Selling To Your Email List Is Overly Ambitious When The Value You Provide Is Not Clear!
- Writer for DDI on Medium
- Aug 16
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 29
I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO TALK ABOUT!
I think it’s fair to assume that once you have an email list, people (even if they’re not quite ready to work with you) are interested in the things you have to say.
At the same time, if you’re having a hard time getting people to give a review on your services, and you don’t know what to talk about, or how to use what you talk about to shape the perception of what you do, how believable is it that a stranger would even subscribe to a newsletter that basically waste their time?
What are you going to say to them?
Do you plan to ask ChatGPT?
I haven't sold my services to my email list yet, but I've done something else that could lead to a sale, depending on how I use it.
If you’ve created content based on what you do, and it’s generated subscribers not ready to buy, attracting them alone has its benefits!
EMAIL CAMPAIGNS ARE YOUR TEST LAB FOR CONVERSATIONS OF INTEREST
Email campaigns are not just avenues to privately sell your services. They can help 1-3 man shows figure out what topics to commit their time to developing, and eventually invest their money in, to own the conversation on a larger scale.
My open rate fluctuates between 47-52%, and my click rate between 3-21%. The caveat here is that as your list grows, maintaining these figures requires lightening the load of people who don’t open or read what you have to say. Something I spoke about in 2020.
These stats helped me hone my point of view around The Regurgitation Era and develop key conversations like:
ChatGPT is making you lazy
The Global Village Of Artificial Intelligence
AI is Coming For Your Job!
Local AI-Voices Silence on MIT Study?
"it's the way ChatGPT uses the em-dash that’s a big giveaway!"
“Just Throw It In ChatGPT:”How AI is Impacting Thought Leadership in 2025!
"AI Told Me So" is A Soulless Song!
...and everything in between (if you follow me on Instagram) for the past year, until Newsday finally said ‘Beware of Artificial Intelligence’.
Someone shared how the same thing happened with a movie in America. The conversation started, and awareness was slow. Then it started gaining momentum, and the actor won an Oscar. But amidst building to a climax, ownership of the conversation stayed with who started it.
Many of the messages locally are colored by a fitting in agenda, or are abandoned before it has a chance to be understood because of a lack of conviction. It's only about money, nothing else. Which brings me to what commitment looks like when the shift begins after you’ve held the fort.
Because of the attempted gaslighting of the public that followed Local AI-Voices Silence on MIT Study? I turned the article into a question piece on IG, just trusting my gut, and Newsday's article followed soon after, and in an interview with Scientist Gregg Braden, Dr. Mayim Bialik put to rest the question of whether or not outsourcing your thinking to technology kills your brain cells. All of which inspired content for this blog.
Nothing's stopping me (or anyone in a similar situation) from claiming the conversation from the rooftops, to increase brand awareness, expand community, or invite business when the time is right.
OK, you might not be quite ready to put an AD on the highway like Angostura, or run one on social media like I did in 2018. But you can definitely own the conversation in other ways.
TURN YOUR LEMONS INTO LEMONADE
In my previous email campaign, I spoke about mixing things up with trends when you’re not an enterprise business because it started getting dragged locally. I used the timing of the conversation to help 1-3 man shows think strategically about using this low-hanging fruit to get seen, heard, and paid.
But then Candace demonstrated what it looks like, so I figured I’d just let her show you how it's done.
Clickable example below:
Social media might be one part of digital marketing, but it doesn’t mean you can’t do amazing things with it if that’s all you have at your disposal right now. Personally, I discovered a way to own the “just throw it in ChatGPT” conversation outside social media, and I’m super excited to make it part of my brand now. Stay tuned for that because it’s going to be fun.
All of this is possible by simply paying attention to the emails you send.
So, in closing, pay attention to the moments of progression. Keep the receipts, and get creative in the meantime about how you can own the conversation 100%.
Small business owners cripple themselves by only thinking of email campaigns as a place to sell. It’s so much more. If you’re not shaping conversations in the inbox, you’ll never be able to own them in the marketplace.
I am the Founder and Visual Brand Strategist at The BrandTUB **Schedule a call with me if you need help with your visual branding. Let's see if you're a good fit! **Figure out what you're trying to say with The One-Page Workbook™ **Sign up to receive these weekly articles in your inbox if you’re not quite ready to work with me yet.
