Episode 082 - Goodbye Newsletter, Hello Audience

You know, you hear me talking a lot about content and content is still huge. I mean, it's one of the best ways, biggest ways, most important ways to get your message out to your audience. Today's guest is Mira Kaufman. She's an email marketing strategist and her website, MiraKaufman.com, is listed in the top 100 sites for solopreneurs in 2020, 2018, and 2017. And I'm so excited to share this conversation with you. Let's get started. Mira, thank you so much for being on the show today. When I read your bio, I was so excited to have you here because the topic that you cover, which is kind of looking at content in a different perspective, kind of breaking the misconceptions or what people have been misaligned with in creating content, email, and all that, you have a different perspective. Am I correct?

Yes, I do. Absolutely.

Excellent. So before we get into that, give me just a quick overview of, of who you are and what you bring to, to the, the marketing world.

Yeah. So I, I'm a consultant and I work with small business owners and entrepreneurs helping them to create intentional content that drives their message forward. But also to create content that cultivates a relationship with your audience. So for me, the content is not about how-to, but more about changing the stories that your audience tells themselves, which I hope we will kind of be diving into that in a lot more. But in a gist, this is what my zone of genius is and what I help my people with.

Excellent. Now you said two words in there that stood out to me was intentional content and then content that builds relationships. And I think that's key. Key, you know, where people need to focus. So let's dive in more of the intentional content. I know a lot of clients that I've worked with, they know they need to be making content. And a lot of them just make content because of that fact that I should be making it. And there's no really intent behind providing value in that, right?

Yeah, you're absolutely right. Because most of us, we think that content is just good practice. And we think that it's a nice to have, it's a must-have. But we don't really know how content can directly impact the growth of our business. We just don't, we're just not able to make that connection. So if you are, you know, kind of like sitting down, if someone is sitting down wondering, okay, I have to fill my calendar, I don't know, my editorial calendar is empty right now, what am I going to post? Then you already know you're kind of playing the losing game because you don't know what your business goals are, what you're trying to achieve with your business for this quarter or the next 6 months, and you're not thinking how content can help you get there because Ultimately, that's what you want to do. Your, your content is a bridge. It cannot exist in a vacuum. So, you know, you have to think, okay, what is this a bridge to? What am I trying to use content to achieve in my business? That's the key question.

Okay. Now, how do you go about like identifying the type of content that you should be creating?

So, um, for me, it's really about, um, really diving and peeling back the layers on, firstly, let's take a month or 3 months, let's say a quarter, you're planning your business. So, are there any new offers that you're launching, or are you trying to drive a campaign forward? You know, you're pushing a new product or an old product that you're trying to revive, or you're trying to build awareness for something that's coming up maybe 6 months down the road. So, it really depends on what this goal is. Now, once you've identified that, you want to work back on what your audience needs to know believe in order to take this action. So basically, you are trying to create agency. You're trying to give them the information that they need in order to take a decision. Now, this decision could be, no, I don't think this is right for me. I don't think I'm going to hire him or her, or I don't think this offer is right. And that's perfectly fine, but you want to put in place those systems, and you want to create content that helps them even make the decision.? Because I think what a lot of us do, we create content, but that content doesn't really incite anyone to take an action. It's kind of like a, you know, it's a nice, nice to have. It kind of gives you like a little bit of a buzz. And this is what you see with all of those nice, you know, you've got, you go on Instagram and you see this nice little graphic with a, with a really catchy quote and everyone is like, oh, this is great, this is amazing. But And you know, that's good. But how much of the content that you're creating is actually inciting action? Because content that incites action, that gets them to take an action, that's the one that actually is going to go back and give you those conversions. That's the one that's going to get people thinking about whether they even want to work with you or do business with you. And I think that's the content that we should all be striving to create.

Absolutely. Now, you mentioned a lot, especially in one of your books about, you know, email marketing. And we know with email marketing, you know, you're sending it out to people. How important is it to kind of build that bridge between each piece of content that people get? So it's kind of continuing the story versus, you know, siloed, single-focus pieces of content that come out. Yeah.

