42: Effortless Email Marketing: Turn Followers into Customers Without the Headache

Hi, I'm Lydia. In 2020, I resigned from my corporate job and took a big leap of faith. I launched a business I had been dreaming about for a long time. I had so many questions when I first started and zero people on my email list. But I was committed to one thing. Taking massive imperfect action. Within 18 months, I had thousands of students in my courses and coaching programs and was able to retire my husband from his 30 year career through to work with me. I'm still pinching myself that we get to run a six figure business while living a life we love. But the truth is this overnight success did not happen overnight. For more than two decades, I let imposter syndrome, fear of failure and perfectionism hold me back from my passions and purpose. What is it that you've been wanting to launch? In the Launch Perspective Podcast, we share the mindset and the step by step strategies that will help you launch and scale the online business of your dreams so you can live life with more freedom and impact. It's time for a new Perspective. Welcome to the show.

I am so excited for today's episode and thrilled to be welcoming email marketing powerhouse Liz Wilcox. If you're running an online business, you know how crucial email marketing is. But it is not always easy to create those connections through written words. Personally, I love connecting with people through video through my podcast because you all can see me, you can hear me, and I just find it so much more natural and easy to connect with people. But when it comes to writing emails that resonate, I definitely find it challenging and you may too. In fact, I think many entrepreneurs in my Ignite membership, they share with me that they're struggling, right? Like what do I write, how do I write content quickly and most importantly, how do I turn those leads into paying customers? So that's why I invited our very special guest for today. Now, some of you may be Survivor fans and if you are, you're going to recognize my guest because Liz was a contestant on Survivor this past year. She made it to day 25 and may not have outlasted everyone, but let me tell you, when it comes to email marketing, she is a total champ. You're going to love her and today she's going to help us build an audience that actually buys with no alliances required, which is really exciting. So Liz, thanks so much for joining today. I am so thrilled that you're here.

Oh my gosh, what a fun intro. Lydia is the best. If you are listening, stop right now. Five star review because, wow, this lady's got it going. On already. And we're just starting. Thank you for having me.

I'm so excited. I know. You know, I work with so many entrepreneurs who have email questions, and I am just so curious about your backstory. Like, did you wake up one day and you're like, I just love writing emails? Or like, how did it even come about that you realized the power of email marketing? And how did you just say, this is my passion?

Yeah, so I actually started as an RV travel blogger, but I wasn't the typical blogger where, you know, I was just writing because I was so excited. I wanted to make money. So I was listening to, you know, shows like this one, going to webinars and everybody and their mother was saying, you know, I wish I would have taken my email marketing more seriously from the beginning. Or I do all of this so I can get people on my email list. Right? And you know, mama didn't raise no fool. I'm nothing if not efficient. I said, hmm, I think everybody wants me to do email marketing. So I started the travel blog at the same time as I started my email list. That was the same day. And I just started emailing weekly, you know, taking the advice people give you. Started creating my own digital products, emailing, selling them. And eventually I launched the Big Daddy. Right, the the digital course everybody and their mother tells you to do. And I had 141 people on my wait list. And by the time I did the cart close, I had 141 sales. So yeah, Lydia's face says it all. Holy crap, that's crazy.

Like a said conversion rate. What?

Yeah, which I didn't know was crazy. I didn't come from a digital marketing background. I was a teacher before I started my business. So I just thought, yeah, of course, you know, like, as a teacher, you want everyone to succeed. You know, you want to pull out all the stops for each and every one of your students. In my case, with this, it was, you know, making sure each and every person that indicated interest got all the questions they needed answered in order to make a buying decision. And yeah, word got around about that. Like, how did she do that? What? You know, let me see the receipts. And eventually I just knew. Oh, wow. Not only do I love email, I love writing my customers and, you know, email list. I'm actually really good at it. Oh, okay. And that's when I knew I needed to sell that blog and go all in on email marketing.

I love it. So your story is pretty incredible because I feel like I have worked with a lot of people and really struggled with this myself. We didn't quite see the results like you did from our emails. What is it that you think holds people back from getting results from their email marketing?

