Journal

The goal of any business or cause, especially ones with a mission or a message, need to grow their email list. Yes, there is social media and online advertising, but those methods are largely dependent on algorithms, and now the whims of founders and developers who might not agree with the message or the mission of the organization. An email list and a thriving email marketing strategy and campaigns, will always trump the efforts of someone who utilizes social media exclusively. Email marketing is a straight line from the message or mission to the audience or activist. There is no middle man.
How does one start and grow their email list and begin to see the benefits of email marketing? There are really three steps to get started.

1. Sign up for an email marketing system service
2. Create an opt-in to attract subscribers
3. Develop a welcome sequence
4. Develop a consistent calendar to engage and keep engaged your list

Sign up for an email marketing system serviceThis is very simple. Go to MailChimp.com and sign up for a free account to get started. You’ll get the tools you need to start growing your email list for free up to 2,000 email addresses.
Create an opt-in to attract subscribersAn email address is an increasingly personal piece of information. We use email addresses every day to sign up for things, get emails from others, and create a conduit for communication. But, it’s the goal of the mission or message to get the address of the website visitor. To do this marketers create opt-ins or a reason for someone to give their email address in exchange for a piece of content.
What makes an opt-in great? It depends. You could create a checklist in pdf form, a white paper for a business case, a chapter of a book if you’re a writer, a series of videos if you’re a speaker, or even a few songs if you’re a singer or musician. 
The nitty gritty comes in where you need to place that opt in in a prominent place to advertise on your site and include a pop up form or some form of lead page to your site to get people’s attention.
Develop a welcome sequenceThe next step is to develop a welcome sequence or some sort of an onboarding sequence. This could be a series of emails that are sent over a period of time to further introduce you to your new email subscriber, further develop your message, or ask them to take a series of actions. It’s really up to you what this might look like. 
Commit to a regular calendar of emailsAfter you have developed your opt-in and are collecting emails, you now need to create a calendar for emails you will send. These emails could be blog posts you’ve created, products you want to sell, news you want to share, podcast episodes, or anything else you want to promote to them.
The key here is to keep your list engaged and make sure that your list is hearing from you. 

When you start marketing your business, establishing your expertise, and providing value to the world, you will probably venture out into social media to build your audience and promote your message. You might have a blog, a podcast, or a video channel like YouTube, but you will quickly adopt social media to help get your content to others.

I hear so many business owners and people in general, say that they can’t seem to grow their following or feel like they succeed using social media. When they feel that, they question it’s value and worth for their overall business. So, how can you be more successful using social media and be more confident that your work is benefiting the business you own or work for, or the brand you’re trying to build? In this post, I’ll share with you four strategies to help you grow your social media following.

First, decide what social media accounts you will use.

Years ago, famous social media guru Gary Vaynerchuk led us to believe that if you’re going to do social media, you should sign up for everything and use everything at the same time. While I appreciate his concept in the early days, I tend to think that the first thing you should do to be successful in social media is to be picky. Choose one social media platform to use and stick with it. Why? Well, you don’t want to spread yourself too thin when you start and you want to concentrate your efforts on one thing. My suggestion is that you start using Twitter. It’s the simplest form of social media, and it will allow you to learn the fundamentals of what social media is all about.

Second, be social on your chosen social media platform.

Social media is exactly the same as going to some mid day lunch meeting of say, The Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce, or Business Referral Group, except it’s online, virtual. Let’s say that it’s your very first time going to the Chamber of Commerce lunch meeting. You wouldn’t normally enter the room and immediately start telling people about your product, service, or cause. Doing so would turn people off and you would immediately alienate yourself from the club. Rather, what you would do is start meeting people who have common interests, talk about the latest news in sports, what happened on the latest episode of that TV show you watch, or what movie you last saw. I think people forget that behind most every social media account is a real live person, so remember that this is a social thing. When you first start out, when someone follows you or chooses to connect with you, don’t forget to say “Hello”, “How are you doing?”, etc.

Third, be consistent in your time spent on social media

Just like if you were a member of the chamber, you probably wouldn’t just go to the first meeting and never show up again. You would clearly not get everything you could out of your membership dues. You would go to as many functions as you could and meet as many people as possible to build your network. In the same way, you wouldn’t just sign up for Twitter, establish your brand, say hello to a few folks, and then leave, never to be seen or heard from again. Set aside time to use social media in an intentional way. How would you do this? Follow a similar plan like this:

• Find new followers
• Thank new ones for following you
• Talk with your existing followers
• Provide your followers with value

So, for the first bullet point, you can use Twitter’s search function to find accounts that you would like to follow. Is your business focused on antiques? Then search Twitter for antiques. You’ll find people and businesses who are also interested in antiquing. follow them! For the second, when someone else follows you, thank them for the follow. Do this publicly, as this is a way to show others that you are interested in others and approachable. Your new follower will probably like seeing their name in their feed, too. With your existing followers, ask them questions, find out more about them, continue to get to know them in a meaningful way. Lastly, share with your following valuable content. If you read a great post or listened to a podcast on a topic you both are interested in, share it. Chances are, they will share that content too. It’s just another way to keep your name in people’s mind.

