One of the best ways to build relationships with your clients and nurture connections is through an email list. Despite this – many of the clients I work with simply don’t have one!
The conversation usually goes something like this…
H: So tell me about what you’re doing for email marketing…
C: *sheepish look* Um…
H: When was the last time you sent out a newsletter?
C: *avoiding eye contact* well…
H: …
C: I don’t have an email list yet – I have no clue where to start!
Trust me, I get it. When I started my journey as an entrepreneur, creating an email list felt like something only future Haley would have time for. So far into the future that it actually took me 4 years to start an email list for my business!
In this post, I am going to let you in on why I waited 4 years to start an email list, why I wish I had started it sooner, and what you can do to get the ball rolling to build a list of your own.
Why I Waited Four Years to Start An Email List
My reason for waiting 4 years to start my email list was fairly simple: I felt like there was no point in having an email list if no one was on it. I didn’t feel I had built enough of a community online to have an email list as a space for us all to gather on a weekly basis. AND, I didn’t truly know what I was building this email list for.
I was busy getting clients and growing my business in other ways. If you know me and how my work as an online business owner has evolved over the last few years, you know I worked a lot on LinkedIn, generating leads in that space and working with clients to help them do the same (which I still do, by the way, over in Thought Leaders Collective with Propegy).
Networking and building my client list and leads was kind of at the forefront of my mind. At the time, I felt like there was no point in having a list if I had no consistent clients, referrals, or leads. That, and I didn’t even know where I’d point people once they got on a list!
Over time, as my connections with clients started to flourish. The relationships I was building with potential clients evolved, I started to feel more confident. I worked on building my list and even starting a weekly-ish newsletter to keep everyone informed.
What “Should” I Have Done?
Having an email list started to feel like less of something I should do because every voice in the online space was telling me to and more like something I wanted to do. Becoming a constant for clients was something I knew I wanted to do. I had exciting things happening, and I wanted them to feel like part of that.
Beyond the excitement and eventual sales or promotions that would be included on my list, I wanted to create a space where I could just catch up with the members of my community, share candid life stories, and check in. Sure, all of the business stuff is an inevitable and important part of…well, owning a business and having a list. But that doesn’t mean the personal connection you make with your clients should fall to the wayside.
What I Wish I Would’ve Done
Truth be told…I wish I would’ve started building my email list sooner!
I love strategizing opt-ins and building them for clients. However, it never felt like it made sense to have one for my own business. In my mind, opt-ins were for growing an existing list, and since I had no list… I had no business building an opt-in. That logic backfired, though when I created my first digital product. I wanted to sell to my audience via email like I’d helped my clients do in the past. Except I didn’t have any email addresses to send those emails to!
If I had started with a simple and strategic opt-in before I knew what I wanted to sell, I would have had a list of people ready and waiting for me to present them with an offer. But because I waited, I had to do even more waiting by building my list before I could launch that first digital product.
What I Came Up With & My Advice
Now, I create opt-ins all the time using my opt-in framework. My current favorite opt-in to create is a quiz – they’re just so much fun!
For example- over at Propegy, you can take my quiz to uncover your lead gen style. After you get your results, you’ll be filtered through a nurture sequence that’s tailor made for YOUR archetype. We don’t have a crazy sales sequence, and we only sometimes send out emails. But the opt-in is providing value while growing my list so that when I am ready to sell, I’ll know who to sell to.
So, my word of advice to you: create an opt-in, build nurture sequences, and worry about how you’ll use them later. It’s better to have those things in place and wait for your leads than to be racking up leads with nowhere to point them!
Next Steps
After clients confess to not having an email list, the next objection to getting started is pretty predictable.
“But Haley, I have no idea what kind of opt-in to create or how to start creating it.”
Lucky for you, I’ve got you covered! Check out my quiz, “Uncover Your Next Opt-In,” to figure out the best opt-in or lead magnet to fill your list with ideal clients that eventually turn into sales!
If you’ve taken the quiz and still feel like you need further guidance or personalized help, don’t hesitate to reach out to talk about ways I can further help you come up with an opt-in you feel amazing about! Enter your email below to check out my service guide and see if how I can help jives with you and your mission!
I hope this personal share on why I waited four years to start an email list inspires you to kick your email list into gear!
