Episode 84: 4 Mistakes You’re Making With Your Welcome Sequence - The Email Sound Booth with Liz Wilcox

Summary5 min read

Podcast Summary: The Email Sound Booth with Liz Wilcox
Episode 84: 4 Mistakes You’re Making With Your Welcome Sequence
Release Date: January 30, 2025

Introduction

In Episode 84 of The Email Sound Booth with Liz Wilcox, host Liz delves into the common pitfalls businesses encounter when crafting their welcome email sequences. Building upon the foundation laid in Episode 83, where Liz emphasized the importance of establishing a welcome sequence, this episode focuses on four critical mistakes that can undermine your email marketing efforts. Designed for online businesses aiming to optimize their email strategies, Liz provides actionable insights to help listeners create effective and engaging welcome sequences.

Mistake #1: Writing Emails That Are Too Long

Timestamp: [00:00 – 03:30]

Liz begins by addressing the first major mistake: overly lengthy emails. Drawing a contrast between friends and new subscribers, she underscores the importance of brevity in the initial stages of the email staircase—moving from follower to friend to customer.

“Remember, these people, they're not our friends yet. So we don't want to wax poetic in these emails… We want to keep our emails short. Brevity is our friend.” (00:45)

Liz recommends keeping welcome emails concise, ideally between 200 to 400 words. She shares her own practice of keeping initial emails around 150 words and gradually increasing to 400 words in subsequent communications. This approach ensures that new subscribers remain engaged without feeling overwhelmed by lengthy content.

“If you've got 420 words, don't panic, my dear, but you know you want… 200 to 400 words is great for your welcome sequence.” (02:15)

The key takeaway is to save longer emails for moments when you need to make a significant impact, such as during a sale or when conveying a major message, rather than in the initial welcome phase.

Mistake #2: Your Frequency Is Too Slow

Timestamp: [03:31 – 07:20]

The second mistake Liz identifies is the infrequent sending of welcome emails. She observes that many businesses spread their welcome sequences too thinly over extended periods, such as four emails over a month or two weeks, which can lead to new subscribers losing interest or forgetting who you are.

“If I send four emails over four weeks, by the third week you might forget who the heck I am.” (04:10)

To capitalize on the initial excitement when someone signs up, Liz advocates for a more aggressive frequency, suggesting that four welcome emails be sent out within four days, though she acknowledges that even spreading them over 10 days is preferable to the extended timelines many follow.

“I really recommend those four emails in no less than 10 days.” (05:50)

By maintaining a brisk pace, you ensure that new subscribers stay engaged and are quickly introduced to your brand, setting the stage for a fruitful ongoing relationship.

Mistake #3: Not Sharing Your Vision and Personality

Timestamp: [07:21 – 12:15]

Liz moves on to the third mistake: failing to convey your vision and personality in your welcome emails. She emphasizes that new subscribers need to understand not only who you are but also where you're headed and how you can help them achieve their goals.

“I share that in my welcome sequence. I say, hey, I love the 90s… but also share your vision.” (09:00)

Liz shares a personal anecdote about how her podcast showcases minimal personality, yet her welcome emails reflect her vibrant and quirky side, such as her love for the 90s. This blend of personality and vision helps establish a relatable and aspirational connection with subscribers.

“As much as I love the 90s, that's my personality… I want you to make money with emails so badly, it literally changed my entire life.” (10:30)

By clearly articulating her vision—helping subscribers make money through email—Liz ensures that new members understand the value they can gain from being part of her community. She encourages listeners to define and share their own visions to set clear expectations and foster a sense of purpose among their audience.

Mistake #4: Having a Sequence That's a Million Emails Long

Timestamp: [12:16 – 16:00]

The final mistake Liz discusses is creating excessively long welcome sequences. She warns against overwhelming new subscribers with a barrage of emails, which can dilute the effectiveness of your welcome strategy and confuse your audience.

“I really recommend your welcome sequence being, you know, four emails or about a week long.” (14:40)

Liz advises limiting the welcome sequence to four emails or spanning about a week before transitioning to regular newsletters. This approach ensures that subscribers receive fresh and relevant content without feeling inundated. She also notes that more elaborate funnels with extended sequences should only be implemented once you have a well-established relationship with your audience, typically after a year of consistent communication and data collection.

“Especially in the first zero to three years of your business… your sequence should be shorter so you can get them into those timely emails.” (15:20)

By keeping the welcome sequence concise, businesses can gather valuable feedback and data, allowing them to refine their email strategies and better serve their subscribers in the long term.

Conclusion and Recap

In summary, Episode 84 of The Email Sound Booth highlights four common mistakes to avoid in your welcome email sequences:

Writing Emails That Are Too Long: Aim for brevity, keeping emails between 200 to 400 words.
Frequency Is Too Slow: Send welcome emails aggressively, ideally within 10 days.
Not Sharing Your Vision and Personality: Clearly communicate your vision and inject personality to connect with subscribers.
Having a Sequence That's a Million Emails Long: Limit the welcome sequence to four emails before moving to regular newsletters.

“Remember, they're not our friends yet. They don't really care yet. Save the long emails for when it counts.” (02:30)

Liz wraps up the episode by offering resources for listeners seeking assistance with their welcome sequences, including a templatized welcome sequence available for free at lizwilcox.com, a $49 welcome sequence workshop, and a $9 monthly membership for ongoing support and templates.

“If you need help with your welcome sequence, I've got you covered. You can go directly to lizwilcox.com hit that hot pink button you already know.” (16:30)

By addressing these four mistakes, Liz provides a clear roadmap for businesses to enhance their email marketing strategies, ensuring that their welcome sequences effectively engage and convert new subscribers.