Yeah, I think, honestly, and I know this is like eye roll answer, but overthinking. We listen to a lot of webinars, we take all these courses, and we spend a lot time of too much time, you know, consuming or trying to get it right rather than just taking action. For me, it was just, oh, I can write an email once a week. That's easy. I didn't go out and read blog posts. I didn't search how to write an email newsletter. I just did it. So I spent years, you know, refining my process, learning how to speak to my ideal client, learning who my ideal client was. It wasn't that I did a bunch of worksheets on who I wanted to talk to. It was just more about taking action, of finding people to join my list, getting to know them, actually talking to them in the inbox, spending more time in the inbox talking to people than learning how to talk to people.

So this is so funny. So my podcast, I've named the Launch Perspective because I truly believe that you have to launch to learn. And it comes back to that whole concept of taking imperfect action because nothing moves forward if you don't take action. And I think overthinking is, like you said, truly one of the biggest things that holds people back. I know for me, I've spent hours writing one email before. Hours. Because I'm in my head so much. No, I need to say it this way. Should I say it this way? And I think you're right. We have to stop. We just. I have so adopted the mantra. Lydia, it's good enough. Just hit send.

Yes, here. Send. I love that I need T shirts.

Send.

It's so true. I mean, even, like, if you're just listening and you're not watching, you can see, like, I've got this striped shirt and this black hat, y'. All. This is the first time I'm seeing myself, and I'm like, oh, I look like a. I look like a burglar. I need to change my hat. And guess what? I have another live coming up in about an hour. And guess what? I will not be wearing this hat. And maybe during that event, I will be like, oh, well, maybe I shouldn't. Maybe I should change my shirt, because I have a third live that I'm doing today. And maybe by that third live, I'll get the outfit Right, right. But I'm not overthinking it. I'm just, oh, I have this call with Lydia. Let's go. And then the second I came on the screen, I was like, well, that's not exactly how I want to look today. But whatever, we're here, we're doing it, so we're doing is.

And honestly, I just feel like people want authenticity and they want you to be genuine. They don't want perfect. And we're. We're thinking in our head. They're analyzing everything. But it is so funny. I'm literally like, I would not have thought burglar. Now you said it with the shirt. Now I'm going to think burglar less.

Right? It's. It's giving HAMBURGLAR, it's getting McDonald's in the 90. But y', all, it just goes to prove, you know, just don't overthink it. You know, we. We were talking about, like, just go live. Like, just hit send. You know, it might not be the perfect email, and guess what? It probably isn't. But guess what? When you're first starting out, hardly anyone's reading anyway. So just make the mistakes. Get. Get that rusty tin can man out of there. And then by the time you've actually built an audience, you know how you want to show up online, you know how you want to show up in your emails, that's when you'll actually have the audience and they'll love everything you send.

It's so true. Because in the beginning, like, truly, no one is looking at anything as closely as we are. And so that's where, like, you just have to let that overthinking go. And you doing it is increasing that muscle memory and that ability to make decisions, take action, and move faster. And that is gold. And that's. I just love what you're sharing here. And I know you teach this really simple thing called an email staircase. And I. I love simple. So as a teacher, somebody who loves to make hard things very, very simple and systematic, will you just tell everybody what the email staircase is and why it works so well?

So the email staircase is just my framework on how emails work. So first you have a follower, then you have a friend, then a customer. That's the staircase we're climbing. So the follower is, you know, you do an event like this, or you write a guest blog, or somebody finds you on social, right? They're now your follower. Get them on your email list, and once they're on your email list, try to turn them into a friend. Someone like we just said, you know, that gets excited when you send emails, wants to open everything, wants to read everything. And once you have a list full of friends, you know people that you know how to talk to them, they respond to you. You can have a list full of customers because people buy from people they trust. And who do they trust more than their friends? Right? You're going to be able to, because you're interacting, you're seeing engagement in your list. You're going to be able to not only hone in on the messaging of your offers, but create offers that they want. For example, my first product was a book about poop. It was called Tales from the Black Tank. The black tank is where your sewage goes in your rv. I never would have written that book. I actually don't like potty humor that much. But people said, liz, you are really funny and you can tell a good story. That's why we follow you. So I actually created the offer after they told me, my email friends told me what they liked about me. So my first offer was that funny book of stories, right? Um, and so again, like finding followers, getting visible, getting them on your list, turning them into friends, and then turning them into customers because you know what the heck they want.

