Advice on how to use an email list?

Discussions
#1

I’ve learned bits and pieces about email marketing over the last couple years and I now know juuuuust enough to be really confused. At this point in time I actually do have an idea of what I’d like to do, but I need a little help sorting out the details.

Quick background:

I of course want to have an email list. For a long time I couldn’t think of anything of value I could email to a list of salon owners. I’ve never run a salon or cut hair, and I don’t think I have the resources to get a hairstyling/salon expert to write for me.

But lately I realized there IS something of value I could provide to salon owners: I can give advice on choosing salon software. For example, steer away from desktop-based salon software because you’re going to have to pay for upgrades. Basically what I guess I’m talking about is a consumer awareness guide. I know I could do a great job of that.

And I of course know that if you have something of value to provide to prospects, like a consumer awareness guide, you can trade that valuable thing for an email address.

After this my knowledge takes a sharp dive.

Once I’ve exchanged my consumer awareness guide for an email address, for what do I use that email address? Perry Marshall has a How To Write A White Paper mini-course that’s delivered via email over the course of several days. I guess that’s maybe an alternative to a consumer awareness guide - an email mini-course. But were I not to do a mini-course, I don’t know what I would send to salon owners.

(By the way, I think the mini-course thing might actually be perfect for my target market: frantically busy non-techy biz owners who probably wouldn’t sit down and read a PDF, but very well might read 7 short emails.)

So I guess the main thing is that I don’t know what I would send to salon owners either after downloading my awareness guide or completing my mini-course.

  • I don’t know whether I should do a consumer awareness guide PDF or email mini-course
  • I don’t know what I can use the email address for on an ongoing basis

Any thoughts/advice? Thanks in advance.

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#2

Consider interviewing a few salon owners and collecting their distilled wisdom about how to run a salon better, then do the editing/curation/etc to turn that into a mini-course. Presumably some part of their advice will touch upon proper management of salons, which is a good place to plug your thing which manages salons.

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#3

I expect salon owners don’t want to hear about cutting hair so much as they want to hear about running a better business. They have that cutting hair part down already.

@patio11’s idea is a good one. The other thing you should do is ask people what their biggest issue is when they sign up to your list. I stole this idea from Brennan Dunn – just sign up to his list to see what I mean. Then write about the stuff they mention. Simple!

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#4

Thanks, guys. That’s a good idea about interviewing salon owners and presenting their advice in a mini-course.

I think I answered my own question about what to do at the end of the mini-course: I just got the final email of Perry Marshall’s white paper course and it ends, quite unshockingly, with an offer. There I have it.

(I’ll be curious to see if I get future emails from him.)