Ep 57: Email Newsletters that Connect and Convert with Liz Wilcox

Mar 21

Building Stronger Relationships Through Strategic Newsletter Strategy with Liz Wilcox

It's not often that I have a complete stranger on this show, but when I heard about Liz Wilcox and what she was doing with email newsletters, I knew that I had to have her on. Liz has a unique approach to using email as a tool for building stronger relationships with the people on your email list.

Whether you're looking to sell more of your programs or increase engagement within your existing programs, Liz's strategy is sure to give you new ideas and insights to help you achieve your goals. So sit back, grab a pen and paper, and get ready to take some notes as Liz shares her insights on leveraging email for connection and engagement.

Favorite Community

What is your favorite community that you've ever been a part of and what did you love about it?

I am surrounded by 90s vibes at the moment, with two ancient NSYNC posters hanging in the background. My favorite community is one that I found right before the pandemic hit. I was at Disney Springs and saw some girls wearing NSYNC shirts. I felt a rush of excitement and immediately approached them to talk about our shared love for the boy band. They told me about their podcast and Facebook group and I started listening to the podcast and joining the community.

Although the podcast has since ended, the community remains strong. We keep each other updated on all things NSYNC and have a blast reminiscing about the good old days. Whether it's sharing our excitement over new merchandise or just chatting about our favorite songs, this community provides a fun and lighthearted escape from the responsibilities and craziness of life.

Being a part of this community is like going back in time to my middle school years when life was simpler and carefree. It's a place where I can let my hair down, be a little silly, and just have fun with others who share my love for NSYNC. This community is a source of joy and nostalgia for me, especially in these challenging times. I can't help but smile as I think about all the fun and ridiculous moments we share in this community.

Queen of Email Marketing

Tell me how you kind of became the queen of email marketing and how did you even get into email marketing?

I have a unique story when it comes to my journey as an email marketer. Unlike many others who started off as service providers or copywriters, I started as an RV travel blogger. I wanted to travel and make money online, so I started listening to podcasts, webinars and saw Facebook ads encouraging me to start a blog. I took the advice and started my travel blog and email list on the same day, knowing the importance of taking my email list seriously.

Months into my blog, I was advised to create my first digital product, which ended up being an ebook for $10 about poop. Yes, you read that right. As an RV travel blogger, people were curious about what to do with their black water, so I wrote a funny book called "Tales from the Black Tank," which made around $7,000 in the first 90 days.

I continued to create various digital products and got really good at email marketing, which led to my first digital course. I created a waitlist for the course and had 141 people on it. When I launched it, every single person on the waitlist bought it, resulting in a 100% conversion rate.

People in the digital marketing space were shocked to hear that I was writing books about poop and didn't have a copywriter, but what set me apart was my newsletter. I got really good at connecting with people, making friends in the inbox, and that's what set me up for success with all of my products, especially my course.

I realized that my newsletter was different and decided to share my knowledge with others. My journey as an RV travel blogger turned email marketer has changed my life, and I want to help others do the same.

Sharing your Gift

How did you start to really discover the strategy behind what you were doing so that you could then teach it to others?

Yeah, so it's really interesting how people started asking me about my success. They were like, "How are you doing this?" And to me, it was just so baffling. I was like, "What are you talking about? I'm just doing what everyone says to do. I'm just emailing consistently." And they would say, "Well, I do that too, but it doesn't look like what you're doing."

I have to admit, if you haven't noticed yet, I have a lot of confidence and I don't have a lot of "head junk" that causes me to second-guess or seek a second opinion. Sometimes, ignorance is my greatest skill. So I was just being authentically me and doing things that clicked with the right people.

And because I was doing it consistently, more people who liked the way I did things got on my email list, and more people who didn't like my style unsubscribed, which is actually a good thing. We don't want to try to cater to everyone, otherwise, we're not really talking to anyone. I was just talking to the people who appreciated my sense of humor and liked seeing a semi-professional person trying to figure things out while traveling with a toddler.

It wasn't until three years into my journey that someone said, "Oh, you should get on this email copywriter's list." And I was like, "What's that?" So I got on their list and realized that I did things almost completely opposite of what they were saying. But I thought, "Okay, I'll take that into consideration, but what I'm doing is working, so I shouldn't change it."

