There's a heap of different "challenges" out there you start doing. Problem is, all too often we don't finish them. Instead of creating a challenge, I wanted to set myself a project I could focus on and then share the results in the hope it might help you.
It's called The Subscriber Project - grow your email subscriber list and, in turn, your business.
Watch the video to discover what I'm doing, the first step on my journey and how you might be able to start your own personal 1000 Email Subscriber Project.
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How to grow your email subscriber list
In 2013, I had about 100 to 200 subscribers and I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to grow your email subscriber list. I'd been in business a few years, but trying to try to get this email list to grow was like pulling blood from a stone.
I didn't know how I could shift it. Then one day, while looking in a tool that was housing all my opt-in downloads, I noticed my media plan was downloaded 1000+ times.
Problem was, I hadn't once asked for an email address or a name. It was a huge missed opportunity, because these people had downloaded the media plan and since bounced, never to be seen again. There was no way for me to follow up and build a relationship with them.
So I quickly started to make some changes. I didn't know a lot about email marketing and automation systems then, but I fumbled through. And probably took longer setting it up than I really should have. But this was all foreign territory for me.
That opt-in offer, which is embedded in a blog post attracting traffic via Google daily, continues to bring in email subscribers automatically without any effort on my part.
Do you need to pay for email subscribers?
I was reading online recently where someone said you can't get leads today without spending money on Facebook or Google ads - or any type of advertising. I don't believe that to be true.
My business is proof that organic still works, as long as you do it smartly. And yes, sometimes it can take a bit more time to grow your email subscriber list, but through this project I want to show you how to do it. (I'm not saying NOT to advertise, as it's still hugely beneficial and a part of mine and client's strategies. It's simply that it's not the only way).
Sure, not everything I share may be a success straight off the bat, but that's the beauty of this project - the ability to try, tweak and improve results to find out what works and what doesn't. Tweaking what you already have is one of the secrets to content marketing working for you. I've been doing this long enough to have a bit of an idea of what works for me now.
But it's also about helping you see what you can be doing in your own business if you happen to want to come along for the ride.
Now, of course, you don't have to join in. You might just take a couple of tips out of this, and that's fine.
Now the first thing that I want to focus on is how to plan for email list growth.
What your are email list growth goals? How can you set realistic business goals that won't end up overwhelming you?
Here are the THREE things I'm focusing on...
Setting realistic business goals
When you're looking at a new project or anything you're about to focus on in your business, it's important to understand what the end goal is.
Website traffic and email subscribers sound lovely, but you can't exactly take either to the bank. You need to focus on clients, sales or revenue.
A good way to do this is to:
- Determine how much you want your business to make in the next 12 months and/or 90 days
- What offers do you have and at what price point are they. I tend to focus on either one on one coaching clients OR my mastermind. Digital sales for me are a nice to have, but they don't necessarily pay the bills.
- Next work out how many clients you need to have to achieve your 90 day or 12-month financial goal
I currently have a strong client list, with many clients now long term, so I'm not in a space of always having to look for new clients. However, there's always room for a few more.
So I've set my goal for six new clients. The other side benefit I know that comes from focusing on my 1:1 work is that it, in turn, generates digital sales.
Having that consistent flow of leads coming in means I don't have to ever do any aggressive marketing to fill client spaces. I don't have to go out there and push myself too hard to get clients once a client's contract ends.
QUESTIONS TO ASK: What is the goal for you when you're looking at growing your business? What is the outcome you most want in your business right now?
Who is the ideal client you want to attract?
The next step is to consider who it is you're actually targeting.
If you haven't done any ideal client profile work, I'd highly encourage you to put some effort into doing that.
This is something I do at least once a year in my business to reassess my ideal client. As I work with more and more people, I get a clearer idea of the type of person I do want to work with, and the type of person I don't want to work with.
Know that it doesn't have to be perfect. I could never have created the ideal client I've crafted now when I started doing these exercises 6+ years ago. It's taken actually working with people to have that ideal client evolve into who they are today.
So as you continue to work with people, keep reassessing it so you're attracting people that light you up and that you know you can get a result for. If I can change someone's business and change their life, then that's more important than just getting money in the door for me.
So when we look at that ideal client, the other thing that I need to be focusing on is what is the pain point? What is it that they're most struggling with right now?
My ideal client's end goal is to attract the right people into their business on a consistent basis by sharing their story and to enjoy this thing called marketing. And they don't want to have to do it by working till 11pm every night.
QUESTIONS TO ASK: Who is it that you're trying to attract? What is their pain points? What is it that they most want? Where do they want to be? What does their life look like?
What is your email subscriber goal?
At the beginning of this post we set our overarching goal. This time we need to focus on another goal, which is the core goal to track during this project.
That goal is: how many people do you need to grow your email subscriber list to the number that will help achieve your ultimate goal?
So, for me, how many email subscribers do I need to get six clients?
For six sales, we need to think about the conversion rate. A typical conversion online is 1-3%. However, this can be dependent on the price tag associated with what you're selling. A lower priced offer can convert much higher and a higher priced offer can not only convert at a lower rate but may also take a longer time to convert.
For example, some of my clients have conversions up to 9% and more.
Considering we're looking at a coaching offer, I'm going to be super conservative and work on a 0.5% conversion. This means we need to attract 1200 people.
You can work out what YOUR number is by using this free, simple marketing calculator.
However, my ultimate list growth number is to add another 10,000 people to my list. However, 10,000 feels pretty overwhelming and I'm fairly confident that after dipping my toe into a number like that, I'd become discouraged and give up.
So instead we're going to break it down into 1000 lots. By focusing on just 1000 email subscribers at a time it feels more achievable and allows us to not lose momentum or motivation as we work through.
Often we either set ourselves goals that are too small and we get bored OR we set them too high and give up when the going gets tough.
QUESTIONS TO ASK: What is YOUR number? If 1000 still feels overwhelming for you, start with 100. And maybe 10,000 isn't overwhelming to you at all. Do what feels right.
Ready to do this? Follow along with The Subscriber Project to grow your email subscriber list on Youtube by subscribing to the Kellie O'Brien Media channel.
Need a tool to help with planning. Start with the 12 Month Marketing Plan.
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Great video Kellie. I love how you break it all down. Makes it easier to understand and feel as though it’s achievable. Thank you.
My pleasure, Leeza. So glad it was helpful. I think we can overwhelm ourselves with big numbers sometimes.