Last week I gave you some reality checks to grow your list.
(If you’re new here or ol’ Spammy The Box ate it up, DM me on Linky and I’ll give you a copy.)
Since you’ve read it. And you feel committed to using an email list.
Let’s move forward!
What KIND of email list will you have?
For instance, as you saw two days ago, that’s a traffic email list (drives traffic to a destination).
This email list of mine is a newsletter email list.
There’s a direct-response list (selling products).
There’s a broadcast list (announcements, reminders, etc).
Lead nurturing (for lead-gen strategies).
The issue I see with a lot of folks who start their own emails (both solo and business owners with employees) is that they don’t have a plan, a strategy, or any sense of what to do with an email list.
Just HOPE something works.
Well, my friend.
HOPE is not a strategy.
You need to have a PLAN.
I can’t pick what type of email you should have.
But if you do a little of each. You will lose your audience.
And, if you just email once in a while. You will lose your audience.
And if you just copy and paste posts/blogs to the list. You will lose your audience.
Pick a lane. Stick with it. Measure. Adjust. Go again.
But, let me just say most of you on this list are solo pros and some of you have teams.
So, I’ll tailor my answer for you.
🔹If you have products to sell, (e-products, merch, goods, etc.) a direct-response list is a way to go. If you do NOT have products to sell, (only services) do not treat your list like a direct-response list
🔹If you’re a skill-based service provider (like me) in which the thing you do is complex, multi-layered, and a post doesn’t do you justice. A newsletter is your best friend.
🔹If you have a very dynamic brand, multi-channel, multi-product, events, and etc. - Broadcast emails is the best way to go, to allow your audience to keep-up-to-date with the many things you have going on.
🔹If you have a website where you host additional content, (blogs, videos, podcasts, case studies) a traffic email list is the way to go (and use the strategy I showed you two days ago).
Can you blend some of these? Sure.
We’ll talk about that next time.
Now, you’ve noticed one thing… I haven’t talked about email marketing via purchases or lead nurturing from your lead magnets or landing page sign ups.
That’s a different thing entirely.
What I’m talking about in this section is basically converting more of your organic traffic to buyers. Meaning, they signed up to your list via an organic channel that you’re on.
It’s the next step in your funnel, so to speak.
The other stuff will take too much time to dive into.
Getting Leads From Newsletters
Yes, yes, yes you can get leads from a newsletter just like this one.
And how?
Well, first, you need to rid yourself of the image of the old 90’s news style newsletters that looked like some hobbyist announcement thing made from Windows 97.
A newsletter is sort of a misleading term.
There is no news.
And it’s not really a letter.
So what is it!?
To me, it’s a way to talk to your TRUE audience (which is a mix of buyers and community members) about strategy and case studies.
It’s not a blog.
It’s not a diary.
It’s not a really long post.
It’s to go deep into strategy and case studies that a social media platform wouldn’t allow for.
It’s to demonstrate MASTERY and CREDIBILITY.
Period. End of story. Nuff said. Fight me.
Here’s the rub.
It can’t be useless. Meaning, it’s not a textbook. People need to be able to take ACTION on some of these items and spread the word about it.
AND people need to be able to read it, end to end.
So, if you’re going to write giant blocks of text, wallop people over the head with $25 dollar words and jargon.
You lose.
It very much needs to be read in a pleasant fashion with a voice and a sense of command of the audience.
So, how do you get leads from it.
Well, like I said.
Your buyers don’t trust you enough (the ones who haven’t bought yet) based on your social media content.
They need to be able to justify such a high ticket offer.
A newsletter, again, demonstrates mastery and credibility.
It also gives them an insight to how you think and execute.
It also gives them the opportunity to feel trust.
And on the flip side, people who are not buyers but read so they can grow, and if they get value, guess what they are going to do?
TALK ABOUT YOU.
Social proof is the lifeblood of the solo pro who relies on organic traffic.
Social proof is currency.
The more you have, the more buyers will want what you’re selling.
So, to sum it up.
Don’t be boring.
Don’t be arrogant with your words.
Go deep into strategy and tactics.
Give actionable content.
Demonstrate your superiority of the subject matter with a wink.