Notable Quotes

On Brevity:
“We want to keep our emails short. Brevity is our friend.” (00:45)
On Email Length:
“200 to 400 words is great for your welcome sequence.” (02:15)
On Frequency:
“I really recommend those four emails in no less than 10 days.” (05:50)
On Sharing Personality and Vision:
“I want you to make money with emails so badly, it literally changed my entire life.” (10:30)
On Sequence Length:
“Especially in the first zero to three years of your business… your sequence should be shorter so you can get them into those timely emails.” (15:20)

For more insights and resources on optimizing your email marketing, visit lizwilcox.com and join The Email Sound Booth community.

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Transcript1 lines

[00:01]
A
What's up? We are on episode 84 of the email sound booth podcast, and that is what you are listening to. Four mistakes you're making with your welcome sequence. That's right. Episode 83 was about why you should write a welcome sequence. Now I want to talk about the mistakes you can make while writing your welcome sequence. Let's hop into it. Number one, writing emails that are too long. Yes, I said it. Writing. Remember in episode 83, I talked about following the email staircase. Follower, friend, customer. And the welcome sequence starts that friendship. But remember, these people, they're not our friends yet. So we don't want to wax poetic in these emails, right? Unless you are a special snowflake where you write novels that are 1,000 pages long and people are waiting on beta breath for every word. You know, we want to keep our emails short. Brevity. Look up that word if you don't know what it means. Brevity is our friend, okay? So don't write your emails too long. If you get my freebie@liz wilcox.com it is that templatized welcome sequence. You'll notice that the longest email is probably about 400 words. So I recommend that first email being, you know, 150 words or less. That second email, about the same. The third, we can have three to 400 words. And the fourth one, you know, probably three to 400 words as well. We want to keep those emails. And again, this is a rule of thumb. You know, if you've got 420 words, don't panic, my dear, but you know you want. That's. That's about the length. You know, 200 to 400 words is great for your welcome sequence. Remember, they're not our friends yet. They don't really care yet. Save the long emails for when it counts, AKA when you're trying to make a sale or a big point or change someone's mind about something. That's not what we're doing in the welcome sequence. We're just setting expectations. We're telling them where we're going. We're making sure that they know they're in the right place. All right, mistake number two, Your frequency is too slow very often. And remember, my freebie is for email, for welcome emails, right? And almost every week, without fail, over in the email sound booth, Facebook group people ask, oh, Liz, I'm going through this welcome sequence, but when do I send these out? I'm thinking these four emails over a month or four emails over two weeks. That's much too slow. Remember, we're following that email staircase. And if the frequency is too slow, if I send four emails over four weeks, by the third week you might forget who the heck I am. Right? So we want to introduce ourselves. We want people to get excited. They're never more excited than when they first sign up, right? They just found a solution to their problem. Woo hoo. Let's take advantage of that, let's capitalize on that, so to speak. So I really recommend about four emails. I do it in four days, but I'm aggressive. That's probably why I'm divorced, or that's what I've been told anyway. But I really recommend those four emails in no less than 10 days. Again, we don't want people to forget about us. We want them to know what's happening and we want them to know that quickly. The third mistake I see is not sharing the vision you have with your people and also not sharing any sort of personality, right? So let's talk about the personality piece really quick. Honestly, this podcast I would say is probably the least amount of personality I have. I don't know what it is about turning on the mic. Suddenly I become, you know, Barbara Walters and I just want to be super professional. But I always say, like, I'm only semi pro. I love a lot of color, I got a headband, I love the 90s, right? And so I share that in my welcome sequence. I say, hey, I love the 90s, but also share your vision. Where are you going with your people? If I'm your ideal client and I just joined your list, you got to tell me where we're going, right? And so for me, I say, you know, as much as I love the 90s, that's my personality, right? I love the idea of you making money with email even more. That's my vision for you. I want you to make money with emails so badly, it literally changed my entire life life. So I want it for you. What do you want for your clients or where are they going if they're graduating from you university, what's the degree you're handing them? Say that in the welcome sequence, they have to know where you're going. And the fourth mistake I see in welcome sequences is your sequence is a million emails long, right? I recommend four. You could have one if it was one really good email and you followed it up with daily or weekly newsletters, right? But when we try to hold on to every newsletter we've ever written and we add it to the welcome sequence or the nurture sequence and suddenly they're not getting a fresh email from us for a month, two months, 12 months. That is just. How do you say in Spanish, that's too much, right? It's a lot. And so I really recommend your welcome sequence being, you know, four emails or about a week long, and then getting into those weekly newsletters. Now, of course, if you are more advanced and you have a very advanced funnel, that's great. But you should only be doing that when you've been talking to your audience in a timely manner, AKA newsletters, for at least a year, so you know what they respond to, what they purchase, what they don't, so that you can put it into a longer funnel. But especially in the first zero to three years of your business where you're still kind of, you know, we're meandering, trying to figure out who we are, what our message is, and who will buy our products, you know, your sequence should be shorter so you can get them into those timely emails so you can receive data and feedback so that one day you can create that funnel. All right, to recap four mistakes from your welcome sequence, writing emails that are too long, having your frequency be too slow, not sharing your vision or personality in those emails, and having a sequence that's a million emails long. All right, if you need help with your welcome sequence, I've got you covered. You can go directly to lizwilcox.com hit that hot pink button you already know. I've got those four emails templatized for you. If you want to go deeper, I have a $49 welcome sequence workshop you can purchase. And then of course, you can always join my $9 a month membership. You can get weekly newsletter templates for after you write that sequence. You can see how to get those subscribers engaged, buying so you can collect that data I talked about so that one day maybe you can write that automated funnel. It's $9 a month. Link in the show notes. As always, I'm Liz Wilcox. You are amazing. And I'll see you on the next episode, my friend.