If the novel up inside your head were to be published today who would buy it?
If you opened a consulting business online how would you tell potential clients about it?
If you were going to be interviewed on Good Morning America tomorrow morning how would you get your readers to watch?
It sometimes seems like there are bloggers who are everywhere all at once. You see their posts, books, interviews, and podcasts all over the place. How do they do it? I need some of that mojo, right?
Let me assure you, those crazy-popular bloggers didn’t just write some posts or a book and then sit back and wait for their words to go viral. Nope. The secret sauce to expanding your reach is your email list.
Successful bloggers know the vital importance of building an email list.
But why?
Let’s look at email.
This post is part of an entire series on Mastering Mailchimp. You can find all of the posts in the series on this page.
{Updated for 2019}
Email is personal
When you get an email from a friend, it’s as if you are talking right to her. You feel as if you can be open and honest in email, much more so than in a blog comment or on social media.
Those feelings of friendship help you develop trust with your readers. When you gain their trust, your readers feel safe. When they feel safe, they also feel comfortable, enough to share and promote what you are doing with their friends.
Free promotion by people who trust you is invaluable.
Email is immediate
When you send an email it goes straight to someone’s inbox. There is no middleman. Readers don’t have to click anything to get to the goods. It’s all right there.
As soon as readers open your mail (and they will because they trust you) they can read what you want to tell them. There is no beating around the bush. Emails get straight to the point.
Readers love this.
Email is focused
This is my favorite part about having an email list.
When my readers open my weekly emails they read exactly what I want them to learn without any distractions. There are no competing status updates or tweets to lure them away. There is nothing but the info I’ve sent. Short, clear, and concise.
I capture my readers’ attention for a few minutes and am afforded an opportunity to help them by sharing what I know and what I’ve learned. This is priceless in a busy, nanosecond world where focus is a dying art. Those few minutes we have together make a huge difference.
Email is respected
Your readers place a higher value on an email than on a blog post. When they read a blog post your readers don’t mind getting interrupted or sidetracked. They know they can come back later. But do they?
People give more weight to emails. According to exacttarget.com 70% of readers say they always open emails from companies they support. Readers also feel as if emails are pertinent and they will be less inclined to let interruptions get in the way of an email communication.
Everyone has an email
Not everyone is on Facebook or Twitter, let alone Pinterest or Instagram. But, everyone has an email address. You can reach more people with more efficiency and better results via email than on any social media platform.
With a blog your best hope is a reader will find your content somehow, read it, and benefit from it. With an email you are bringing the information straight to your readers and they will feel compelled to open the email and read the content.
As you can see emails have power. People read emails. People concentrate on emails. You can build trust with emails. Emails are the best way to connect with your readers and Mailchimp can help you make those connections.
Using email marketing software (EMS) such as Mailchimp allows you to quickly and easily collect the email addresses of readers and supporters who want to hear what you have to say.
The key is to treat your readers right. Don’t send them junk, but instead supply them with a steady stream of quality information. They will help spread the word about your blog or product exponentially faster than you ever could alone. Emails makes that happen.
Can you see the need for an email list now? Are you ready to start building your own list? Let’s do it together.
#YouCanDoThis
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