THE EMAIL GROWTH SHOW EPISODE 141
Today I wanted to share what my own email list growth journey has looked like and reveal to you what I would do if I was starting my email list from zero today. I’ll be digging into practical strategies you can implement to see your own email list grow faster – or if you haven’t started one yet – I’ll share with you what to do today to set yourself up for incredible success.
But first, if you want support and accountability to grow your email list, even if you’re starting at zero right now, please come and join my membership, The Email Growth Club. For just $27 a month you can get live coaching from me, on demand trainings, tools, templates and 24 hour support throughout the week.
Want more info → Click here to find out more and join us!
Click play to listen to the episode in full:
My Journey Building My Email List…
I haven’t always had an email list.
When I was a wedding photographer I got all of my work through word of mouth and referrals – so I didn’t need one (or so I thought!) My opinion changed when the referral network seemed to dry up… but by then, the pandemic hit and it was time to pivot anyway.
So, I did what most of us do at the start – I created an freebie, linked it to my instagram profile, updated my bio and thought I was done. Nothing happened. So, instead of sitting back and waiting for that to change – I took things into my own hands. I started to network with others that also served the women I wanted to serve (this was partly intentional, but it was also because I just really wanted some friends. We had moved interstate, I knew no one and was pretty lonely!)
In 2022, I hosted two virtual events. Summits. 35+ speakers. 4 – 5 days. The whole shibang. In two events, I grew my email list to over 1200 women and I was hooked.
Since then, I’ve done bundles, private podcast events, freebie swaps, podcast guesting – you name it, I’ll give it a go.
What I don’t do?
Rely on social media to grow my email list.
Or for anything really.
My email list is now at over 7,000 subscribers that I adore – and with a 55% open rate and 5% click rate, I’m pretty sure I can say they adore me right back.
So… how can we make this actionable for you?!
Why You Don’t Need 1000 freebie’s – Just One Will Do!
You only need one free resource.
When I think back, I used to think that the process was:
create a freebie → put it on your website & social → watch the new subscribers roll in
If that didn’t work, I blamed myself. I thought something was wrong, so I’d create another freebie. I’d get excited about it, I’d talk about it and still nothing.
Before I knew it, I had half a dozen free resources that were doing nothing for me – and had wasted so much time for pretty much nothing in return. Does that sound familiar? You’re not alone if it does.
Let me tell you – instead, you just need one. One free resource (or lead magnet) that speaks to your dream clients and helps them with something they truly need. You want them to say, “Wow! I can’t believe she’s giving this away for free!”
When you’re thinking about what to include, think about this:
What does your perfect client need to understand, be aware of, or believe in order to want or need your paid offer down the road?
Do you need to change their mindset before they are ever ready to buy from you? Do they need a quick win to get some momentum, so that they can better see an opportunity in front of them? Your free resource can help with all of that and more.
Now I know that can feel overwhelming but a little trick I share with my members and clients is to work backwards. Think about what product, offer or service you want to eventually invite them to – and then what would they need to know first, before they’re ready for that.
My example is my main offer, The Email Growth Club. The Email Growth Club is a membership that helps female business owners grow their email list fast, without paid ads or social media. BUT, before someone is ready for that, they need to have the basics sorted. They need to have an email service provider (my recommendation is always ConvertKit – this is my affiliate link!) they need to be clear on who their ideal client is and know how they want to help them – and they need to be ready to take action and try new things!
So I have an email challenge that I often put forward as a free product in bundles and collaborations that makes sure that anyone that goes through the challenge is set up and ready to go – and would be perfect to then join The Email Growth Club as the next step.
So… I put it to you. What is the main offer you want to lead your dream clients to? What do they need to have done or be aware of, so that the logical next step is to move into that offer with you?
That is what you need to create your free resource around!
If you’re like me and you have a million other ideas or perhaps even already created resources, I would encourage you to make everything else a low ticket paid offer. That way you can leverage them to invite more money into your business but also continue to build your email list through other collabs like bundles that often require a paid resource, not a free one!
How To Promote Your Free Resource To Build Your Email List…
The first step here might seem like a no brainer but needs to be said – optimise that free resource and put it EVERYWHERE. I want it to be linked 3-4 times on the homepage of your website (in the header, below the fold, in the footer, as a pop up) Don’t go super crazy… but it should be obvious for anyone that lands on your website that this is the next step.
I also want you to have it linked in all your social media profiles – Instagram, Facebook, TikTok – and then I want you to start to think about my favourite, collaborations and partnerships.
If you’re starting at zero – think about being in a bundle that has no list size requirement. This will help you get your list from zero to a couple hundred pretty quickly and then you can move onto other collaboration strategies.
