There’s a perpetual rumour in the internet marketing world that email marketing is dead.
It’s not.
And people who tell you that, either aren’t building a list for themselves because they don’t know how, or they’re raking in the cash from their list and don’t want your competition.
The truth is email marketing can be your biggest source of income, and the people on your list can become your raving fans and even lifelong friends…. But you have to do it right!
Money is not the only reason to build your own mailing list. Here are five more reasons why it’s important that you have your own mailing list.
Reason #1
Your List is an Asset You Own
Yes, you can build your list on social media or even in another person’s system (if you’re an affiliate). But you don’t own those lists, and they can disappear without a trace if the platform owner decides to shut you down.
Having assets you control is a huge part of a successful business. When you build an email list that you own, your customers and prospects are yours for as long as they choose to stay subscribed to your list.
Reason #2
You Can Easily Change Providers
When you have your own mailing list you can easily change email service providers if you have a problem. It might just be that someone else offers you more services than others and you want to try them out and see if they work for you.
You can’t do that if your list is built in someone else’s platform. But, when you have your own list, you can change providers as often as you like as long as your subscribers have given their consent to receive email from you, and you can prove it.
I recently moved all my lists to Kartra, and had to answer questions about how I obtained email addresses and verify that I did indeed own the domains that they are coming from.
And just as a side note… just because you can easily move your list, doesn’t mean you should do it often. You will always lose some subscribers in the transfer process, and people really don’t like being shuffled around a lot.
I moved to Kartra so that everything will be in one place. And as long as nothing untoward happens, I don’t plan on moving again.
Reason #3
You can market your own products to your list.
When you build a list on someone else’s system, you are subject to their terms of service and can’t always send the messages you want to send.
For example, if you build your list in Facebook you are subject to Facebook’s terms of service and can’t email your community members at all.
Or, if you build a list through someone else’s affiliate program, you are reliant on them to email your customers because you don’t actually have access to the list.
When you have your own list you can send marketing messages with products and services you think you help them because you already have their permission to send them commercial emails.
Reason #4
You can have conversations with your list
The people on your list are a part of your community. You can open up your list to replies and actually have conversations with your subscribers and community members.
From there, it’s easy to invite them to connect with you on other platforms. It’s not always so easy to go from the outside platforms to your list.
Reason #5
You can build relationships with people on your list
When you engage with the people on your list you are also building relationships with them.
Taking time to send them helpful information means that they will look forward to opening your emails and checking out the links you send them.
It’s all about building the like and trust factors as your list members get to know you. And make no mistake, you have to be open to letting people know you or you won’t have the success you want from your list.
Final Thoughts
When you build a targeted email list and take the time to do it right, you are building a powerful asset for your business.
If you look at it from a monetary point of view, you are able to create income for yourself by offering up solutions for your members’ problems. This can be your own solution or someone else’s that you promote as an affiliate.
This email is the first in a series on building a list using lead magnets. Over the next several weekends we’ll talk about why lead magnets, how to create one that gets results and how to market it so you build a list of targeted people who will become your community and your customers.
