5 Tips for Growing Your Email List
Hey Friend!
Let’s talk about email list… why you need them and how to build them.
As photographers we should have an email list and be consistently creating emails in order to stay present in our subscriber’s inboxes. Creating emails is sooo important! Just think, we are content creators, we are creating content on all kinds of platforms. So why not utilize the email platform if you haven't already? The more people who see your name the more people are going to hire you… theoretically. So why have an email list? Because I said so… just kidding! Sending an email to your email list is a great way to drum up cash flow when things are slow.
How to drum up some extra cash flow during the slow season:
Personally, print sales are a great way to bring in some extra money when things are slow. I just place a discount on all my galleries and send out an email to my list. Every time I send out a monthly email people magically start booking me because they are reminded I am alive and available.
How to collect emails and grow your list:
I use a pop-up on my website, which is on Square Space, and I create the pop-up in Flodesk. These two platforms are pretty seamless and work well together. I put a pop-up email grabber on my website about ten seconds after someone enters the website. It is important to not have it pop-up to quickly because people could become annoyed and leave. Another option is to get emails by using a question box on Instagram. If you are pitching something to your followers such as a free guide or mini sessions then throw a little question pop up on there and say “Put your email here. I'll add you to the list and you'll be the first to know”. Then make sure you save all those emails that people give you before the story disappears!
Monthly emails:
Monthly emails are a great way to remind people that you exist. A few things to include are: sessions that you did that month, your upcoming travel dates, any upcoming deals such as mini sessions, and don't be afraid to include some personal information! Remember when it comes to creating content treat it like a romantic relationship, if you add value people will keep coming back. However, if you add value and then you drop people they're going to be confused. My favorite analogy is this… Think about when you're dating somebody new and you're going on dates and then they just ghost you and disappear. You're gonna take the hint. Right? Okay, so if I sign up for an email list and I'm excited to hear from that person and they send me one email and then ghost me for a year before suddenly trying to sell me something… they have not created a valuable relationship with me. But… when I have emails from people like Any Porterfield or Jenna Kutcher show up in my inbox I'm going to open those because they're adding value to my inbox weekly. They haven't ghosted me. Instead they have nurtured our relationship, and they are there for me in a metaphorical kind of way.
Weekly emails:
All I have to say is stay consistent! If you're going to do it, just do it. Here are some ideas if you need content: share about blogs you are posting, helpful tips and tricks, and/or any guides you are producing. Just make sure you are constantly adding value!!!