I’ve found the most success for list growth through free bundles – but every strategy has it’s pro’s and con’s.
Other strategies include:
- Guest speaking (in summits, masterminds, podcasts)
- Paid bundles
- Freebie swaps
- Private Podcast Events
- Blogging / SEO / Pinterest
- Youtube
- TikTok
Whichever strategy you decide to choose, partnering with others that also serve your ideal client is what is going to make all the difference – and remember, you don’t have to do this alone and it gets to be fun. It gets to be easy.
After you start to grow your list, your very next step is to get used to emailing them consistently – at least once a week… and this is what we’ll be chatting about next week on the podcast!
Ok, So How You Can Take Action Today:
- Review your free resource and make sure it helps your dream client take that first step and gives them a mini transformation so that they are then ready to work with you in your main offer.
- Transform any other digital products you might have that were once freebie’s, into low ticket offers.
- Optimise all the places you’re promoting your free resource (website and social media profiles)
- Pick one visibility strategy you want to dive into for the next 6 – 8 weeks.
… and remember, come and check out The Email Growth Club. I’d love to have you!
Here’s the link for more info and to join today!
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Full Transcript
Kylie Kelly [00:01:16]:
Welcome back to the podcast and another episode of this mama means business. Today, I wanted to share what my own email list growth strategy has looked like and reveal to you what I would do if I was starting my email list from 0 today.
Kylie Kelly [00:01:17]:
I’ll be digging into practical strategies you can implement to see your own email list grow faster, or if you haven’t started one yet, I’ll share with you what to do today to set yourself up for incredible success. Are you ready? I hope so. Let’s jump in. So firstly, let’s talk about my journey building my own email list. Now it might shock you to realize I haven’t always had an email list. When I was a wedding photographer, I got all of my work through word-of-mouth and referrals. So I didn’t need 1, Or so I thought. I would go along to weddings and over deliver at the reception and their friends would tell their friends and their friends would tell their friends.
Kylie Kelly [00:01:52]:
And it all happened through word-of-mouth. My opinion changed though when their referral networks seemed to dry up. But by then the pandemic hit and it was time to pivot anyway. So I did what most of us do at the start of a new business. I created a free resource. I linked it to my Instagram profile. I updated my bio and I thought I was done, but nothing happened. So instead of sitting back and waiting for that to change, I took things into my own hands.
Kylie Kelly [00:02:17]:
If there’s one thing you need to know about me, it’s that I am so impatient. I’m stubborn. I’m impatient. And I like to move fast. So when that wasn’t working, I was like, how can I make this happen faster? I started to network with others that also serve the women that I wanted to serve. Now, at that point of the business, brand new business, all I knew was that I wanted to help other women that were building their business while they raise their kids because I knew how freaking hard it was. I knew that’s what I wanted to help. I was clear on that.
Kylie Kelly [00:02:45]:
I didn’t actually know how, but I thought, well, if I can become friends with other women that also serve these ideal clients that I wanna work with, I’ll figure the rest out in the meantime. Let’s just make friends first. Now this sounds pretty intentional, but it was also because I just really wanted some friends. I had just moved interstate, 2 little kids. I knew no one, and honestly, I was pretty lonely. So I started to make friends online. And this podcast helped a ton because I got to interview women all over the world that were in the trenches just like I was, but it allowed me to make some really deep connections. And from those connections and those relationships, then we started talking about what else we could do together.
Kylie Kelly [00:03:27]:
And it snowballed from there. In 2022, I actually hosted my first two virtual events, summits. Now I am an introvert through and through. It takes a lot for me to be set of attention and to put myself out in front of other people. I often have to decompress in the dark room with a cup of tea afterwards to get any energy back. So for me to host a virtual event was kind of humorous, kind of funny, like why are you doing this? But I felt something within me prompting me to give it a go. So I did. I’m very much a go bigger, go home type girl, if you didn’t know that already.
Kylie Kelly [00:03:58]:
So both events had like 35 plus speakers, went for multiple days, like 4 or 5 days, the whole shebang. Right? All the bells and whistles. But in 2 events, I grew my email list over 1200 women. And I was hoped to go from 0 to 1200 in 2 events was insane to me. And yes, they took a lot of work and I wouldn’t recommend hosting a summit for the faint of heart or if you’ve got a newborn or you don’t have much time, you got a full time job. Like hosting a summit is a lot of work. But the fact that you could grow your email as fast when I have had free resources on my website for years and have never had that amount of traction was crazy to me. So since then, I’ve done a whole range of things.
