It only takes you one Google Search to be bombarded with dozens of articles, blogs, videos, courses, podcasts, interviews, or social media posts telling you how to monetize an email list.
More.
90% of those (if not more) will tell you to get as many people as you can onto your list (or newsletter as they’re most likely referring to), disregarding the quality of the readers you’re inviting to be on your list and then to continuously run ads or accept sponsorships.
And while this isn’t a bad business model per se—especially not for people who just like to write long articles and not have to worry about anything else—it’s far from the most effective, reliable, or even the simplest method there is.
Again, I’m not saying that type of model is bad.
It’s just not for me.
I would much rather build a small but extremely focused and high-quality (quality over quantity here) email list filled with readers eager to read what I write and buy what I offer them.
The only downside to this type of business model?
You need something of your own to sell your readers. But seeing as you’re on my list, chances are you’ve got that covered already (or will have soon enough).
In this case, many of the so-called “list-building hacks” other people can’t shut up about don’t actually work for us. Running paid ads to your (free) email opt-in won’t do you any good. Neither will social media giveaways where you ask for people’s email addresses in exchange for some random freebie they’ll receive—most, if not all, of the social media game will actively work against you since that’s very much a quantity over quality type of medium.
You might have noticed that all the above methods I mentioned share one common theme.
They all focus on getting people on your list by promising them FREE (!) stuff.
Unfortunately, the people you’ll attract this way are the same type of people who’ll get angry at you for trying to sell them something—even if it’s a $5 product that might literally change their lives forever.
These types of people won’t help you run a business—which is what you’re trying to do after all.
A better way is to pre-qualify and pre-sell people as soon as they enter your world through one of the many portals you’ve scattered around the internet (I’ll dive deeper into this specific topic of “building your world and opening portals” in other emails—as well as in an upcoming course all about business worldbuilding).
That means, to immediately let them know you plan on selling them something.
Don’t hide this fact. It’s not only stupid, crooked, and absolutely visible to everyone with half an eye sticking out their ass. It’s also the smartest thing you could do. Doing so sets the stage for the future and it repels any and all cheapskates who won’t ever buy anything from you anyway.
This doesn’t mean you HAVE to sell them something straight away… but a simple tripwire (before or after joining your list) or one-time offer when they subscribe to your list (even if they choose not to buy) goes a long way.
I’ll go deeper into how to grow an email list in my flagship course, Email Valhalla, which teaches you everything you need to know to run your own email-centered business as a creative, including how to write simple and effective daily emails that get you paid and keep your readers reading day after day.
Click here for more information about Email Valhalla: https://alexvandromme.com/valhalla