While social media is one of the #1 ways to build your business online… it can be easy to think of email as the red-headed stepchild of online communication.
However, if you have been around while then you know that not too long ago Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp all went down and for over 6 hours.
Look at the news article image shot from Yahoo News on October 5th, 2021.
This actually should be a wake-up call to you if you are using social media as your sole source of exposure for your business.
Understand this, there are basically three types of traffic for your business that results in engagement and exposure…
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- Traffic you control – Traffic you can drive to your websites from places like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube by placing ads or creating free content.
- Traffic you earn – Traffic you earn through joint ventures or exposure from someone else promoting your stuff via joint ventures or other partnerships.
- Traffic you own – This is primarily traffic you own through something like an email list that is not dependent upon social media or other traffic sources. In other words, you can send an email out and drive lots of traffic to any website or offer you choose.
This is why I still believe with everything in me, YOU MUST and I repeat “MUST” build an asset that you own regardless of what happens with Social Media. This is traffic YOU control. The best asset you can build is hands down an email list.
I know, I know, you’ve probably noticed that people are often trying to dissuade you from email.
Often so that you’ll buy their courses on using the tools above for your business.
You’ve likely heard all the reasons they give…
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- Open rates are low.
- Click thru rates are even lower
- Spam filters are too tight
- Nobody checks email anymore
- Etc
The fact is that the majority of people still check their email throughout the day, and it's still the #1 thing people check first thing in the morning.
Check out this graph below from Optinmonster showing that 58% of people check their email first thing in the morning.
And whether your email gets opened, or your links get clicked is more up to you and your skills more than anything else.
It’s up to you to study, test, and write subject lines that get opened and pass spam filters (Not hard to do by the way).
It’s up to YOU to create calls to action that earns the click. To use an email format that keeps people reading.
To use words within the email that don’t trigger spam filters. And of course, write copy that creates curiosity and intrigues your leads to want to know more.
We’ll give you some tips to make that happen in just a minute.
But first… Let’s dig into the one simple (but very important) reason that you’ll want to start (and keep) growing your email list today!
The #1 Reason Building an Email List Is a MUST
You Own Your Email List.
Social Media Sites Own Your List on THEIR Platform!
Read that sentence above until you’re blue in the face. Because if you don’t understand it, it can cause you to lose one of the most valuable assets in your business… overnight.
YOUR LIST!
Your list is the most valuable asset your business has. Actually two lists. Your CUSTOMER list is #1, since getting someone to buy from you again is much easier than getting a first-time customer.
Then your leads list is #2! These are the people showing very high interest in your offers. The people who are most likely to buy.
Without these lists, you really don’t have a business. At least not a profitable one that can be sustained.
So why would you ever want to put that in the hands of any third party, who owns it, and can take it away from YOU whenever they want?
What do these businesses have in common?…
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- TikTok
- X (Formally Known as Twitter)
- Snapchat
- YouTube
The one thing that they all have in common (unless your name is Mark Zuckerberg for at least two of them) is that YOU don’t own or control those businesses.
This means any list you build on their platform could disappear at the drop of a hat.
Heck one of Facebook’s 25,000+ employees could wake up in a bad mood, not agree with something you posted, and shut you down. It happens all the time.
And there’s nothing you can do about it because they own your list.
Social Media Sites Change Rules
What if you follow the rules? That’s great you absolutely should. However social media sites are notorious for changing the rules.
For example in the past few years or so, both Twitter and Instagram have made some tools such as those made to follow and unfollow obsolete. That strategy was big for a ton of people marketing on those platforms.
Therefore they had to change their game. And not everyone came away unharmed.
The rules are their rules. They own the platform, they make the rules, and they own your list.
Your Email List Is YOUR List!
Is email as effective as it used to be? Depends on who you ask.
For some no, it’s gone downhill quite a bit. But usually, those are the people who haven’t learned to roll with the punches in their businesses.
For others, they continue to not just survive with email marketing…but their businesses THRIVE with it.
When done right, email marketing still works like gangbusters.
Email IS still king because YOU own the kingdom so to speak!
Should You STILL Be Building a List on Social Media Platforms Such As Facebook?
Now with all the above being said, you probably think I’m bashing these other platforms.
And nothing could be further from the truth. I LOVE THEM!
