Podcasting for Latina CEOs with Podcast Coach Heidy De La Cruz

Your Podcast Needs an Email List - Here’s Why - Ep. 30

• Heidy De La Cruz • Episode 30

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 22:25

Send us Fan Mail

Your podcast needs an email list, especially if you are podcasting for your online business. And if you already have an email list for your online business and then start a podcast, perfect, you can connect your podcast to the email list too.  

An email list is a digital asset because you own the list. It is also an online real estate that you own, unlike social media. And you get direct access to your audience without having to fight the algorithm. Adding an email list to your podcast strengthens your online ecosystem and increases your digital assets. 


💬 In This Episode, You'll Learn:

  • What is a lead magnet? 
  • Email providers you can use to start your list. 
  • Why email list convert better than social media. 


🔥 Key Takeaways:

  • Prioritizing an email list for your podcast from the start helps build community and direct access to your audience without fighting the algorithm. 
  • Consistently promote your lead magnet all over your online presence to get people to sign up. 
  • Consistently communicate with your email list to nurture them or sell your offers.  

📌 Resources Mentioned:

✨ Connect with Heidy:

P.S. Do you know what is actually holding you back from starting your podcast? Take the quiz and find out! 

🎧 If this episode inspired you, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a fellow Latina ready to start her own podcast.



