1233% growth, which is...A LOT. How did I do it and more importantly, what do you need to do to achieve substantial growth? Two words: LEAD. MAGNETS.
What is a lead magnet I hear you ask? Well, I like to call it an eye-catching incentive that people see and want badly enough that they are willing to provide their precious email address in order to get it. Don't call it a newsletter because first, how boring, and second, not a lot of people get excited about signing up to a newsletter (think of the last time you subscribed to one and what your thought process was). Make it something special, like early access, exclusive offers, free resources, behind-the-scenes, actionable items that help people achieve something and so on.
You don't want to offer throw-away content because it's just not exciting and that's exactly what people are going to do with it - throw it away, right into their junk folder. You don't want that and I don't want that for you either. Instead, offer something that is already what you do but free, something that kinda hurts to give away. Give them a taste of what you offer and next thing you know, they'll want to come back for more.
Your lead magnet should be shareable - don't put it just in one form or just on one page of your website, because you don't necessarily know where your audience is going to land or what's going to grab attention. Make different forms, different graphics (I have about 20 for my Skillshare offer alone!), GET CREATIVE.
Here are some tips that worked for me:
- be concise: include a clear description as to what your offer actually is and keep it brief
- be specific: and the more specific your offer is, the better (although mine, as you'll see, is pretty broad since I offer a variety of different resources - and that might be the case with you too)
- your face: NOT necessary, but if you show up in your brand a lot it will attract more attention and build trust
- embedded opt-in form: avoid providing links to opt in because the likelihood of someone making that extra step is lower that if you give them an option to hand over their name and email right THERE. Make it easy for them!
Before you start, here are a few things for you to think about.
1. What do you offer? Make it very clear to yourself so that you can explain it to others.
2. What is the end goal of building an email list for YOU? It's different for everyone. Maybe you want to sell more products, drive more traffic to your shop, earn money from affiliate links. Whatever it is, be sure you know the reason behind building an email list is.
Here are some more questions to ask yourself, specifically when you're choosing what to provide as your offer:
This should help you narrow down what you want to offer to your audience that is of value and will make you feel good about sharing.
Nikki Hess, one of our Flock members, joined our session to share her own experience with changing her lead magnet strategy. Spoiler alert: her email list grew by 1200% in ONE MONTH. If you want to listen to that bit (because why would you not?), skip to 29:47 on the replay.
So you've now created your perfect lead magnet. Now what? How do you actually manage your email list? I use Flodesk, and here's 5 reasons why YOU should, too. I tried a bunch of different platforms and like all of them for different reasons, but Flodesk is my go-to (also, this handy link will give you a LIFETIME 50% off your plan regardless of how many subscribers you will end up having).
And that's it! We're done - I've shared my knowledge and now you can apply it to your own email list growth strategy. If you try out any of the tips I mentioned, check back in with me in a month (@thepigeonletters) and let me know how much your email list has grown. I promise, it will be such a rewarding journey.
Well this was A LOT. Wanna save for later?
