How to Use an Email List for Marketing Your Online Business

Hey Friend!

Do you feel overwhelmed by email lists? Are you confused about where to start, what to send and when to send it? I remember when I started out and how overwhelmed I was trying to figure it out. Today’s blog covers all the basics you need to get your email list up and running and simplified. It’s never too early to get your list started!

* This post contains affiliate links. This means that I get a percentage of sales at no additional cost to you.

How to Use Your Email List for Marketing Your Podcast and Business

What is an email list, and how can you use your email list for marketing?

First of all, what is an email list? An email list is where we connect with all the people we have collected from our podcast, social media groups and website. It’s a quick connection point with the purpose to stay front of mind. 

While it is amazing if people subscribe to our podcast, we haven’t collected them until they sign up for our email list. The email list is the second bucket of our marketing funnel. First, we have  our podcast, which is getting new people into our world and then funnel them into our email list, where we contact them every week and stay front of mind. 

What should you send?

Here at Stefanie Gass, we simply send out a reminder for my new podcast episode. I use my podcast to convert leads to paying students or clients, so I just want to funnel the person back to my podcast so they can hear my sales pitch. 

If you want more information on how I do this, you need to check out Podcast to Profit. I cover this in extreme depth and everything else you need to make your podcast your full-time business. If you want to hear from some of the students and see what’s possible for you and your show, check out: How She Ranked #1 in Apple Podcasts by Utilizing Simple Podcast SEO + Other Success Stories.

I personally do three podcasts per week, but realistically, you only need to do one podcast per week and send one email per week.

FAQs when starting your email list for marketing

When should you start your list?

• Now! Yesterday! You want to start your email list as soon as possible. Once you’ve got your podcast, it’s never too early to start your email list.

Where to start your email list?

• I highly recommend GetResponse. This is what I use and love. It’s super user-friendly and contains everything I need, including landing pages, email funnels, and great open rates. 
• I started on MailChimp, which was also good, but once you get to a certain level, it becomes as expensive as all the other providers. Not a bad problem to have! 
• If possible, you want to start where you plan on staying and growing because it will be less work in the long run. 
• I don’t recommend Drip as my students haven’t found them any good because they don’t have any analytic capabilities. It also has some constraints on how we, as podcasters, want to grow our businesses. 
• Active Campaign is another major player in the email marketing space. It’s not as user-friendly in the backend, which might be a downside if you’re just starting. 

What is your next step? 

• Once you’ve picked your email software, you want to start one list. Just call this list, Podcast Listeners and promote it on your podcast. 
• Let your listeners know that if they sign up for your email list, they will get sent each episode, and they can become an insider for your show/business. 
• Set up a landing page on GetResponse and change it to your branding colors. 
• If you want to know what an email opt-in can look like, go to Stefanie Gass and see what I use.

6 things to include in your weekly email. 

Now you’ve captured your email leads; you might be wondering what on earth to send them. Here is my simple 6-step formula for what to include in your weekly email. But, this only works if you have a podcast! 
If you don’t have a podcast, head to Podcast Pro University to get started. Podcasting is the quickest, easiest, most authentic, and freeing way to grow your business. It’s your long-form content that drives leads to your email list.

To get started, go into your email provider and pick a newsletter template and customize it to your brand colors. If you are on my email list, you’ll know exactly what my emails look like. If you aren’t yet on my email list for marketing purposes, head to my website and sign up to be a Stef Gass Insider!

Here’s what to include in your weekly email:

1. Header: This is the same as the subject line of your email, probably your podcast title or similar.
2. Podcast description copied from the episode description, generally a couple of paragraphs explaining what the episode is about. This is in regular copy.
3. Sign off. I write: XO, Stef 
4. A link to listen to the podcast and blog (if you have one). These are different colors and clickable. The purpose of the email is to get people to listen. Don’t worry if you don’t have a blog; this is an advanced strategy you don’t need to start until you have graduated from Podcast to Profit and have a team.
5. Graphic: This is a Pinterest-style graphic that links to Pinterest. While graphics in emails can be a subject for debate, I love them, and so does my audience. 
6. Call to action (CTA): What do you want them to do? If someone is on your email list, they are a hot lead; they are your super fan. You don’t want your CTA to be a freebie. Instead, you want to sell your offer. You want your email CTA to be for a paid offer. This might be a program, course, or coaching. You can also lead them to a workshop that funnels into a paid program, but once again this is an advanced strategy that you don’t need. If you aren’t selling yet, bring them over to your Facebook group.

I didn’t start using all of the advanced strategies I mentioned here until I had a yearly revenue of 350k +; you need to capitalize on your organic market first. You want to have solidified your podcast, what you sell, and your conversions before you go pour fuel on the fire. 

Want more help growing your email list for marketing? Check out:

5 Steps to Start & Build an Email List Using Podcasting

How to Share Your Story Effectively and Start an Email List as a Podcaster

How I Doubled My Email List Subscribers in One Year

Want to Grow Your E-Mail List Faster? 6 Strategies for 50%+ Opt-In Rates!

Using an email list for marketing is a great way to connect with your audience and remind them you exist. Staying front of mind is vital when growing your business as it allows you to build more trust with your audience and encourages sales. Just don’t forget to focus on what truly matters in your business. Start with your podcast, and then tackle your email list. Remember, don’t make it hard; a simple weekly email is all you need. 

I pray this blesses you!

Xo,

Stef

P.S. Listen to podcast episode 495 for the full training on Email List 101: When and How to Start an Email List for Marketing Your Online Business!

APPLE PODCAST | SPOTIFY | GOOGLE PODCAST

How to build a successful online business in less than two hours a week using podcasting.

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