The Most Important Thing You Need to Grow your Business Online
Every now and then, I’ll hop on to Twitter to see what’s happening, and yesterday I noticed that #DeleteFacebook was trending. We’ve all seen those calls to delete social media, which seem to come and go mostly, but not always, around concerns about data privacy.
I don’t judge others for signing off or deleting their accounts (I’ve felt that way at some point myself), but I also see the value so many of these tech companies provide. As someone who has a pretty good understanding of the media industry, this is what I can tell you: both sides of the argument are valid.
One side of the argument. Can you relate?
The flip side. Can you also relate?
The answer, as I see it, lies somewhere in between. Each of us is empowered to make the decision we feel most comfortable with. End of story. I can write about that some other time, but today I’m writing about it from the perspective of artists and creative business owners.
If you’re using social media to build your business, that’s great, but even more importantly, you need to know this.
The number one rule for artists and creative entrepreneurs who want to build their business online is to build and nurture their email list.
So often I see creatives who are putting all of their efforts into building followers on social media based on the notion that their ‘content’ will reach more people. Or they use their Facebook page or Instagram feed to showcase their work, instead of using a website of their own, because it’s ‘easier to manage,’ and it’s free.
I get it, we all need to start somewhere, but if you’re interested in gaining traction for your business, please make it your first order of business to create and nurture an email list using an email service provider, if you haven’t already done so.
What? An email list is even more important than a website? Yes, it is. Because it is the absolute foundation of your business. A few years back I was working with a client who experienced the following. She found this highly-unexpected (and disturbing) message waiting for her as soon as she logged in to her account.
No one wants to see this!
My client wasn’t sure what caused the problem, and was unsuccessful in trying to find out, or get the account reinstated. There went her thousands of followers and years of effort! She was forced to start all over again on the social media front. But because she was savvy enough to keep a robust email list, it was not the catastrophic event one could imagine. Her business didn’t depend on those followers for its survival. She had a way to let her subscribers know what happened and invite them all to follow her new account.
Where do you start? Start with your first subscriber. There are lots of email services out there, and some, like Mailchimp, are free to use up to a certain number of followers. Others, like Flodesk, which is the service I recommend to my clients, carry a small fee, but allow you to have unlimited subscribers and email sequences, which can be incredibly useful to building your list. You don’t need to use a paid subscription to get started on building your list. You can always transfer your list later, should you want to.
How do you nurture your email list? Think of it this way. Each subscriber on your list is a person who has already expressed interest in you and your work. By signing up for your emails, that person has indicated they value what you do. Your work holds real value in their life! Give them reasons to be excited about opening your emails, whether you’re sending updates on your activities, sharing something you’ve learned, or anything else.
Picture one of them, preferably a person you know fairly well, and are on a friendly basis with, and consider what they care about. That will give you some clues as to what you can send their way. Email marketing can be really sophisticated and complex, but at a very basic level, it is really is as simple as that.
So, if your ideal customers suddenly start deleting their Facebook accounts in droves, or if Facebook (or whatever social media platform you happen to use) gets shut down, your business will be just fine. Build and nurture your email list, and you’ll remain firmly in control of your business.
If you have questions or want to add something to the conversation, please scroll down and comment below. Your feedback is helpful to me as I consider what kind of content to develop next!
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