Unless you were living under a rock (or happened to not be online on Monday, October 4th), then you likely experienced or heard about Facebook’s outage. Talk about messing up a girl’s day!
Once we got over the initial shock and confusion of how this could happen, it really starts to sink in the importance of not relying on social media.
I know, I know, sounds weird coming from me, the self-proclaimed social media nerd. The girl who comes at you all the time telling you that you need to be on social media.
While it’s true, I whole heartedly believe every brand needs to be on social media, I would never tell you to put all your eggs in one basket.
The reality is, you don’t own your audience on any social media platform.
If Facebook (or any other social platform) shuts down or kicks you out, you lose that audience. Let that sink in for a minute.
If the social platform that you’ve spent hours and hours putting time and energy into building an audience on, suddenly shuts down, or kicks you out, you lose your audience.
I don’t say this to scare you, or to deter you from social media, because I still stand by the fact that it is an incredibly powerful and awesome tool for your business.
I say this to reinforce that you should be creating content that encourages people to join your community outside of social media.
This is where an email list is crucial!
Throughout your social media content, you should be directing people to sign up for your email list. You own that list, you can take it with you anywhere, from platform to platform.
Plus, when people sign up for your emails, it is a higher level of engagement – they are saying they want to personally hear from you on a regular basis, they are letting you take up precious space in their inbox.
As much as social media is crucial to your business, it is simply the gateway to getting people further into your community.
Social media is the place where you attract people to your brand, engage with them, establish a relationship with them, and then your email list is where you connect with them more one-on-one. The people on your email list become your warm and hot audience, the ones that are more likely to buy.
That’s why I highly encourage you to start an email list. And to send emails on a regular basis!
The best part about your following on social media, is they are a great place to start to build your list. Let your audience know you’re creating a community that you want them to be a part of and create a sign up page for them.
So, now the question comes in… what platform to use?
I create my emails using a program called Flodesk, which you can check out here. They are actually coming out of beta phase soon so their prices are about to go way up! If you’re curious about their platform or want to know how I use it, just hit reply and ask – I’m happy to share my secrets with you!
Flodesk is great because you can also create sign up forms and opt-ins, and their templates are super easy to use. If you are new to email lists, like I was when I first started, then I highly recommend them. I was extremely nervous and knew nothing about starting or managing an email list, but Flodesk makes it extremely simple to use.
Of course, there are a ton of other email platforms out there like Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Keap, etc. it’s just a matter of finding the right one for you!
So, while I will always point you to social media and stand by it’s incredible ability to create connection and get yourself known, I will also tell you it’s not the only thing you need to be doing.
So, go forth and start building your list!
P.S. If you’re looking for some great resources for how to build an email list and manage it, I recommend checking out Jenna Kutcher or Kate Doster. I’ve learned from both of them and their content is extremely helpful!
If you’re ready to dive in know, I highly suggest you get in on Flodesk while they’re still in beta phase so you can lock in and the crazy low price!