There’s a few things I’ve gotten right since Day 1 of starting my business:

1) Wearing pajamas 24/7.

2) Never opening my laptop without a mimosa coffee in hand.

3) Building an email list.

The first two are really the secret sauce of my success and I highly urge you to take up the hobby of horrifying your Grandmother by wearing the same outfit for a week.

However, today we’re talking about my third secret to success: Building an email list (A.K.A a club of people who are OBSESSED with your work).

Because whether you deny it or not, an email list is an essential asset to every business.

Here’s why:

  • They help you build rapport and a sense of community with your audience
  • They position you as an authority and expert in your industry
  • They give you ownership of your audience (unlike social media)
  • They give you direct access to your audience
  • They make you a fuck ton of money
  • And, they’re a legitimate asset that banks take into consideration when you apply for a mortgage (I’m even not kidding)

The purpose of an email list is to build brand affinity and market your products & services.

They’re like your personal social media channel where EVERYONE see’s your content (instead of a measly 2% like most social platforms) but they also make you a lot of money.

I’m sure you’ve heard me say the money is in your list, but I’ll say it one more time for the people asleep at the back:

THE MONEY IS IN YOUR LIST.

Your conversion rate for sales through email is significantly higher than on social media. In fact it’s estimated that email generates $38 for every $1 spent. That’s a 3800% ROI. Social media only 28%.

People are more likely to purchase your product or service from your email list than on social media because they’ve already chosen to invest in you by giving you their email address. They want to hear from you, there’s a respect for you and your business that you don’t get from social media. Your subscribers have happily invited you into their inboxes. There’s a totally different energy about that.

So if I haven’t made it translucently obvious, you absolutely need an email list.

If you don’t have one yet – WHY GOD WHYYY?!?!? – the first thing you must do is sign up to an email service provider.

The service I use and have provided an affiliate link for is ConvertKit, and I highly recommend you use them as well. They’re one of the most affordable email platforms in the industry, they have continuous up-skilling and training events for members, their sequences and tagging options are phenomenal and you get your first 1000 subscribers for free. (For perspective, you only need 100 subscribers to start making money).

Now that we’ve got that sorted, let’s get into exactly how to build that brand-slapping-new email list of yours!

Note: As you can see, there are affiliate links in this post, it means if you happen to purchase one of the tools I recommend I get a small commission for it. 

Step 1: Create A DAMN GOOD Lead Magnet

You have to give people a damn good reason to subscribe to your email list. Stating, “Get my tips and tricks, “latest updates,” or “love letters” are not and never will be good enough reasons. It’s lazy.

Instead, think about what will they PAY attention to? What do they CARE about? What do you KNOW that they don’t? Offer them THAT in exchange for their email address.

But wait.. what the hell IS a lead magnet?

A lead magnet is a free resource you offer your audience as an incentive to opt-in to your email list.

Also known as: Opt-In Freebie, Opt-In Incentive, Opt-In Offer, Content Upgrade.

They must do three things:

  1. Have an inviting topic
  2. Solve a specific problem
  3. Relate to the product or service you sell

As we established in my X-Rated post about writing clever content, titles matter a lot. Far too many lead magnets in the world are incredibly vague and forgettable that people skim right over them. This is the opposite effect of what we want.

To create a lead magnet, I use a formula called the front-to-back method and it works by creating the lead magnet working backwards from your product.

Here’s an example:

Let’s say my product is a course on helping voice actors land auditions with major studios in LA.

Next, I’d ask myself: What would they need help with before they start auditioning for jobs that would naturally position your course as the next step?

  • How to become a voice actor
  • Vocal warm up techniques
  • Creating a range of character accents
  • Writing a voice acting resume
  • Making demo reels

The first option is good but could be a course on its own, we want to solve ONE problem, not all. Option two is a great idea and would be something you’d do before an audition. Option three, again, could be a product on its own so I’d shelf that one also. Option four is another great “first step” before the main step. And option five would probably be in the actual course itself so I’d scratch that.

That leaves us with vocal warm up techniques and writing a resume.

Let’s use the warm up exercises as our lead magnet topic and craft a title:

Basic: 3 Vocal Exercises to Use When Warming Up Before An Audition

It’s okay, but it’s pretty underwhelming. It would get overlooked a lot. Needs more distinction. It’s also not specific enough on what type of auditions or actors this is about so you could attract subscribers that aren’t your target market.

Better: The 3 Secret Warm Up Techniques All Top-Level Voice Actors Use Before An Audition

Better. It has differentiation. It’s honing in on the specific type of actor it’s for. But still feels a bit removed. Could still be worked on.

Best: 3 Little-Known Techniques to Warm Up Your Vocal Chords Before You Join Your Hollywood Heroes in The Volume

PERFECT. It’s alluring, has personality, industry jargon and it shows the pathway to what your target customer really wants – getting booked on projects – which is the opening to position the course as the solution or “next step” after the lead magnet.

(Fun Fact: The Volume is the room actors use to record motion capture while dressed in skin tight dotted suits with giant headsets).

Now that you’ve got the title and topic for your lead magnet, it’s time to create it.

