025: What an Email List Actually Does for Your Business

If email has felt confusing, inconsistent, or like one more thing you should be doing … this one’s for you. We’re not getting into tech or overthinking strategy; we’re just talking about what email actually does in a real business. Because when it’s steady, it changes things in a way social media just doesn’t. 

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why email helps you stop rebuilding attention from scratch
• The difference between followers and people who choose to stay connected
• How consistency (not creativity) builds real trust
• What email actually produces over time—especially for builders
• A simple first step to create a steady weekly rhythm

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• This Week's Free Action Guide: The Email Consistency Framework
• The Smart Soulful Business Facebook Community: smartbusiness.thrivecart.com/soulful-strategy-community

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Transcript

Becky Brown 0:01

If you're a Christian woman building a business and want it to be purposeful and profitable, we've got you covered.

Laurie Graham 0:07

I'm Becky. And I'm Lori. We have both built successful businesses that we love without losing our faith, humor, or our sanity. This is Smart Soulful Business.

Becky Brown 0:17

Real conversations to help your business fit your life and not the other way around. Hey, hey, welcome back to Smart Soulful Business with Becky and Lori. Together, we help Christian women build businesses that are soulful, strategic, and successful.

Laurie Graham 0:36

If you are building something from scratch or if you feel like you're starting over every week, uh, today's episode is for you. And I'm gonna also say if you're in the middle of building something amazing that you're excited about. Like what we're gonna talk about today with email lists, um, we're gonna talk about it in a way that I've never heard anybody talk about it before. So, um, and I've listened to a lot of podcasts and read a lot of blog posts. So I think you're gonna get something really unique here. Um, but in the middle of that, um, we are starting a series. So um, way back in episode 11, Becky and I did a quick, quick episode about email lists and why they matter. Um, you know, why everybody needs to have one. Um, today we are starting a series. It's gonna be four, five weeks, six max. Um, we're still kind of building it out. But we really want to go deep into not just why you need one, but like how to get one, how to overcome some of the obstacles we have as we build them, and so much more. So this is gonna be real, it's gonna be steady. By the end of today's conversation, um, our goal is that you would see email a little bit differently. Yeah. And hopefully take it not just more seriously, but more soulfully. Like, you know, we talked about that. Like, like we're kind of unpacking that. Like email lists get very sterile and we're gonna, yeah, let's just do it. Let's just jump. Dive in. So, okay, cool. Um, so when you are early in business or mid in business, I would say, or established in business, I would say. Because I would consider myself established. Sometimes I feel like I am rebuilding attention every single week. Like I'm starting over, like um I posted something, people like it, and then it's gone, and I'm not sure what I'm doing next, and all that kind of thing, right? So I think we all have this back and forth into this edge. But especially if you're starting and you don't have an email list yet, that consistency, because email for me specifically for sure, but from what we've heard from other people as well, and what has been shown throughout business, email changes that. It changes this feeling of starting and stopping and starting over, and where are we going? It almost gives you that trajectory across the lake or up the mountain or across the world, right? Absolutely, yes. Um, Becky, did you ever feel like you were constantly starting over? Oh, especially when you were building.

Becky Brown 2:49

Oh, yeah. So one of the things about me is that I'm a planner and that makes me kind of resistant to change. So I don't hear something and jump to respond to it right away. So I had to hear people tell me, different experts in different areas tell me to start an email list for years before I actually listened to them. So I know I was slow, so slow because I was making it mean all these different things in my head. So I was thinking, okay, I'm barely getting these blog posts out every week. And now you're telling me I have to come up with a whole different topic because I didn't know at the time, um, a whole different topic to email people about. It's like writing a whole different blog post, button, it's then it's not on my website. So what a waste of my time. And at the time, I went through a season where I just connected it at the um like feeds were a thing, so RSS feeds. And so people could sign up for my RSS feed and it would just email them my post. And I'm like, well, why would I write something extra if they're already getting the link to my post? And so I had a whole bunch of excuses. And yeah, I totally felt like I was just making it up and starting over again and again and again.

