One of the best things I've done for my business in years is create an email newsletter.
Now you might be thinking:what a hassle! I already have enough to do! I don't need anything else on my plate.
Well, good news. An email newsletter doesn't actually take any more time, beyond the initial setup. In fact, it saved me a lot of time.
If you do it the right way, creating an email newsletter is a great way to grow your network, your business, and your income, while minimizing the time and effort you need to spend on your business.
If that sounds like a get-rich-quick scheme or too good to be true, well, it's not. You have to put in the work from the get-go, but if you set up an email newsletter correctly, you benefit from minimal ongoing work on your end.
Of course, an email newsletter isn't going to grow your network on full autopilot, and it certainly isn't a substitute for face-to-face meetings and building one-on-one relationships with people.
So how do you do this? I will explain below exactly how you can use an email newsletter to grow your network. But first, I want to explain why you should start your own newsletter, regardless of your industry or type of business…or even if you just dream of starting your own business one day.
Why you should start an email newsletter
There are many reasons why you should start an email newsletter today:
It's easy. Creating an email newsletter is easy as pie, yet once it's set up, you'll benefit from it for years to come. Just like investing, you are better off the sooner you start. You can probably handle most of the steps yourself and set it up in 15 or 20 minutes.
Your newsletter frees up your time. If you set up your email newsletter correctly using an “autoresponder” or follow-up messages, your emails will automatically go out while you are freed up to do other things.
He gets rid of “Tire-Kickers”. Every business has to deal with “tire-kickers” – people who take a long time to decide whether to buy. With an email newsletter, people will join your mailing list and some will eventually unsubscribe. This is a good thing. They didn't suit you. It's better than having to spend your limited one-on-one time with this person, while the two of you work out if you're right for each other.
It’s a scalable way to grow your business. A newsletter and mailing list is a real way to scale your business, no matter what type of business you are.
Email subscribers are more valuable than any other type of subscriber. There is a saying that “the money is in the list”. This saying refers to the fact that email subscribers are much more likely to purchase products and services than any other type of subscriber.
You own the list. You don't "own" your social media friends or followers. You are a sharecropper rather than a landowner. Your social media page might be closed and there is nothing you can do about it. In comparison, you own your mailing list. It cannot be stopped on a whim.
You don't lose unique visitors. Any website has a lot of one-time visitors. You can "capture" some of them if you have an email newsletter. If they sign up for your newsletter, you have the opportunity to continue communicating with them and eventually turn them into a buyer or customer.
Now that I've (hopefully) convinced you that creating a newsletter is worth your time, let's talk about how you can use an email newsletter to grow your network and your income.
How Your Email Newsletter Can Build Your Network and Net Worth
If done correctly, an email newsletter can help accelerate the growth of your personal network. Of course, it's not like you can create an email newsletter and then just sit on the beach drinking mai-tais and counting your money. Wouldn't that be nice. But it adds to those efforts.
Here's how you can use your newsletter to grow your network and put more money in your wallet.
It allows you to “stay in touch” with a large number of people. In Book Yourself Strong, Michael Port argues that one of the essential steps to staying “strong” is to have a “stay in touch” strategy with your network. If you can convince the people you meet to join your mailing list, the newsletter is a great way to stay in touch and stay top of mind.
You meet new people on autopilot. Every morning I wake up and get reply emails from new people who at some point signed up for my mailing list – usually because they read a message I wrote like this- this. I then respond and often get into great email dialogues and build wonderful relationships with my subscribers.
As your list grows, you have more potential buyers or customers. In marketing, people have to “know, like, and trust you” before they buy. As you grow your email list, more people get to know, like and trust you, which means you have more potential buyers for you. any product or service you sell.
You can sell products using your newsletter. As long as you don't spam people on your list and provide value, you can increase your income by promoting your own products or services on your list.
Now set up your newsletter – even if you don't have a business
In Lean Startup, Eric Ries argues that the best companies produce a minimum viable product which they test and then iterate by getting feedback from actual buyers.
If you create your own newsletter early — perhaps even before you start your business — you can broaden an audience of potential buyers who can help accelerate your business growth. You can also use the list to test and get feedback on your products and services.
So even if you don't have a business but want your own one day, consider creating a newsletter today. By the time you're ready to start your own business, you may already have an audience.
