How to Not Lose $1,000

TO: folks that still haven’t started their email list, or are bummed at their “low” subscriber count:
SUBJECT: What’s the best way to learn how to not lose $1,000?

Lose $1,000.

In 2010, before I left NYC with just my bike and the stuff I carried in my messenger bag, I read a lot of “how to be a minimalist” articles and watched a lot of videos.

But I eventually had to put my bed frame on the sidewalk, lock the door behind me, and ride from Williamsburg in Brooklyn to East Rutherford, NJ by way of the George Washington Bridge on a single speed bike with directions written on folded paper.

You gotta lock the door behind you and just do the thing.

There’s always another YouTube video to watch. Another article. But eventually you’ve got to take the first step.

Jump and pray, like my friend Jocelyn says.

Because locking the door behind you is the easy part.

Buying the cool notebook is the easy part.
Signing up for TikTok.
Starting a SquareSpace site.
Going to the gym once.

That’s easy shit.

Now the hard part. The resistance. The pain. The uphill struggle.

Just remember – you’re spending HOURS a day on social media. Week in, and week out. Of course that’s why you have a few thousand followers.

So don’t expect to send one email per month and get a hundred subscribers in a day. Growing your list is hard, which is why I recommend you send something every single week.

The faster you learn what works for your fans, the faster you lean into that.

Last week I gave you a pretty solid strategy on what to actually put in your emails:

Even if your fans do follow you on Twitter, chances are 70% of them won’t see your post because of ALGORITHMS.

Summary: sure, keep posting on socials. Then take what “works,” the stuff that resonates, and gets your followers engaged, start putting some of that into your email list.

Even if you post just once a week on one of the social media channels, you should send that to your email list, too. Build trust. Build community.

Don’t just email when you got something for sale.

Tell some stories, spill your guts, go on a rant, include a playlist – whatever.

Or… just keep shoveling all your “content” into the constantly running social media wood chipper and (hopefully) increase your chances of any of it being seen by your fans.

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TO: folks who already have an e-commerce store
SUBJECT: Automations will make you money while you sleep (or watch Netflix)

From Mailchimp: “We’ve found that product follow-up emails get 5 times more orders than bulk emails.”

Think about that – you spend the day crafting the perfect email campaign, hyping your latest drop, and an automated email sent two days later might lead to more orders.

Klaviyo has nice “Browse and cart abandonment” and “Back in stock” automations (among others), which integrate super well with Shopify.

The point here being that sending a gentle nudge to a potential customer can put more money in your bank account. That person looking at your deluxe edition bundle? You can automate and send an email to them a few days later if they don’t order right away.

IT’S OKAY TO NUDGE.

Will some people unsubscribe? Sure. Will more people order something? Probably. But you won’t know until you start trying it out for yourself. Don’t write off automations like this just because you don’t like them. They exist because they work!