There’s Money In Your List

For the last 10 years I have been banging on about the power of email marketing and the fact there is money in your list. I’ve proved this theory in 3 businesses now and it’s the gift that keeps giving.

I have awarded franchises, sold digital and physical products, sold courses, sold events, classes, holiday clubs tickets.

How? I kept top of mind in the email inbox. I added value to my customers world. I showed up consistently and I asked for the sale when I need too. I used the tech available to me at my finger tips, which meant I could spend less time marketing and more time on growing my business.

For me Email Marketing is a no brainer. I see the value in it, so I place my attention where I get consistent results.

Yet it’s one of the most neglected marketing tools used by Children’s Activity Business Owners and I’m not sure why.

Over the past 12 months I have spoken to hundreds of providers and one of the questions I always ask is

Do you have an email list? If so, how often do you email it?

I get all sorts of answers back from

• No, I don’t have one.
• Yes, I have one, but I don’t email it.
• Yes, I have one but I only email once a month.
• I would like one, but I don’t know how to set it up.

My list is my number one priority, and it should be yours. Why? Because you own it. It’s a simple as that. You don’t own your social media accounts, you’re on borrowed land and if the powers that be decide to take it away from you then you’re pretty much stuffed.

This is why you need an integrated Marketing System which is what I teach in the Market Like A Pop Star Programme. A marketing system that is not solely reliant on one marketing activity. A system that brings in a constant flow of leads, allows you to nurture them and turn them into raving fans, who buy from you time and time again.

So where do you start with email marketing? First, you need an email marketing platform. There are lots to choose from MailChimp through to Click Funnels. You need to pick one that works for you.

Then you need to upload your email list. Obviously, you need to ensure you are GDPR compliant, so you only upload people who have given you consent to email them. I would then tag my list for current customers, past customers, and potential customers. Once you have them in your system, then you need to set up your email templates, email sequences and a sign-up form. The sign-up form could be for your newsletter, or to just learn more about your business.

What you want is for your email marketing to be nurturing your audiences, be it current, past customers or someone who has just signed up via your form.

Then it’s a matter of building your email campaigns, what will you be sending out to your list and who on the list it will go too. What you send your customers will be very different to what you send past customers. This is where email funnels could have a massive impact on your business.

Let me give you an example. You have five people book for trials for classes, of which 5 showed up. You emailed an irresistible offer of which two purchased straight away. So, what do you do about the other three? Well, you don’t want to waste that opportunity, so they go into a funnel. It’s a funnel with a series of 5 emails, which they receive over a course of 7 days. This could cover why your business started, how your business benefits their child, what each class will cover, what makes you different, what are your business values.

Do you see where I’m going with this? You nurture that lead to get them to take action.  The action you want them to take is to book a place with you. If they do that, then its’s happy days if they unsubscribe then its happy days as that’s your list cleaning itself. If they don’t act, they’re just not ready to buy yet and need some more nurturing.

It’s the same with franchising. I had a 3-month automated email marketing system in place for recruitment this took enquiries on a journey with the aim of getting them to take the call to action, which was to book a Discovery Call and for all those who enquired and didn’t take that action were sent weekly blog content to drive the call to action. I can’t tell you how many times I had calls with people who sat on my email list for years.  I had people join the franchise who had been on the list for 2 years. They just weren’t ready to join yet. If I had not consistently emailed my list, they would have not joined and I would not have made the sale essentially.

I hope just those two examples have showed you that investing in your email list is worth its weight in gold.

My advice is if you don’t have an email list right now in your business then you should make it a priority for 2023. Start by taking the action above.

If you do have an email list in your business, then now is the time to make full use of its potential. Develop a plan of action for your email marketing. Start building your list, get your systems in place, create those funnels and look at your campaigns for the year ahead. Don’t waste this opportunity that’s available to you.

If you want to learn more about email marketing or you need help to get your system up and running then there’s an opportunity to work with me directly through my mentoring programmes.