Kylie Kelly [00:04:41]:
I’ve done bundles. I’ve done private podcast events. I’ve done freebie swaps. I’ve done podcast guesting. You name it, and I’ll give it a go. Wanna know what I don’t do? I won’t rely on social media to grow my email list or actually for anything. I don’t rely on social media. I actually don’t enjoy being on social very often.
Kylie Kelly [00:04:59]:
You’ll find me in the DMs on Instagram, but I don’t really post much. I’m not really in my stories. I’m only in a select number of Facebook groups. I just find that it takes all of my time away. And as a mom to 2 little kids, you might relate, but there isn’t enough time to give it away like that. So I don’t rely on social media. My email list is now over 6,000 subscribers that I adore. And with a 55% open rate, a 5% click rate, I’m pretty sure I can say that they adore me right back.
Kylie Kelly [00:05:25]:
So I hear you. You’re like, Kylie, that’s great for you, but how can I make this work for me? Like, what can I do to make this my reality? The first thing that I wanna talk to you about is your free resource. Why you don’t need a 1,000 freebies, you only need 1. Now when I think back to it, I used to think the process was create a freebie, put it on your website and social, watch the new subscribers roll in. If that didn’t work, I blamed myself. I thought something was wrong. So I create another freebie. I get excited about it.
Kylie Kelly [00:05:52]:
I talk about it and nothing would happen. Before I knew it, I had a half a dozen free resources that were doing nothing for me and had wasted so much time for pretty much nothing in return. Does that sound familiar? If it does, trust me that you are not alone. Let me tell you, instead, you just need 1. One free resource or lead magnet that speaks to your dream clients and helps them with something they truly need. You want them to say like, holy shit, I can’t believe she’s giving this away for free. When you’re thinking about what to include, I want you to think about this. What does your perfect client need to understand, be aware of, or believe in order to want or need your paid offer down the road? Let me repeat that.
Kylie Kelly [00:06:33]:
What does your perfect client need to understand, be aware of, or believe in order to want or need your paid offer down the road? Do you need to change their mindset before they’re ready to buy from you? Do you need a quick win to get some momentum? Your free resource can help with that and so much more. Now I know that can feel overwhelming, but a little trick that I share with my members and the clients that I work with is to work backwards. Think about the product or the offer, the service that you eventually wanna invite them to. And then what do they need to know first so that they’re ready for that? So my example, my main offer is the Spotlight Club. So the Spotlight Club is a membership that helps female business owners grow their email list fast without paid ads or social media. But before somebody is ready for that, they need to have the basics ordered. They need to have an email service provider. My recommendation is Convertkit, little affiliate link in the show notes below.
Kylie Kelly [00:07:26]:
They need to be clear on who their ideal client is and they need to know how they want to help them, right? Once they have that and they’re ready to take some bloody fast action and get started with this, they are good to go in the Spotlight Club. They can jump in, create their own momentum, take some action and see results really fast. So with that in mind, I have an email challenge that I often put forward as a free product in bundles or collaborations that make sure that anyone that goes through that free challenge is set up and ready to go so that the perfect next step is to join the spotlight club to grow their list. So I put it to you. What is the main offer that you wanna lead your dream clients to? What do they need to have done or be aware of to make that the next logical step for them? This is what you need to create your free resource around. Don’t get stuck on the container you’re putting it in. Don’t get stuck on whether it’s a checklist or a quiz or a free podcast or whatever the container is. Don’t get stuck on that.
Kylie Kelly [00:08:24]:
Think about this transformation. Think about this first step for your ideal clients, and then you can play with the format of how you deliver it. But the main thing here is to think about what do they need to do first so that they’re then ready to dive into the main offer where I want them eventually to be. Now, if you’re like me and you have a 1000000 other ideas and perhaps even created a 1000000 other resources, I wanna encourage you to make everything else a low ticket paid offer. That way you can leverage them to invite more money into your business, but also continue to build your email list through other collabs like bundles that often require a paid resource, not a free one. So in a minute, I’m going to get into how we promote the freebie, but if you want to be in a bundle, it just needs to be something in value. It needs to be something that you would normally sell. So if you have other resources, if you have other products that you’ve created, but you haven’t sold them yet, you have them all as freebies.
Kylie Kelly [00:09:16]:
Make some of them priced at like 0 to $10 so that it is an easy yes for somebody. If they stumble on your website, they’ll grab it. Right? If it’s a $9 checklist, they won’t really think twice about it. Or you can then have a coupon code to make it free and put it into bundles because it is normally something that you sell. So I wanna encourage you, if you have a range of different digital products that you’ve been using as freebies, think about which one suits best to give that dreamy client the very first step they need to take in order to be ready for your main offer, reserve that as your freebie and make all the rest low ticket paid offers that you can leverage to make money and continue to grow your list. All right. So then how do you promote your free resource to build your email list fast? Oh, my favorite question. So the very first step here might feel like a bit of a no brainer, but it needs to be said.