So good and so simple. And this, this I think is one of the reasons that holds people back too. They think, well, I have to create this super long email sequence, like a welcome sequence, for example. And until I've written this really long email sequence that fits in this super fancy funnel, I'm just not going to send anything. Like it has to be perfect or it has to be right or it has to have all the elements before I can move forward. So what are your thoughts about that? And how can people simplify? And what alternative is there if we're not going to write this super fancy funnel email sequence?

First of all, how the heck do you know what's going to be in your funnel if you've never sold anything? Like a funnel only works when you have a proven product, when you have a proven process, right? It's only after you've launched a few times that you know how to talk about your offer, what to write, what not to write, what objections to address head on, and which ones you know, need a little more, you know, what's the word I'm looking for, Lydia? Help me. A little more substance. They need. They need up to funnel, right? Some things will sell quickly, other things need. People need time. But you won't know that until you start emailing, until you Start selling. So a simple alternative. What I say is like email is just really made of three things. Number one, that welcome sequence. But no, it doesn't have to be this long drown out thing. It can just be three, four emails where you set expectations, you tell people what's to come, you share a little bit of personality and the vision you have for those potential clients and students, right? That's what the welcome sequence is all about. It's the same way as when Lydia starts her podcast. She says, oh, this is what we're going to talk about today. This is where we're going. This is who we're talking to. This is their expertise. She's setting us up for success. She's letting us know what's about to happen. That's what the welcome sequence is. The second thing is just newsletters. We've already talked about these. These are, you know, mostly weekly emails that are sent out live, right? This isn't a funnel or anything with, you know, tips, tricks, little content pieces, things of value, also little connections, right? Let's start the friendship, right, with the newsletters. And so you're sharing, you know, how you're investing in your business, how you're investing in them, the things you're creating, et cetera. And then this is the part where most people skip or they wait too long. Sales, right? There are sales emails, and this is very important, otherwise you're never going to make money, right? So we've got the welcome sequence, we've got newsletters, and then we need to sprinkle in sales. So you can do this in your newsletters, you can soft pitch something. Let's say I wrote an email about your welcome sequence. What needs to be in it? Why is this important? And then at the end I can say, oh, by the way, I've got this 50 welcome sequence workshop. You know, no big deal, but if you're ready to actually write it, here you go. That's a soft pitch, right? The email really isn't about the workshop, it's about the content of the workshop, right? So mastering the art of the soft pitch. And then if you're watching, you can see I've got the calendar behind me. It is your job to decide when to sell, right? So I really recommend you don't need a whole year, but look at the next 30, 60, 90 days. What do you want to launch? What do you need to do before, during and after that launch? Put some dates on the calendar, babe. There. It's not just going to be the perfect time to launch. You need to know when to launch and it's up to you. So for example, me, I like to launch. I like a birthday launch around my birthday because that's fun. I like a Christmas in July sale because that's fun. And I like Black Friday because that's the biggest shopping day of the year. So my entire year is mapped out around those three dates and I sprinkle everything else in around those sales events.

I love it because so I definitely teach launching as a launch strategist. And so I actually find those emails easier to write than my weekly content, believe it or not. Like I am all about the launch. I love launching. I love picking the dates, seeing the vision of where everything should go. And it makes sense for me when I'm launching, what email should go out. And then I get to my weekly newsletter and it's like blank page. What do I say right now? Because like, I like launching because there's like, you know where you're headed, right? And so I would love to hear any tips on how to make the weekly content more manageable and more fun to do. Isn't going to be fun, Liz.

