I got this fabulous question from a client of mine recently: Why is my email list growing SO slowly 🐢, and how can I speed it up?!? ⚡️⚡️⚡
✋This really breaks down into two separate questions ✋
In this first email I'm going to cover all of Part I to this question. Follow up next week for Part II, where I will get into some awesome growth strategies that will help get your list going! ⚡
OK! Why is email marketing SO valuable and what is the importance of having a high quality list?
"Your Money Is In Your List” ✏️
Email Marketing As Your Core Tool 🔧
Email Marketing vs. Social Media 🗣
Quality vs. Quantity 🏆
Side note: If you're only growing a traditional private practice, you don't need an email list. If you're creating a business beyond private practice, you probably do.
How to create a HIGH quality emailing list 💎
Side note: One time I sent out an email with a subject heading mentioning that I play the ukulele, and it got more unsubscribes than any of my other emails! 😂
How a HIGH quality emailing list will help sustain your biz 💰
To explain what I mean, let’s pretend we’ve got 2 people, each with a list of 100 people (a very small list). A list of 100 CAN be just barely enough to fill a small-group program (I know because I've done it), but only if you've got a very high quality list.
Person A: When a list of 100 might work (high quality list)
Person B: When a list of 100 won't work (low quality list)
Even a HIGH quality list of 100 will need to GROW in order to sustain your business.
What to choose as your free offer 🎁(aka your lead magnet, freebie, or opt in)
You want to create a freebie that is always available such as:
Your freebie should be a high quality offer that leads logically to your paid offer and is created specifically for your niche.
I encourage participants in CYP who don’t already have a freebie to start with just their weekly emails.
As their business develops I encourage people to create a more enticing freebie or set of freebies when they have the time and clarity to create them.
BUT having an enticing freebie is the icing on the cake 🍰. The first and most important steps are providing a way for people to get on your email list and having a healthy, sustainable relationship with writing those weekly emails.
How to have a healthy relationship with your email list 🪴
Your weekly emails are part of your "nurture" system, meaning the way you nurture people in your audience. Establish a rhythm and ritual that helps you generate quality content for your weekly emails.
For example, in my Rebel Therapist Mastermind program (a follow up program for those who have completed CYP) we have a weekly 90 minute co-working sprint. This provides a dedicated block of time to produce a thoughtful email, or at the very least get it started!
Establishing a healthy relationship with your email list while it’s tiny will set you up to have a great relationship with it when it grows.
OK! Now that we have the foundation set:
BUT, my email list is still growing really SLOWLY, which brings us to our original question: How can I speed it up?!? ⚡️⚡️⚡️
How to grow your email list:
Ultimately it's about REPETITION and CONSISTENCY: Picking at least one of these things and doing it over and over and over again.
It is NOT about getting “discovered” by someone with a huge audience.
You can get really creative with your growth strategy. And whenever there is a new opportunity, ask yourself: Does this get me in front of someone else’s audience? If the answer is yes, then it likely fits into your growth strategy.
As an introvert, these growth activities are the ones I have to remind myself, and even push myself to do. Before I had my growth and nurturing strategy established, I would send out announcements about webinars to my email list and tiny social media following, and kept talking to the same 10 people over and over.
That was TOO SLOW.
I needed a growth strategy. And now I have one 🎉
Sidebar ✋
I’ve grown my business without ads, but am considering in 2022 stepping back into some paid ads, in a limited way.
Here's how I grow and nurture my own email list:
My personal nurture strategy 🪴
My own growth strategy 🌱
Email strategies from other fabulous people
Jeff Geunther's strategy 📣 (most recently featured on RT podcast)
This strategy relies heavily on their emails being interesting, controversial, and conversation starters.
Podge Thomas' strategy 🌺 (another recent RT podcast guest)
Podge embraces candid communication with her subscribers, which also strengthens her work as a thought leader.
Katie Nasherson 🧡
This is a great example of experimenting with new ideas and looking at how marketing could be an interesting and joyful practice for you.
Show notes at http://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/168
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