Your list is your business money maker! Sure, your product or service combined with you and your experience is what people pay for but you have to get it TO them. Having a product and sitting it on a shelf where nobody could see is rather pointless so getting it out there to your consumers is key.
Short and true story…. I started my business when moving to Texas, from Virginia 2 years ago and was slow and steady in doing ALL the things entrepreneurs need to do for their business. I was hesitant on creating my list, my email marketing campaign because it was foreign to me and well, I had doubts and fears. Who would want to read what I have to say? Would folks opt in? What’s in it for them? I didn’t know where to start and how? What would I say? The list goes on, surely for you too. Funny thing, when reading stuff about successful entrepreneurs I would even say that they wished they had started their list sooner, I didn’t listen. I’m a hard head that way and then, there’s procrastination… ugh, one more thing to do, right? You know you say that too.
What's holding you back from building your list? Get on it and here's why>> Click To TweetWell, I’m here to tell you, get off your rear, stop stalling and get that list started…and here’s why you need to stop what you are doing and get going… NOW:
- Your website isn’t cutting it – sure, you may have a fabulous website, or even not so fab, but if you aren’t cutting it in the search engines and you aren’t paying for traffic with paid ads, how do you think they are finding it? Remember that “shelf” your products are sitting on? You need to get it out there, so along with the list building, be sure you are optimizing your website.
- Even so, let’s say you have this well-oiled machine, your consumers just aren’t going to your website every month to see what new pages you created and what blogs your wrote, right?
- Social media isn’t always visible – social media can be very beneficial and provide traffic to your website however, it’s a numbers game. You pay to be visible and post X# times a day but how many of those posts are your consumers seeing on a regular basis? Could you imagine if you actually saw ALL of the posts, in one day, from your friends and the pages you liked? Holy cow, you think social media is a time suck, that would literally take all day just to see them all.
- Top of mind – when you are sending out regular email blasts, you are putting yourself directly in front of each and every person that is on your list.
- You need to be consistent but careful to not overwhelm
- You can share specials about your products or services
- Those blogs that you spend so much time writing every week/month, you can push them out to them to be sure they see them.
- What happens if? – What happens if the social media channel that you are spending all of your time on crashes, folds or changes completely **shutters** then you could lose all of those loyal followers. What happens if you go to social media jail for a week or if someone hacks your account – yes, that can happen and it has, … your business won’t be lost as you still have these names and email addresses of your fans, followers, loyal customers, friends and potential clients.
- Rome wasn’t built in a day – it takes time to build it, people are funny that way. All of your followers on your social channels aren’t going to jump and all join… just like all of your friends on Facebook didn’t immediately Like your business page when you first created it, right? I know, frustrating! Plus, people that you might not have thought would subscribe just might but again, having it, the subscribe form, on your website, on your social or even in your email signature will give them all the opportunity to sign up when they are ready. it takes time so start now!
- It’s just not going to happen by itself – yes, YOU need to get off your rump and create that email marketing campaign, get an auto-responder like Aweber (affiliate link), set up the subscribe form on your website where it is clearly visible on every page and over on your social as well and start sending out a regular mailing providing value to your consumers.
- I use Aweber, but surely MailChimp, iContact, Constant Contact and many others are find but I have been happy with the integration that Aweber has with my WordPress site, the price is right for me for the LONG term, not just while I am building my list, they have templates to use and their customer service has been spot on!
Bottom line:
Get off your rear and build your list now – it’s your money maker & that’s a no brainer! Click To TweetShould you have any questions about how to set up your email marketing campaign or make your social media or website more visible and reader friendly, contact me as what I’d be happy to help with my marketing services or consulting.
Question – If you have your email list now, do you agree that it is important and valuable and when did you wake up to get it done? If not, what are you waiting on? Put your answer in the comments below.
~Kristen
Oh Kristen, you read my mind….I have Aweber since a month but haven’t really got started…am not sure yet how to structure it all. My web guy is not very helpful and I am not good at figuring out the tecnical and practical stuff. So I hsve many questions…?☺
I sure did Katarina.. one of my other lovely talents. Seriously, glad this spoke to you! Let me know if I can help.
Katarina, I’ve used Aweber for two websites and they are a bit challenging. I LOVE mailchimp’s ease of use, but aweber seems to have a lot more features and is the right choice for me.
Yea, it definitely has its issues, but when working on a client’s MailChimp and even Constant Contact, similar.. they all will have issues. Thanks Gisele for jumping in. 😉
Aack! You hit me in my sore spot! I really need to get on top of building my list and this has really spelled it out for me.
OH no… if you need any help, please do let me know!