Kylie Kelly [00:10:08]:
I want you to optimize that free resource and put it everywhere. I want it to be linked 3 to 4 times on the homepage of your website, in the header, below the fold, in the footer as a pop up. Don’t go super crazy, but it has to be obvious to anyone that lands on your website that this is the next step. This is what you want them to do. You want them to sign up for this free resource that is going to give them this mini transformation, this win, right? Don’t focus on the format again. Don’t be like, you need this checklist. People don’t give a shit about a checklist. You want to focus on the transformation.
Kylie Kelly [00:10:37]:
So for me, I’m like, let go of the overwhelm and get started with email. Simply jump into the challenge. Right? Or it might be find out what is keeping your kids up at night and get more sleep. Download the guide here. Right? Focus on the actual transformation, not the format of the container. I say the sleep one because that’s top of mind because my kids never sleep well. So put the link to that free resource 3 to 4 times on your homepage. I want you to also have it linked in all of your social media profiles, your Instagram bio, your Facebook page description, your TikTok handle.
Kylie Kelly [00:11:09]:
If you’re cool enough to be on TikTok, I’m a work in progress there. But then I want you to start to think about after you’ve done all of that, anywhere that you’re on social, make sure that your freebie is the top. If you have a link tree, put it at the top. Wherever you have links, I want you to always have your free resource as the no brainer thing that they’re opting in for. And then I want you to start to think about my favorite, collaborations and partnerships. If you were starting at 0, if your email list is Zilch right now, I want you to think about being in a bundle that has no list size requirement as your first step. This will help you get your list from 0 to a couple hundred pretty quickly. And then after that, you can move on to other collaboration strategies.
Kylie Kelly [00:11:53]:
Now, if you have created this incredible freebie, but you don’t have anything else to put into a bundle and you’re like, Kylie, it’s for free. You said it has to be a paid product. What I would encourage you to do to get you started is take it off your website for now, right? So that no one can find it. Create a checkout for $10 create a coupon code, submit it to bundles. The thing with bundles is it’s a pretty quick turnaround. So normally you’re applying for a bundle and it might be live in a couple of weeks and then it’s over, right? So because of that, I would encourage you to use that resource that you’ve got as a paid product, put into a bundle. We want to grow your list to a couple 100 so that we can then start to use other strategies to continue to grow your list. If you have other resources, of course, brilliant.
Kylie Kelly [00:12:37]:
Leave your freebie as it is. Use one of your other resources, and get stubborn that way. But I wanted to say that in case you’re like, oh, I only have one thing. It’s amazing, but I’ve only got one thing. How do I get started? Use a digital bundle. Now, if you’re wondering where to find them, and there are plenty of Facebook groups out there or online communities that talk about bundles. Obviously a little plug for mine, the Spotlight Club, because I have a Airtable base full of all the collaborations that are open for application at the moment at any point in time. There’s always like 15 to 30 in there that you can go through and apply for the right ones.
Kylie Kelly [00:13:11]:
So of course, major plug for the Spotlight Club. But there are also other ways too. So if you’re on Facebook, there’s Facebook groups, just search for bundle in the search bar. I’m sure you’ll find some there. The other thing that you can do is look out for bundles as they’re happening. As you get promotional emails from people being in bundles themselves, make a little note of the name, reach out to the host and say, hey, I just signed up for this bundle. It’s amazing. Always compliment whoever you’re pitching and make it personal.
Kylie Kelly [00:13:37]:
I love this resource that was inside of it. I would love to be in the next round if you decide to do one and I wanted to just reach out. And that way you’re, you’re making yourself known that you wanna be in bundles going forward and you’ll start to get invitations yourself as well. Now, if you already have a couple hundred people on your email list, I would encourage you to think about a different strategy too. Of course, bundles, if they feel fun and exciting, great. But there’s others as well. Like I mentioned, there’s freebie swaps. So you can reach out to somebody else that also serves your dream clients, but in a complimentary way.
Kylie Kelly [00:14:07]:
And you do a freebie swap. They promote your freebie to their list. You promote their freebie to your list. So it’s a beautiful little intimate way of collaborating and growing your list. There’s obviously podcast guesting. You can speak in summits. You can go and speak in masterminds. There’s a whole range of things that you can do to grow your email list fast.