It can be fun. Just remember this is just a touch point. You're just, you're just connecting with those potential clients and students. And if you want your launch to do well, then you know, you've got to keep connecting with them. And so if you want it to be fun, well, what would be fun to share. It doesn't always have to be your content or your ideas, right? You can share. Oh, I saw this TikTok and thought of you. You know, here's the latest blog post. Like for example, even in my Facebook group today I shared another Facebook post I saw from Social Media examiner talking about AI and the future of Google. And I, I said, you know, what are your thoughts? Discuss. That post is going crazy right now. There's, within five minutes there's already like 10 comments. That's not my content. That's just something I thought was relevant to the both of us, right? To myself as a business owner and to my customers. So think about, you know, what is relevant to you and yours, right? Remember we're making friends in the inbox. So friends share other information, right? They discuss things, they engage with each other. As far as like every single week. What I want you to do is just write your newsletter in 20 minutes or less. I know Lydia said sometimes it takes her hours. She's rolling her eyes right now, but I'm about to give her and you a 20 minute framework so first a greeting, you know, hey, Lydia. And then just a two to three sentence personal update. So this varies from, you know, a lot of email marketers will tell you to tell stories. I say leave the stories for launching. You know, Lydia can help you with that. But during the week, you know, just get in there, get to the point and get out. Right? It's a newsletter, not a novel. So just a personal update. Two to three sentences about something you've done since the last time you emailed. This is going to help them see you're invested. It's going to help you become relatable, and it's going to make you writing the email a lot easier. So it might be. Oh, you know, I bought a new podcast mic. I learned that I need to invest in better lighting when someone said, you know, I got on video and I was too dark. My fridge broke, I took my dog for a walk. I've got to hurry writing this newsletter because I've got carpool in 10 minutes. You know, just those little personal updates and then segue into the content. Whether you've got a new blog post, a new podcast, you're going live on YouTube later, whatever it is, you know, even someone else's content, just segue and put that content and share why you want them to take a look. Hey, I saw this. I thought it was really funny. I think you might too, because we both are dog lovers. You know, check it out here. And I know, Lydia, I said the word segue and I know it's like, ah, I'm not a writer. How do I segue from talking about walking my dog to my blog post that had nothing to do with that? Well, my friends, ladies and gents, just hit that caps lock and type in the word. Anyway, what I really wanted to tell you about today is my new blog post. I'm going live today at 2pm you know this calendar I found on Amazon that I think everyone should buy just super, super easy, right?

Okay, that is my favorite tip of the year. It is hard sometimes to think you're really documenting what you're doing. It's not just informing them about things, it's sharing and bringing them into an experience. But I'm like, it is so weird to then move into, oh, now check out this thing.

Yeah, I literally. So I've got my phone on my ear right now. So, like, if Lydia and I were just on the phone and, oh, how are you doing? Oh, you know, I just took the dog for a walk. Uh, you know, Fido, of course, he Got off his leash. I had to run. And then your friend goes, yeah, you know, oh, I don't know why you still have that dog. And then you say, anyway, I'm calling about tonight. I can't make the meeting. That's literally how you talk on the phone, right? It's not like we have to have this beautiful, you know. And while I was running towards Fido, I realized I can't run towards the meeting today. Like, that's awkward. That's not how we talk. You know, this is a newsletter, not a novel. So just get to the point.

And I love that too. It's a newsletter, not a novel. Sometimes less is definitely more.

Amen. Listen, listen. The last thing I'll say about that is if you don't have time to write your email, chances are people don't have time to read it. So again, just get in there, get to the point and get out. That's a real respect thing that you're doing in the inbox. And so that when you go to get Lydia's help with launching, when you go to write those launch emails that tend to be a little longer, they will know that it is important because you tend to just get to the point and now you're sharing some details. It will be this pattern interrupt in the best way that will get people to pay better attention to you.

Well, see, and this is why I find this so helpful because like, I shared in the intro, I feel like I can connect so easily with people on video and even in audio, right? When they're hearing the reflection of your voice and they're seeing your energy, it's like they have that, that connection. It's so much easier for people to transition from, hey, I just met you online to oh, I really want to learn about your stuff. So, like, is there anything else we couldn't do in emails, in written word, if that's challenging for us to improve that connection so that they really do trust and are ready to be receptive to buying.

So I've got two things. Number one, consistency. I know it's hard, but you really gotta be consistent, right? The same way, if you are like Lydia, you have this outward content, you have a podcast or a YouTube channel, a live stream, something like that, that's very consistent, that helps build trust. You've got to do the same thing with email. If you email today and then you wait until Christmas Eve to email, you know, you're not really going to get many places. Right. The second thing, to Lydia's point of, oh, if they can hear my voice if they can see me. That builds trust quickly. That's so true. So add those in your emails. Things like gifs or gifs, however you want to pronounce it. I make my own and so people can see my face right off the bat. It's, it's a personal brand recognition. Right? You could also use other GIFs, like for example, I'm a huge fan of, you guessed it, Survivor. So I use a lot of survivor gifs and people know that, you know, oh, that's Liz's thing, right? Even before I was on the show I used that kind of stuff. And then you can also put pictures. I wouldn't say put a picture. You know, you don't need it in every email, but especially in the welcome sequence, especially in pre launch or launch emails, you know, putting pictures of even, you know, like a little selfie of you working at your computer writing the sales page or you know, if you maybe you're an E commerce brand, you know, a picture of you making your bracelets, things like that, you know, the visuals, to Lydia's point are very, very important in gaining that trust quickly. Also something that I love is Loom.

