“I’ve got 100,000 people on my list”

It’s not giving me a “red flag” just yet, but definitely an “amber flag”. I’m not giving you a pat on the back until you’ve answered a few questions.

Question 1: How many of those people know they’re on that list?

“I think most of them?”

Question 2: How many of those people are engaged?

“My open rate averages about 20-25% and my click rate is below 1%”

Question 3: What about your deliverability metrics? Unsubscribes, bounce rate and spam complaint rate?

“Ah I dunno, I don’t check”

Question 4: How many of those people are in a position to buy from you at some point?

“Not sure - quite a lot I think?”

Question 5: What’s the next goal for your email list?

“200k subs baby!”

🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩

What I’m demonstrating with that completely made-up Q&A is that the number of subscribers doesn’t mean sh*t if the quality of the subscribers doesn’t mean sh*t to you.

What I really want to hear:

“All of my subscribers have opted in, my engagement metrics exceed benchmarks, I regularly clean my list, my bounce, unsubscribe and spam complaint rates are low, 90% of my subscribers are incredibly relevant for my product/service and my next goal? Continue to grow my list without compromising on the quality.”

😍😍

If you’re preoccupied only with the number of subscribers, it’s like chasing revenue without keeping an eye on profit.

It’s like obsessing over whether the pig has perfect eyeliner.

So ask yourself this question:

How can I get the right people on my list?

What’s going on at The Inbox Club?

Two things:

• Jenna is taking a 2-week holiday (cheek of it - she’s only been here 2 minutes).

• I was asked to contribute to the moulding of young minds. Sue Keogh of Sookio fame runs an amazing “Digital Work Experience” week for budding young professionals looking to kickstart their careers in the creative space. Whose idea was it to invite me?

That’s it - catch you next week,

Jamie x