I mentioned Mailchimp and list building several times last week for several reasons. First, it’s FREE and simple to use. Second, it’s non-negotiable that you have an email marketing service or EMS. I found out that list building is part of the foundation to your business. Your list is what allows you to go past your warm market and grow. If you have heard me speak or is part of my Facebook group, then you know I speak about how your family and friends will not grow your business. You must get known and be seen by people who don’t know you.
My experience
I discovered Mailchimp when I started my direct sales business several years ago. My business was growing and I needed a way to email updates to everyone at one time. At that time, I knew nothing about email marketing or list building. I just wanted to email all my customers about upcoming sales.
The problem
It wasn’t until I started my current business, that I discovered the power of list building. I was surprised that I was already using a popular service provider. Without delay, I set up a new account for my new business. Immediately, I began to implement these new processes.
One month after I started, I planned my first event. I hired an assistant to help with my online marketing and social media. I was working really hard planning the big day and marketing for ticket sales. About two weeks before the event, my hired assistant was a no show. I wouldn’t hear from her until several weeks later. As a result, I had only 2 tickets sold and I was crushed. At the time, I thought the person I hired to market the event was my problem.
What I learned…
Entrepreneurs always learn from failure. So, I often look back over the entire event and why I only sold 2 tickets. I hired a business coach because I needed to know the exact steps to building my business. I didn’t want another event with horrible results. Every failure in my business was somehow connected to list building. Thus, list building should have been my first step.
Slow down to speed up
Sometimes we are so excited about starting something new until we want to jump in and make big things happen. I encourage you to “slow down to speed up”. Let’s build the foundation first so that you avoid unnecessary failures.
It doesn’t matter your type of business. If you are an entrepreneur or small business owner, then you need to build a list.
Who should list build? You should.
You see, I knew what I could do technically with Mailchimp, but I did not know how it really affected my entire business. A good size list affects the success of your product sales, event sales, and customer engagement.
Watch and start list building today
If you are ready to start list building, then start here. In this video, I show you how to get started with mailchimp.