And I think with email, a lot of people are, you know, they're huge fans of like the newsletter, sending like typical newsletter versus I'm a huge fan of creating that journey because I think with any type of content, the main aim is to nudge your audience down to taking that action. So whether it's email, whether it's on a podcast or a YouTube channel, you want to be able to do that with every single piece of content. Every piece of content is a puzzle in this larger brand ecosystem that you're building. It tells a story about your brand. It tells a story about your offer. So it shouldn't really be one of those one-off things. And with email, people really fall into the trap of sending newsletters. So let me kind of define what a newsletter is, because, you know, just so that we are all on the same page. So for me, a newsletter is one of those emails that has multiple links. You know, it could possibly have like a little snippet of what you've been working on, what's top of mind. It could have a couple of pieces of, a couple of links to your content pieces, or stuff you've seen around the web. It could also have a link to go and check out your services page or something of that sort. So, it's a mixture of a lot of things. And the problem with a newsletter is that it doesn't help very much with reinforcing your message. It doesn't help very much with reinforcing your brand.

Why?

Just because of the nature of a newsletter, you know, multiple links, their attention is going to be stretched in so many different directions. And even if they may be clicking around, you know, a lot on those links, they may not necessarily be taking the action that you are prioritizing. So you may think that, all right, I'm going to leave a link to my services page, I hope they go check it out, but they may be clicking elsewhere. So, you know, it's not that you should absolutely not be sending a newsletter. I still send newsletters, but if that's the only type of email you're sending, then that's where I would suggest rethinking your strategy when it comes to email, because single focus emails. Now, when I say single focus, what I'm talking about is an email which has like one idea or one theme, one call to action, and multiple emails like this can kind of build up together to kind of create the stream of consciousness that nudges your audience down.

Yeah, that makes complete sense. Now, one thing that I've always worried— not worried, but more wondered about or been confused about is How much of the content do you actually put into that email versus enough curiosity to make them click out of it to go, you know, consume the blog post or consume the video or whatever it is that you're linking? You know, what's, what's a good mix there?

So I like to kind of like reverse it in a sense. So if let's say the content that I'm creating on a blog or a podcast or a video is like a how-to, then I would switch it around and my email would be about a why. So, you know, it's kind of like a reverse angle, or if the video that I'm creating is around the why, or, you know, it's talking about mistakes, then the email that I'm creating would perhaps share a case study or perhaps share a story. So it's still linked, it's still linked to the main theme, it's still linked to the main topic, but it's just that you're sharing a different angle. So what I don't like, and some people still send this, they, you know, like, oh, this is my latest this piece of content, go check it out. And that's about it. That's the only thing. So your email is almost like a notification kind of system and you don't want to do that. I mean, this could have been okay, like maybe 7, 8 years ago, but now there's so much noise and there's so many people creating incredible content. It's just not going to cut it anymore when you're just using it as like a notification system.

Absolutely. And there's other ways to notify people. You know, you've got push notifications in the browser, text messaging, all that kind of stuff. Yeah. Even on social media. Now, I know you've had a large focus on your profitable email system that you have the— we're talking about email nurtures. How does the content, in your opinion, carry over to your social channels? If you're creating that content in that newsletter, should you then also be posting relevant or similar content on your social channels at the exact same time?

So Shaun, I'll be very honest with you. I'm not a huge social media fan. For me, it's really creating content on rented ground, so-called. So I always prioritize my emails first, but I always, going back to being intentional, I want to see what kind of, depending on the social media platform that I'm on, whether it's Instagram or whether it's Pinterest, is really identifying why am I on that channel, or why am I on LinkedIn. So if let's say I'm on LinkedIn, my purpose is to potentially build relationships with places or with organizers who I am intending to pitch if I'm going to speak, for instance, that, so I'm using LinkedIn for that. Or if I'm on Instagram, it could be more about showing a different side to my brand, or, but for me, email, that platform is more about shifting the, giving my audience a different perspective. So that's my kind of how I approach the different platforms, because it can be really confusing. And people can ask me, you know, wouldn't it be boring if you're kind of saying the same thing, just like in a different format? So if you have an email, then you kind of take that onto Instagram, and then you post the same thing on LinkedIn, it can get a little bit boring in that sense. So I kind of view it in that way. I view the intent of the platform and what's the role of that platform in my business, whether it's to build relationships, whether it's to kind of show a different side of my brand, whether it's for maybe to kind of give a, you know, different perspective or convert people. So yeah, that's kind of like my approach.

