{If you know the source of this, please tell me. I couldn’t find it, and I usually don’t share images without original sources, but… well… the cute kitty suckered me in.}
So, you’ve got a blog, right? And chances are you’ve got some social media stuff going on, too – you’re tweeting, facebooking, circling and pinning with the best of them.
Awesome, truly. If you’ve spent any time round these ‘ere parts, you’ll know I’m a HUGE fan of the power of social media (I include blogging as a form of social media, btw).
All of those things are super-powerful ways to grow your business, reinforce your brand, and bring in new customers.
But they all have one thing in common.
People can ignore them.
Uh huh! They can forget to visit your blog. They can turn off “the twitter” (still cracks me up when I hear someone call it that). They can walk away from Facebook (yes, such people DO still exist!).
In short, they can totally miss all of the effort you put in on these sites because they are simply not there.
However.
There is one thing that no-one can ignore: their email.
We all rely on email to keep in touch with friends, family, and to simply run our lives these days. If your customers are doing one thing – and one thing only – when they get online, you can bet it’s checking their email.
This is why a connection to potential customers via email is so incredibly powerful.
Once you have that ‘in’, you can be confident that you’re connected to them as powerfully as you possibly can be.
Hey, of course they can still ignore your emails. They can even unsubscribe. And that’s okay.
The most important thing is that they chose to be there in the first place.
You gave them a compelling reason to sign up – and it’s up to you to give them a compelling reason to stick around.
My mailing list subscribers are my absolute most special people. They have trusted me with their personal, private email address, and I honour that by giving them a huge amount in return.
Sharing your email with someone shows a level of trust far above that of any other form of online connection. If you grow that trust with your customers by always respecting them and giving them value, they will reward you by not only sticking around, but becoming your most loyal fans and supporters.
So, if you’ve been hesitating about starting a mailing list, don’t!
Go sign up* for one right now, or dive back into that list that has been nothing but crickets for months, and send your Awesome People something of value.
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Want to start a kick-ass mailing list, but not sure where to start, what to write about, or how to grow subscriber numbers?
Check out my new Create & Thrive Guide: How to Run a Rockin’ Mailing List.
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*This is a Mailchimp affiliate link. I LOVE Mailchimp: they make running a mailing list fun and easy. If you’re not sure where to start with your mailing list, I recommend you start there with a free plan.