Build Your Email List on Auto-Pilot

Courtney Elmer  0:11  

What's up, welcome back. This is the AntiFragile Entrepreneurship™ podcast. I'm your host, Courtney Elmer. This is Episode 81 which is all about email automation, and email marketing. And if you've been tuning in the past few weeks, then you know we are smack in the middle of a summer series of systems designed to help you streamline your business on the back end. Now in this series of quick tips, we are barely scratching the surface when it comes to systems and email automation. 

But hopefully what I have shared with you so far has helped you buy a little bit of time back in your schedule each week. So I would love to hear from you. Come find me on our podcast website https://www.antifragileentrepreneurship.co where you can send me a message and let me know which of these episodes has been most impactful for you so far, which ones have you implemented, that have already been saving you a little bit of time, I'd love to hear from you. 

Courtney Elmer  1:02  

Now, last week in Episode 80, we talked about how to nurture your email marketing list on autopilot to save you hours upon hours of writing emails to your list week after week, willy nilly, with no real strategy or purpose and without leading them somewhere specific. And once you know how to keep people on your list, building that list becomes fun and easy. Most people do this the other way around, though. They build, build, build, build, and then scramble to keep people there when they realize that people are unsubscribing. 

And often it feels harder to keep someone on your list than to acquire them. And chances are if you're listening to this episode, you have felt that before. And it's a big mistake to focus first on building without knowing how to nurture them and keep them there. Because what's the point, you'll be forever starting back at square one. So we reverse engineer that process. 

Last week, I taught you how to nurture your email marketing list and keep them there with email automation. This week, I'm going to teach you how to build that list. When you master the art of nurturing your list, and continually warming them up, educating them, having fun with them, entertaining them, it creates value. It builds know like and trust and ding ding ding it increases sales. 

Courtney Elmer  2:26  

Naturally, you can sell more without feeling like you're selling to them all the time with email automation. You know what I'm talking about and it becomes easier to build your list, which is what we're going to talk about today. Now before we get into the four elements of a simple list-building funnel, I want to give a huge shout-out to a company that has blown me away with how they do this. Now recently, I have been revamping a lot of things in my life. A couple of months ago, we had COVID that went through our family and it caused me to bring a lot of my routines and my habits and the things in my life into question. One of those was my caffeine consumption. All right. 

I'm like a three-cup of coffee a day kind of girl. I was actually beginning to experience some heart pain, which in hindsight, we think was linked to caffeine. And I am going to do an episode in the future for you on exactly what I've done to revamp my morning ritual because I have more energy now than ever before. And the COVID brain fog that people talk about is a very real thing. And it lingers. And revamping my morning routine in this way has helped me to sharpen my focus and get past that foggy brain feeling that I was left with. 

Courtney Elmer  3:48  

After getting through COVID, all that to say I was looking for an alternative for coffee because I love the act of drinking coffee for me drinking coffee in the morning. I don't know if it just feeds my soul. It's warm and I like sitting there with my journal and doing my morning meditation and reading and sipping my coffee like the whole thing. I love it because coffee has always been a part of that routine. But with the caffeine thing I was like well maybe there's an alternative out there I've heard of all these other things and mushroom coffees right all these other things. 

Courtney Elmer  4:19  

Well, I found this alternative called mud, water, mud m u d slash wtr for water and go look them up mud slash water. Their stuff is amazing. And I am so impressed with their nurture email marketing sequence with how they have educated me through their emails on caffeine consumption and what it does in the body and why you should stop drinking so much of it, and how cutting caffeine can actually help you sleep better and help you have more focus because the caffeine, too much of it over a long period of time can hinder your focus on to I'm just going on a tangent and making this episode about caffeine. 

Courtney Elmer  5:07  

That is what I was impressed by, by this company because they are just educating me at every step through email automation. And so to tie all of this back, when you continue to master the art of nurturing your email marketing list, then getting people on it becomes the easy thing. And keeping people on it becomes a no brainer, they will stay, I am like looking at my email inbox almost every day for an email from them because I want to know more they are telling me things I didn't know about my body and how I'm wired and why I'm feeling the way I do. Alright, so mud water, go look them up. They're amazing. And let's get to the four elements of a simple list-building funnel, because the goal here is to grow your email list. If you want to grow your list and increase your number of subscribers, you need a way to do that--all with email automation. 

Courtney Elmer  5:55  

You can't just expect people to find you and then somehow wind up on your list without having a clear email marketing sequence of steps to lead them there. So four elements to a very ultra-simple list building funnel number one, you're going to need an irresistible lead magnet, this is usually a free something, a free offer a free PDF, a free coupon to try out one of your products, a free something that entices them to want more from you. 

