Part of the problem with everything nowadays is the emphasis on metrics: bigger is better, quantity beats quality, more content beats less content.
It’s nonsense, too.
Hyperbolic rubbish propagated by clickbait gurus hungry for more views or course sales.
Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.
A Small, Loyal Mailing List Beats A Large, Uninterested Mailing List Every Time
Email marketing is older than most things on the web and, like its spiritual forefather, direct mail, what makes it work (when it’s done effectively) is specificity, not volume.
The idea behind massive email lists is born from the affiliate marketing world. The more people you can throw offers at, the more clicks you’ll get.
If you have 20,000 people on your list and a 5% open rate (that’s a terrible open rate, by the way), you’ll get more commissions than the same marketer with the same open rates with 2,000 people.
But this approach is the opposite of how a creator’s mailing list works.
Your mailing list is where you communicate the good stuff to your audience, the stuff you keep “pay-walled,” if you will.
Your Mailing List Is Your Best Hedge Against Big Tech Stealing Your Audience
Google has ruined search. Social media is terrible for interaction and engagement. Both mediums are run by Big Tech, and Big Tech is your enemy; they can (and will) take your audience or reach away from you at some point.
This is why a mailing list or a community platform you own is the most important asset you will develop as a creator.
And the best part? If you’re good at what you do, you don’t even need a big email list to start making a living.
You can run a successful business with as little as 200 subscribers.
I’ve seen it done with even fewer (150; this was for a guitar teacher I worked with last year who ran his entire operation on Squarespace).
Will you make millions with a small list? No. But that’s not the point.
You’re Probably Not Going To Be The Next Tim Ferris, And That’s Perfectly Fine…
Most people will never make millions. Get yourself comfortable with that fact. Far too many people seem to operate on the idea that they’re entitled to millions.
I have news for you: you ain’t!
We’re talking about making a living here, something that can replace your current 9 to 5 job. Not you becoming the next Elon Musk or Tim Ferriss.
Wage-replacing money isn’t millions; it’s anywhere from $1,500 to $15,000 a month. Both of which are totally doable with a small, focused email list.
The secret is getting the right people onto your email list and then consistently delivering on what you promised.
The Magic Secret For Growing Your Email List?
That’s the secret. There’s no magic formula; it’s just a case of being specific about who you have on your list and then delivering content they cannot get anywhere else.
That means you need to know what you’re talking about. You have to be available to your audience and help them.
Be a friend first, a mentor, and then when the time comes to launch something (a book, a product, some software), you won’t even need to sell.
And if you’re au fait with your psychology, you’ll know that all of the above is just basically a means of courting the law of reciprocity.
If you truly understand that law, you’ll never need a bloated email list to be a successful creator.