SPEAKER_00

Welcome to Podcasting for Latina CEOs, the go-to podcast for passionpreneurs Latinas, ready to launch and grow their online businesses and own their voice with podcasting. I'm Heidi de la Cruz, writer, two-time award-winning podcaster, and podcast launch coach on a mission to help you build a life of freedom, wealth, and impact by turning your ideas into income. If you're a Latina ready to break generational cycles and create your own table, this show is for you. Let's build our dreams on that. Hello, welcome back to another episode of Podcasting for Latina CEOs. I am your host and your coach, Heidi de la Cruz. And today let's talk about why your podcast needs an email list. If you already don't have one for your show. Okay, so I actually had a listener send me a message and said, I wanted to share with you that after listening to your podcast, I started being much more intentional with my SEO. And last week I had a new client join my program out of the blue. I asked her how she found me, and she said she Googled food noise, and my podcast popped up. She listened to a few episodes and was sold. It was so cool and exciting. Now, this is a listener of the podcast, and she listened to the episode on podcast SEO, implemented the strategies that I uh gave in the episode, and then next thing you know, she was able to get a client. So a few things have happened, right, in regards to this. So, one being intentional with SEO, which again, SEO is keen, um, which is also what I say that to people that like people can find your show on Google as long as your keywords are in the correct spots. Like your podcast will come up on Google search when people are searching for those certain keywords. And this also goes to show that your podcast nurtures people and also can have listeners become clients. So, again, she said that the listener had listened to a few episodes of her, she was sold and knew that she was the right person to help her with this, and she joined her program. So your listeners can turn into clients if we set up those systems correctly in the back end. So, thank you again so much for sharing that testimonial with me. I'm so excited that you were able to get a new client from your podcast and yeah, continue to implement SEO strategies to your podcast, and you'll continue to get more clients. So, now I want to talk to you about why your podcast needs an email list. So, I actually did not start an email list right away when I started my immigration podcast, and I when I did the episode on things that I would change if I started a new podcast, that was one of them. It was to create an email list right away because again, I waited. I was so focused on one, I didn't know how long I was gonna podcast for, and two, I was really just focused on getting guests, like that was my main focus when I first started the podcast. And then it wasn't until like I want to say like a year in that I was like, man, I can actually build a community around this. How can I do that? So then that's when I decided to start an email list for my immigration podcast. And then, of course, with this podcast, I actually had an email list already before I started this podcast. So when I started providing strategy, podcasting tips, behind the scenes content on being a podcaster, um, to one of my email lists, because I have three, if you don't know. So one of my email lists is about podcasting. And so obviously, I had it first before I started this podcast. So that's why soon as I started the show, it's like you had the opportunity to join the email list and get more podcasting tips every single Wednesday. Um, because again, you know, this this podcast comes out every other Thursday, but every Wednesday you can get podcasting tips, strategies, behind the scenes content on what it takes to have a corporate job, run a business, run two podcasts, all the things, speaking engagements, digital products, all of it. I share more behind the scenes um information in my newsletter, and that is every Wednesday. So go to the show notes, you can get the link there and sign up for the email list. And so, this is one of the reasons why I wanted to talk about this today is because an email list is an added digital asset to your podcast, right? And that is one of the ways that you can build community around your podcast. So if you are serious about growing your show and turning it into a long-term asset for your business, then you definitely need an email list. And if your business, if you already have an online business and you are tying your podcast to your business, then you can definitely tie your email list to your podcast as well. So one of the biggest things that we have to keep in mind is that we don't own social media. So I I know that a lot of people automatically think about social media in Instagram and TikTok and threads and Facebook as a way to build community around their podcast or as a way to market. But remember that we don't own social media, we don't own our followers. So when meta goes down, when TikTok goes down, like you don't have access to your audience. But when it comes to your podcast, like you can, you know, let's say like the social media goes down and then you want to like upload an episode, you're you're you can do that. But you can also more intimately and more and faster, you can send an email to your list and get direct access to them, right? So you know, remember, keep in mind you don't own Instagram or TikTok or Facebook, and you don't have to deal with the algorithm for social media, like your email list is yours. That between your email list, your podcast, and your website, those are online real estate that you own, and those are digital assets. So, if you know, to grow your online business, you need digital assets and have that ecosystem work together, especially if you want to get like sponsorship or brand deals, like you definitely need an email list for that. When it comes to sponsorship that I was able to get with my first podcast, my immigration podcast, I also packaged my blog posts and my email list to the sponsor. So it's like, hey, not only do you get your business advertised on the podcast, you will also get your business advertised on my blog posts and my email list and like sharing with them like what is the engagement rate or the open rate for the email list, like all of that you can tie it together when you want to get sponsorship or when you want to get brand deals with your podcast. So remember, you don't own social media, which is, I mean, it's great to have a following, it's great to have engagement on there, but we definitely need digital assets that we own outside of social media. So, like a website, podcast, and email list, all of that works together. Email converts better than social media. I can't tell you how many people have said or you know, shared that their email list is the number one way that they get clients. Now, it will be full transparency. I do not get clients from my email list. I use my email list as to nurture people. So how do I explain this? It's it's really that it's like I don't I