Laurie Graham 3:52

Okay, so this is where you saved me a lot of years because you're saying it took you a long time to really get committed to your email list. I was committed to my email list from day one because of you, because you told me this is what you need to do. And that probably saved me a lot of years and actually gave me a lot of momentum because we're gonna go over several things that a consistent email does for your business. Like that's the title of this podcast, what an email list actually does for your business. The first thing we're talking about is it helps you stop starting over. You know, the second thing we're gonna get into is that email is a chosen relationship, like it literally builds community. The third thing is we're gonna talk about is the consistency of your email list, is actually your infrastructure of your business. And then we're really gonna talk about what emails produce over time. So this thing called an email list, it's not a separate piece. Right. It is like foundation infrastructure. It is so needed because if it helps us stop starting over, like what does that save us? Angst, anxiety, time, money.

Becky Brown 4:58

Yeah. Attention. I mean, your attention is an asset, and if you're scattered all over and redeciding all the time, we talk about that. Lori and I talk about redeciding all the time. Yeah, it just wastes your energy.

Laurie Graham 5:09

So and I think another thing that that is amazing, um because we're gonna talk about this a little bit more in the future, but if you don't have a consistent email list, um, you're not really collecting followers, like they're just hit and miss because that's what social media is. And email lists like build familiarity, they build relationship. Becky, you told me that early on with your people. And familiarity lowers resistance. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Straight up.

Becky Brown 5:39

I I mentioned the RSS feed, and why on earth would I email them something else? Like, why would I write an email if they're already getting the link to the post? That is so data driven, that's so sterile. Let's use your word sterile. That is not personal connecting and connecting with my readers, writing even a couple of simple sentences to connect with them and link my post. Game changer, familiarity, relationship, game changer. Yeah, they absolutely respond.

Laurie Graham 6:04

You said RSS feed. I don't even know what that means.

Becky Brown 6:07

Uh, I mean, it's it was it all it means is that when they used to be able, they used to be on all of the blogs where you would click a button, you would put your email address in, and then you would just get their blog posts emailed to you from learning.

Laurie Graham 6:19

Today, learn more all the time. Well, so if we could get, if we could get rid of the term email list, like I think even the term email list is so disconnecting. Like, we're not building a list. Like, we're gonna talk about email lists because this is what everybody knows, but an email list is is so I guess I'll just say it again, disconnected.

Becky Brown 6:41

Yes.

Laurie Graham 6:42

Like what we're doing is we're we're building, yeah. I can I say friends, a community, we're building familiarities. Relationships. Yeah, we're building relationships. Okay, very cool.

Becky Brown 6:52

And so an RSS feed was an email list. Didn't know who was on it, didn't have any connection with them. And it and what we're talking about today is the people who have chosen to be in your audience who you want to connect with. So if email helps you stop starting over, the next layer that we're talking about here is the kind of connection it creates, right? Yeah. Yeah. 100%.

Laurie Graham 7:15

Email is is people choosing to have a relationship with you. Like this is what I think is so key. Like when people sign up, when they stay on your list, like this is a chosen relationship. It was so interesting because last week I had a Zoom call. Um, it was actually a strategy session. Um, we had offered a business strategy session in an online conference we we participated in to people who wanted it. And so I had a business strategy session with somebody for Smart Soulful Business. And at the end of the call, um, the end of this half hour Zoom call, she said, Lori, I just want to thank you that you make it's like you make every individual feel important. You make us feel valued and significant. And I said, Well, I certainly hope I do because you are like to me, I'm like, what are you saying? Like I make you feel that way. Like you are important, you are valued. But do I feel valued by most people whose email lists I'm on?

unknown 8:09

Yeah.

Laurie Graham 8:10

But this is where, and you said it when we started, Becky, it was before we hit record. You said this is where soulful comes in.

