Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Well….yes you do.
Most people say emails influence their buying decisions, compared to other platforms, according to Sale Cycle.
Noah Kegan, Founder of the 7-Figure Dollar brand SumoMe, says he generates 90% of his revenue from his email list.
I have consistently made an average of 66% of all my revenue from my tiny email list this year.
But first of all, what is an email list?
According to Campaign Monitor, an email list is simply a list of emails that people and businesses have gathered from visitors/customers that would like to receive information, updates, discounts, freebies, and other details about their business in a digital format that is sent to their email inbox.
Just as you have your contacts list on your phone which comprises of names and phone numbers of people who you can send messages to, an email list contains the names and emails of people you can send emails to.
So, if you have a business, whether online or offline, you can send email messages to people and everyone gets your emails in their mail boxes. This way, you get to build an individual or personalised relationship with each person on your list.
Now, there are a number of software that allow you to easily collect these email addresses, send manual or automated email messages and even grow your list and sell products. These software are called Email Marketing Services or EMS.
Examples of these software include: Convertkit (which I use), Mail Chimp (which is very popular), Mailerlite, Send Fox, Active Campaign, Sendy, Campaign Monitor etc.
These software are not free but they can sometimes have FREEmium services where they allow you to start with them and grow your list to a certain number before you begin to pay.
For example, Convertkit is free for your first 1,000 subscribers, and then you get to pay subsequent fees as your list grows.
So, why do you need an email list?
First of all, if you’re building a business, especially a brand where you leverage social media platforms like Facebook Groups, Pages and Instagram, you’re making the biggest mistake if you don’t have a back up plan.
Have you heard the phrase, “Do not build your house on rented land”? Well, social media is rented land. You don’t own Facebook or Google or Instagram, so you actually don’t own the audience and followers there.
I don’t own the audience on this Facebook Group. If Facebook decides to shut down my group or I get hacked, I could lose everything if I don’t have a backup because this is rented land.
The only way to ensure I don’t lose everything is by having a back up of my audience through my email list. That way, if anything happens to my group, I will not worry. I can still communicate with you guys via your emails.
Secondly, do you know how hard it is to get new members of your audience to actually buy your products and services? It is easier to get someone who has bought from you before to buy again, than it is to get someone who has never bought from you before to buy the first time.
With an email list, you don’t have to worry about finding new customers all the time. You can simply re-engage your existing customers on your email list when you have a new product.
You don’t even need to run ads to your products all the time, when you have a sizeable list of email list subscribers. A fantastic email marketing plan is far cheaper than running paid ads.
That’s not all. If you feel like you cannot sell your products and services on your social media platform because you feel like you’re being salesy all the time, then you better embrace Email Lists with open arms because it is a life saver!
With email lists, you can literally sell every single day and even send multiple daily reminders when launching a new product campaign and not feel like you’re getting in people’s faces.
Each individual gets to see your email and those who don’t like your plenty sales emails can simply just unsubscribe the way people unfollow your Instagram page or leave your Facebook Group. The best part is, if someone unsubscribes, nobody will know! Just you.
If you’re just getting started with a new brand and you’re about to sell your first product, or you’re an existing brand that wants to expand your business by offering more products and services, your surest bet is to get started with an email list.
Whether it’s just 10 people or 10,000 people, nobody knows the size of your email list unlike a Facebook group or social media page. You can make all your mistakes in secret and learn from them, and then blow up on social media.
If there was one thing I wish I did differently when I was starting my brand, it would be that I would have started growing my email list from the start.
Here’s the link to my YouTube Channel to watch the webinar replay on Getting Started with Email Lists (youTube Livestream). Go subscribe and tap on the bell to turn on Notifications so you don’t miss these kinds of webinar.