Kylie Kelly [00:14:24]:
Again, I cover all of this in the spotlight globe, but there’s a whole range of things that you can do. So what I want you to do, think about where you’re at. How many have you got on your list at the moment? What feels fun to you? I always think that the best things come after we ask ourselves that question. What would feel fun right now? And follow your intuition you got with that. Give something a go, whichever strategy that you choose, partnering with others that also serve your ideal clients is going to make all the difference. Remember, you don’t have to do this alone, and it gets to be fun and it gets to be easy. You just have to allow yourself to play. You just have to allow yourself to have a go.
Kylie Kelly [00:14:59]:
And I promise the most amazing email list growth is waiting for you. So you’ve done it, right? You’ve got your freebie sorted. You’ve got a few low ticket digital products with all the freebie rejects. You’ve got all that done. You’ve been in a bundle. You’ve started to speak in some meds. You’re doing all the visibility things. What next? You’ve started to grow your list.
Kylie Kelly [00:15:18]:
Like what, what now? The very next step obviously is to get used to emailing them consistently. I always recommend at least once a week. You have to be in inboxes once a week for people to remember who you are. Think about your own inbox. Like it gets insane in there. So it’s important that you stay top of mind, that you’re emailing at least once a week so that they don’t forget who you are and then unsubscribe. So being consistent doesn’t mean it has to be 11 am on a Tuesday. You can vary up the days, I do.
Kylie Kelly [00:15:45]:
My life needs me to be flexible. As a mom to 2 little boys, I need to be flexible with my time. However, I do have a boundary, a rule that I always will stick to at least once a week. So once a week is the guideline that I’m setting for you. And if you’re not sure what to send, this is what we’re gonna be chatting about next week on the podcast. So in next week’s episode, I wanna talk to you about what you should send your list. Are there any do’s or don’ts when it comes to email? How many nurture emails should you send before you sell? How do you use email templates and make them still sound like you? How do you immunize unsubscribes? And so much more. It is such a juicy episode.
Kylie Kelly [00:16:23]:
And like I said, when I came back after my little hiatus, I want these episodes to be full of value. I want you to be able to listen to an episode and then go and do something. That is my promise to you. And that is what I am endeavoring to do for you. So make sure you tune into next week’s episode. Subscribe so you don’t miss it when it drops. And let me leave you with a few action steps from today. One, review your free resource and make sure it helps your dream client take that first step and gives them a mini transformation so that they’re then ready to work with you in your main offer.
Kylie Kelly [00:16:56]:
2, transform any other digital products that you might have already that were once freebies into low ticket offers. Somewhere between 0 to $10 is perfect for this. 3, optimize all the places that you’re promoting your free resource. Optimize the homepage on your website and all your social media profile links. And then lastly, pick one visibility strategy that you want to dive into for the next 6 to 8 weeks and get your butt busy doing it. I don’t want you to be sitting on this. I want you to be trying it and taking action. If you’re not sure and you’re not in the spotlight club, reach out to me on Instagram, send me a DM.
Kylie Kelly [00:17:30]:
You get extra points if it’s a voice note, and I am more than happy to help and brainstorm this with you. I will cheer you on every second of the bloody day because I know this is what is going to change everything for you. You start to grow your email list fast, your business transforms. Me going from 0 to 6000 subscribers in like 18 months has meant that I now have dependable income. I can now send an email and make sales from my email list. I can send an email. I get replies. I now have this relationship where I know what my subscribers, what my ideal clients need from me.
Kylie Kelly [00:18:04]:
So I create offers, I invite them in, and they buy from me. Like, this is what we are working towards so that you can live a life on your own terms. If you’re a mum like me, you can be flexible with your time. It gives you the freedom to spend it the way you want. And yes, it’s still hard work. I’m not saying that you can go and retire and live on the beach and don’t do anything ever again. I work very hard. But it comes with the safety and the freedom and the dependability of knowing that I’m building my business on solar ground.
Kylie Kelly [00:18:33]:
Right? I’m not relying on social that could disappear next week. I’m not relying on something that could then go down. I’m building it on something that I own. Your email list is a business asset that you own. And it’s something that I want you to take very seriously. In saying that we get to have fun building it. Right? So follow those action steps, reach out if you need a hand, and remember, if you want more support with any of this, come and join me and 200 other women just like you in Spotlight Club. Honestly, for just $19 a month, you get live coaching with me, on demand trainings, tools, templates, and 24 hour support throughout the week.
Kylie Kelly [00:01:17]:
I would honestly love to see you in there. I’ll put the link in the show notes. Until next week, I can’t wait to be in your earbuds again. I love you loads, and I’m cheering you on always. Alright. Bye for now.
