Your list will not save you.

Dear up-and-coming biz owner,

It’s back to basics time, dearface.

There’s another myth out there that’s on the rise, and your friendly neighborhood wordsmith is here to bust it.

Your house mailing list is your meal ticket.

But the problem is, if you are going from a “one-to-one” business model and working on leveraging it so you can offer successful group programs, chances are your list alone isn’t going to fill it for you.

Especially if you:

- don’t send your newsletter weekly
- don’t know how to ask for business in your writing
- don’t have a habit of making offers in your emails + newsletter

The truth is, to move to a more leveraged and lucrative way of doing business, you really do need to invest in your online marketing. Because you need to communicate with more people. And connect with people who don’t live in the same place as you.

This is why your email newsletter is so dang important. It’s your Chief Relationship Builder in your online marketing arsenal. (But only if you send it regularly. And only if it’s awesome, so people actually read it.)

But the reality is, in addition to having great content, sending it regularly, and having basic copywriting skills (so you know how to ask for biz in your writing and get people into initial sessions with you), filling your program is a numbers game.

This is straight from the mouth of one of my mentors, Monica Shah.

But I have been talking business owners through this all last week, so I figure it’s helpful for you to hear, too.

You don’t need a big list to fill a program, but you do need to know what you are up against.

Here’s how it works:

1. You send a couple emails to your list inviting them to a preview call.
2. Of the people who get the email, estimate 0-20% actually “opt-in” to the call.
3. Of the people who “opt-in” to the call, 5-30% actually show up live.
4. You pitch comp initial sessions with you at the end of the preview call.
5. Of the people live on the call, say 30% take you up on the offer and sign up.
6. You talk with people on initial sessions, and you invite some of them to join your program (I say some, because not everyone will be a good fit)
7. Depending on your sales conversion rate—let’s say you get 1 “yes” for every 3 people you invite to work with you—a fraction of the people on the initial session will end up joining your program. In this example, we’ll say 30%.

So, let’s do the math here:

• You’ve got 300 people on your list.
• Let’s say 30 people sign up (that’s 10%)
• Then 6 people show up to the call (that’s 20%)
• Say 2 people sign up for initial sessions (that’s 30%)
• You are lucky to get 1 person to sign up for your program (and that’s if you “conversion rate” is 50%!)

I don’t mean to depress you. I just want to ground you in the truth. This is why so many business owners never make it past one-on-one client work. They see this and give up… or shut down.

But I know you can do this. And if you are serious about doubling or even tripling your income, there’s no way around this numbers stuff. So take a deep breath, ground yourself, and stick with me, kiddo. You don’t have to do this, alone.

I know you want to make a break for it. So what’s an indomitable up and coming business owner to do? Four things:

1) Look for other people to help get people on the call (these are JVs)
2) Know that everyone at this point is “hand-selling” people one-by-one into their group programs—and that’s okay when you are starting out
3) Focus on getting your newsletter out regularly, so your list is really active, engaged, and responsive (I can help you with this)
4) Do interviews, workshops, telesummits, interviews and other activities that build your list.

Make sense? It also helps to have someone in your corner to help you through the rough spots that inevitably come up when you have committed yourself to doing whatever it takes to grow your business. Online marketing is certainly part of it—but don’t think for a second it will get you out of reaching out to people one-by-one.

Love you,

Stella

Want more Stella? Stella’s next production lab starts soon, and is designed for up-and-coming service professionals who want to get clear on who they are writing to and how to write so those people want what they have. It’s a 6-month program, and we’ll be writing your homepage, free report, and 3 newsletter articles together. You’ll also get trained in basic yet powerful copywriting skills, and smart, simple money-making marketing strategy. Orientation Class June 27. New Student Registration closes July 3. Learn more here.

Mighty thanks to tricky (rick harrison) flickr photostream for the leap of faith