From Heyyyyyy to Happily Ever After: Build Trust + Sales Through Email Without Feeling Salesy - Lynley Hipps

Website: lynleyhipps.com

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00:00 Hey there i'm Lynley Hipps. I'm an email marketing specialist, and I help entrepreneurs and creatives create real, meaningful relationships with their subscribers through email marketing. And today I want to share with you a super relatable way that you can easily figure out where you are with your email, marketing where you're going with your email marketing and how to get there. So welcome to from Hey to happily ever after.  

00:29 First of all, why email marketing in the 1st place, right well, email marketing is truly all about building relationships and trust. That is the primary goal of email marketing. It's not brand awareness it's not making sales, although those things are nice side benefits from building that trust. And why is that? Because really, people don't spend their money on or with brands or companies or people that they don't trust. Pure and simple, hard earned money not going to throw it away on somebody who doesn't know their stuff. Now when we make that connection, when we create a situation where our subscribers trust us, where they want to buy from us, this is the ideal this is where we want to be, but it doesn't happen through one DM or through just one real right it happens through repeated personal feeling contact, and that is what a lot of people know as parasocial relationships.  

01:37 You can kind of think of social media as like the bar scene. I mean like in a positive way, don't mean it like rude, but that's where you go to meet these people. And then email marketing is where you go to really get to know someone. And the fact that email still is has the highest ROI of any marketing channel, it's probably going to pan out pretty well for you. So one of the things we need to do is we need to think differently about how we approach email marketing. It's not just one more marketing channel that we have to make sure that we do every day or every week or every month.  

02:16 And if we treat it like that, we're probably going to be pretty disappointed in our results. Most companies, I'm looking at you Old Navy, treat email marketing like a giant megaphone. The louder they are, the more emails they send, the more you'll come to their stores and spend money, right? But that is not how a lot of us, especially small businesses, really want to work. Let's turn email marketing into a conversation, an opportunity to get to know our subscribers, to understand what they need, what they want, what they're looking for, maybe what they don't even know that they want, so we can serve them with our knowledge, our expertise, our offers and our services.  

02:59 So today I'm going to teach you about a framework and why a framework? Well, I love a good framework because let's imagine that I just handed you a map. Remember those printed things were that we used to use before GPS. If I handed you a map and I just said go, you'd probably have a lot of questions for me, right? You would probably never get there if you didn't ask some of those questions. Because if you don't know where you're going and you don't know where you are to begin with, you don't know how to get there. And that's why it's so important to have a framework to help you figure out what you're doing with email marketing.  

03:37 It helps keep you on track and it helps you know what is the right next step for me to take because that's the one you need to focus on. If you are trying to do the things in a later phase before you've mastered things in an earlier phase, you're probably going to end up overwhelmed and probably burned up. So let's focus on where you are now and what the right next step is so that you can feel like you're making progress, you can build that momentum, and you can feel that those relationships starting to come through.  

04:10 So this is what I call my inbox intimacy framework. And basically inbox intimacy is all about where you are in your email marketing journey, your relationship with your list. But it also helps you figure out what to say to your list, how to communicate with them and, and the the technical side of how to do that so you can deepen your relationship with them. And those deeper relationships are what lead to the sales, the raving fans, the the referrals, et cetera. So phase one is flirting. And when you're in this phase, you very well may not even be sure where to start with email marketing you may be just dipping your toe into the email marketing wire, and that's totally fine.  

04:58 This process can feel very overwhelming, especially if you don't have a framework. So if you've been procrastinating or if you maybe even you, you think you, you're not a good writer so you're like, I don't want to have to write an email every week or every two weeks that seems like torture. I totally understand. This is the point where you need to start really thinking about these questions.  

05:22 How do you decide on a platform what platform are you going to use? We'll talk about that in a second. But also, can I even do this it was, is anybody going to read my emails? Does anybody have any care in the world about what I have to say? The answer is yes. And this process will help you figure out what to say so you can help start serving them better. All of this totally normal in phase one.  