The truth is that the more ways you can reach out to your audience, and engage with them, the better.
Think of your email list as the solid foundation of your income. All the other platforms are just gravy!
3 Quick & Easy Tips to Increase Your Email Effectiveness
If you’re worried about email marketing not being as effective, then let’s just go over some quick tips to make it effective…and stay that way. Stuff you can pay attention to starting today, that will make your email marketing stand out.
#1: Make Sure Your Email Gets Delivered!
The biggest reason that people don’t open your emails these days… is because they don’t get them. Not in their primary email box at least.
Spam filters are pretty brutal these days. There are tons of lists chock full of words to avoid (Google it). But let’s face it… we’re marketers. We’re going to use those words and phrases now and then or we can’t get our point across to create interest and desire.
It would take an entirely new blog post to go over all the words, and how to get away with using them. But to make this brief…
A good rule is that if you think it might trigger the spam filters, it probably will. If it sounds salesy and spammy to you, it probably is.
Sure, you can play with certain words by using periods in between letters, and spaces.
However, the BEST way to ensure your email is opened is to have people either reply back to you or whitelist you.
How do you do that? ASK them.
Give them a reason to reply. Ask them to answer a question. Ask for their opinion.
When they reply to your email, that tells the servers that your emails are important to them. They’ll begin to deliver more of your emails.
And of course, if they whitelist you, this is total permission to get into their inbox!
#2. Get Your Subject Line Right!
Nothing happens unless your email gets opened right?
The words you use in your subject line are what makes people want to open or not.
For brevity, we’ll give you the easiest hack for this.
Curiosity + Benefit! (It’s that simple.)
Examples?
“The quickest formula EVER to get emails opened!”
“How did she lose 5 pounds this week?”
“The secret to getting 6 pack abs while you sleep?”
There are plenty of other formulas, but the above could work forever all by itself.
Let people know that the solution for the result they want is inside the email, and pique their curiosity just enough to get them to want to know more!
#3. The Secret to Almost FORCE Prospects to Read Your Email (and Click Your Link!)
Of course, by force I mean to make your email so compelling that they can’t resist reading all the way through.
The #1 way to do this is with STORY!
People can’t resist stories. The more you can tie an INTERESTING story (doesn’t even have to be about you) to your product, the more chance you have of getting them to click your link!
So there you go!
If you use the 3 tips above and take into consideration what I have said to you in this blog post, you’ll have more effective emails, and will be able to ward off some of the biggest problems that your competition is facing with their emails.
Don’t Ever Let Anyone Talk You Out of Building an Email List for YOUR Business!
Until Facebook, Twitter, or any other platform lets you own the list you build on their platform…there’s simply no alternative.
And that’s fine because email marketing (when done right) is one of the most profitable elements of your business. Period!
Additional Resources For Building Your Business
✅ Aweber Autoresponder - Learn More Here
Building an email list is ESSENTIAL to the longevity of your online business. If you are not sure where to start in the online marketing game, this is for sure the first tool you should invest in for your business. Aweber is considered the industry standard.
✅ OptimizePress Funnel Builder – Learn More Here
By far the best WordPress theme and funnel builder on the market. It's meant for marketers because it's created by marketers. It gets my highest recommendation and I use it on all my personal sites.
✅ Magnetic Sponsoring Book - Learn More Here
This book changed my perspective on how to market online. I will NEVER market any other way online because of Magnetic Sponsoring. If you're in Network Marketing/Direct Sales, this book should be required reading.
Did you get value from this post? Let me know in the comments below and share any other tips you have when it comes to email marketing.
You rock,
PS: If you don't have a step by step blueprint for success then check this out (Unless you currently have to many leads and sales then you can handle) - Click Here
2 replies to "Email Marketing: Building Your #1 Business Asset"
This is so true. We cannot leave all our eggs in one basket.
This is so true and super important Mark. I had Twitter shut my ads account down before I even tried to run an ad, and Paypal froze my accounts and will not tell me why they did so. These platforms are quick to try and cause you issues if they don’t like something you stand for or sell, or even say on their platforms. I’ve had to use other methods to build with and will go with any strategy that gives me full control and say-so over it. Just waiting for Youtube to take my videos down like they did before the same day they shut you and other marketers down at the same time. Remember that? Great stuff and great point made!