Becky Brown 8:16

Yeah, yeah. There is a smart edge of doing like getting in front of your people, building the numbers. That's the smart edge of doing business well. But this soulful edge, we cannot disconnect those things because authentically, Lori is the person who, if you walked into her at the grocery store as a complete stranger, she would still believe you are valued and important. I would. Yes. And so that like she cannot run an authentic business without weaving that in. She sees humans as important. And so that, um, yeah, so I kind of want you to talk about Lori. Okay, so we're talking specifically about email and connecting with your audience in that way. But what makes email different than all of your follower list on Instagram or all of your follower list on Facebook? What is unique about email?

Laurie Graham 9:04

Yeah, and this really raises hopefully the awareness of the importance of your email list. You know, as we talk about what email lists do for your business, um, they they build relationships. Like I just have to say that straight up. And it is so different from an email list because people who choose to be on your email list, like you have to sign up for email lists, otherwise it's illegal, right? So somebody actually I want to be on this person's email list. They that initial choice, they are choosing proximity, they're inviting us into their inbox, they're saying, I want to hear from you. This is not accidental, like when we're scrolling or when we see a post. This is really intentional, and there is a trust. I believe there is a trust that goes with that because they choose you, right? If they choose you, we matter to each other. And I think we break this trust oftentimes. You know, they think they're gonna get something and then they get other things, and that's something we'll be unpacking in our series for sure. But when that email, like when that person joins your list, when they're on your list, it is a chosen relationship. Like that to me is like the biggest thing.

Becky Brown 10:18

Well, and how many times do you, because I know I get all them a lot too? How many times do you get emails from people starting it by saying, I don't know if you'll even read this or any if anybody even reads this?

Laurie Graham 10:28

I get emails like that all the time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Becky Brown 10:31

And I want to say that that is what can set you apart because many people don't. They set it on autopilot and they don't check their inboxes. And this soulful piece, it it sets you apart in business in a really important way.

Laurie Graham 10:44

Yeah. So this is what emails do for your business. Number one, it helps you from starting over and over again. Number two, it connects you in relationship. Becky, you want to go into the third one?

Becky Brown 10:54

Yeah. So number three is consistency. Um, this is something I love. Email isn't powerful just because you have um the email addresses gathered. It's powerful because you actually reach out to your people regularly. And this was um something that I knew was important, which was part of the reason why I shied away from it. It felt like a big commitment. Like, how can I, how can I commit to showing up for these people regularly? But the way you tie it into your business matters too. So every time I write a blog post, part of that task is writing an email to tell people about the blog post. And that is just part of it now. So um Yeah.

Laurie Graham 11:29

So what happens if somebody joins your list and never hears from you again? Or there's like this huge big void, like, you know, you don't respond to them for you, or you don't send an email out for two months.

Becky Brown 11:38

Yeah. Well, I can tell you that what I feel from a lot of those people is if I don't get anything from them, if and like I signed up because I thought something, something connected with me, right? And I sign up and I hear crickets, or maybe I get an a welcome email, but then I get nothing from them for months until the sales email comes and they want to sell me something. And then, you know, I feel a bit violated and a bit taken advantage of. And like, come on now, like that's not that's not what I'm here for. So um, yeah, um, I I would say that yeah, I I I guess I want to release the pressure from those regular emails that even if it's a couple sentences, and I mentioned that earlier in in the podcast, like, even if it's a couple sentences, that connection, that touch point um matters consistently. And so I email my list every Tuesday, and um I make sure they hear from me. It's not like that I have never ever ever missed a Tuesday because I have, but um, that consistency, that weekly rhythm, it's not only good for you as a business owner, we should talk a whole lot more about structure and stability and like just on a personal and professional standpoint, but inconsistent emails often break trust. Yeah.