05:48 Phase one feels like it's it, it feels kind of weird it feels kind of unsure, it feels kind of exciting all at the same time, right? And when you're in phase one in the flirting phase, you really need to figure out what your first step is. If you don't have an email marketing platform yet, that's a great first step. Now you might have an email marketing platform that you maybe haven't done anything with, which is also totally normal. But the goal here is to pick out a platform and create your account and get it ready for sending.  

06:24 Now this feels like choosing someone for marriage it we are not there yet, this we're still just learning here. So you are really just looking at who am I interested in? What are my priorities, right what are the things that I'm really interesting, interested in in an email marketing platform? It's not rocket science. There are approximately 11 billion platforms out there, and I promise you, none of them have it all.  

06:51 None of them are perfect. They're going to be some red flags every once in a while, right? Don't look for the perfect solution. Weigh the pros and cons. Settle on one that will work for you, where you are now, and will give you some room to grow. Create your account. Set it up based on however your that platforms documentation or maybe their support. How did you do it and get ready for sending your first email. Now that's a huge first step right there because none of the rest of this is going to happen until you have accomplished those two things.  

07:29 But we're not done with Phase 1 yet. Now we need to figure out how to get people on to our email list. And that's where an opt in form like a pop up on your website or even just a landing page to collect email addresses and consent is really going to come in. If you already have a lead magnet, fantastic, you're a step ahead of the game. If you don't, that is totally fine too. This can just be an opt in form that encourages them to opt into your email, list sign up for my newsletter, etcetera. It may not be as compelling as a lead magnet, but it's a great first step.  

08:14 The next thing we're going to do is we're going to tap into all of those wonderful people in your life who have said let me know how I can help you with your business. This is where we're going to build our list to at least our first 15 or 20 subscribers. This is when you start calling in the favors of your mom, your dad, your spouse, your child, all those email accounts that you still have from like you know, when you were in college or even before and like your email address was meow lynn seven at hotmail dot com or something like that. We want to build our email list so we have someone to email.  

08:54 And if you know those people personally, it's a lot easier to go, Mom, please go check your email. And then that email I just sent you, would you click the link or would you hit reply and just say hello? That is going to start warming up your domain and it's going to start telling the inbox providers, the Gmail's the Yahoo's Outlooks that people want to receive emails from you.  

09:16 This is going to be absolutely essential. The larger list gets, So let's start with friends, let's start with family, and then finally, let's write and send a simple welcome message. Even if it's only a once a one time thing, right even if it's not in an automation yet. So the flirting phase is a really important phase in email marketing because it's where we all start. We aren't born with an email marketing account right? So this is where we need to start. But pretty soon we're going to move into the just talking phase this is Phase 2 and in the just talking phase, this is where we're going to really start focusing on getting to know our audience, figuring out how we can serve them better.  

10:04 In the just talking phase you might be kind of that that nervous sighted, like, Oh my gosh, I'm starting to grow my list, but I'm I'm really excited about it too, because I think there's a lot of opportunity, right? You may be curious about what other people are doing in their email list you may start paying attention to the emails that you receive from other people. I am absolutely a student of other people's email lists and other people email other people 's email strategies. But you also may still be really nervous, at a loss for words you may not know what to say you might not be exactly sure can can I do this every single week? Can I do this every single day? You don't need to email every single day.  

10:47 Don't even put that idea in your head just yet. When you're in the just talking phase, your emails are probably going to be inconsistent, just like talking to somebody new might be a little inconsistent. All right? You're not at the, you may not be at the point now where you know you're sending emails at three in the morning because you're just so excited to tell them something, right? The conversation might not be flowing super smoothly just yet, but that will change as you move through the the just talking face.  

11:22 So what does phase two look like what are we doing in phase two? This is really the point at which you need to start thinking about if you don't have one already, creating some sort of lead magnet and a lead magnet is exactly what it sounds like it is an some kind of freebie, some kind of valuable freebie that you offer to attract your ideal customer, your leads to you by offering them this fantastic freebie in exchange for their email address.  