Excellent. Now let's dive a little more deeper into kind of the mechanics of these newsletters, these series on email. You know, open rates, obviously the biggest thing. If they don't open the email, the content just doesn't exist to them. How do you go about it in what you do and what you teach people to get people looking for those emails that are coming in and wanting to open them? What are some of the things that you can do to make people excited about receiving them?

Yeah, and just to share a really interesting piece of research that I came across a couple of years ago. And it basically said that people open— we are all so focused on like the subject line, but the reason people open emails is because of who it's from. So, you think that's the subject line, but it's basically you, your name, and your brand's name. So it's really important in those first few days that someone is on your list, it's the kind of experience that you're creating. And again, drawing on email research, the first 36 to 48 hours is when someone is the most engaged with your brand. And it kind of makes sense because, you know, they saw you, something that you said or you wrote or, you know, said, whatever, kind of prompted them to sign up. And once they sign up, are you sending them anything? And most people, yes, they send a welcome email, but what comes after that? Are you reaching out to them 2 weeks later, 2 months later, or the next day? Because this is like the golden period where you are fresh in their minds. So you want to kind of cement that connection and you want to stand out as someone who they want to hear from. So I think it really goes back to the touchpoint that you have with them in the very early days that they are on your email list. And this It's kind of a ripple effect that, you know, pulls through because a lot of people who have been with me for a very long time, they always talk about the welcome email series. And they always say that after that, I just knew I had to keep kind of digging into what else you had. So it's really that first impression.

Yeah, first impression is huge. Now you mentioned the welcome email series and people that have been with you. Let's talk about, about what you do, what you teach, how you've built your business.

So, yeah. And so, Shaun, just to share, I am like a huge introvert. So, I took a long time to get comfortable on video. And for us, the space that we're in is really huge on video. But I took my time to kind of embrace that. So, a huge mainstay of my strategy was email. It was on showing up on podcasts like this, was on guest posting, and basically driving a lot of that traffic back onto my email list. So I knew that that was my home base, and that's kind of like my mainstay, solid bedrock in a sense. And I'm a huge fan of sending— when someone is on my welcome email series, there's a certain pathway that I, that I take them through.. And, um, I want to be creating those light bulb, those aha moments as soon as someone's on my list. So I like to do this at least easily within the first 2 to 3 days that someone's on my list. So I'm very intentional with the type of emails that I send, and I make sure that it's targeted to what they signed up for. So depending on what they signed up for, I have a couple of different pathways that they may kind of experience my content. So if they signed up for a lead magnet on topic X, then the pathway that I'm going to be taking them on is different from someone else who would come in from another, you know, in another pathway. So, I want to make sure that there's relevance at every single touchpoint. So the content that they consumed, the lead magnet that they signed up, the sequence that they're going through, I want to make sure that there is relevance at every single step, because you don't want to lose them anyway. You know, you work so hard to get that lead. You don't want to lose them along the way. You don't want to have any gaps in the process. And yeah, again, going back to not just sharing tips, you know, 10 tips or 8 tips, but getting them to really rethink certain things that they've been doing or getting them to question certain rules that they believed to be true. So I think when you create, when you take the time to create content like this, it stands out. Because it stands out from the typical tips and the how-tos that everyone is creating. And you kind of move away from the pack and the cookie-cutter kind of content.