What’s a list? LOL. Just kidding! Ok, ok, I will get off my rear. Of course, you’re going to have to show me what to do again.
Girl… you are a piece of work! LOL You know I can help you Liz!
We have a list and they love our jewelry and are starting to read ur blogs. Havn’t gotten them to leave comments yet. Working on gaining new subscribers as existing list were face to face customers & we are looking for online customers now.
YAY Roz! So glad you are and they are reading your blogs… no comments yet… you’ll get there.. however better that they read and not comment than not read at all! 😉 Maybe find some forums? Have you figured out your target niche yet?
I don’t really understand HOW to build an email list. Sure, I have people who opt in as a result of paid ads. And Word Press keeps sending me emails of people who somehow signed up on my website, but I don’t know where to find that list. So basically, I’m lost. 🙁
Carol, then we need to talk again. The paid ads on Google will drive traffic to your site, but not thinking they are opting into your list. That is something ENTIRELY different, that’s more like spam or those who subscribe to your blogs.. but not a monthly/weekly mailing from a form you have on your website. That pop up box on your website is for your newsletter.. do you send one out? Where do you go to type in the email for that newsletter?
I just finished a course on lead magnets, trip wires and offers and how to apply them to both my businesses. .I was so confused in the beginning, but with the great graphics the instructor provided it all made sense. The list for me pre-qualifies people and saves me so much work in offering them something. Depending on the leadmagnet, that tells me where their interests are and without Aweber, it wouldn’t be possible. I want to check out Active Campaign as well.
Wow, that is awesome that you were able to find that information out and understand it.. that’s key. Keep us posted on what you find out
Another great post, Kristen. Yes, the list is the moneymaker and it definitely does take time to build. This has been top of mind for me as I continue to re-look at why I am online so much and what I want from all the time and energy invested. It’s about assessing and reassessing and finding what ultimately works best for you and your message. Thanks for the reminder…build the list!
You got that right Beverley, it’s constantly about reassessing what we are doing and what is working… but also how to stay in front of our consumers on a regular basis!
This has been become more of my focus in recent weeks. I had tunnel vision for a while to get my course created and uploaded, but now need to work on list building for my course design business and products. I just wish-listed an email list building course in Udemy. Have also found great tips in several of the episodes of Leslie Samuel’s podcast, Learning With Leslie, about using an email service. He uses GetResponse which is what I now have. You hit the mark again with yet another article Kristen!
That’s great Vickie… passing along your classes in email form to your customers on a regular basis makes it easier for them and great reminders what you are doing. Thanks so much for wonderful comments. 😉
List building is key! Not easy but key.
Not too hard Ginny, but time consuming in the creation and takes time to build, for sure.
In this digital age, social media channels or technological advancements are so much more than most of us have ever imagined. They are the means of building your list as a moneymaker and other forms of sources for the eventual growth of businesses. I am sure online experience has improved immensely since different media networks have popped in several years. The concept of using the Internet as a point of sale certainly is beyond question. Day in and out we connect and reconnect both for personal and business purposes. This is the way to maximize the advantages and opportunities of these channels. Building a list entails patience and quality time. It has really to pass on the transition into the mainstream of the online business with the end view of determining what is best for the business.
Very true Lorii.
Thanks for the goose. 😉 I had some internal issues I needed to deal with first before starting on my email campaign, but you’ll be happy to know I’ve started. Great advice.
You are welcome Jackie! Glad you are back on the horse again!
Spot on Kristen! My list when I had my baked goods company was truly what got me business. I know social media helped but getting those regular reminders via email ultimately drove sales. The same goes for my husband with his mortgage business. He sends out a weekly email and whether someone is ready to purchase or refinance right now it doesn’t matter. It puts the company in their head and who knows?…they may have a conversation with someone later that day or the next that may need a mortgage resource.
Thanks Beth! Esp in your industry offering specials and pictures of your baked goods, I could totally see how that would be perfect. Similar with mortgage. A gal her does Brian Buffini stuff and all about top of mind, mailers, postcards, emails and letters… top of mind will keep in mind!
I have spent much time testing out different email providers and great when you can finally connect with one that is simple and provides all the tools we need. Integrating the different sites to lead people to sign up for your list is top priority, I agree. Found the GetResponse suite of tools and training very helpful for me.
Thanks Barbara and glad that you found a tool that worked well for your needs, very important!
I have a list and have been trying to get it to grow. However, I haven’t done anything with it but send weekly automatic emails with the latest posts. I need to figure out how to use my list to my advantage. In the meantime, I will keep getting it to grow.
Get on it Stacey, no better time than the present, start small and build onto it. If you need help, let me know.