11:50 Now, in order to make this as easy as possible for you, you'll need to set up a basic to email delivery automation to deliver that lead magnet. You'll want to be working on a welcome sequence to fully invite and welcome that subscriber into your world, etcetera. Now that does not need to be a 20 email welcome sequence. It can be a 2 email welcome sequence right now if that's what works for you. This is absolutely a done, it's better than perfect situation here.  

12:19 You could always go back and tweak, but if you don't have something done, then there's nothing to tweak. So you'll also want to focus in this phase on growing your email list. Now, this is the part that I think a lot of people struggle with because we can spend all kinds of time creating this beautiful lead magnet and setting up this beautiful lead magnet funnel.  

12:41 And if we don't tell people about it, our email list is not going to burn. So this is the point where you really need to start sharing your lead magnet opt in link on social media, put it in your BIOS, put it in your email, signature make it, AIG story highlight, talk about it in a real do all the things that you need to do to get your some visibility to your lead magnet. It needs its own visibility strategy at this point, and that is super important.  

13:14 The other thing is while you're doing all this, ideally people are going to be signing up for your lead magnet, so we want to be emailing them every once in a while. If you aren't to the point where you can be consistent every week, that's OK, but over the next 6 to 8 weeks, send 3 to 4 emails if you can get into that groove and then start figuring out what they like, what they don't like, what they respond to, what they don't respond to.  

13:44 All of this is just going to help you as you move into phase three. You ready for phase three? Let's do this. Phase 3 is the getting serious phase this is the meeting the friends and family phase, right this is the you have a drawer at their place and your toothbrushes in their bathroom, right? This is a pretty big deal and with with the flirting and just talking phases, you might kind of float between these phases for a while. You might see some momentum and then you might lose some momentum and then you might get some momentum back, right.  

14:19 But in because we really don't like business in general is not linear. As you probably have figured out already, this, this is not necessarily a linear process either, but the goal is to to be moving towards whatever that next phase is. And in this getting serious phase, we're really going to focus on getting comfortable with our list, being authentic, sharing stories, not necessarily sharing all of our dirty laundry, but not being afraid to share who we really are and some of our struggles.  

14:57 And you know some of the things that that we're dealing with because it is that level of of vulnerability that is going to really build that basis of trust. And that's what happens in this space. You start trusting your list and your list starts trusting you. You're making offers, you're seeing some sales, which is super exciting, but you're also getting more confident in this whole process. You're trying new strategies, you're asking them for engagement, you are following up with them based on, you know, what they, what they do, what they say, what they reply, etcetera. And you might even be looking forward to writing to your list about things that inspire you out in the world, like when you get a new pair of pyjamas and and you find a marketing lesson in them.  

15:49 You never know where inspiration can come from. So this is the part at the the point at which you are you are email is becoming less of a hassle and more about like something that you want to like send to your group text thread, right? That is how your email list starts to feel like it feels like a group of friends that you have something funny or interesting or enlightening to share.  

16:19 And when you're in phase three, this is where you really focus on growing your list, twenty five fifty seventy five subscribers over the last over the next two to three months, collaborate with new somebody new this quarter, right consistently emailing your list. It doesn't necessarily have to be on the same day at the same time every week, but it's a great goal watching for replies, looking at who's clicking that you're getting clicks, right replying to those replies, sending soft pitches or sales emails at least once a month, and sharing your lead magnet as often as you can on social, in your blog articles, when your guest a guest, you're a guest on a podcast all of those things are ways for you to get in front of new audiences.  

17:11 And in the getting serious phase, you're getting front of in front of new audiences so that you can help serve them better.  

17:21 Because you know what's coming next right now that we've been getting serious, it is time for that long term love we are hearing wedding bells and we are getting ready to purchase a house together, metaphorically Speaking, of course. So in the in phase 4, the long term love phase is really where your email list starts making you money on autopilot. You're seeing that consistent ROI and you are a fan and you want to do you want to see more of that ROI? You might be looking for ways to scale your email list, growth building systems, curating customer journeys so that your new subscribers really feel like you understand them and where they are and where they are trying to get.  

