Building your email list

No matter where you are in your business, whether you are just at the start or way down the line. One of the most valuable marketing channels and sales channels is an email list. An email list means your past and potential customers along with their contact details. People who are interested in your product, service or even just want to hear what you have to say.

There are so many reasons why you should value this channel above others, and believe me I am a huge fan of SEO, organic traffic via search engine optimisation so it actually pains me to say it. But its true.

I strongly recommend that if you don’t already have a list then you start building it now because once you realise how valuable it is you will wish you had started a long time ago! I’d recommend you build the list for the following reasons:

1. You own the customer relationship completely. There is no other channel that gives you this opportunity. For SEO, Social or Paid you have to rely on Google, Facebook or the platforms etc. to be able to reach your customers or potential customers. Which means one day they could switch you off. Make a change to an algorithm or increase the fees and you are then no longer able to reach your clients. With an email list, it is all yours!

2. Email marketing has a far greater conversion rate than ANY other channel. It still blows me away how the conversion rate of email is so far higher than any other channel and it has also got the most potential. Typically if you are thinking of paid search you could be getting a conversion rate of around 0.5-1/2% however, with email marketing you have the opportunity to reach double figures! Yes, you might argue the volume will be lower but email lists can grow and grow with little investment so it’s important to get started.

3. It’s free or very cheap. Depending on how you manage your list you can do so on a tight budget and it’s on your terms and very manageable. All you pay for is the send fees which can be lower than 0.01p per email!

4. If you lost everything – your website, your Facebook group or a platform for your product placement you can still run your business and drive sales. Some of the most successful entrepreneurs know and shout about the value of their email list and view it as a massive business asset.

5. Emails build relationships and it’s from relationships that your brand will grow. You can quite easily develop strong raving fans from an email list as long as you are real, be yourself, add value and support your list, it’s a great way to build your business.

Good luck with building your email list and using lead magnets to add value and grow subscribers!