Have you asked yourself if you need an email newsletter or not?

Yes – you need to start building a mailing list to send a newsletter to your audience. It doesn’t matter what niche, industry, or market you are dealing in. A newsletter is a failsafe when the worst happens. Too many creators and brands are relying on rent space. That rented space can abandon you anytime, and all your hard work is for nothing.

On my outdoor brand, I built up a following on one social media platform of up to 10,000 followers. If that social platform decided to close or terminate my account for any reason, it felt like I would immediately lose the page and its 10,000+ followers. And there would be nothing I could do about it. This may have happened to you!

But with an email newsletter, you can keep your followers and stay in touch with them regardless of what some social media platform decides to do.

An Email Newsletter is Owned Space

With an email newsletter, you own your subscriber list, and it’s yours to reap!

You own zip on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even TikTok! You don’t own anything. You might have access to the follower names and pages, but that’s it. A mailing list gives you their email addresses and attention because they are subscribed to you. If social media ever decides to kick you out, you lose everything, and you agreed to that possibility when you joined. Read their terms and conditions, and you’ll see them right there.

A few years ago on Instagram, I made the mistake of unfollowing too many accounts that I discovered were bots. I just wanted to get rid of the fake accounts and focus on real people. Instagram suspended me for two weeks, and I lost the ability to communicate with my followers. I made an honest mistake, and Instagram hit me hard for it. I was never able to get them to respond, either.

I learned my lesson with rented spaces like social media and started an email newsletter to stay connected with my community, and so should you to avoid being separated from your community.

An Email Newsletter is Easy to Get Started

An email newsletter is easy to start and, for the most part, free to you!

Many people hesitate to create a newsletter because they think it’s difficult. They even believe that their following or brand isn’t big enough. If you have one follower, that’s one person you can keep updated with what is happening with what you’re doing. Hang on to that one person’s attention, so you don’t lose them. Start an email newsletter now!

I started my newsletter for free with Mail Chimp, and now with over 300 subscribers, it’s still free. Another excellent mailing list service is Convert Kit which appears to have many features aimed more at creators, while Mail Chimp aims more toward businesses and corporations. There are so many options; most of them have generous free plans.

Quit making excuses about starting a mailing list when it is this easy and free to get one going in a few clicks.

How to Promote Your Email Newsletter

Promoting your newsletter is very simple to do.

First and foremost, you need to have a website. Get a website going and create pages and a blog if you have time to do it. Blogging is so effective for your reputation! Add an email newsletter subscription popup to your website. Add a newsletter subscription page with copywriting telling people why they should subscribe. Add some sections on each page with an easy signup form. Make it easy for anyone to subscribe to your mailing list.

The one thing I’ve done that has got me hundreds of new subscribers is offer a free gift upon subscription (make sure you advertise that gift). My gift is a simple PDF guide that relates to what the newsletter content is about. I tell visitors they have a limited time to get the guide. I’ll eventually remove it and add a different guide.

The only way people will know about your newsletter is if you tell people about your email newsletter.

An Email Newsletter Should Be Your Best Content

A newsletter can be unsubscribed to just as quickly as it was subscribed to if the subscriber isn’t pleased.

You must treat your newsletter subscribers as royals. Give them the best content you can give them. You sold them on subscribing in the first place! Now you have to provide them with what they expect and even more. Each email you send has to be better than the last. It also needs to be content that is exclusive to the newsletter. Don’t focus everything on recapping existing content. Give them something fresh that they will only find in your email.

I write exclusive articles, guides, and tips in my newsletter. I don’t publish them anywhere else. I also put exclusive subscriber contributions in the newsletter, too. That makes the newsletter interactive and adds social and community value.

The content and information you send to your subscribers are significant and vital to the existence of your email newsletter.

Starting a newsletter is vital to your growth as an influencer, brand, business – everything. It is easy to get one going to avoid losing everything. My tips above will help you get started without stressing you out. But you’ll have to take that first step and get it going.

For more exclusive tips, articles, and guides – be sure to subscribe to my newsletter.

About the Author

Shawn Gossman has created content, blogged, ran online communities, and shared a passion for digital marketing for over twenty years. Shawn believes the best way to help content creators, businesses, brands, and marketers is to give away more than you sell. The same advice is recommended for the readers who follow this blog. Shawn also offers various services for extra help in content creation and blogging.