Laurie Graham 12:49

So and we're gonna talk more. We have a whole series, like we said, we've got several episodes coming out. We have a whole one dedicated to how to make this easy. So if you're like, oh my gosh, if you're already like moaning, like, oh, there's no way I can do a consistent email list, I shouldn't even do a business. Don't go there. Yeah, we're gonna show you how to do it easy. Becky just gave you one tip right there. Yeah. But we're gonna do more. But when we talk about email consistency, you know, being the infrastructure of your business, like this is where it's not optional because consistency builds stability, it builds trust. Um, for me, if I don't hear from somebody, I don't think they're serious about their business, or I don't think they're serious about me. Like, wait, why did I sign up if you're not gonna, you're not gonna respond to me? Like, I wanted something if I chose you. And I think that is a thing is that an email list for your business builds the consistent infrastructure. We're gonna show you how to do it. Easy. Okay. But it really does. Emails is not about sending newsletters. Like, I think we have that in our head. Oh my gosh, I have to create content. I have to send it. It's not about that. It's about connection that lasts. Like if we could just get that reframed, I think more of us would be more consistent in our emails.

Becky Brown 14:00

Yeah, and you and I have even changed that language over the years. We used to call it a newsletter. Every single week we would say, Oh, I need to work on my newsletter. And we've totally even changed our language on that. Totally, yeah. So if we're talking about how email builds stability through the consistency of regularly emailing your people, what does that actually change for your business long term, for your audience long term, long term?

Laurie Graham 14:22

Yeah. Oh, I'm gonna start with a few, okay, Becky, and then I want you to add to it. So consistent emails for us, like for Becky and I, straight up, we're just gonna share what has happened with us, what it produces. Um and and I had a time where I was inconsistent and then became very consistent for years now, right? So I think we've both experienced, you know, we're not perfect, we experienced kind of a lag. So I can literally talk about what changed when my emails got consistent. Um, I will say one thing for me is it really did provide stability and structure. Um, like I think you called it, did you call it like a ground, an anchor, an anchor? What did you call it today? We were talking about something totally different. Anchor habit, did I call it? An anchor habit. I loved it. It has given me an anchor habit that has produced almost like a focus or like a uh forward movement consistently in my business. It's an anchor habit for somebody who's ADHD, always chasing the next shiny squirrel. Shiny squirrels aren't shiny. That's wrong. Shiny object, squirrel. Like, okay, so I just did it. But like for me, it it it not only anchored me, I'm gonna say this, it also anchored my audience. Instead of people reading now and then, it it turned the people who were receiving this into like regulars, consistents, like um there was just that trust, there was relationship being built. Like, I I mean, I know a bunch of people on my email list, or I feel like I do, right? You know, like and it builds that trust. You mentioned this earlier before you sell something.

Becky Brown 15:56

Yeah.

Laurie Graham 15:57

And if you're only emailing when you're launching or selling, that's not gonna go well. Like, there's there's a trust, a regularity, a familiarity that just feels better.

Becky Brown 16:07

Well, and I would say that the strategic business world talks to you about that. The no-like trust factor, that is that's what business people teach in selling a product and in whatever you're doing for your business. And we want to say from the soulful side of things, and and make it authentic. Like when so, so as you're talking about um these um people that just happen upon your email list becoming regulars, they get to know you over time. They they share your personality. And for me, what also was very important is I got to know them. So when you start a business, so often people say, Who's your target audience? And for years I had no idea. And through my email list and through interactions with people, I learned so much about them that it steered my content, that it steered my products, my direction. And that connection was was um valuable to on both sides for us.

Laurie Graham 17:03

So we need to do a whole episode on how to get engagement back and get to know your audience. Like as you're talking, I'm like, there are strategic things we both do in our emails as well as our Facebook community to get to know those people. But the email, like, so foundational. Like we're not getting to know them because we're just sending, because it's a one-way conversation. Right. It becomes a two-way conversation with engaging questions, with polls, with surveys, with with what they respond to. Like you can tell what they respond to. So um I love this that consistent emails, like stable attention on our side really does contribute to stable trust. It contributes to a two-way relationship. And I'm gonna just say it, it does contribute to stable income, stable revenue. For sure.

Becky Brown 17:51

You know, you and I for years have kind of talked about um our raving fans. Um, and that sounds kind of hypey. I don't know if we got that from somebody on a podcast years ago, but we talk about creating our raving fans. And the people that stick with you for years, they're your raving fans. And I have said to you several times over the years, you have a core group of people who would buy anything you created simply because you created it because they love you. It started, oh, I feel seen or connected to you from this one idea. Yeah. And the longer they've stuck with you, they're like, oh no, it's not about the idea anymore. It's this is relationship.

