Why is having an email list for your business such a big deal? Well the last blog talked about the power social media marketing can have for your business, but there’s one HUGE problem when it comes to running your business on social media . . . and that problem is this: you don’t own the platform. This means Instagram can make changes that hurt your social media profile, reach, engagement, etc. and there’s nothing you can do about it. Or even worse, what happens if Instagram disappears altogether!? I know it’s hard to comprehend, but remember MySpace? Most don’t, but it’s the natural progression . . . social media platforms come and go, and are replaced by new ones.
All of these reasons are why you need to have a platform that YOU control, and that’s exactly what email is. You control the flow of content, you control your list, and you can rest assured that if your email provider goes out of business, you can simply export your list and move onto another platform . . . and that’s something you will NEVER be able to do with social media.
So now that you know WHY you need an email list, let’s talk about HOW you can start to build your email list and build it quickly. This is the EXACT strategy I used to grow over 1000 email subscribers in 30 days (1,056 to be exact). The key to getting people to subscribe to your email list is to provide them with MASSIVE value. Unfortunately, a lot of people are offering average freebies hoping that people will opt-in to their email lists, which they do, but then quickly unsubscribe because the information is stuff they can find anywhere.
That’s why the free offer I created was massively valuable, and it actually used to be something I charged $99 for. It was a video series about how to set up your business for success, along with a 100-point checklist of everything that you need to make sure to check off your list. This included everything from setting up your business (sole proprietor vs. LLC, business taxes, etc.) to choosing what social media platforms you should be on for your business. I mean, this thing was VALUABLE, and I honestly could have been charging more than $99 for it back in the day . . . and that’s the KEY!
You want people thinking that they literally pulled a fast one on you by getting what you gave them for free. Because if they consume your freebie and think this, then their next thought is going to be something like: “Wow, I can’t believe I just got this for FREE. If this is how much value they pack into their freebie, I can only imagine how valuable their paid products are!” That’s when you know you’ve got a winning freebie.
So you need to think about the BEST value you can offer your potential audience. Don’t be afraid of giving away your best content because if you give surface-level information, you’ll always struggle to build a list. If people can get the information anywhere, then it’s not valuable. Whether it’s a process that you’ve used that’s gotten you results in your business (service-based) or even if you’re a product-based business and you can afford to give away products, because who doesn’t love free stuff lol? Whatever you decide, just make sure it’s valuable enough that people FEEL like they should have paid you for it.
Once you’ve created your freebie, you’re going to want to promote it everywhere. The best place will be on social media, so share it in your posts, stories, etc. If you’re on any media like podcasts or blogs, make sure you’re linking it and sharing on those as well. The more you share it, the more results you’ll get. I was sharing it across 5 social media platforms, 3 blogs, and 2 podcasts. This allowed me to grow my list exponentially faster than if I had only shared it in one place.
There you have it! You’ve got the recipe for success, now it’s on you to create your freebie and share it with the world. A bonus tip would be to make sure when all these new people opt into the email list that you’re walking them through a welcome email funnel and selling a product at the end of that funnel, but we’ll save that for another time. First, build an amazing freebie!