As I embark on this journey, of helping Consultants and Experts with their Email Marketing, I had a thought – Should I be writing on the topic of “Why experts need to have an email list?”

I decided against it. I do not want to convince anyone to have an email list. There is enough data out there, that suggests that an email list is essential for a business.

However, if you still need some motivation, here is me yelling at you –

“I DONT CARE HOW BUSY YOU ARE WITH CLIENT WORK. START BUILDING YOUR EMAIL LIST FROM TODAY!!!”

Okay, now that everyone is onboard…

While building an email list, one challenge that we keep running into is related to the “Top of the Funnel”.

In other words, not enough people are subscribing to our list.

It’s especially painful, considering that experts usually have a consistent writing habit. Most of them are pretty disciplined about the weekly (or even daily) emails that they send.

How do we get the word out, about our email list?

How do we get in front of the right people, so that they can sign up?

Seth Godin has a really good framework that makes us think deeply about how we want to get the word out. It applies to a brand in general, but for our purpose, we would be applying this only to Email marketing. 

Okay, so the “Getting the Word Out” strategies are divided in 4 quadrants. 

If you look at the bottom 2 quadrants, they might not be relevant for experts and expert firms. The path of paid advertisement might not be the most feasible for experts for a variety of reasons.

That leaves us with only 2 quadrants – User experience and media. For both of them, we do not need to pay every transaction; we just pay once.

The quadrant of user experience is at the core of what we do. It is what enables word of mouth –  If this quadrant is strong, people can’t stop talking about you. It comprises of empathy, design, leadership, tribe, etc. This is where you get to create the “Purple Cow”.

Now there is a lot to be spoken about here, but that is not the rabbit hole that we want to explore.

For now, I am more interested in talking about the ‘media‘ quadrant. This is the quadrant where we get to create online assets and earn the permission of the people we seek to serve. 

In our case, the question is, how can we create online assets, that enable us to spread the word about our brand, and have more people jump on our email list.

These are a few strategies/tactics that I have identified –

  • Appearing on podcasts as a guest

The podcast hosts have a problem. They have the pressure of creating new content every week. If you and I can appear on these podcasts, then it’s a win-win. It’s not too challenging for an expert to find podcasts that are relevant to their niche. The brand behind the podcast will do the hard work of promoting you in their circle. Thus, the word spreads. 

  • Publishing articles outside your website

Even though many experts have a writing habit, most of the writing is published on their blog, and on their email list. While this is great, this content does not play a significant role in getting more people into our sphere of influence. For us to get a wider reach, we need to go to places, where people are already present. Medium and Linkedin are 2 such places. Writing detailed articles on these 2 platforms gives us a chance to reach a wider audience. Thus, the word spreads.

  • Having your own podcast

Yes, everyone has a podcast these days, and that’s okay. Having a podcast gives us an opportunity to invite guests, build connections, and deepen our expertise. Whenever a guest appears on our podcast, he tells his network about it. Thus, the word spreads.

  • Linkedin live

If you are like me, you might cringe at the thought of being active on social media. But for experts, Linkedin Live is a very effective tool. Linkedin Live has not yet been rolled out everywhere, and so you might just need to wait for your turn. However, when it comes out, it will allow us to go live with other key people in the niche that we serve. Thus, the word spreads. 

Don’t be overwhelmed

These are the 4 that I could think of. I am sure there are many more. It’s not advisable that we start implementing all of them at the same time, because all of this is hard work, and it can get pretty overwhelming. 

So here is my advice – Pick one or two and run with it for a while.

Which strategy have you been considering to increase your email subscribers? Let me know.

Intro music credits: Dan O songs.

As I embark on this journey, of helping Consultants and Experts with their Email Marketing, I had a thought – Should I be writing on the topic of “Why experts need to have an email list?”

I decided against it. I do not want to convince anyone to have an email list. There is enough data out there, that suggests that an email list is essential for a business.

However, if you still need some motivation, here is me yelling at you –

“I DONT CARE HOW BUSY YOU ARE WITH CLIENT WORK. START BUILDING YOUR EMAIL LIST FROM TODAY!!!”

Okay, now that everyone is onboard…

While building an email list, one challenge that we keep running into is related to the “Top of the Funnel”.

In other words, not enough people are subscribing to our list.

It’s especially painful, considering that experts usually have a consistent writing habit. Most of them are pretty disciplined about the weekly (or even daily) emails that they send.

How do we get the word out, about our email list?

How do we get in front of the right people, so that they can sign up?

Seth Godin has a really good framework that makes us think deeply about how we want to get the word out. It applies to a brand in general, but for our purpose, we would be applying this only to Email marketing. 

Okay, so the “Getting the Word Out” strategies are divided in 4 quadrants. 

If you look at the bottom 2 quadrants, they might not be relevant for experts and expert firms. The path of paid advertisement might not be the most feasible for experts for a variety of reasons.

That leaves us with only 2 quadrants – User experience and media. For both of them, we do not need to pay every transaction; we just pay once.

The quadrant of user experience is at the core of what we do. It is what enables word of mouth –  If this quadrant is strong, people can’t stop talking about you. It comprises of empathy, design, leadership, tribe, etc. This is where you get to create the “Purple Cow”.

Now there is a lot to be spoken about here, but that is not the rabbit hole that we want to explore.

For now, I am more interested in talking about the ‘media‘ quadrant. This is the quadrant where we get to create online assets and earn the permission of the people we seek to serve. 

In our case, the question is, how can we create online assets, that enable us to spread the word about our brand, and have more people jump on our email list.

These are a few strategies/tactics that I have identified –

  • Appearing on podcasts as a guest

The podcast hosts have a problem. They have the pressure of creating new content every week. If you and I can appear on these podcasts, then it’s a win-win. It’s not too challenging for an expert to find podcasts that are relevant to their niche. The brand behind the podcast will do the hard work of promoting you in their circle. Thus, the word spreads. 

  • Publishing articles outside your website

Even though many experts have a writing habit, most of the writing is published on their blog, and on their email list. While this is great, this content does not play a significant role in getting more people into our sphere of influence. For us to get a wider reach, we need to go to places, where people are already present. Medium and Linkedin are 2 such places. Writing detailed articles on these 2 platforms gives us a chance to reach a wider audience. Thus, the word spreads.

  • Having your own podcast

Yes, everyone has a podcast these days, and that’s okay. Having a podcast gives us an opportunity to invite guests, build connections, and deepen our expertise. Whenever a guest appears on our podcast, he tells his network about it. Thus, the word spreads.

  • Linkedin live

If you are like me, you might cringe at the thought of being active on social media. But for experts, Linkedin Live is a very effective tool. Linkedin Live has not yet been rolled out everywhere, and so you might just need to wait for your turn. However, when it comes out, it will allow us to go live with other key people in the niche that we serve. Thus, the word spreads. 

Don’t be overwhelmed

These are the 4 that I could think of. I am sure there are many more. It’s not advisable that we start implementing all of them at the same time, because all of this is hard work, and it can get pretty overwhelming. 

So here is my advice – Pick one or two and run with it for a while.

Which strategy have you been considering to increase your email subscribers? Let me know.

Intro music credits: Dan O songs.