Laurie Graham 18:25

Yeah, yeah. And I have people like that in my life. I had professors like that in college. I didn't care what you're teaching on. I love you. I can learn anything from you. I will take a class in microphysics. That's probably not even a word. I would take a class in something just because you're teaching it. And I think I think that's true. And again, we want to take the list, the disconnection out of it. Like, I love the people I connect with. I want to serve them well. I don't want to annoy them. Yeah, exactly. I want them to find value in what they purchase from me and what they find from me. Like, I I just we gotta get this list making, this list building. We need to reframe this. This is serving people. Like it's and it's pretty beautiful.

Becky Brown 19:09

I I agree. I mean, when you when you remember, okay, this this email address, it's not a number. It's uh it's an this is a person, uh a brother and sister in Christ. I mean, it's it yeah, it's so important. It's so important.

Laurie Graham 19:25

Or not in Christ. Maybe there are people that you're just reaching out to in ways to serve and and love on them. And but you know, like I just think that's so interesting to think about because we are being a light to the whole world by anything we put out there, right? Like we are an influence, and that can be good or bad, um, and it can be effective or ineffective. And I want to be effective. I want my time to matter. And so when we talk about what an email list actually does, we're not building a list to get conversions, like to get sales, or like for me, I'm not building a list. Hmm, this is hard to hard to separate. I'm not building a list to make my business bigger. I'm building a list to serve people fully.

Becky Brown 20:10

Okay, I wanna I want to tweak it just a little bit. So I was just learning from my dear friend Katie. Um, she's giving a talk this weekend on taking care of your home.

Laurie Graham 20:19

And she I love that you talk about Katie in like every other Smart Soulful Business podcast because she doesn't have a business, but we learn so much from her. We do.

Becky Brown 20:28

So she said in one of her notes, people over process. And that's what you're talking over here. You're not saying remove your business or the number, like you want business growth, but can you just reorder it so that people are first on your list? Yeah, treat them as people first.

Laurie Graham 20:44

Yes. The list matters, the the numbers matter, the conversion rates matter, the people matter more. I love that you said that. So when you build an email list, what what it actually does for your business, it helps you stop starting over. It creates a path, an anchoring habit. It creates chosen relationships, it creates trust through consistency, it builds your own character. I'm gonna say that, my own character through the consistency of an anchoring habit. And I'm just saying right now that I don't think there is a better way or a better thing to invest in if you are new in business or building your business or you have a business. I I think it is one of the top areas to invest in because it is it becomes a huge part of your infrastructure. It's not separate, it's not another piece, like it's an anchoring infrastructure.

Becky Brown 21:37

I completely agree. Yeah, it's foundational, it's part of your business foundation.

Laurie Graham 21:42

Yep. Um, we have an action guide for you all um that goes with this podcast as we do every single week. It's called the email consistency framework. Get it. Download it, look at it. Whether you have an email list, you have a baby one, you have a huge one, don't care. It's gonna lead to some more um Just some more forward movement. So grab that, download it. Um, join the Soulful Strategy community, please. We have kept this so affordable. Like people are like, How are you doing this for$9 a week? Like you guys, we're showing you. Nine dollars a month, not a week. A month. I'm so sorry. Nine dollars how are you doing this for nine dollars a month? You know, we're showing up on video, we're answering questions, we're doing group coaching right in the middle of the Facebook community because we want you to be successful. And we know that money can be a barrier. So join our group, um, get that free action guide. And next week on the podcast, again, we're in a series about emails. We're gonna talk about why so many smart women avoid email, even when they know they need it. So we're literally gonna talk through obstacles that Becky and I have been through that we're hearing from many of you. We're gonna talk through those obstacles and get into the next steps as we go into this email um this sequence, a series on our podcast about emails because it is so important. So, anyway, we love you, we're here for you, we're on the journey with you. So um, let's do it. Go team. Go team.