So what I think I'm hearing you say is that, you know, looking at what that entry point is. So for example, on your website, you've got the top banner that pops down about getting the free swipe file for 2 years' worth of email content. You know, somebody that would be attracted to that would be somebody who is like, I'm struggling with figuring out what type of content to create. That would, in my opinion, that would be who would be there. And then And then thinking most likely, what are some of those questions, concerns, struggles they have, and start to talk to that in that first nurture going through. Am I correct in assuming that? Yeah. What the mindset is of that person that is attracted at that entry point?

Yeah, that is spot on. One extra thing that I would add is at the very first entry point, I always like to target the symptoms and how they show up because it's very likely where you are at is not where your audience is at, because, you know, you perhaps being 2, 3 steps in and who really knows your kind of expertise, you might be able to figure out, you know, hey, this is the real problem. But if you're going to target the real problem at them, when at that first touchpoint, you're going to lose them because for them, they don't really see that. So they're going to see the symptoms and how do those symptoms manifest. So for me, when it comes to email, one of those first few symptoms is I really don't know what to send. So they may be thinking they need more email ideas, but the real problem is they haven't really thought of the strategy. But if I'm going to be talking about strategy up top, then that's where I've completely lost them because it's not a top-of-mind pain point for them. So one of the things that I always suggest with clients is when they're thinking of lead magnets, think about the symptoms, get them in, and then you can nurture to give them what they actually need. But first, the first touchpoint should be giving them what they want. Because that's the only way you're going to resonate with them.

I love it. I love that idea. Um, write that down if you're listening right now. Write that down. I mean, that's, that's a huge, um, knowledge drop there to think about it that way. So Meera, let's talk about, about your business. Um, how long have you been doing this? And what, um, you know, what made you decide to get into this line of work?

Um, so this is, I think, 6 and a half years going on 7. Um, in my business. And I really came into this by accident. I am like the last person who should have ever been, ever become an entrepreneur. And I'll tell you why. It's, for me, the kind of background that I'm from, the so-called pathway or road to success was always paved with like good grades, a college degree, you know, getting a solid corporate job. And pretty much a healthcare I had to go get surgery, had to go get myself fixed, and I couldn't go back to work. So it was, you know, being at home and just going through treatments and then figuring out, okay, I have to do something or do nothing. So I figured out, all right, how am I going to kind of apply my passion in marketing and stuff like that, that I was kind of dipping my toes into at corporate? So I started a marketing blog and really just exploring and writing about, blogging about gaps that I saw in the marketplace. Or answering questions that I felt no one was really talking about. And that's when I started to build an audience organically and people were reaching out to me and asking me if I was taking clients. And that's pretty much how I really began. So I was not the kid who was enthusiastic about selling lemonade or trading baseball cards or nothing of that sort. So yeah, pretty much accidental, but I'm really happy that it happened this way because I love the work that I do.

Yeah, there's something you said there about like starting a blog. Um, you know, some of our listeners may be listening to this and say, you know, they've been suggested they should start a blog, and, you know, maybe they get a WordPress site or a blog site they get for free and they start writing. But how, like, how does that grow? How did that grow for you? You said people started reaching out to you. Were you promoting it in any way, or just letting the algorithms find it on, on Google?

Oh no, I was, I, so when I started out, I created more content for others versus for myself. So yes, I still blogged and I was promoting it on, you know, at that time, lots of Facebook groups had like shared threads. And I was very specific about the Facebook groups that I would share my content on. So I would share on those on groups, you know, and then I was very intentional in that I only wanted to have one main traffic platform. So at that time it was Pinterest. So I focused on Pinterest and I would just promote my content there. But a bulk of my work was in pitching and getting on other people's sites. So guest posting, I was really, really doing guest posting very aggressively. And then later on I would pitch podcasts, I would do summits, but guest posting was a huge part of my strategy. And a lot of my early audiences, came from those guest posts. So getting in front of people who already had an audience and finding overlaps between, okay, this is the audience that I want to attract. They have this audience. Let me see how I can serve them with an article. And from there being very intentional with the type of lead magnets that I was offering and then getting those people back onto my base and making sure I had something to send them because most people, they are huge in attracting traffic, But they don't think about, okay, once I get them back, am I sending them anything at all? So I made sure I had that nurture system in place and that there was a welcome email series going out because if it's not, then there's no point in kind of driving all of that traffic back onto your email list.

