How to start your coaching email list
You’ve been enviously looking at your competitors with their pro-level marketing setup. They’ve got a swish website, an email list of fans and an aesthetically pleasing Instagram feed.
You’ve wanted to get your email marketing sorted. But it’s always falling to the bottom of the list. So you put that in the tomorrow, next week, next month basket. Before you know it, it’s too close to Christmas. Time to put it on your New Year's resolution list.
I’m going to be honest with you. Because I can’t help it. Have I mentioned that integrity and trust matter to me? Anyways... Unless you prioritise it, it won’t happen.
By the way, if you’re serious about not just setting up your email list but actually emailing your subscribers, instead of banking them for later when they’ve forgotten you, then I can help with getting your email set up. Your subscribers deserve to at least receive what they signed up for. Otherwise, you’re doing the people who trust you with their email address a disservice.
If you’re DIYing, then you’re in luck. In this blog post, I outline the steps to start your email list. My suggestion is to pick one a week and schedule it in your diary. For me, if it’s not scheduled in, then I’m almost guaranteed to forget about it.
Your step-by-step plan to set up your email marketing:
Step 1: Pick your email marketing platform.
First, you need an email service provider (ESP). This is not Gmail or Outlook. They’re for transactional emails (your day-to-day emails). They’re not set up for bulk email sends. If you use Gmail to email thousands of people your marketing emails, you'll get flagged as spam.
There are so many people with opinions about email marketing platforms. They’ll tell you, ‘I wouldn’t use anything else but Flodesk.’ Others tell you, ‘No way would I use Flodesk, Kit is the best. Look for something that feels easy to use for you.
Some are great for simple newsletters, while others are better if you love digging into data and complex automations.
When someone asks about which email platform is best for coaches or service providers, I’ll always say it depends. Here are a few things I’d consider before picking an email marketing platform like Mailchimp or MailerLite.
- Budget (what is the monthly cost for your number of subscribers? Is there room to grow your list?)
- Design (do you have a visual brand like a photography business? Does design matter to your audience?)
- Integrations (is there a simple connection to your website platform like Rocketspark, Squarespace or WordPress?)
- Functionality (if it doesn’t have the features you need, like advanced segmentation or automation, then it will limit you.)
- Ease of use (if you need a simple platform for basic email marketing, and it’s too complicated, then you won’t use it.)
Step 2: Create a reason for people to join
Most people won't sign up just to ‘get updates.’ That’s just boring. Unless they’ll make money out of it, they won’t sign up to ‘learn’ either. You need a lead magnet and a plan for what they want.
- Pick your format: Your freebie could be a checklist, a mini-guide, a quiz, or even a private video.
- Identify the problem: Think about a specific problem your dream client has. Understand how they talk about it. Make sure it’s an urgent problem. If it’s a nice-to-have, then you’ll get low subscribers.
- Give them a freebie that solves the urgent problem: When you give them a quick win to solve a problem they need fixed. Especially one that leads to your offer, then you’re tapping into the reciprocity principle.
Step 3: Plan your regular rhythm
Now you need to decide how often you can realistically show up in their inbox without it feeling like a chore. Whether you’re going to email once a week or once a fortnight, consistency is better than disappearing for three months and then suddenly popping up with a sales pitch.
Step 4: Create a way to collect email addresses
There are many ways you can collect email addresses (and other first-party data). You need a dedicated spot where people can trade their email address for that freebie.
Quick translation for non-marketers: First-party data is information that has been provided to you. It’s some of the most desirable data to have as a marketer.
The most common ways to collect email addresses on websites are:
- Popups: A form that "pops" up on your webpage to make sure an offer isn’t missed. Please keep it non-intrusive. It’s super annoying if a pop-up blocks a page or appears as soon as you start reading a blog.
- Landing page: A simple page with a clear headline, a few bullet points on the benefits, and a sign-up box is usually more effective anyway.
- Signup form: Most ESPs like MailerLite and Mailchimp will allow you to create a form or embedded form that you can either add to a webpage (embed) or use as a simple sign-up form. I create a simple opt-in form for all new email platform setups so you can start growing your email list straight away.
- Signup form: Most ESPs like MailerLite and Mailchimp will allow you to create a form or embedded form that you can either add to a webpage (embed) or use as a simple sign-up form. I create a simple opt-in form for all new email platform setups so you can start growing your email list straight away.
- Funnel software: Clickfunnels, bookfunnels and other marketing funnel software allow you to not only have a freebie or opt-in form. It also allows you to offer upsells and downsells. This is more advanced and is for coaches who have products, upsells, and downsells to offer.
Step 5: Write your "hello" sequence
This is the most important part. As soon as someone signs up, they should get an automated welcome email (or ideally a welcome sequence). Use this to deliver the freebie, introduce yourself properly, and start building that trust. It's the best time to connect because they’re already interested in what you have to say and remember who you are.
Congrats, you have the basics set up. But you need one more thing to make sure you're sending emails your ideal clients want to open. This is essential for email to work for you.
Step 6: Keep an eye on what’s working
Add a monthly or quarterly reminder to your calendar to check your email metrics (number of subscribers, click-to-open-rates, etc.). See which subject lines got people to open the email and which links they actually clicked. The more you know about what they like, the easier it is to write content that actually lands.
If you want to get started with email marketing, I have something for you. I’m going to be re-releasing my Get Started with Email Marketing ebook. Let me know if you’re interested in a copy before I put a price tag on it.
