Content creators are often given the advice to collect emails so that if something goes wrong with their favorite social media platform-they don’t lose access to their audience and business. One thing that I’ve noticed in the conversations that I’ve had with other content creators is some confusion about the differences between email lists, newsletters and the benefit of having either one. If you’re on the fence and not sure about what you should do listen on. I’m going to cut to the chase-you need to start a newsletter OR an email list ASAP. Listen on for why that is, what’s the difference between the two and why it’s never too early to start your list building plans.
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My Biggest Mistake: Not Focusing on Building a List
It pains me to admit this but not focusing on building a list is one of the biggest mistakes that I’ve made in my content creation business. Even though intellectually I knew why lists were so important-I got stuck on a really important detail:
- What is the value I was offering to potential subscribers and how to communicate it them. Basically, why the hell should they sign up for my list? What was the benefit to them?
Unfortunately, I got stuck thinking about this question and then I ended up doing nothing about it. I’m not the only person to do this. In fact, I’m convinced that this is a pretty common issue. You’ll also notice that I didn’t say what type of list. Just that I didn’t focus on list building at all.
You need a list. What type of list is up to you.
Newsletters vs. Email Lists (Similarities)
There are a ton of similarities between the two types of list building tools.
There are a number of similarities between newsletters and email lists because they basically have the same function and end goal-to collect email addresses.
However, the differences are where strategy impacts many creator’s final decision when they are trying to decide between saying “yes” to a newsletter vs. creating a general email list.
Newsletter Risks
It’s important to talk about a major risk that comes with building a newsletter on a platform such as Substack, Ghost, etc. If you run into ANY problems with the platform, you may lose access to your list. Now, I do want to be clear and say that these platforms typically say that creator’s content is their own content. But, I think there’s always a slight risk of an issue. With that in mind, I plan to move my content over once I hit a certain subscriber threshold.
Email Challenges
Many creators struggle with the type of content that they should share in a daily, weekly or monthly email. And many email platforms are aesthetically painful to look at. Branding can be a problem with many email tools. I actually still have an email service provider called “Flodesk” that I love because I can design pretty emails and I’m grandfathered into the introductory rate!
Pick One
Seriously, just pick one and focus on growing your list. Again, not building my email list was one of my biggest mistakes in my digital content creation business. Why grow a list?
- You’re able to communicate directly with your community-especially in the event that things happen such as:
- Twitter is bought by someone you loathe (that’s me)
- Facebook or Instagram go down (that happened in 2021)
- You’re able to hear directly from your community. I pay attention to:
- Common questions asked. These become resources!
- Most frequently brought up concerns or problems. These become products.
- Language that my community uses. That becomes copy on the website.
But, What if You Don’t Love Writing?
Get over it. You’re not being asked to write novels. You’re being asked to grow a list and be in somewhat regular communication with your audience. Look, I understand if you started a YouTube channel because you love video or podcasting because you love creating audio content. You didn’t start a blog or other written content for a reason.
Here’s the thing:
- If you’re serious about monetizing your platform-you need a list. My best performing email list was my romance novel list. I bet you didn’t know that I write romance novels for fun. I’m serious. That list grew like crazy too. Guess who was making solid passive income with her self-published romance novels. This girl. Guess what happened when I stopped email the list? The income dropped. But, I still have the list and have written books since the last time I emailed them.
- Do you remember hearing about that creator who had around 2.5 million followers on Instagram and wanted to sell some t-shirts. She finally got them designed and sold around 30. If she had been emailing her list, she would have known what her community actually wanted.
- Social media platforms aren’t owned by YOU, the user. Things happen. Amazon could take away your account for unknown violations. Facebook could say that you’ve violated some random policy and stop an advertising campaign. Instagram is owned by Facebook and TikTok looks like it might be banned in the US.
How will you re-engage with your followers if you lose them on a platform that you don’t own? What happens to all of your hard work? You can send video or audio emails if you don’t like writing. There’s more than one way to do a thing. You don’t even have to email people weekly. But, what you do need to have is a list.
5 List Building Products That I Recommend
- MailerLite
- Flodesk
- ConvertKit
- Substack (platform)
- Ghost (platform)
- Beehiiv (platform)