You’ve likely heard it before – your email list is one of the biggest assets of your business. I remember when I first started in digital marketing in 2010. Facebook was exploding. Facebook showed posts chronologically. And when you posted on your facebook profile or your business page, your followers actually saw your posts. So, our ads strategy back in 2010 was to run facebook ads to your prospects to like your page – and then they’d see your posts! 😉
Oh how things have changed since then! Today, in Facebook and Instagram – almost everything is “pay to play”. As a general rule, you have to pay for ads to have your content seen unless you create something that really goes viral quickly on the platforms.
So, the best advice I can give all my clients is to BUILD YOUR EMAIL LIST! Social media sites can change how they show your content, but no one can take your email list away from you!
So today I want to share with you four of the BEST ways to build your email list.
Build a quiz – We’ve all seen them… the “Which Sex and The City Character Are You?” or the “What’s Your Brand Type?” As humans, one thing that we are always interested in is… ourselves. We want to know more about ourselves. We want to know more about how we relate to others. We want to know more about how we tick. So, one of the best ways to give your prospects that information (and gather some information about your prospects) is to create a quiz. I’ve tried Bucket, Interact, Thrive Themes – and my favorite (INEXPENSIVE) quiz software is Interact. It has robust functionality, can be customized according to your brand, and is less than $20/mo!
But the ABSOLUTE BEST THING about a quiz – you can segment your audience based on their answers! Imagine your audience telling you in their quiz if they’re an extrovert or an introvert. Imagine them telling you if they are just getting started in their business or if they’re earning six figures and ready to scale. Imagine them telling you if they already have online courses! A quiz allows you to segment your audience and JUST send them the information that is most applicable to them!
If you haven’t ever done a quiz – you can create an Interact account for free and start creating your first quiz!
Create free opt ins
Free content and lead magnets are still one of the absolute BEST ways to add people to your list. By offering someone something of value for free, you are able to show your expertise on the subject. For example, if you help women create online courses, you can have a free guide on creating an online course. If you help teachers create lesson plans, you can have a free thirty day guide to lesson plans. You can completely customize your offer based on your audience!
But so often, I see clients creating the content, creating free opt in offers; but not doing anything at all to get it out into the world! So, once you create those free opt ins – you need to be out publicizing them!
- Facebook posts
- Instagram posts
- Instagram bio link
- Pinterest posts
- Twitter posts
- Podcast Interviews
- LinkedIn posts
Run ads
I always want to help my clients bring in as many clients as possible organically, and at the lowest cost. But let’s get real – true six and seven-figure businesses invest in advertising and marketing! So if you’re truly ready to scale your business, it’s important that you build paid advertising into your budget. You can only scale so far with completely free methods! I’m not saying you have to start with paid ads, but once you have money coming into your business, I STRONGLY encourage you to allocate 10-20% of that revenue toward a paid ads budget! You can run ads on:
- Youtube
- More
But these are some of the best places to start with ads. They’re all very different medium, with different ads platforms. So pick one place to start – typically Facebook and Instagram, and start allocating just $5/day toward your ads! Start sending ads to your lead magnet landing page – and start gathering email addresses to nurture and sell future offers to!
Create Videos
Video is a GOLDMINE for building your business. First, we do business with people we know, like and trust. And the absolute best way for people to get to know, like and trust you is video! With the rise of Youtube as the second largest search engine (behind Google who happens to own Youtube) – you can get GREAT exposure for your business through Youtube! When I first launched my high priced coaching program, almost every single lead came from Youtube and SEO to my website. People could get all kinds of great FREE information about me and how I worked. And by the time we’d get on the phone for a consultation – they already were warmed up and often ready to buy. But also, today we’re seeing the rise of video on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media outlets! Your videos don’t have to be perfect. They don’t have to be highly produced. You need good lighting, and you need good content! So get in front of your computer, press record – and start talking to your prospects! It’s a great (and SUPER FAST) way to build your audience. And on every video, make sure you have a link to a free offer that goes with that video – to get them into your email list!
Remember, when you build your house on someone else’s land, you don’t make the rules. When you focus on building your social media following, you aren’t protected from changes in their policies! But when you build your email list, you can reach out to those people over and over again to sell products, to fill events, to get referrals – everything! So take some time and start building your email list today – even if you don’t have anything to launch yet! You won’t be sorry!
