There's a email marketing idiom that goes, "The money is in the list." I'm not particularly fond of that phrase, because it dehumanizes the people on your email list, and reduces them down to a dollar sign. Although it is true that the people on your email list will likely be your most devout customers, the idea of treating them as a revenue source is gross to me. I decided to change up the phrase to, the gold is in the list, because like gold, the people on your list are both valuable and precious. It's soft and malleable. If you hit it with a hammer, it bends and cracks, but if you polish it, it will shine brilliantly. Treat your list as the precious commodity that it is, and it will reward you for years to come. There are some that in the business world that believe email is dead. They believe nobody reads emails anymore, because users rely on information to come to them via social media feeds. While that may be true to an extent, the truth is that email is still the last great killer app. Even though email has been in existence since the 1980s, it's hasn't needed much adaptation in that time period, yet still remains as the main communication tool for individuals, teams, and businesses around the world. Email has become permanently necessary. It is ubiquitous and desirable, and there hasn't been a new tool or application invented that would take it's place. Ask yourself, could you be without Twitter or Facebook for a month, and still run your business? Now could you do the same thing without email? Perhaps, but not nearly as simple. Wikipedia defines Killer App as, "Any computer program that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology, such as computer hardware, gaming console, software, a programming language, software platform, or an operating system.[1] In other words, consumers would buy the (usually expensive) hardware just to run that application. A killer app can substantially increase sales of the platform on which it runs." For something deemed as "dead" by some, email certainly seems to be holding it's own. Now, you may not buy a computer just to run your email, but I bet you can't imagine not having it on your phone or tablet. If you're like most digital consumers, you check your email multiple times a day, perhaps even more than your twitter or Facebook. I know I do, and I guarantee there are millions of others in the world that do the same. The purpose of this book is to share with you the reasons why you need to be managing a list of those subscribers with their head in their phones, because as the battle for attention goes on, the ones that have the most trust within their community will win. In this book, I share with you successful strategies of others who have built strong lists. I also share my own strategy, to give detailed perspective from someone who grew a list from dozens to thousands in a relatively short amount of time. By the end of this book, you'll have all the tools you'll need to start and grow your own list, along with building a community of fans and customers who will sing your praises, and buy your goods and services.
About the Author: I'm an artist and designer who spends most of his time hanging out with other creative business owners. It's my passion and purpose to eliminate the "starving artist" mindset from the vernacular of the world around me, and I do so by writing about it. My books are focused around marketing and branding for artists and makers because I believe we need a creative revolution to get back to a time when craft and handmade were more important than manufactured garbage. I also host a weekly podcast called the Fresh Rag Show where I talk with creative entrepreneurs about their stories. It's entertaining and educational--edutainment at it's best. You can find the show at freshrag.com/theshow