Would you build your house on a rented land? I didn’t think so! Today I want to show you how the same concept applies when growing your handmade shop. If you use Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Etsy or any of those social media platforms or handmade marketplaces, this video is especially for you!
Difference between OWNING and RENTING in real estate is quite clear for everyone. When you think about marketing, you have to remember that the same exact concept applies:
Here’s what I mean exactly: when you sign up to any of those platforms, you agree to THEIR terms and conditions. You probably didn’t read them – who does? They’re boring, it’s long and most of us don’t really understand all those terms, but they all say that they can make changes to their platforms pretty much whenever they feel like it, without asking you if you’re happy with it first. When those changes are minor, it’s kind of okay, but when they are so big they affect your business and your bottom line, we have a problem. I’m talking Etsy algorithm changes, Instagram changes, and oh, remember when Facebook announced it will be much harder for you to reach your followers? That’s kind of big news, especially if you’ve spent the last 5 years working hard on building your Facebook following.
When you’re relying on one platform like Etsy or Facebook for your business, and suddenly the algorithm changes, it’s like if someone has cut a line of communication you had with potential customers. Do we want that? No, thanks. Luckily, those things only happen if you build your business on a rented land. So, what’s the alternative?
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Oh, you know where I am going… Email marketing! Building your email list is the BEST way to do marketing because you have direct access to your subscribers and customers and no one can get in the way and tell you “oh sorry from tomorrow you won’t be able to email your list there’s been a global Internet algorithm change”. That’s not a thing that exists. Once you have an email list with people on it you can decide when to mail them. The only way you can lose that line of communication is when a subscriber unsubscribes from your list (and that’s fine, let them go!). Other than that, your email list is your most important asset and should be your absolute priority when you are thinking about your marketing.
Now, I want to be clear here:
The thing is, all of these things are ALWAYS secondary to growing my list. Because of that, I didn’t really care when the Facebook changes were announced because I have at least 10x more people on my email list than people who like my page. So it didn’t feel like it was going to be so damaging, I still had a direct line to my subscribers.
Don’t get me wrong: platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Etsy etc. are great for your business. Should you leverage them? Yes! But don’t just rent a space for your handmade business, OWN IT! Email marketing is the best way to do that and I highly encourage you to put it on your to-do list if it isn’t there already.
I hope it was helpful. Let me know if you are building your email list and if you have any questions.
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