Over the past two and a half years, I went from having a blog to building it into a side hustle that made more than my day job (sometimes even double!). It’s been an incredible journey and I’m so grateful for every part of it.
Building this business completely changed my life in a matter of a few years. My lifestyle, outlook, motivation, and inspiration have all taken on a whole new meaning. I openly share my story with you, not to brag, but to show you what’s possible and encourage you to take action as soon as possible.
If I didn’t take action when I did, I would never have been able to:
Travel around Southeast Asia alone for months
Plan my dream wedding in New York City
Be featured in the Associated Press, New York Times, Washington Post and Huffington Post
Quit my 9-5 job to be my own boss full-time
When it comes to the tools of the trade, the number one marketing tool that’s propelled me to this success is building my email list.
When I was starting out, every month I had goals in several different categories. Either how many Instagram followers I wanted to have, Facebook likes, email subscribers, website traffic, Pinterest impressions… you get the picture.
I knew it was not feasible to work on all of those around my day job. So I picked the platform I believed to be the most effective, which was building my email list.
Focusing on my email list is, to this day, one of the best business decisions I’ve made.
In case this is a newer concept, an email list is basically a list of people that have subscribed to your content and have chosen to receive emails from you. (Spoiler alert, because you are reading this email, you are, indeed, on my email list.)
This is the most powerful tool for online marketing because emails are so much more personal than social media or blog posts. Plus, with social media, you’re relying on other companies to manage your audience, and things with Facebook, Instagram and Twitter change all the time.
Simply put, you don’t have a sustainable online business without an email list.
Email lists are extra beneficial for side hustlers because you can always schedule and automate emails. The same isn’t necessarily true for social media. Plus, it takes a lot more manual labor to upkeep those platforms.
If you want to not only make money around your 9-5 job, but make money during it, email lists are the way to do that.
Download the Opt-In That’s Built My List By The Thousands!
Here’s how to get started on building yours:
1- Get a CRM. CRMs (Customer Relations Managers) will house and manage your email list. That’s where you’ll store subscribers, draft and send emails, and create automations.
2- Build an opt-in. This is a free piece of content that you’ll send out to your subscribers in exchange for their email addresses. This piece of content should be closely related to your overall side hustle and give people a taste of what you do!
3- Start emailing! It surprises me how often I see people build email lists, but then just allow those valuable emails to sit there, without any interaction! Connect and communicate with your list.
4- Sell (when you’re ready). You’ll have a much easier time selling anything- your graphic design services, your health coaching, your new book, an affiliate product, an Ebook… You name it, to a list of your subscribers than to random people on social media or your website, especially because whatever your selling will help them (we know this because you’re super opt-in was related to your work, so they’re already familiar). Woohoo!
5- Believe. You have to believe that your hard work will pay off, that you have what it takes, and that your goals are achievable before others will. Keep your faith strong and your actions will follow suit.