That confidence and self-acceptance really helped me in the long run. But if you're not there yet, I believe that writing newsletters and really leaning into your unique self is going to benefit you in the long run. Don't worry if you're not there yet. I believe in you.

3 Steps to Sending Effective Newsletters

If we're gonna send a newsletter, what does that look like? How do we do that effectively?

Basically, the first step is to have a follower. Someone who hears you on a podcast, Instagram, or somewhere else, gets them on your email list and then turns them into a friend.

Once you have a list full of friends that you really know, you can create a product that you know will sell. I had a waitlist and everyone bought it. Of course they did, I created something just for them based on what they were telling me and what they were engaging with in my newsletters. I knew I was in sync with my list.

Follower, friend, customer. That's it. It's not complicated. So, what does it mean to create a friend in the inbox? You just need to do three things:

Show that you are invested in them and in your business. I don't care if you're B2C and you think nobody cares about the things you're doing in the background of your business. I had an email list full of 60-year-old men and they cared about my business because I showed them I was invested. I spent two hours writing a blog post or three months creating a course just for them.
Be relatable. People get hung up on trying to be interesting, but you don't have to be interesting. They're already interested in you. Be relatable instead, just two to three sentences at the beginning of your email. I call it a personal update. It doesn't have to be a novel, it's a newsletter.
Stay top of mind. When you're doing the investing and the relatability well, staying top of mind becomes easier. Just like with this podcast, if Shana goes on vacation for the summer, you're not going to forget about her because she's done her job of showing you she's invested, relatable, and has a vision for creating a great community. You can do the same thing in your newsletters.

What to Avoid

So talk a little bit about the content section and how that can vary what you've seen work, not work. Is there anything that we should try to avoid in that section?

When it comes to email marketing, it's important to keep your subscribers engaged and interested in what you have to say. Just like how we approach our physical mailbox, we want to make sure that when someone sees our name pop up in their inbox, they are excited to open and read what we have sent. This can be achieved through familiarity, relatability, and variety in the content you deliver.

By being familiar, you want to make sure that your subscribers recognize your name and have a positive feeling towards you. This can be achieved by having a consistent email schedule, such as sending out a podcast every Wednesday, for example.

However, it's also important to not be too predictable and to vary the content you deliver. If every email contains the same type of information or format, it may lose its excitement factor and end up being ignored or even deleted. By switching things up, you keep your subscribers on their toes and wondering what you have in store for them next.

Being relatable is key. People are more likely to engage with someone they can relate to on a personal level. So, start your email with a personal update, even if it's just a few sentences, to show your subscribers that you are a real person and not just a business entity.

It's important to stay top of mind with your subscribers. This can be achieved by consistently delivering valuable content and keeping them engaged. The more invested and relatable you are, the easier it will be for you to stay top of mind and for your subscribers to look forward to your emails.

How to Sell and Nurture Your List

How do you transition in this kind of newsletter? Do you leverage it for sales at all? Do you always leverage that just for nurture and then you reserve all of the sales calls to action for something else? What does that philosophy look like for you?

When it comes to selling through your newsletter, it's important to understand that people don't typically buy when you sell. People buy when they're ready to buy. And this is why having a high conversion rate, like the one mentioned in the previous response, is so rare and considered "outrageous".

That being said, by consistently showing that you're invested in your business and your readers, being relatable and staying top of mind, you're creating a relationship with your subscribers and building trust with them. This means that even if they don't buy right now, they are more likely to buy later when they're ready.

Think of it like filling up your gas tank. Some people, like my sister, wait until they're on fumes to get gas. Unlike me who drives a 1989 Ford Bronco, I get gas more frequently because they don't want to risk being stranded. Just like people fill their tanks at different times, people also buy at different times.

So, it's okay to sell in your newsletter, even if it may feel disjointed or like you're pushing too hard. Someone on your list may be just waiting for that nudge to make a purchase. The key is to consistently show that you're invested and build a relationship with your subscribers so that when they are ready to buy, they think of you and trust that you have what they need.