sell, but then I don't sell on my email list. I'm really trying to like explain uh my ecosystem here. So, so let's say for example, okay, you're listening to this and you want more, like I like I said before, like I provide more value on my email list. So I don't really sell on my email list, I like tell you the events that I'm going to, or I tell you like behind the scenes, like this happened, or this is how I balance it, or like, for example, last week I had to travel to Miami and I tried to send my email as close to Wednesday as possible. But since I was gonna be traveling on Tuesday, I had to schedule it out earlier. And then I told my email list that it's like, hey, you know, here's some behind the scenes. I am traveling this week, so I have to like move some things around, shuffle some things around. So I'm scheduling this email a few days before than I normally do. So by the time you get this, I'm actually gonna be traveling. I am going to be traveling back home from Miami. So that is why like I don't like that's why my email list doesn't really convert for me because I am providing more value and more nurturing in the email list versus like straight up selling. However, those that do sell on their email list, they have mentioned that like that is the number one way that they get clients. Like they they provide a freebie to get people on their list and then they sell them, like they send out like email sequence like for 10 days or whatever, and then they are able to get people to convert to their offers. So email converts better than social media. Why? Because people are giving you their email list, like they want to hear from you. Social media, they can come across you by one post that the algorithm pushed to them, but they still need time to get to know you and what you're offering and build that trust. When it comes to email, it's easier to get gain people's trust because they are giving you permission to email this, right? So email marketing consistently outperforms in social media when it comes to launching, selling digital products, booking discovery calls, filling webinars, and promoting events. Because again, people chose to be on their list, so on your list, so they chose to hear from you. They gave you your email address, they didn't just scroll by your content. They they said yes, like I want to hear more from you. Okay, that is why I'm always so, so, so grateful for those who are on my email list. Now, my email list is very small. Um, I recently went on a cleaning spray from my email list. I went on the list and I removed everybody who had not opened an email from me in the last 90 days. So right now I am just shy of a hundred people on the email list. However, my open rate is 72% because the people who are on my list actually want to hear from me. And they actually want the podcasting tips, they want the strategies, they want to know the behind the scenes. So that is also like why email converts better than social media because it's like they they sign up because they want to hear from you, right? And email list deepens the relationship again. So, like I said, I use my email list to nurture my audience. Podcasting builds the intimacy. Like you are choosing to listen to me every other Thursday and get podcasting tips and hear my voice and feel my energy. But when you sign up for my email list, I get to talk to you or I get to speak to you, right? Um, via email every week. And so the podcast is about hearing your voice, but the email is like how I stay connected with you in between the episodes because again, I publish every other Thursday, but I send out an email every Wednesday. In regards to your email list, you can expand on the topic that you're talking about. You can share behind-the-scenes insight, like I said, you can tell more personal stories, you can invite people to respond to you and start a conversation. I remember a few weeks ago that I had shared in my to my email list how I was struggling mentally. Um, I had, I think it was when I had skipped that one Thursday that I missed a recording because I mentioned like I was struggling mentally and I didn't want to record with bad energy. So I shared that with my email list first and I was like, hey guys, like I'm really struggling. And and I shared that and I got people to respond to me. They they were like, hey, thank you so much um, you know, for being vulnerable and just know that I'm here for you. And that was really nice to know that again, the people who are on my email list really, really do care and they really do are there for me and are supportive of me. And even through the bad days, like they are there, and that's why I don't take my email list for granted. I try not to be spammy, that's why I try not to sell to them. I really just want to nurture and provide more value than what I do on this podcast. And again, I really do feel like my listeners are part of a community. I call my email list um podcast mentorship because I really do feel like more of a mentor to my email list than anything else. Like, I don't feel like I'm coaching them. I really feel like I'm just providing what works for me, what doesn't work, and mistakes and things like that. So then they don't have to make those mistakes or like they can see what works for them. So, email lists really is how you can expand and create a community within your podcast. So, how do you create an email list for your podcast? And it can feel overwhelming. And I will say that growing an email list is hard. I'm not gonna be, I'm not gonna sugarcoat that. Creating an email list or growing an email list is hard because you people have to see the value in being in your email list because um, you know, people are a part of a lot of emails, so like they're getting a lot of emails throughout the day. And I'm speaking for myself right now, like, you know, I have my personal email and then I have my business email, and between both of them, like if I don't clean that out like in two days, I will have over 200 emails between both of them. And it just like it can get very overwhelming. So just think about that. Like, there's a lot of people who sign up for a lot of different email lists. So that is why I also like I'm just so grateful for the people on my list because I know that they're getting so many emails and they actually want to be there. And growing the email list again, it is hard, it does take time, but it is worth it again because it is a digital asset and it will just strengthen your business. So, step one on creating an email list. You have to choose an email marketing provider. So you need a platform that hosts the emails that where you're able to send the newsletters and allow automation. So, here are the popular options of email lists. So there's flowdesk, there's converter kit, which is actually just now called kit, there's mailchimp, there's mailer light, and then there's active campaign. If you're just getting started, don't sign up for anything complicated. Just pick one, start simple, and then you can always upgrade later. Oh, another one is Substack and then Beehives. In the