Episode 64: Downloading Your Email List Every Once in a While - The Email Sound Booth with Liz Wilcox

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Email Sound Booth with Liz Wilcox
Episode 64: Downloading Your Email List Every Once in a While
Release Date: December 12, 2024

Introduction to Episode 64

In Episode 64 of The Email Sound Booth, host Liz Wilcox delves into a crucial yet often overlooked aspect of email marketing: downloading and safeguarding your email list. Aimed at online business owners seeking to enhance their email marketing strategies, Liz emphasizes the importance of owning and protecting your email list to ensure long-term success and stability.

The Importance of Owning Your Email List

Liz begins by underscoring why owning your email list is paramount for online businesses:

"Email marketing is like the one thing you own, right? Unlike on social media where they could shut down your content and your platform any second for any reason."
— Liz Wilcox [00:00]

She contrasts email marketing with social media platforms, highlighting the vulnerability businesses face if they rely solely on external platforms that can change policies or shut down without notice. By owning your email list, you maintain control over your direct communication channel with your audience.

Risks of Not Downloading Your Email List

Liz warns about the potential risks of not having a downloaded copy of your email list:

"These are extreme cases, but I would be remiss as the fresh princess of email marketing if I didn't tell you to put it on your calendar."
— Liz Wilcox [00:00]

She shares a cautionary tale of a fellow marketer involved in alternative medicine who lost access to her email list when her ESP (Email Service Provider) terminated her account. Although she eventually recovered her list, the process took a month of effort and uncertainty:

"I knew a lady who was into, I don't know, some weird alternative medicine... the ESP told her, 'Hey, we don't want you on the platform anymore,' and they shut down her account."
— Liz Wilcox [00:01]

This example serves to illustrate the potential disruptions and challenges businesses may face if they do not regularly back up their email lists.

Recommended Frequency for Downloading Email Lists

Liz advises on the optimal frequency for downloading your email list to balance safety without unnecessary effort:

"I'm going to suggest once a year. Some email marketers tell you to do it once a week, once a month, but I think that's excessive."
— Liz Wilcox [00:00]

She suggests that an annual backup is sufficient for most businesses, though those with rapidly growing and changing lists, like her own, might consider downloading more frequently—a couple of times a year.

Step-by-Step Guide to Downloading Your Email List

Liz provides a straightforward, actionable guide to ensure listeners can easily implement the backup process:

Set a Calendar Reminder:
- Schedule a recurring task in your calendar to download your email list at least once a year.
- Example: "Put it in your calendar as a recurring task once a year."
  — Liz Wilcox [00:00]
Export Your Email List:
- Access your ESP and locate your subscribers' list.
- For instance, using Klaviyo (referred to as "kit" in the transcript):
  
  "I know in kit it says like bulk action, I can export them. They send me that exported file."
  — Liz Wilcox [00:01]
Store the Exported List Securely:
- Save the downloaded file to a secure location such as Google Drive or your computer's hard drive.
- Example naming convention: "December 2024 kit email list, LizWilcox.com."
  — Liz Wilcox [00:01]
Organize and Maintain Your Backups:
- Ensure that the backups are easily identifiable and accessible when needed.
- Store files systematically to avoid confusion and facilitate quick retrieval in case of an emergency.

Benefits of Regular Email List Backups

Regularly downloading your email list offers multiple benefits:

Ownership and Control: Ensures you retain control over your subscriber data regardless of changes with your ESP.
Business Continuity: Minimizes disruptions in case your ESP terminates your account.
Data Security: Protects valuable customer information from potential losses.

Encouragement to Act Now

Liz encourages listeners to take immediate action if they haven't yet downloaded their email lists:

"If you've never downloaded your email list, you could do that today, right now, in a few minutes."
— Liz Wilcox [00:02]

She reassures that the process is simple and can be completed in a short amount of time, making it an essential step for every email marketer's annual checklist.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Wrapping up the episode, Liz reiterates the importance of owning your email list and integrating the backup process into your regular business routines:

"Make sure in your calendar again, you create a recurring task."
— Liz Wilcox [00:02]

She emphasizes that while the episode was brief, the advice is vital for maintaining the health and security of your email marketing efforts.