Com.

It's a little extension on Google Chrome where you can just make videos. I send Loom videos all the time, whether it's to my actual email list, like in the newsletter. If I'm like, oh, hey, here's some ideas for subject lines and then, oh, here's a video of me explaining it in case, you know, you, you do better with audio. And I'll just, you know, quick two minute video of me reading the newsletter or something like that. I also do it when people hit reply to me. So let's say I send an email out about subject lines and somebody replies, oh, but I still struggle, you know, instead of just typing out an answer, I'll just click that Chrome extension loom video and I'll make a video. Oh Lydia, that's a great question. You know, I, I took a look, I could see your website. This is kind of how I see you writing subject lines. Or let me show you my top three performing subject lines in the last few days and I'll let you know why I think they performed and you know, I'll even show you one that didn't and what I would change about it. And making that video is like, oh my gosh, like Lydia's eyeballs are so big because it's so like, it's so out of the norm that it's going to hit so well, with your people, it's powerful.

So I. Loom is so awesome for that and for a lot of my audience they know I use descript and descript has something called Quick Recordings which is very similar to Loom. And so I, it's, you're right, it's so easy. I just will pull up to script, hit record and in right afterwards. Not even, there's not even a wait like it has transcribed what I've said. I have a video, I have a link and I send it to them. It's so powerful. Cuz you're right, that, that personal touch. But I, I wasn't even thinking like using them from an email. I'm usually sending them to an email of like a YouTube video or something like that. But you're right. Even just a quick little thing you want to say, how easy would that be? So it adds the live element with the written word. I love it.

Yeah, absolutely. And even if you know, like a regular newsletter or let's say, you know, you're doing a soft pitch with a newsletter of, for that welcome Sequence workshop. Right. And I say, oh by the way, I've got this welcome Sequence workshop if you want to check it out. $49. If you're more of a visual person, let me just show you the slides. And then it would be a video, you know, you link. Let me just show you the slides and it's a video of you. Here's the first slide. Oh, wait until we get to the middle. Da da da da da. And that will really, really help you succeed in the inbox.

So good. So I have been a part of your email membership for a while now and it's amazing. I hate starting from a blank page. So I love starting with your ideas. You have concepts for pretty much every type of email you would ever need to write inside your membership. And the most amazing part about your membership is that it costs the same as a venti drink at Starbucks.

Amen.

So it is $9 a month everyone. And so valuable. I know Liz, you have that open all the time. In fact, I'd have a link like let's do this.

I'm a real entrepreneur.

This is my partner link. I love referring people to Liz inside her membership. For $9 a month you get access to so many resources. And for those of you who are listening, right before Black Friday, this is the month of November for us. As we're recording this, she does a special annual pass. It's $108 for an entire year of her membership with many Extra bonuses. So will you just take a minute and tell everybody about your membership, what you feel is most impactful and helpful for people and then just any heads up they need to know about the annual pass that's coming?

