So many people are terrified of writing to their email list….. Or just quite simply don’t do it enough.

In this blog, I share a little about how writing to my email list has changed my life and my business – and why you should do it too; as well as some tips as to how often you should email your list.

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I love writing.

I remember when I was little, maybe around 8 years old, I used to love writing so much, that I’d write stories all day long.

Later, I’d enlist my little sister and our friends from next door to turn it into a play for my parents and their mates, who’d be eating and drinking downstairs.  

I’ve travelled a lot in my life, so don’t have a lot of ‘stuff’ from my past; but one thing I have dragged around the world with me is a massive box of notebooks, diaries and files from when I was a child.

They contain letters to friends, penpals, boyfriends; and of course, my many stories I penned.

I would never have imagined those 27 plus years ago in England, that my little 8-year-old scribbles might one day be bought and read by people all over the world. 

But after finding them inside my box of treasures many years later, I now have 4 children’s books published on Amazon, alongside 8 of my non-fiction books on education and course creation.

I’m always writing to this day.  

I spend at least an hour a day writing, I schedule a minimum of 2 full days a month to mass-produce my blogs, and currently have another 4 books currently in creation – including my first 2 novels.

I’m not sure why I love it so much.   But I find it so cathartic, therapeutic and challenging (I love feeling challenged).

It has built courage and resilience in me.  There’s nothing quite more vulnerability-inducing than sharing yourself out on a page and putting it in front of others.

Much of the courage I have today comes from being brave enough to write.

I learn SO much about the topic, the world and myself as my fingers glide over a keyboard – and on top of the pure pleasure of creativity, it gives me a sense of purpose.  

Somebody else might also get something from my writing too – and they often do.

But I Used To Be Afraid Of ‘Getting It Wrong’

Before 2015, I used to be terrified of sharing my work.

Scared of criticism.

Scared of opposition and challenge.

Scared of being judged, misjudged or ridiculed.

I had a small email list back then, but didn’t dare to send them anything.

What if I’m rubbish?

What if they UNSUBSCRIBE?!

But something came over me one day when I realised that if I didn’t share my work, I could help nor inspire anyone.

That my reach, impact and legacy in the world would be absolutely zero; and that my earning potential would match.

I took a deep breath and wrote a couple of blog posts.

They monumentally sucked, but I sent them out anyway.

And you’ll never guess what happened next??

Absolutely nothing.

I got a couple of ‘thank you’ emails in reply; but the world didn’t spontaneously combust, I didn’t have the world media knocking down my door to mock my views, I wasn’t being ridiculed on social media, there wasn’t a debate about my perspective on CNN.

Nope.  Sarah sent an email.

Woop-dee-doo.

via GIPHY

After I realised that sending an email containing my tips to something actually doesn’t cause a public, career-ending riot of mass-humiliation; I felt rather proud of myself and decided to send out more.

More ‘thank you’s’ came back each time, and no world media turned up at my door to laugh at me on the prime-time news.  

I started making sales.

LOTS of sales.

People started telling me that they felt like they KNOW me, even though they’d never met me.

People started telling me that they’d created a ‘Sarah’ folder in their inbox just to keep all of the emails that I sent to read back through later.

People started telling me that they looked forward to my emails and wondered if I was ok if they didn’t get one after a few days.

Soon enough, my audience became so familiar with me that every course, product or service I launched was an absolute sell-out.

Now all of my content works for me, as it comes up in my prospects Google search results and directs them right too me.

Once again, that little girl writing stories in her bedroom ended up creating content that is now read by thousands of people all over the world every single day.

All from simply writing and pressing ‘send’, ‘post’ or ‘publish’.

YOU can do this too.

Writing is not something you either have or don’t have.

It’s a SKILL that must be learned.

Therefore anybody can learn it, then it takes time and practice to get better at it.

If you are thinking about doing more writing, your email list is a wonderful place to start.

These people know you and have signed up specifically to hear from you – they WANT to hear from you, so communicate with them!

Secondly, an email doesn’t feel quite as overwhelming as a full blog, or indeed a book!

It’s just an email.

It’s small, it’s something that you already do every single day.

Later you might turn those emails into blog posts and publish them on your website, then share those blog posts on your social media.

Eventually, you can compile those blog posts together and publish it as a book!

How Often Should You Send Emails To Your List?

Guess what, it’s YOUR list, so YOU get to decide that.

It’s funny…. If you Google ‘how often should I email my list?’ you will get thousands of search results come up. 

Thousands of people telling you that “there is data that shows that xx times per xx is the perfect equation” and then they sprinkle that rubbish with mentions of ‘algorithms’ and ‘ESP deliverability’.

Look.  There might be ‘reports’ about what works for other people’s email lists.

But those ‘studies’ havn’t been done with your email list, with your content; so whatever you read about ‘the best emailing frequency’ is complete and utter nonsense.

There is NO list in the world exactly like your list.

There is noody else who thinks, writes and communicates like you.

There is no other YOU.

Therefore there is no special formula that exists out there that you are supposed to follow.

The ONLY way for you to know how many emails are the right amount of emails, are as follows:

 1. Who cares, it’s your list.  

Send as many emails as you are inspired to send (just don’t make them all about selling your stuff).

Create.  Write.  Share.  Enjoy the process.  

This is your life, your business, your world.  

Give freely and love every second of it.

Those who don’t want to hear from you, won’t want to buy from you either, so gladly let them unsubscribe.  

Those who like hearing from you, will like buying from you, so they will stay.

2. It’s all about trial and error

If that isn’t the only guidance you need, and you want to pay for people who are never going to buy from you to stay on your list, then know this: 

It’s all trial and error.  

I tried sending emails to my list every day, once a week, once a month, every other week – you name it, I’ve tested every delivery frequency.  

I found that – for me – my open rate, click rate and unsubscribe rates were exactly the same whether I sent my emails a day apart, or a month apart.  

Since it takes on average 11 points of contact between you and your prospects before they even recall you, AND that I personally produce enough content to send emails frequently – I decided to just start sending them more frequently and keep an eye on my open/click rates.  

If they stay the same, or go up – awesome.  

If they go down, then my content isn’t good enough or I’m emailing too much.

Fortunately, I’ve never had the latter problem yet.

3. Ask the audience

If you really want to be sure, why not just ask your audience how much they want to hear from you?

In fact, I’d LOVE to hear from you about my email frequency; I don’t suppose you would take a few seconds to let me know your thoughts here, could you? >> ANSWER THIS QUESTION.

Feel free to copy my survey above to send to your own audience!

Conclusion

Creativity will change your life in many ways. 

It will change you personally and it will change your business.

The very act of articulating your thoughts into words helps you to define standpoint, craft your message and find your voice.

If you have an email list, then send to them as frequently as you wish and let them decide if they want to hear from you or not.  A lost subscriber is not a lost life; it’s space for a new, more excited one.

If you don’t have a list yet, then writing is precisely one of the ways that you can start growing one.

Share your tips, tricks and thoughts in blogs on your own site or social media and those who resonate with what you have to say will want to join you.

If you’d like to create an online course, as well as learn all about marketing and list building – then do come and join me in my next ‘Concept To Course’ 30 Day Group Coaching Program.