Why you need to build your email list for your online art business…NOW!

I decided to write about this as my first online marketing article for artists because I think it is by far the MOST important thing you can do to build your online business and fan following.

The thing about accumulating a good email list is that if your blog breaks down, an online venue blocks you or shuts down (or worse…shuts YOU down), Facebook or another social media shuts down or gives you the boot, you still have that valuable email list of all the people that are your loyal fans and customers. The list of people you worked hard to build relationships with, is something you protect because it took you a long time to build and is extremely valuable to your business.

1 – Do not wait to start building your email subscriber list.

No better time than the present, start doing this right away. Many online business owners have big regrets for not starting sooner, don’t be one of them.

2 – “Don’t build on rented land.”

By “rented land” I’m referring to social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) and online venues (like Etsy, Saatchi Art, etc.). I’m not saying don’t use these platforms but be smart about it. Drive customers to your website to build an email list you can keep just in case you or they get shut down. And it does happen.

3 – These are subscribers and loyal fans – not just an email address.

Don’t just send emails about things you are selling. Use your list to build your relationship with them, especially when your first starting out and don’t have a list in the thousands where its a little more challenging to respond to every email.

4 – Email is important to people.

Emails allow you to build and strengthen your relationship with your subscribers in a way that no other form of online communication can do accept a face to face meeting, phone call, Skype or FaceTime call.

5 – Email can be referenced later.

Unlike a face to face and phone call interaction, people can come back later and reference the email on what you said. Imagine if you place something important in your social media feed and then someone interested wants to reference it later. It can be very hard to find!

6 – You can get valuable feedback from your subscribers.

Ask them questions. Communicate with them. Send them valuable content. Respond to them and give them things they can make actionable.

7 – Helps establish you as a leader early on.

When your speaking on a subject consistently and people are referring to you as a resource, you are the expert.

8 – Use an autoresponder to automatically reply to your new subscriber.

It’s a prewritten email that sends the new subscriber a welcome email or another email to them without you having to do it through your personal email. Because my business is small, I use Aweber. Mailchimp provides a free email service.

9 – Use a pop up box for email subscribers.

It seems rather pushy but statistics have shown that they have fantastic results. I use Leadpages for mine. They’re called LeadBoxes and are fairly easy to set up on your website.

10 – Offer a bonus or lead magnet to gain more subscribers.

Subscribers give their email address in exchange for a FREE bonus such as an e-book, cheat sheet or other digital bonus. You help them and in exchange, you get to build a relationship with them. **Make sure the bonus is EXTREMELY useful to your audience. This will be something extraordinary they can get from you besides what they get from your blog posts.

11 – Create an Opt-In box/graphic of your free bonus to put in your sidebar to gain email subscribers.

This makes it easy and convenient for subscribers to sign up on your site. I currently use Leadpages to make my Leadbox that collects subscriber information when clicking the graphic.

12 – Offer “subscriber only” content.

If you’re offering great content through your website and periodically offering those extra special bonuses through email, this could keep people’s attention.

13 – Email is a great way to let subscribers know of your upcoming events.

Very important if you’re actively displaying your artwork around so people know where to go and when you’re going to be there.

If your offering consistent valuable content, people will want to subscribe for the convenience of having it delivered right to their email box instead of checking back to your website regularly.

I hope you’ve gained some useful knowledge of why you should have an email subscriber list for your art business. Start today by putting a simple subscriber box on your website. Then take a deeper dive into bonuses and opt in boxes so you can accelerate the growth of your list.

Best of luck and happy building!

Samantha