Absolutely.

And you know, on your website and in your bio, you've written several books. How did that come into play into your strategy of publishing these books?

So yeah, I published my first book, The One Hour Content Plan, in 2017. So it was, I don't know, I think I was just trying to, you know, rebel against the system because again, everyone was like, you know, do premium courses or do this huge membership or do more video or whatever. But for me, my base has always been, and my love has always been the written word, which is why I did a blog. So I thought, why not, you know, start self-publishing? And the type of books that I've written are not necessarily those that I want to create new programs for, because, you know, when you create a new program, you have to market it and it goes— and you have to put in quite a bit of work into marketing it. If not, it's just going to just be there on your shop page and just kind of collecting dust on your digital shelf. So it's either something that I I don't really have an intention to want to create an entire program or a course for, or to serve as kind of like a lead generation tool to get people back onto my home base. So that's pretty much how the self-publishing came about, and I wanted to create a revenue stream that was out of my sight, that did not rely on me driving traffic. So Amazon was, you know, one of those marketplaces that had an inbuilt audience, and if you do it right, you make sure you got proper reviews, do your keywords, and write a good book. I was, you know, I was, my kind of hope was that it would kind of drive people to come and find me, and, but I didn't expect it to do as well as it did. So that one book after that, it kind of became a lot more. So yeah, that's pretty much how self-publishing began. And for a lot of people that ask me, okay, should I write a book on and self-publish it? I always ask, be very clear about what your goals are, because writing a book to— as, um, kind of like a networking tool or as a credibility tool is very different from if you're looking at turning that into a separate revenue stream. The energy and the effort and the resources that you would put in would be very different for, for both objectives.

Absolutely. Now, one of the questions that I like to ask every one of our guests is Are there any tools that have helped you, um, you know, in your area of focus? So in this, we're talking about content. What email marketing tool do you use or do you recommend?

I use ConvertKit. I've been with them since, um, day one. So, um, why I picked ConvertKit— and it was actually a pretty pricey option at that point in time. I mean, everyone was kind of going to Mailchimp. Um, I am not someone who's very tech savvy, so I needed a system that was intuitive and that I really pick up quickly. And I had a vision for how I wanted to deal with my email list and ConvertKit kind of fit those goals. And it kind of fell into place with the vision that I had. So one of the things that I always tell people when they ask me, okay, what tool should I pick? It really depends on your budget, the vision that you have, and whether the tool can grow with you. So I'm not looking for a tool that I see myself outgrowing in a year. I think that's kind of like a self-limiting thing and you're limiting yourself. So yeah, ConvertKit was one of the best investments I've made.

Mira, thank you so much for talking with us today about email marketing, about content. Your website, miracauthen.com, we'll put it in the link to the show as well as your Instagram and Facebook accounts. Is there anything you'd like to leave in some parting words or a piece of advice or wisdom to our audience?

Yeah, I mean, if email is on their radar, I would just encourage them to not get overwhelmed. Think really minimum viable. And one of the things I always say is just have just 3 to 5 emails. Don't think about, you know, 60-day nurture sequences or anything of that sort, just 3 to 5 emails, and then just put one foot in front of the other. And your email list, I think the time that you spend there, you will not regret because relationships that you build will kind of bring you through different stages in your business.

Absolutely. And if you're listening, whether you're driving or you're on the gym treadmill or whatever, make a note to go to Mira's website, sign up for the year of content ideas that are there. The blog is very well worth reading and consuming that content. So thank you so much for for being on the show.

Thank you, Shaun. Running your own business is hard. Those long hours, the doubt, the challenge to meet demands. But you're resilient, strong, dedicated. You do all of this for more than profits, success, or money. You do it because you care. You care about the people who shop here, eat there, drink here. You care about your community. You care about your team. Despite all else, you care. No matter what life throws your way, you power through it with grit and passion. Perseverance. You are the epitome of dedication. You are a small business owner. For this reason, Blue Cow Marketing salutes you.