Hi darling! Welcome to the my journal, my journey about my real life, my heart and my travels photographing beautiful souls! Sit back, have cup of tea and stay for a while and be sure to say hello!
So crazy thing happened today- Facebook was down. DOWN. And Twitter started freaking out.
Imagine this, one day, for a random reason Facebook, instagram, twitter, or youtube shuts down your account.
No questions asked. BOOM, GONE. How would that feel?
You know, they can do this. And they don’t even have to give you a reason why, but trust me, they have ootles of reasons they can do this.
A few pretty well known photographers had that happen and they HAD to start over. They had to REBUILD their entire fan base. From ZERO. Years of connecting, gone in a second. GUT WRENCHING THOUGHT. Why? Mainly because as entrepreneurs we have spent how many hours building our tribes, now to access them (hello facebook algorithm) We now have to pay to have access to people who said they WANT to hear from us.
Lame sauce. (Brilliant for facebook as it is easily the most incredible place to pay to target market, but not so great to actually access people who already raised their hand to hear from us.)
Me: I HAVE HAND RAISES. LET ME SAY HELLO TO THEM.
Facebook: give me your dollars.
Me: BUT they want me to say hello. See them all?
Facebook: Fine you can say hi to two of them. Sometimes.
Me: But I want them all.
Facebook: Then you have to pay me all the dollars.
Facebook is like the bouncer who won’t let us into our own club unless we pay THEM! URGH!
Enter the newsletter. The fancy shiny way to stay in touch with our tribe that we don’t have to pay to have access to. You’re welcome.
Newsletters allow you to build community with out the bouncer. We don’t have to pay to say hello because we have built our tribe on our terms.
So how do we begin to build a NEWSLETTER?
1.) STEP ONE- Learn from the masters.
If you want to know how to build an email tribe, sign up for some incredible leaders emails and see what they are doing. What makes them a success? Sign up for each of their newsletters and see. Watch what they do, and join their tribe to get to know how to build yours.
Here are some masters- take notes 😀 Save their emails. Learn from them.
Michael Hyatt- https://michaelhyatt.com/
Jeff Goins- https://goinswriter.com/
Jeff Walker- http://jeffwalker.com/
Zach and Jody Gray- http://www.zachandjody.com/
And if you want to join mine, you can do that here.
2.) STEP TWO- The golden carrot.
Create something to GIVE to your tribe when they sign up. Give your tribers something totally free that has a high value. This is like the intro to them becoming your biggest fans. How do we build fans? We share, we give, we nurture and we cultivate actual relationships with people. Every subscriber is a person that resonates to with who you are via your branding. Give them something for being apart of your tribe.
Build a free ebook, a tool kit, an incentive for them to trust you with their personal email.
How do we get PEOPLE to sign up? FAST AND EASY- Micro steps
1.) Create a lead capture- Free something (ebook, PDF, etc)
1a.) Upload that free something to dropbox.
2.) Sign up for mailchimp.
3.) Create a list in Mailchimp
4.) Create a sign up for that list in Mailchimp.)
5.) Create an auto send email in mailchimp for when someone signs up for your list. (this is an automatic email that sends right away.). Be sure to add the link to the drop box in your email so your tribe gets the freebie.
Here are a few of my carrots- Remember these are trust builders. Turn a stranger into a friend by giving them presents.
UM YES PLEASE.
3) STEP THREE- Get to know your list and give them what they need.
Rather than building a numbers game, build connections and consistency. Send out emails that are thoughtful, love filled and jammed packed with content people should pay you for. Build trust in your tribe by being authentic, inviting them to be apart of something bigger than YOU and your idea for the newsletter all while making yourself available.
Send out google forms asking them short survey’s about what they would like to see. Allow them to curate the content they want from you.
How does having a newsletter help your brand?
1.) Top of mind. Studies show people are most likely to refer to your business to a friend if you were the last person they saw, even if they never hired you.
2.) Connection. Building connections with people builds trust. When people trust you, they feel safe enough to hire you.
3.) Access to your tribe. When you do have a product, a book, or a new service you instantly have access to your top fans who NEED what you have to offer.
4.) Community. We need community to grow in our brands. Community build longevity and sustainability.
Build your tribe. Love them hard.
And join mine to get tips and tricks like this sent right to you!
SO MUCH LOVE!
Julie
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