Yeah. So the membership is $9 a month and it answers that question like what the heck do I write? You know, Lydia and I talked a lot today about what to put in those newsletters, how to vary the content to keep it engaging. Even those little tips I was giving you about entering videos into your emails, all of that is within the membership. So the membership, every single week I send you a template for you to take and make your own. Sure, you can copy and paste it. You could paste it into ChatGPT to help you out, but I also give video walkthroughs. I give you two samples so you can actually see what the template looks like. And each week I'm doing all that marketing for you. You know, we talked about turning a follower into a friend. We talked about soft pitching, et cetera. That's baked into every single template that I give you. Every single template is designed to turn a follower into a friend. Every single video walkthrough that comes with the template tells you how you could turn this template into a soft pitch if you wanted to. There's also sales emails in there. There's an entire pre launch mini course which I know would pair well with what you're doing with Lydia as well as, you know, a course on list building because I know that's super, super important and some other things. That's $9 a month. Oh, and we do a live Q and A once a month which is super, super fun. That's $9 a month. But Lydia mentioned our annual pass that's offered just a few times a year. I mentioned those times earlier in and that's where you join for a year. $9 times 12 months, that's 108 bucks, right? You think, well what's the deal in that you actually get access to all my other products for free for that entire year. So where whether you are just starting out, you have nobody on your email list or you know, you've got a few thousand and you're ready to, oh maybe I am ready to dabble in that funnel. Lydia and Liz talked about earlier in the episode I've got you covered that welcome sequence workshop I talked about. There's a $500 course on launching in there. There's stuff on how to get your open and click rates up, you name it. When it comes to email. We've got it going on. And in 2025, we're going to have three list building challenges. So the entire year, you're going to be building your list as you send those weekly newsletters that I'm sending out. I'm so excited about it. It's going to be available November 25th through the 29th, five days only, and then it won't be open for another four months. So if you think, yes, 2025, that's the year for email marketing and me, you know, I'd love for you to consider the annual pass. And then of course, that $9 with the templates and the Q and A is always open.

Well, I'm gonna just put the link to my podcast here because if you're on my email list, which I hope you are, but if you're not already, maybe you're new to the podcast. If you go to launchperspective. Com, scroll all the way to the bottom, there is a way to get notified of future podcasts. It will put you on our email list. And if you're on my list, I will most definitely be sharing all the details about Liz's annual pass when Black Friday gets closer. So make sure you're on the list for. For that goodness. And then again, if you're listening to this, after Black Friday, you can still get in for $9 a month, which is a steal. So I'm excited that we shared that.

Thank you so much.

Yes. So I do want to ask one final question before we wrap up. So what is one lesson from Survivor? Your whole experience on Survivor that you think every entrepreneur could use in their email strategy.

So we talked a little bit earlier about taking action and letting go of that perfectionism, that, oh, my gosh, I gotta learn everything before I can do anything type of, type of thinking while out on Survivor. If you, if you haven't seen it, you can go. You can just Google Liz Survivor. It'll pop right up. I had a major meltdown. I was so hungry and I didn't get a food reward and I. I flipped out. There's no other way to describe it. I will fully own my temper tantrum. Well, what happened after the temper tantrum really taught me a lot about what I deserve. Everyone forgave me. Everyone said it was a completely normal response to an incredibly stressful moment in my life. And it actually endeared me to people. I became much closer to people after that. And I realized in that moment, as much as I give grace, you know, oh, they're Hungry. Oh, they don't know any better, et cetera. Oh, they're just having a bad day. As much as I give grace, I deserve grace as well. And when it comes to your business and even your email. Cause I know email can feel really stressful. As much as you give grace to other people, you deserve grace too. As much as you give grace when it comes to your clients or your students, Especially with an email, like, it's okay that you didn't feel a hundred percent confident about that email you just sent, or people unsubscribed, or your list isn't growing as fast as you'd like, or you haven't updated your welcome sequence in two years, or oh my gosh, I haven't even emailed in six months. I know you give grace to other people in and outside of your business. And you deserve grace too, babe.

Amen. That was awesome. That's so, so true. Like, how many times are people beating themselves up because they think, I didn't do this, I didn't do that? I have a lot of people that say, I haven't emailed my list in six months. I'm too embarrassed to even write to them. And I'm thinking, but what would you tell someone who hadn't written to you? Just write like a six month sob story on an apology on why you haven't written. Like, just write amen.

Oh my gosh. Please do not send an apology email. I say it with love. Nobody cares.

Nobody cares.

No. Nobody even noticed. Babe, there's no reason to apologize. Just. Just start. Yeah, right.

Just start. I love it. Liz, it has been such a pleasure chatting with you. Thanks for sharing with my audience. I just feel like there's so many golden nuggets that you shared today. I know this episode is going to really hit home for a lot of people. So thanks for being with us. I so appreciate it.

I can't wait to see what everyone does with email marketing. Thanks.

Thanks so much for joining me today on the Launch Perspective Podcast Podcast. Looking for more? Head over to launchperspective.com for show notes and quick links to the content and tools that we shared today. Want to stay up to date on new podcast episodes or ask a question.

That I answer on the show?

You can do this and more@launchperspective.com See you there.