Finally, social media requires patience

Social media is not something that provides instantaneous results. No one got rich just by signing up for Twitter or Instagram. I think that’s a misconception that many people have. Like any business, things take time to grow, and the same is true in social media. To be successful, you’ve got to have the patience to build your following and to create a really great tribe of people who care about your brand. It’s not going to happen overnight, but you can be successful if you’re patient and you work diligently.

Conclusion

In order to be successful you need to focus your energy on one platform, remember to be social, be consistent, and finally, be patient. 

Question!

What strategies will you implement in your social media work? What things help you now? Let us know in the comments below.

The year 2020 is now to a close and many all of us are ready for a new year, a fresh start, and somehow a new beginning amidst the stresses of a pandemic, the grief of losing loved ones not just to COVID-19, but to cancer, old age, and tragedy. 2020 brought us immense challenges to everyone of us. Our lives have been uprooted since March of 2020 by the Coronavirus resulting in our whole world turned upside down, inside out, and put us in a whole new orientation of life.

Nearly all parts of our lives have been affected. We have lost jobs due to work places shutting down, but some have had to move to work from home in their makeshift offices while having to also in a matter of days become their children’s teacher and becoming an expert in technologies like Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

We haven’t hugged or seen our family members or loved ones in such a long time.

We are tired and exhausted and ready for the normal before the “new” normal.

Through all this though I think it’s imperative and essential to not persist in the doom and gloom of 2020 and all of it’s difficulties and despair. Through all this, we should strive to leave 2020 behind in a spirit of gratefulness and enter into 2021 with hope and expectation.

In this post I’m paying tribute to what I’m thankful for and who has been a steady influence and encouragement to me through the year and share with you the achievements and celebrations that 2020 has afforded me.

A Life Plan

Probably the thing I am proudest of is the fact that I now have almost an entire life plan. It’s been a long time coming. The fear and uncertainty I’ve felt in past years had prevented me from writing mine. The pandemic has given me new impetus to plan my years, decide what’s important to me and help me say no to the drift and say yes to intentional design.

2020 taught me to quit making excuses and get it done.

Developing My Achievement Muscle

For the better part of 2020, I have been meeting with a man I met at Tribe Conference by Jeff Goins as part of an accountability/brainstorming session every week on Saturday mornings. We are both users of the Full Focus Planner and so we share our weekly big three and wins for the week. We only meet for 30 minutes over Zoom.

More than anything I think has been the best part of 2020. I have been and have become so much more consistent in using my planner, putting myself toward a direction and just being more organized and intentional about life.

If I showed you my Full Focus Planner, you’d see dog-eared pages. These are the pages where the weekly preview occurs. For me it’s a testament to the fact that I am putting reps in to build my achievement muscle.

Employment

While many people suffered with downsizing, a reduction in force, and being made to work from home I have been able to celebrate the fact that I largely kept my part time job working in a quick service restaurant and my income hasn’t suffered very much. Much more, I gained a client in my side business. And, to make matters even better, I did land a short term gig as a junior Facebook Ad Manager, an experience that was too short, but I learned so much about Facebook Advertising.

My wife even has enjoyed a blessing of not only staying employed but also getting a new job through all this where she is working from home and getting paid much more than she was at the other job. For her, I think it’s been great because she learned how to negotiate salary and earn more than what she was offered.

New Relationships

In 2020 I can celebrate the fact that I have gained quite a few new relationships since moving to the Cincinnati, OH region.

For instance, my wife and I are part of a church plant in the area and we have become fairly close to the key players in the team.

For me personally, I have found new relationships in the marketing industry in various verticals, like agencies, legal, and brand. I am fortunate that I’ve connected with some real heavyweights in the industry and the region.

Since I’ve just joined the American Marketing Association, Cincinnati Chapter, I’m expecting to grow my network and relationships even more through participation.

Conclusion

Yes, 2020 has been, to say the least, unique and special. All of us, the entire human race, has endured trials beyond our wildest dreams or expectations. Through it all, however, we have persevered and made it to 2021.

I’m grateful for the year and the many lessons we all have learned and the experiences we’ve been given, even in the midst of a worldwide pandemic.

I’ve been grateful for finally creating my life plan, for sustained employment, the growth of my achievement muscle, and for new relationships in a new region.

Now it’s your turn

Even though 2020 has been tough for all of us, what are you most grateful for? Let us know in the comments below.

The world, as we know it, has been turned upside down and sideways with the global pandemic dealing with Coronavirus or COVID-19. Schools have shut down, businesses have gone to remote work-from-home scenarios, and our economy like dining, shopping, and entertainment has taken a hit.

Lives have been disrupted on all fronts. There is hardly any normal any longer. We are all sailing in new waters, never charted before. One thing I always ask myself in new situations, thanks to Gail Hyatt, is “What does this make possible?” In this post you’ll learn what I have accomplished during this time of pandemic and “new normal”

[Read more…] about Pandemic Possibilities: What to Do During Global Uncertainty