Using Email
The beautiful thing about email is that you own it. It’s your own virtual real estate. You own it. You don’t own your social media channels like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or Instagram, or whatever else you have. Those venues can change at any moment and lock you out of your own business. Pretty crazy, huh?
The other beautiful thing about email is that it is more personal than social media. When you send someone an email, it goes right to their inbox. You know they have it and are going to most likely see it.
However, when you post of social media, there is a slim chance people are going to see it unless you pay to have it boosted. The social media algorithms make sure only some of your people see your post. They want you to pay them for exposure.
Also, frequently on social media, because it isn’t as personal as an email, many will just scroll right by your post like it was a billboard on the side of the highway. In contrast, most people will see your email and be tempted to open it. The only thing more personal with a higher percentage rate of people viewing your messages is texts.
Another great thing about email is that it helps you build relationships with your people. It enables you to turn your people into a tribe. And guess what? You don’t need a lot of people to do this. If you have 1000 loyal fans on your email list, you should be pretty good. Plus, having under 2000 people on your email list is usually free for most email subscription services. And free is a good thing. We self-publishing indie authors, building our authorpreneurship business like free. And what’s better than an email list of 1000 raving fans, right?
Engagement is what we’re after. We want quality over quantity. And keeping our email list under 2000 is one way to do that. Periodically, go through your email list to find who hasn’t been engaged in a while. When you come across them, ask them if they should be removed from your list. This will either wake them up and re-engage them, or help you clear their spot for someone else better suited to what you’re trying to accomplish.
In addition, be happy when someone unsubscribes from your email list. I know this sounds counterintuitive, but trust me on this one. When someone unsubscribes from your list, it helps you free up that spot for someone else who wants to be there. It also helps you keep your list under 2000 people so it can remain free. Remember. Free is good. We don’t want any additional costs. Low overhead is where we want to be.
Now, if you haven’t made the leap yet to email software services, don’t be afraid. In the beginning, I was scared of the email services, too, because I was unfamiliar with the software and didn’t understand it. Believe it or not, I used to manually email people with what I was trying to do. I’d manually email under 100 people every for a couple of weeks to get a message out.
I was worried about getting cut off from my email because I was sending out too many emails a day on my own, which would look like spam. Once I found Mailchimp and learned how to use it, I was in heaven. I could email everyone in a few minutes now, instead of a few weeks. I had just taken my game to the next level. And so can you with any one of the multiple free email software packages out there. Don’t be afraid of the light, my friend. This will absolutely lighten your emailing load. I hope I’m enlightening you here about the value of email software.
Okay. Now, the key to email and not being deleted is to add value first before you ask for anything in return. One of the best ways to add value first with people is by providing them with high-quality free content that will help them solve some of their problems. If you can help them live a better life, they won’t delete you. They will keep seeing your name in their inbox. They will also continue reading your content. And they will become a friend of yours who eventually buys your books, maybe even services, and tells others about you.
Also, make sure you are checking your own email and responding to people who email you. This helps engagement. We want email engagement. Trust me. It’s a good thing. That’s what creates valuable relationships. However, don’t fall down the email rabbit hole. Some people spend all day long checking their email and thus getting little else done. Schedule your email. Check it once in the morning. Then once at night. And that’s it. Anything new can wait another twelve hours for your next check. You’re too busy being a creative genius and superb business person as an authorpreneur right now. Besides, if it’s a real emergency, that person probably already has your phone number and can just text or even call you, like in the old days.
Finally, respect your list. I know I have encouraged you before to look into affiliate marketing. But a danger comes along with affiliate marketing income streams. When they are flowing well, you may be tempted to do it for everyone who approaches you about leveraging your email list. Eventually, your email list will see what you’re doing and lose faith in you. They will most likely vote against what you’re doing with their feet by walking away from your list. Or maybe I should say with their fingers by clicking off of your list through unsubscribing.
You have to play the long game here. These people are on your list because they believe in you. Eventually, you will have lots of wonderful products and services that your people, who believe in you, can benefit from. So, don’t sell them out in the short-term for short-term profits by selling their name to every affiliate marketer that approaches you. Only affiliate market with the few you genuinely believe would improve the quality of your people’s lives. Keep it infrequent and keep it of high-quality and niche-specific, and you should be okay.
*Watch this FREE video lesson on this chapter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ifEK6sTmDc&list=PL_-39bUXJitwL8cHUpiZ5mO0-JJuaPOVl&index=33
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