18:06 Segmenting your list, customizing your messaging to certain segments based on their behaviors or their interests right? This is where email marketing really can get fun because you can have fun with it because you have set in place all of the frameworks and the processes and you're more comfortable in it so that you're not feeling like you're on shaky ground anymore. This is where you become comfortable.  

18:37 And in phase 4 is where you really start looking at scaling with systems in heart. So this is where you're going to start paying attention to what is working and what is not. This is not throwing spaghetti at the wall and see what see what sticks. This is intentionally adding a new lead magnet, seeing how your audience responds. And then if they don't right, you'll be focusing on visibility. Maybe if we're running paid ads to your lead magnet, maybe you're hosting your own master classes or putting together a summit on your own.  

19:15 Maybe you're trying different formats of lead magnets like an interactive quiz or you know the first lesson of your course. There's so many different ways that we can grow our email lists and we have to figure out what is going to work. But in the the long term love phase, you're not just trying everything, you are trying very specific strategies with intention. You're keeping the spark alive and you're making it more fun.  

19:47 And you're still continuing to get to know these amazing people on your email list. Phase 4 is really about refining and tweaking and not perfecting because that's not possible, but but really polishing your processes. But all of this takes time and tension and creativity. So don't let this, don't let your relationships in this phase just kind of on there. Don't leave them to their own devices you have to still stay engaged you have to still stay. Involved in what's going on with your phase four with your long term love with your email list so you can continue to grow and serve and sell.  

20:36 So these are, these phases are really they're, they're really important for you, but I don't want you to feel like you're getting stuck in any one of these phases because like I said, this is really less of a, of a line and more of a cycle, right? So what we want to do is we want to figure out what happens in each phase, which we've talked about. And then how do you know when you're ready to move to the next phase? When you are ready to move to the next phase, you're likely consistently meeting the goals of the current phase for a considerable amount of time, right each phase is going to have its own sort of natural tipping point.  

21:20 You'll know it's time to level up you'll feel it coming, but you know you're not. You're not hitting perfection. Again, not possible, but you're feeling confident with what you're doing and the things that you're starting to notice are the things that you want to try next time, right you're asking questions that sort of belong in the next phase. You're thinking things like how do how do I segment my list? Even if you're not in, they serve you for it just yet, right? And these are all great signs that you are starting to get ready to move to the next phase.  

21:55 So how do you know what phase you're in? Well, if you haven't already, please take a second to grab the Inbox Intimacy Guide. The link should be below this video, and it's on the next slide as well. And in that guide, you will find a checklist and that checklist will allow you to kind of go through and check off all the things that you have done already. And you might see that you have checks in different phases, and that's totally normal. But wherever most of your checks are is probably about where you are. So, and again, this is not meant to limit you to box you in it is to help give you a set of rails to stay on so you know what to do next.  

22:38 Then in the next section, figure out what you're going to do next. Really figure out your priorities. What do you need to do to fulfill your current phase and move on to the next phase? You're going to have some overlap and that's totally fine, but that doesn't mean that what you are currently doing can't change. So you can get the inbox intimacy guide again at the link below, but also you can go to lindley hips dot com slash intimacy and check it out as well. It also includes a number of prompts for emails that you can send at each of the different phases.  

23:16 So you know sort of what the focus is and what the the feeling is, how you can start getting into that process of regularly, consistently emailing your list so you can grow that that relationship, grow that trust and really create a bond with your subscribers and that bond will not only lead to that that trust and that intimacy, but it will lead to sales, repeat sales and referrals, growth, etcetera. I want to leave you with this remember that relationships take work and your email list is no different. Listen to your subscribers, both what they say and what they do. Pay attention to their actions.  

23:59 Keep trying new things and don't get complacent. Keep working at it because your email list will absolutely work for you. Thank you so much for joining me today for From Hey to Happily ever after and again, my name is Lindley Hips. Please find me on social media i'm the only Lindley Hips out there so I'm pretty easy to find and if I can ever help with anything email marketing related, I would be honored so please don't hesitate to reach out.  

24:29 Thanks so much and enjoy the rest of your series.