Additional Resources and Membership Promotion

Although the episode primarily focuses on the importance of downloading your email list, Liz also briefly mentions her $9 a month email marketing membership, which offers:

Ethical List Growth Strategies: Teaching methods to grow your email list without resorting to spammy tactics.
Engaging Email Content: Guidance on crafting emails that subscribers want to open, reply to, and purchase from.
List Health Maintenance: Ensuring your email list remains active and effective, reducing the need for frequent backups.

"Join my $9 a month email marketing membership... where I teach you how to grow your list ethically."
— Liz Wilcox [00:02]

Key Takeaways:

Ownership of Your Email List: Critical for long-term business stability and direct communication with your audience.
Regular Backups: At least once a year, but more frequently if your email list grows rapidly.
Simple Process: Exporting and storing your email list is straightforward and ensures you are prepared for unexpected changes with your ESP.
Actionable Steps: Set calendar reminders, export your list, store it securely, and maintain organized backups.

By following Liz Wilcox's guidance in Episode 64, online business owners can safeguard their email marketing efforts, ensuring they maintain control over their most valuable customer asset—their email list.

Transcript

Liz Wilcox (0:00)

Yo, yo, yo. Episode 64 has just begun of the email sound booth podcast. I don't know why, sometimes I randomly sing. It's weird. Liz, stop doing it. Anyway, this is gonna be a super quick episode. The tactic or whatever is in the title. Downloading your email list every once in a while. So something that I talk about ad nauseam, about why you should email market is you own your email list, right? Unlike on, you know, social media where they could shut down your content and your platform any second for any reason. Email marketing is like the one thing you own, right? Yes, of course, but every once in a while, this, this is a rarity, but it does happen. Your email service provider can tell you, hey, we don't want your business anymore. This, these are extreme cases, but I would be remiss as the fresh princess of email marketing if I didn't tell you to put it on your calendar. I'm going to suggest once a year. Some email marketers tell you to do it once a week, once a month, but I think that's excessive. I do it a couple times a year simply because my list does grow very quickly and change often. But once a year, put it in your calendar. You know, like you might be driving or doing the dishes, but when you finish that up, go to your calendar. Put it in your calendar as a recurring task once a year to download your email list, then put it in your Google Drive Again, this is not to scare you. This is not to say, you know, whatever, but every once in a while, like, I knew a lady who was into, I don't know, some weird alternative medicine. It had no science backing. And I'm not, I mean, I'm not one to judge. You can talk about whatever you want. But I think someone reported her to the email service provider. I can't remember. I don't think it was one of the main ESPs. But they, they told her, you know, hey, we don't want you on the platform anymore. And they shut down her account. And she was, after about a month of fighting, she was able to recover the email list. Like they gave her the email list, but that was a month of having to, you know, jump through hoops or whatever. So I don't want that to happen to you. Once a year, download your email list, put it in Google Drive or whatever and call it a day. This is something that I think you should have on your calendar. Again, once a year. Kind of rambling here. I think this might be the quickest episode ever. But I want you to download your email list. Every once in a while you can just. You should be able to go into your email service provider wherever you can find all your subscribers. I know in kit it says like bulk action, I can export them. They send me that exported file. I just put it in my Google Drive. I name it December 2024 kit email list, LizWilcox.com or whatever you wanted to name it. It's not a big deal anyway. So if you've never downloaded your email list, you could do that today, right now, in a few minutes, whenever you get to carpool, whatever your ESP should send it to you or download it directly to your computer. Name it so you know what the heck it is. Put it in a Google Drive or your hard drive wherever you store things, and then make sure in your calendar again, you create a recurring task. All right, that's it. That is the episode. Now, if you want to write emails that won't get flagged that your people want, that people aren't going to mark as spam, if you want to grow your list in a way that people don't mark you as spam, to alert your email service provider, of course, join my $9 a month email marketing membership. You know, where I teach you how to grow your list ethically? I teach you how to send emails that people actually want to open, reply, buy from so your list stays healthy and you never even have to worry about this in the first place. All right, that's the episode. Episode 64. As always, I'm Liz Wilcox. You are awesome and I'll see you on the next episode.