The most popular lead magnets are:

  • PDF’s (worksheets, workbooks, guides etc)
  • Quizzes
  • Free Templates (swipe copy, social media graphics, canva etc)
  • Video Series
  • Email Courses
  • Resource Library
  • 5, 7 or 14 Day Challenges

To Create PDF’s or Templates: Use Canva. It’s easy, simple and free to use. You can create everything and anything from ebooks to workbooks to social media graphics to planners to templates to anything your mind can conceive graphic-design wise!

To Create Quizzes: People LOVE quizzes, because they LOVE learning about themselves. If you create a quiz, subscribers will pour in. The easiest way to create a quiz is to use Interact. Their templates are elegant and easy to use and you can get started on their free plan.

To Create a Video Series: Use your phone! Or your camera! Or create slides on Canva and record it through screen-record on iMovie. Then upload the videos to youtube, publish them as ‘Unlisted’ and then embed them on your website.

To Create Email Courses or Challenges: You can set this up in ConvertKit (or your email service provider), go to the Sequences section and start writing your content. Once it’s completed, link it to your landing page and start promoting!

To Create a Resource Library: Set it up on your website, password protect it and send your new subscribers the password. This is what I do and the template I use for my Resource Library is in the Landing Page Templates by Bluchic.

Step 2: Build a STRIKING Landing Page

A landing page is a standalone page dedicated to your lead magnet with a headline, tagline or description and (most importantly) an opt-in box. People “land” on this page when you direct them to it through a link on social media, your website or an ad. This page has got to be STRIKING.

Here’s some examples:

The easiest way to create them is by using the landing page options that your email service provider gives you (and if they don’t give you this option, you need to move to one that does NOW).

Since I use ConvertKit, here’s how you can set yours up:

  • Click ‘Grow’ in the navigation bar on your ConvertKit dashboard
  • Then click ‘Landing Pages & Forms’
  • Click ‘Create New’
  • And then click ‘Landing Page’
  • Choose your template
  • Add your lead magnet title
  • Add your sub-title or description (if necessary)
  • Add your visual elements (image, font, colors etc)
  • Go to settings and write your incentive email (a thank you message with link to to lead magnet)
  • Upload your lead magnet file or redirection link
  • Publish your landing page and save the URL

You have a perfectly polished landing page you can now share with everyone!

Step 3: Bring All The Boys To Your Yard Landing Page

Now that you’ve created a DAMN GOOD lead magnet and you’ve set up a STRIKING landing page, it’s time to paint your website with “subscribe” and bring all the people to your landing page.

The 7 Non-Negotiable Website Placements

  • Navigation bar or header of your website (this is prime real estate)
  • Sidebar (usually in the blog section)
  • Footer (the bottom of your website)
  • Opt-in boxes embedded in blog posts
  • Deep linked in blog posts and pages
  • Bottom of blog posts
  • On your About Page

You can also create an opt-in box for your lead magnets that you can embed in blog posts and pages so that people can opt-in without leaving the page.

4 Evergreen Ways to Gather Traffic From The “Outside”

When it comes to bringing people to your yard, landing page or website, you want to focus on getting the most bang for your buck, and believe it or not that’s NOT by using social media.

When you think of marketing or traffic generation, think evergreen. Think about the longevity you want instead of the fast fix. You want people to be able to find your content years after it’s been published, not in the first 48 hours of publishing only to vanish into the vacuum of all other social media posts.

Here’s a few suggestions on how you can do this:

Pinterest

Pinterest is an incredible search engine that can drive a ton of traffic to your website. I’ve used it for years to grow my business and I’m not about to stop now. Click here to learn my 5 tips on how to grow your traffic on Pinterest.

Search Engine Optimization

Google is the biggest search engine in the world and if you play your cards right you can make it work for your business in the biggest way. The key is in using the right keywords, but alas I am not an expert in SEO so I highly recommend you check out this SEO 101 guide by Neil Patel instead.

Podcast Interviews

Want to talk about your topic/niche/industry till the chickens come home? Being interviewed on podcasts sounds perfect for you! All you have to do is pitch podcasts in your niche that have the audience you want to attract and tell them which topics you’d love to talk about, why you’re qualified and what experience you have. Once you’ve landed your interview spot, the podcast host will ask you at the end of the interview how people can learn more about you. This is when you share the link to your landing page and tell people how to subscribe.

Guest Posts

If you’re more of a wordsmith than a speaker, writing guest posts would be perfect for getting your brand, business and lead magnets out into the big wide world. Simply write an article for them on a topic related to your lead magnet (and niche), include a link to your website and landing page where people will be able to subscribe to your email list. Check out this post for a list of 100 different websites you can guest post on in the industries of business, finance, marketing,  food and beverage, health and fitness, travel, animals and pets, arts and crafts, entertainment, technology.

Here’s my homework for you:

Once you’ve got your lead magnet up and running and the subscribers are pouring in, commit to giving your email list the best of your work.

Show up for them in a way that you don’t anywhere else. If you look after them, they’ll look after you for the rest of your businesses precious life.

Your email list is one of the smartest investments you can make in your business, take it seriously and it’ll pay you back with 10x the interest.

Elise McDowell