Rent Attention. Own Your Email List. Grow the Asset.
Your marketing sits on a three-legged stool. And hopefully, unlike my middle schoolers, you’re not falling off it everyday! Let’s get all 3 legs doing their job.
Social media.
Personal connection.
Email.
Take one away and it gets wobbly.
For the nonprofits and life coaches I work with, you genuinely need all three.
Let’s talk about what each one does and why all are so important.
Social Media: Rent the Attention
For nonprofits like the one I work for, Helping Hands Ministries International, social media is a MUST. And it has to be done really well. It has to do its job of creating awareness.
It tells stories. It keeps our mission visible. It reaches beyond our city limits.
For life coaches, social media is equally as important. It showcases your personality. Builds credibility. Attracts an audience from across the globe.
I am pro-social media.
But let’s call it what it is. It’s rented space. You don’t control the algorithm or your reach. You can’t control what changes or gets lost tomorrow.
So use it well, just don’t build your entire business on it.
Rent the attention.
Then move people to a place you actually own.
Personal Connection: Build the Relationship
Awareness alone doesn’t usually create donor support or client onboarding. It totally can, and when it does, that’s way awesome. But most of the time it takes more than just that. It’s the relationship. This is, I think, the most crucial thing in a business. People are built to be in relationship with people. Not to be in relationship with the internet or videos. Person to person conversations are, like, A HUGE DEAL.
It’s the phone calls.
Coffee meetings.
Discovery calls.
One-to-one conversations.
Partnership conversations.
In-person networking when you can.
This is where donors commit. Wahoo!
This is where clients say yes. Yay!
This is where people move from “follower” to “known.”
That person-to-person relationship is everything!!
People are wired for relationship, not just content. Please, this leg of the stool is crucial. Do it well.
Now let’s address that third leg of the stool.
Email: Grow the Asset
When the other 2 we just talked about are in place, this third one grows your business beautifully! This is the leg that compounds.
Stephen and I are landlords. 10 years ago, we invested in properties that were condemned (set to be burnt down and destroyed). We got a great deal on them, but that’s because they were falling apart. People literally thought we were crazy. And we were. But it paid off. We didn’t buy the properties and let them sit. We developed them. Renovated them like heck. And now they all provide passive income.
We own them. We put in the work, and now they bring in profit for us.
Remember, social media is just a rented space. Email is owned space.
With email, you’re not fighting a feed or hoping the algorithm cooperates. You’ve got a direct line to your people. SO USE IT!
Your email list is an investment opportunity waiting to be developed. What are you doing with it?
If you’ve collected emails but never built a system for them, you’re sitting on a boarded-up property. It’s like owning land and never doing anything with it. You’ve got to develop that asset!
How to Build Equity using Email
Equity in email marketing is built through development.
That looks like:
A strategic welcome sequence is that handshake greeting and builds momentum immediately.
Consistent nurture emails that reinforce your mission and message, and keeps you top of mind with familiarity.
Conversion-focused emails guide donors toward giving or clients toward booking. (The whole goal!!)
Re-engagement systems bring drifting subscribers back. (Cuz everyone gets bored of the same email systems after awhile)
Tracking performance data and refining your approach so results improve over time. (This is the backend stuff I’m learning right now, and I can literally feel the new brain pathways forming)
That’s what email development looks like. Emails give you compounding value and stability. They turn that attention from social media into stable revenue.
Grow your email list. Don’t know how? Reach out.
Build that email framework to be a valuable asset.
If you’re a good DIYer, go for it! Dive in!
If you need to hire out a contractor for this work, that’s where I come in. Either way, don’t let that email list sit untouched!
A Recap to See the Distinction
Social media rents you attention. Personal connection builds relationship. Email (when developed) builds reliability, sustainability, scalability, and equity.
Bottom Line
Keep using social media. Keep building relationships.
But don’t let your email list sit like a condemned house with boarded windows.
Develop it. Grow the asset.
Join my email list if this topic interests you because over the next few weeks, I’m going to break email marketing down into simple, practical steps so this doesn’t feel overwhelming.
This leg of the stool is too valuable to let sit unused.
If your email list feels more boarded-up than renovated right now…
I’d love to help you build it well!!