So irresistible, meaning don't just kind of like halfway throw something out there that you think people might think this has to be something that people are like, what the heck, how did I not know this existed before, sign me up. That kind of level of irresistibility. Number two, you're gonna need an opt in page and a thank you page for that lead magnet. If you're in the online business world, you know what that is, you need an opt in page, which is a landing page where they come and learn a little bit about whatever that free thing is, and a place for them to sign up for it. 

Courtney Elmer  7:01  

And then a thank you page, which is after they sign up, it says hey, awesome, check your inbox, you'll find the thing you're looking for that you just signed up for sitting there waiting for you. Then the third piece is called a lead magnet delivery email sequence. So this is a simple sequence of email marketing that the first email delivers the thing that they've just signed up for. And the next few emails, educate them on who you are, why you do what you do, why you are the person to help them solve the problem that they're experiencing, and how you can help them do that. And then finally, you're going to need a call to action. 

So after they drip through that sequence, they sign up for the lead magnet via the landing page, they go to the thank you page, they check their inbox, they receive that initial email with the lead magnet in there. And then a few emails educating them after the fact you can have them drip that email marketing sequence and then you can put them right into your nurture sequence, which is what we talked about in the last episode. 

One of the reasons people struggle to grow their email list is because they're spending all their time creating lead magnets after lead magnet trying email automation to figure out what their audience wants, and find something that sticks. But the problem with that is, this is not about trying something once and going oh my gosh, that doesn't work throwing it out the window and starting all over again. 

Courtney Elmer  8:31  

Think of it like this. Let's say that you have a killer brownie recipe. It is a recipe everybody raves about. It is the most delicious brownies, they're flooding on the inside, they're crinkly and crunchy on the outside. Every time you make them for a party, people can't seem to get enough of them. You never have leftovers because they are that good. And let's say that you're on a new healthy lifestyle kick. And you want to try your hand at making that recipe gluten-free. So the first time, you might swap a few ingredients, bake it, and maybe they come out rock hard. Or maybe they're too sweet. Or maybe your family just didn't like them as much. So what would you do if you're determined to find the perfect, perfect recipe so that you can enjoy your delicious, amazing brownies and make them guilt-free at the same time, then you would figure out what went wrong. 

And make tweaks to the recipe and try again, you wouldn't trade that recipe out for a chocolate chip cookie recipe just to see if that went over better with the people at your party or your family or whatever everybody wants the brownies, you would do what you could do to try to make those brownies better. And maybe you would do that a couple of times you would tweak, bake repeat, tweak, bake repeat, and maybe you would get it just right and you would wind up with a killer gluten-free brownie recipe. And maybe you don't and then you would throw it out the window, but not until you test test test. 

Courtney Elmer  10:01  

See, most online business owners stay stuck because they spend all of their time starting and trashing and starting and trashing and forever starting back at square one. But just because your first lead magnet flopped, don't throw it out yet. Maybe there will come a time to do that. But this is why knowing your numbers is so critical, because this is about optimizing what you have, and making it better. We teach our students inside the Visionary Leader Incubator, not to be afraid of the numbers, to know what to track, when to track, what numbers are important, how to make sense of them, and to know what tweaks to make as a result of what the numbers are telling you. 

So those numbers might include Facebook ad conversion rates, or the conversion rate on your opt-in page, or email open rates, click-through rates, how many people made it through the actual funnel. And if that makes your head spin, you're not alone. Keep an eye out for when applications open up for the Visionary Leader Incubator in the fall because I would love to personally help you with this for your specific business. And I'll also teach you how many emails to put in your lead magnet email marketing sequence and what to say in each of those emails to increase your open rates, and help more people make it through to the end of the sequence, which is where your call to action is. So now that I've cleared that up, let's talk about each of these four elements, and how they work together. Much like a killer brownie recipe would. 

Courtney Elmer  11:35  

So if you recall, you've got your irresistible lead magnet, you've got your opt-in page and a thank you page for that lead magnet, you've got the lead magnet delivery sequence, and then your call to action, which like you learned in the last episode is usually a soft pitch, you want to be leading them somewhere. So I'll give you an example of this from our podcast, lead magnet email marketing sequence. So we have a podcast lead magnet that we've created for those people out there who have a business and are thinking of starting a podcast, but they're not really sure if a podcast is going to be worth their time. Or if a podcast is really worth it is it going to be like Instagram, right where you just shouting to the void always. And I get it because I remember back before starting this podcast, I was like, oh my gosh, I know it's gonna be a lot of time to create, is it really going to be worth it in the end. 

