If you have ever signed up for a free offer and shortly started receiving emails packed with value followed by a weekly newsletter you have likely just experienced the power of the email list that so many other entrepreneurs have been using for decades.
Or maybe you’ve signed up for something free and connected with that expert so much that you purchased an offer they made in a follow-up email they sent you! You were genuinely impressed by their free offer you made a natural decision to buy the paid offer… it was just that easy.
It made you think… why am I not using this for my own business?
My guess is….
>> You don’t mind hard work, but you doubt you can conquer all the technology it takes to put it all together.
>> You love the idea of connecting with others through emails but you don’t really understand all the benefits of email marketing.
>>You know email marketing is important but you just really don’t understand all the pieces and parts you need to execute it all to work for you!
If you were to ask 100 entrepreneurs what their biggest regret would be I guarantee over 50% would say “NOT GROWING MY LIST FROM DAY 1”. The reason they say this is because email marketing is one of the most valuable tools in your business toolkit.
If you could invest in 1 activity growing your list will pay off more than anything else you do in your business guaranteed. Although I know this from first-hand experience in my own business, in my client’s businesses, and in working with thousands of students there are still misconceptions floating around preventing people from starting a list.
These are the top FIVE sneaky myths I have heard circulating that stop people from growing a profitable email list.
I’m going to smash all of these myths for you today and show you how to replace them with practices that will not only reward all of your hard work and effort but will have you connecting deeper with your audience and understanding how to use email marketing as a long-term automated marketing system.
1) Emails are just a marketing strategy and not a whole system
When people think of email they typically think of collecting email addresses somewhere on their website and sending out a newsletter once a month to “keep in touch”.
Newsletters and capturing email addresses are just a tiny fraction of the entire system that makes up email marketing and a profitable email list. In fact, newsletters make up only about 5% of the entire STRATEGY and list building or “email capture” makes up about 20% of the system.
A truly powerful and profitable email marketing system is based on 5 Key Phases (Attract, Connect, Ask, Analyze, Amplify) all of which are important in order to create an email list full of engaged fans who want to not only buy from you but are willing to help your business grow and succeed (these are called your raving fans).
My email marketing system on the surface may just look like some freebies on a website and a newsletter each week but it’s so much deeper than that.
Specifically, my email marketing system includes strategies that allow you to not only grow a profitable list of raving fans but develop an automated business tool that provides you an infinite source of data that never stops flowing in.
This source of data, in turn, is used to create new blog posts, videos, newsletters, products, services and helps you fine-tune all of your marketing messages. With this system in place not only can you make money with ease but you can have a constant flow of ideas on auto-pilot, no more struggling with creation. Your audience will tell you what they need and want!
2) Email Lists Are A Ton Of Work And Take A lot of Expensive Tools and Technology
Setting up an email list and growing it is a lot of work but you are an entrepreneur and you are didn’t get into this because you were afraid t0 work. Bottom line when you know what to do and how to do it the work is a lot less challenging, right?
There are a few pieces of technology you need to build a profitable email marketing system but with the right instructions that guide you through the set-up you can be up and running in no time which will allow leads to flow in and convert into paying customers.
The tools used for email marketing are not expensive. I look at it this way even if you use all premium tools like ConvertKit and Thrive Architect or LeadPages, you will still pay less than twenty-five cents per person on your list. That’s a very inexpensive marketing budget per lead.
Ultimately, this myth is busted. An email list does require work initially but like we already pointed out you’re ok with that– you just need the reassurance knowing that all the effort you put into building and growing your list is going to pay off… right?
Of course right! You simply can’t waste any more time or money piecing it all together.
3) I’ll already know about email marketing! I’m just fine.
It’s so incredible that you took the time to learn about the importance of email marketing, however, some of the email habits and strategies that you learned years ago may be a detriment to you and your business if you do not embrace many of the new techniques that entrepreneurs are using today.
What new techniques?
- Split Testing Emails and Email Titles…
- Segmenting Audiences by Interests or Skill Levels…
- Customizing Marketing Based on Segments
- Data analysis from lead acquisition to click through rates and beyond…
You can’t expect to grow your list and never email and then all of the sudden expect your audience to buy when you are ready to launch.
Also, the days of “sign up for our free newsletter” are gone! You have to give away something for free to gain your audiences trust and email address. These old tactics are a thing of the past.
HINT: Long gone are the days that we can just send out an RSS email to our entire list. Our audience expects curated emails that are also customized based on their needs. They also expect to have products and services tailored towards their needs and their skill level. (Click here to download my freebie and discover the biggest email marketing mistakes I see people making and how to fix them).
4) The Money Is In the List… Size
How many times have you heard the money is in the list? Sure it is. But then you start thinking but how big does the list have to be? Your list size is important but what’s more important is the quality of leads on your list (your audience) and how much they are engaging with your emails.
You can have 20k people on your list but if you aren’t deploying a strategy that is adding value to their lives and keeping them engaged they are not going to buy from you at any point.
You can have 100 people on your list and if you are providing high value you could sell and they are engaging with you, you could easily sell out of your program or service.
TRUTH: The money is in the list but it’s not in the list size. With the right strategy, you can make money with any number of leads on your list.
5) Nobody Opens Emails Anymore! Social Media is KING!
FALSEY, FALSE, FALSE ….
People actually do open emails and they do read them and they engage with them. Which means not only do they purchase through them they also give you massive amounts of important information through emails.
Information that they may otherwise not feel comfortable disclosing on an open forum like social media.
[click_to_tweet tweet=”People do open emails, they do read them, they engage with them. Which means not only do they purchase through them they also give you massive amounts of information through emails. Information that they may not feel comfortable disclosing on social media.” quote=”People do open emails, they do read them, they engage with them. Which means not only do they purchase through them they also give you massive amounts of information through emails. Information that they may not feel comfortable disclosing on social media.”]
Imagine being able to tap into the minds of your email readers constantly. And then developing content, products and marketing products around their needs. That’s what email does!
But you do have to know how to get people to open and engage with their email. That’s where a really good system and strategy comes into place.
Sure, people love social media but email is here to stay. Chances are since you are here reading this article you are convinced you need to add email marketing to your strategy.
I’ve seen first hand through working with thousands of clients and students what a full email marketing system can do to grow an online business and again we aren’t just talking about sending newsletters.
It goes much, much deeper.
Think infinite Market Research, consistent Sales, Customer Retention, Higher Lifetime Customer Value and much much more.
My wish for you is to avoid the misinformation out there and instead learn how to make email work to create a truly powerful marketing, research and sales system for your business.
I’ve been using email marketing for over 7 years now and I’ve made MANY mistakes along the way. I’ve tested strategies on my own business and many other people’s businesses. You don’t need to do the same! I’ve compiled a list of 5 of my biggest email marketing mistakes over the years and how to avoid them. Click here to get that list!
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