Have you ever been told that the strength of your online business is tied to the size of your email list? I’m here to tell you that there’s more to the story.

Your email list is more than just a bunch of names and email addresses. They’re people!

Instead of focusing solely on numbers, you should prioritize creating quality connections with your subscribers. This way, you’re creating brand ambassadors who will help spread the word about your business.

The size of your email list doesn’t determine the strength of your business. Now it doesn’t mean that your business doesn’t need followers, because you do. But instead of simply focusing on building a huge list, you should aim to have quality connections with the people on your email list.

As a knowledge brand, you have to show your audience that you’re human by showcasing your personality, sharing your vulnerabilities, and relating to people. 

Struggling with email marketing? Learn how to do email marketing the right way in my course, BADA$$ Email Marketing. You can get FREE access to my email course inside BADA$$ Online Marketing University.

The Value of Quality Connections 

The standard metric in online marketing is that each lead on your list is worth $1 a month. That means you could potentially make 12 times the size of your list. But what if I told you that you could make way more if you approached email differently? 

If you build a quality connection with your audience, you can make as much as $75 per person on your list. You could potentially outperform businesses with email lists 10 times bigger than yours. 

Here’s the key: know, like, trust. If you manage to establish a good connection with your audience, they will come to trust you. So, when you launch or recommend a product, your audience will most likely buy from you.

Quality connection with quality leads is what you need to build a successful business. Your audience will do the work for you because they will be the ones that talk to other people about your business.

4 Ways To Create Quality Connections With Your Audience

Let’s start with the things that don’t work. The first one you should avoid is buying lists. Don’t put your product in front of an audience that doesn’t have any idea what your business is about because they most likely won’t buy from you.

What you need to do instead is cultivate a relationship with those who are on your list. It will help you build an audience that’s more likely to buy from you. You’ll also start to attract the right leads because they’ll hear about your business and all the effort you’re putting into connecting with your existing audience.

Stand for Something

You should also stand for something. Don’t become a broke influencer. This is the kind of person who has a lot of followers but has no connection with their audience. They’re forgettable, and despite having that many followers, broke influencers still struggle to make a sale.

Let’s take my business as an example. People see me taking a stand against other gurus who preach that you have to build a business exactly the way they did. 

So if you’re someone who’s looking for a way to get rich in 30 days or want to know the secret formula to building a successful business, then my program isn’t for you. I don’t believe in ninja tactics, easy buttons, or magic pills. 

I believe that’s part of what’s wrong with our industry. The people who hear me and resonate with that message are drawn to me. You have to take a stand and be willing to go against the trend when necessary.

Let Your Audience Get to Know You

When I say let your audience get to know you, that doesn’t mean divulging all your personal details. Your audience won’t care about where you live, what your net worth is, or who your family members are. You don’t have to make public every piece of personal information of your life.

Instead, you can share your personality with your audience. Share jokes, stories, or anything that will help your audience get to know you better. Let them into your world. You can also share your vulnerabilities. Share stories of ups and downs in your personal life or your business. Be willing to share the good, the bad, and the ugly. This will help you build a connection with your audience.

Of course, you don’t want to tell people that you’re struggling with the very thing that you want to teach them. Because if that’s the case, then you have no business teaching them in the first place. You need to build credibility and that means you need to be successful in your field.

Again, you should focus on connection instead of conversion. If your focus is on numbers, you will see people as potential conversions only. You treat everything like a transaction, and that’s not the best approach for long-term success. 

Building a successful business goes beyond conversion. You need to establish a relationship and find ways for people to feel connected to you.

Focus on Connection Instead of Conversion

I personally don’t care about the click-through rate for my emails. What matters more is for my audience to know me better. So even if you’re struggling with conversion copy, it won’t really matter as long as you’re building quality, deep connection with your audience.

Of course, conversion is an important skill that you need to master. But what I’m trying to say is that the fastest route to building a successful business isn’t to focus on conversion but on connection. Because if you prioritize connection, the conversion will come eventually, even if you’re not good at it. Connect with your audience and make sales while learning how to write good bullets, headlines, and messaging for your conversion copy.

When you’re sending your weekly emails, think of it from a different perspective. Don’t focus on having someone click or buy from you. Instead, your weekly emails should be about building a connection with your audience.

Remember That Your Audience Is Human

Always remember that your audience is made up of human beings. They’re not just a potential conversion or a mere transaction. The people on your email lists are individuals with their own fears, beliefs, goals, and so on.

Instead of looking at the numbers, potential sales, and potential conversions, you should start by learning the value of radical giving. It involves giving to your audience not as a business strategy or as part of your marketing tactic but because you’re a giver.

When you embody being a giver, others will sense that’s how you are as a person—not part of your marketing. Basically, you should view the people on your email list as people and not as transactions. If you approach it that way, you will build deep connections with your people. 

You Don’t Need A Huge List

I hope this has inspired you to believe that you don’t need a huge email list to succeed in your online business. You shouldn’t focus on a huge list because if you’re constantly focused on getting more and more and more, you’re neglecting the people who are already in your world. So what I’m going to suggest to you is to focus on serving and connecting with the people who are already in your world. Everything else will follow from there. 

Join my program, BADA$$ Online Marketing University (BOMU), if you want to learn more about effective email marketing strategies that will help guide your business to success. It’s absolutely FREE.