Courtney Elmer  12:25  

So our lead magnet is called five things you need to know, before starting a podcast. It is a free PDF, it's like an ebook style. And it walks you through the five things that every podcaster should know before deciding whether creating one is really right for them and their business. So that's a lead magnet, we have an opt-in page for it, we have a thank you page for it, we keep an eye on the conversion rates on that page to see how we can continually tweak that page to increase the conversion rate. Then we have a lead magnet delivery sequence. 

Now this email marketing sequence is set up very similar to the nurture sequence that I taught you in the last episode. This sequence, the first email, instead of being a welcome email is something you might call a lead magnet delivery email. It's where you actually deliver the thing that people have signed up for. Now, this trains them to go to their inbox to hear from you. 

Courtney Elmer  13:21  

With email automation, this trains them to get used to seeing your name in their inbox, and to clicking those emails and opening them to learn from you. Now, just like I taught you last week, in this email marketing sequence, in this email, this first email, you're going to want to educate them on who you are, how this lead magnet can solve a quick problem for them, and what they can expect in the next email from you. Then, we have a few more emails in that sequence that we open a loop with so that they continue opening the email and continue moving through. 

And then our call to action is to purchase our $39 podcasting workshop. This is a three part workshop, three videos that get dripped out to them. They can watch it in their inbox at their convenience because of our email automation, $39 bucks, and they can learn our proven framework to create, launch and leverage their message into a podcast that creates more traffic and sales for their business. 

So the whole email marketing sequence leads them to that end goal. That's our killer brownie recipe. Those are the four elements. So the ingredients are those four elements, the instructions are to set it up and link it together. You're going to launch it, which is the baking part. And then it's time for everyone to eat. And if it works, then your conversion rates and your numbers will tell you that it was a hit. If it's a flop, those conversion rates and numbers won't be where you want them to be. Should you go back and tweak it? Don't go back and throw the whole thing out. 

Courtney Elmer  14:54  

Please don't try to make chocolate chip cookies. Let's try it again to tweak and optimize and do that a few times and in doing so you will see if it actually is a recipe that's a flop, in which case at that point, you can let it go. But nine times out of 10, with a few tweaks, you will start to figure out what people want. And you will wind up with a winner. And once you know you've got a winner, you can automate the process. So I know that's a lot to sit here and listen to, and maybe not have a visual picture of how this all works together. 

But sit there and map it out, you get a sheet of paper, you write down whatever your lead magnet, it's going to be you have your opt-in page and thank you page, you map out your emails that are in that delivery email marketing sequence to deliver that lead magnet, what's the call to action you want someone to take at the end, you plug that into your email provider, you set it up, you turn it on, you let it run, and then you tweak and monitor. 

Courtney Elmer  15:50  

Once again, this is what we do: we help people put this kind of stuff in place in their business. If that's something you want help with, reach out to us, we can certainly help you with email automation, and email marketing. Now, if you're loving what you've been hearing on this series of quick tips, and you're intrigued, and you're like, “Oh my gosh, you're blowing my mind here, Courtney. There's so much that you're teaching me but I feel like I can't keep up or I feel like here's what your chances are might feel like, I don't have the time to implement all of this stuff myself. Yes, I want this in my business. But I don't have the time.” Please reach out to me.

 And please keep an eye on your inbox. If you are on our email list because of applications to our signature program, the Visionary Leader Incubator is opening up again this fall. And if this is something you want help with to get these kinds of systems with email automation in place in your business, we want to help you do that. And I also want to hear from you if you have a burning question or a sticking point in your business right now that you're needing some help with.

Courtney Elmer  16:47 

Go to our podcast website, which is antifragileentrepreneurship.co, click on the little microphone icon that you see there pop up on the home screen, you can send me a two-minute voicemail asking me that question. And I will answer it live right here on the air in an upcoming episode. Now next week, I'm going to help you save the data. ready for it 20 hours a week with seven of our favorite free tools. I'm not kidding 20 real hours a week that with these seven free tools you could potentially get back on your calendar, that's going to free up those 20 hours for you including email automation, and email marketing to focus on the revenue-generating activities in your business. 

Instead of all the backend grunt work, wouldn't it be nice? Well, that's coming up next week. We're gonna help you simplify your workflows, enhance your team communication, and save you time when it comes to creating social media content. And more. So join me back here then the AntiFragile Entrepreneurship™ podcast. Until then, go live your EffortLESS Life®.