blog post that I wrote about why your podcast needs an email list, I actually collaborated with my creator friend George from Siembra Connect, and he actually shared his post on there as to why he chose Beehive for his newsletter. So um I will include that link to the blog post in the show notes, and then you can go ahead and read that if you're interested in starting a newsletter with Beehive. So I have Substack for my immigration podcast newsletter, and that's where I share episodes and exclusive content for my paid subscribers. So my paid subscribers actually receive ad-free episodes on Mondays. So I release episodes every Tuesday, but my paid subscribers actually get access to them on Mondays, and I upload the version without without ads to them because they already paid for the content. And then I also provide behind the scenes content to the paid subscribers. Everybody else, they just get the episode with the show notes and they're able to listen from there. For my podcast mentorship newsletter, like I mentioned, I send podcasting tips every Wednesday. And for that one, I use MailChimp. It's I mean, I've had MailChimp since I started my online business, like it's been a while, and I mean I like it. It's I I'm just so used to it and I know how it works. Um, I did earlier this year was thinking about like changing over to another subscriber, but the links, I have so many links and so many blog posts that I didn't want to have to go in and change that. So I'm just like, you know what, I'm just gonna stick to Mill and Chip. And then that's when I went through the purge where I remove everybody who had not opened the email in the last 90 days. Okay, the second step to growing your email list or starting your email list is you need to create a lead magnet. So a lead magnet is something valuable that you give away for free in exchange for someone's email list. So this could be like a checklist, an email template, uh episode planning book guide, 30 podcast episode idea, sponsorship, pitch template, podcast equipment guide, like budget versus pro setup. Like there's that that's like if you are a podcaster, right, and you are trying to get people into your email list. Like, let's say you have a personal development podcast and you can do like a five-day confidence challenge as a lead magnet, or a goal setting workbook, or a morning routine template, or reflection journal prompts. Um, for health and wellness podcasts, you could do like a meal planning template, habit tracker, beginner workout guide, meditation audio. Like there's so many different lead magnets that you can do to get people on your email list. Like you can, oh, a lot of people also have like um private podcasts. Using a private podcast to get people on your email list is really, really cool because again, you need to they need to give you the email in exchange to get the podcast. So that's another way that you can create uh a lead magnet to get people on your email list. I actually just helped a client with your private podcast for the first time. Like I had never created a private podcast for myself, but I was able to do it for a client, which was really cool. And yeah, so if you want to create a private podcast for your email list, hey, let me know and we can do that for you. All right, next, you want to create a landing page for your lead magnet. So inside your email provider, you should be able to create a landing page that will include a clear headline, the description of the benefit, a mock-up or an image of the freebie, and then an opt-in form, right? So an example headline would be like launch your podcast with confidence, download the free podcast starter checklist, keep it clear and focus on the result. Step four, promote it on your podcast. So this is where many podcasters drop the ball. Don't just say like link in the show notes, be specific. So an example is if you're thinking about starting a podcast but fear overwhelmed, I created a free podcast launch checklist that walks you through the exact steps. So go to blah, blah, blah, and then put your link and download it. So you want to repeat this in your intro and your outro and your show notes and your Instagram bio and your Pinterest pins and your blog posts. Like you literally want to put this everywhere. So when people come across your content, they know how to opt in for your email list and get that freebie. So, what do you send once they join your email list? So don't just collect emails and disappear. Like you need to have like a welcome email, right? So introduce yourself, share your story, tell them what to expect, and invite them to reply. You can send out weekly or bi-weekly newsletters so that you can expand on your latest episode, you can share a lesson you learned, you can offer resources or highlight a past episode. With sending emails consistently, that's how you build trust. And then trust builds revenue. So, one thing that I did do this year is actually remove my lead magnet because one thing that I did notice was that a lot of people just wanted the workbook and they didn't actually want to be in my email list. And again, my email list is not to sell, it is to nurture my audience. So I really wanted people who actually wanted podcasting tips and no behind-the-scenes content to be in the email list. So I removed my freebie, and my email list is now the freebie. So you can sign up for the email list in the show notes of this episode, and actually in every episode, every single episode has a link to sign up for the newsletter. So if you want more podcasting tips, more behind the scenes content, you can go ahead and sign up. Again, I release those every Wednesdays, and I do try to like the weeks that I have a podcast episode coming out, I do try to provide a different tip on my email list than what I do in the podcast. So you're not getting duplicate content. But sometimes I do combine them. So like sometimes I will say, like, hey, um, I'm talking about this topic today. Here's the episode that you can listen to on. Or I might release the episode right on the Thursday, and then the following Wednesday, I go deeper into it in the email list. Again, I try to keep the content different so you're not getting duplicate content, but sometimes, like, you know, you just want to go a little bit deeper, and you can do that in the email list. All right, so final thoughts. If you want your podcast to generate income, attract clients, land sponsorship, build authority, and create long-term sustainability, that you need to treat it like a business. Every business needs an owned audience, which is your email list, not social media. Your email list is not extra, it is part of your ecosystem. Start small, create one lead magnet, set up your landing page, send one email per week. You don't have to be perfect, you just need to start. And your future self and your future podcast revenue will thank you for it. Now, go start your email list, go sign up for my email list. The link is in the show notes. And I will see you in the next episode con mucho amor, Coach Heidi. Thank you for listening to Mami Bacas.