If you aren't collecting leads yet - then I have to straight up ask you "why the heck not?". Why aren't you doing this RIGHT NOW?
Your leads are your "next customers". They're the ones who are developing a relationship with you which is so important when you're working online.
For any of us who want to buy a new bag or scarf, we can walk into the mall and we don't really care about the personal lives or attitudes of the staff - we see it? We buy it. We take it home.
But when it comes to service-based industries working online - we need to nurture our audience and show them some love. ❤️
And... the best way to do this is through your newsletter.
If you haven't already got an email autoresponder (that's a fancy-shmancy name for a newsletter) then I can thoroughly recommend ConvertKit. I've tried a whole bunch of autoresponders over the last decade - and ConvertKit is the one I've come back to because it simply works. 🤷♀️
Sending newsletters allows you to make a connection with your audience through a platform they are always going to check. Even when they're on holiday. After they've been sick in bed for 3 days. When they're trying to wean themselves off Social Media. They're ALWAYS gonna open their email.
Having your leads' emails addresses is a privilege - and so, you need to respect, reward and love your list.
Your list is where you can give out special information or freebies not available anywhere else an it's where you can show personal insights and allow your writing to flow from your mind to your fingertips to the eyes of your readers.
Your list is the most powerful marketing tool you will EVER have.
Shit goes wrong with almost everything else in the online world 😂 - never say never right? But your list won't disappear overnight. It won't get shut down.
The thing I love most about my newsletter is that it gives me an opportunity to really connect with my audience. I can tell them what's been going on with my life + business and my readers feel like friends, not customers. There's nothing better than someone hitting reply and telling me that it really resonated with them.
Anyone can hit the "like" button on Social Media - but to come to your list, they've taken that extra effort of tapping in their email address - and probably giving you their first name - which means they already like you - or your message. They're there NOT because of an aimless scroll or trigger-happy click finger! 😉
Whilst you can show your vulnerable side through other marketing methods - email marketing seems the most genuine to me. Like "love letters" from the past - assuming you're not a sleazy fecker. I'm getting mental images here of prison letters with words cut out! 😂
If you DO have an autoresponder - I need to ask, when was the last time you actually emailed your list? Now, I'm asking that because most women I talk to in the online space know they "should" be emailing their list - but they feel weird about it - and with a huge dollop of imposter syndrome along the lines of "I don't know what to say" or "Who's going to read it anyway?".
I implore you. Please sit down right now for 30 minutes and write a "love letter" to your list. It doesn't need to be the most stylish, the most brilliant or the most "anything". The purpose of this exercise is simply to have you write to your audience and connect with them. You can share a funny anecdote about what you've been up to this week and tie it into a "lesson" from life or business that will resonate with others.
I always make a point in asking people to "hit reply" and state that I personally read every single response written to me. Which I do! If someone's taken the time out of their day to write back to me - whether they've previously bought from me or not - it gives me a real high and I respect their time + energy and will always help out.
As with almost anything in the online business space - the more action you take, the more clarity you receive and the more traction you get.
So.. set the time for 30 minutes and please go email your list! 😘 -- and I don't care if it's only you and your guinea pig on it! 🥃
