How to Build Your Email List and Why it’s the SINGLE Most Important Thing to Focus on!

Why do I need an email list?

An email list is the single most important asset your business can have. Why? Because you may have 5k followers on Instagram or 2k followers on Facebook but at any stage those platforms could change their policies, shut down, massively change their algorithm (again!) or simply decide to close your account and you have absolutely no way of contacting your customers. Trust me it happens. In some respects followers are just a vanity metric. Yes you can market to them and speak to them BUT you do not own that asset i.e. you don’t have their details on file.

When you have a list you can speak to them on a regular basis, share your work in progress, your latest art releases, special offers, news and so much more. You can BUILD RELATIONSHIPS with them and most importantly add value.

The last part about adding value is super important because the online world is crowded, people are bombarded with messaging every day and get tired of being spammed. So it’s important that you know WHO your customer is, WHAT they want and then you provide them with value via your list.

How do I get people to join my list?

Firstly recognise the fact that you need somewhere on your website AND social media platforms where people can sign up. Traditionally less than 1% of people sign up for a traditional newsletter which means that for every 100 people that visit your website, 99 are leaving and you might never see them again.

So we need to have what’s called an email capture page by offering them something of value in exchange for their email address. This thing of value is what the industry calls a ‘lead magnet’ or ‘optin offer’.

Examples of these might be:

• a free online painting workshop
• a downloadable piece of art
• a desktop wallpaper of one of your paintings
• a mini video series
• some printable gift tags
• an ebook
• a pdf on ‘how to paint watercolour portraits’

The idea is that you have a clear idea of who your customer is and think ‘what is it they really want from me that I could give them a little low-cost taster of’.

If you are targeting art students because you are a teacher, then a mini video series, pdf or online workshop would be great. But if you are targeting art buyers they would have little or no interest in learning techniques and would much more likely want a downloadable piece of art or desktop wallpaper to look at when they’re at their work computer.

Does this make sense?

OK, so how do I do that?

Firstly you need an email provider such as Mailchimp or another provider that’s relatively simple to start off with (there are some complicated ones out there!).

This provider such as Mailchimp will ‘host’ your email list for you, but you can also use them to create your ’email capture form’ (the form that you are going to have a link to on your website and social media platforms).

FIRST: set up your basic details to open an account (normally free)

THEN: you would create a ‘list’ and give it a name that means something to you such as ‘Amanda’s art buyers’ or ‘Jane’s watercolour art students’.

THEN you can do one of two things…..

You can build a simple ‘register for my newsletter form’ and embed that everywhere and anywhere on your website and social media. However we’ve already discussed that the sign up rate for this is less than 1% because in effect all the customer has done is given you their details and got nothing in return (which is why there’s no incentive for them to sign up)

OR

You can create a form to register them to your email list BUT then it also delivers them the irresistible offer you told them about (aka pdf, workbook, downloadable art) straight to their inbox. Bingo! You have a happy customer and you just grew your list.

Think about it, which would you be more likely to do? Option 2 – it’s a no-brainer.

What difference will a good optin offer or lead magnet make?

We discussed earlier that the standard mailing list sign up is less than 1%. With a decent optin offer/lead magnet you can get around 30-40%. I’ve known people get as much as 75-80%.

So now instead of only getting a 1% conversion (only 1 in every 100 signing up) you are getting a 30% + conversion!!

Put simply you are GROWING YOUR EMAIL LIST 30 TIMES FASTER.

Then if you really want to play it big, start using some paid ads to drive people to your optin offer and the sky is your limit.

In business, particularly sales and marketing it is a well-known fact that the size of your email list (as well as how engaged they are) has a direct relation to the level of your sales income. The bigger and the more engaged your list, the more you sell. Simple.

If you enjoyed this article or need any further information do let me know in the comments below and if you’d like more value then why not watch my free masterclass ‘4 Simple Steps to Consistent Art Sales’?

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FREE TRAINING

Here’s what those who watched my free masterclass went on to achieve..

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“I went from $30 in a year to $9000 in one month! I never thought it was possible to earn that much in a month” Jay

“I made my course investment back within 4 weeks and had made it back five times over, just eight weeks after the programme!” Lynsay

“I would totally refer Amanda’s course to anyone wanting help setting up or growing their art business – she has been amazing! I went from zero sales to selling a painting for £5500!” Solly

“I sold out of 2 art retreats in LESS than 24hrs!” Debs