Recently I had an epiphany. It was one of those moments where I was doing something completely unrelated to work… but I was smacked in the face with a reminder of something work-related.
I was digging through our bin of Play-Doh, grabbing my daughter’s favorite colors when I discovered the container of pink Play-Doh hadn’t been shut tightly.
Do you know what happens to Play-Doh when you don’t close the container tightly? To put it bluntly, an unsealed container is a death sentence for Play-Doh. It dries up and you might as well toss it immediately. This means that your daughter (or son) won’t have the opportunity to play with that particular color of Play-Doh again until you replace it. For a three-year-old who loves pink, this, of course, was devasting.
That’s when it hit me. Your email list is like Play-Doh.
You see, earlier that day I had a conversation with a client who has an email list of thousands of contacts just sitting in her email database untouched for over a year. The thing is, this is not a new thing for me to hear. I have had similar conversations time and time again. Sometimes with people who have had successful businesses for years, even decades.
For some reason, email is one of the easiest things for entrepreneurs to drop to the bottom of priorities.
Maybe they get too busy taking care of existing clients, maybe they get too focused on social media, maybe they feel it’s too much work, or maybe they just don’t know how to do it. Whatever the reason, they choose not to do it.
Here’s the deal, when you use your email list regularly, it stays in good shape, primed and ready for action, just like Play-Doh. But, if your email list sits there, uncared for, without any type of nurturing, it will dry out. It doesn’t matter whether it’s 50 or thousands of contacts, without regular interaction, consistent value-added, and the chance to get to know you better; your list will lose interest and become disengaged.
Remember, your email database is a list of people who have put in the effort to say ”yes, I want to get communications from you.” Once they say yes and join that list, they become a potential opportunity for your business to grow!
To me, it’s a no brainer. I know that if you are trying to grow your business (which most of us are) you have to create content that builds your brand, creates connections, and informs your ideal customers of your business and offers. Then you have to share this content.
Email is one of the easiest and cost-effective ways to share content!
Now, let’s be real for a minute. An email list isn’t going to create immediate success for your business. But, when used in conjunction with other channels like social media, your website, and any other platforms you use to walk your audience through the know, like, trust cycle… it has amazing power to support the long-term success of your business!
You can even keep it simple and share the same content you share on your other channels by repurposing content:
- Repurpose blog or social media content you already wrote.
- Share simple tips from existing offers or training.
- Give a sneak peek of what’s coming up in your next offer as your developing it.
It doesn’t have to be complicated… but it has to be done. Nobody wants dried out Play-Doh and nobody wants a dried out email list!
If you’re struggling with how to use email effectively and create a sustainable way to grow or scale your business, let’s chat. Book your free consultation now.
