Ask Annie: Why is my email list growing SO slowly‪?‬ Rebel Therapist

I got this fabulous question from a client of mine recently: Why is my email list growing SO slowly 🐢, and how can I speed it up?!? ⚡️⚡️⚡
✋This really breaks down into two separate questions ✋
Why is email marketing so important, and what are some foundational assumptions about it that may be slowing down the process?**** What to do if your email list is growing slowly, and what growth strategies can I use to speed that up!?! In this first email I'm going to cover all of Part I to this question. Follow up next week for Part II, where I will get into some awesome growth strategies that will help get your list going! ⚡
OK! Why is email marketing SO valuable and what is the importance of having a high quality list?
"Your Money Is In Your List” ✏️
Everyone in online marketing will tell you that (including the smart and ethical ones 😅). Email Marketing As Your Core Tool 🔧
Email marketing is like your cast iron pan of the marketing world 🍳. It is an important building block in growing your business, and produces noticeable results. Email Marketing vs. Social Media 🗣
Other tools, including new social media platforms may seem more exciting, but they are more hit or miss. People are FAR more likely to buy your program from emails than from social. Email marketing has an excellent conversion rate, so it tends to give you a great return on your investment. 💸 Quality vs. Quantity 🏆
Your number of email list subscribers is not the whole story, and list size on its own can become a vanity metric. It is important to know what percentage of folks are opening your emails and what percentage are genuinely interested in what you are selling. It may be helpful to honestly reflect on how many people on your email list are friends and family 😁. Support is always important 💕, it's good to be aware if they accurately reflect the number of folks likely to buy when you are ready to sell? Side note: If you're only growing a traditional private practice, you don't need an email list. If you're creating a business beyond private practice, you probably do.
How to create a HIGH quality emailing list 💎
Don't give in to the vanity metric of list size. To have a higher quality list, you have to clean and PRUNE it ✂️. When you prune your list, your open and engagement rates go up, and less of your emails will be tagged as spam. And don't worry about unsubscribes, they're no big deal! 😊It isn't a sign of failure or rejection, it's actually part of the process of creating a high quality list. Side note: One time I sent out an email with a subject heading mentioning that I play the ukulele, and it got more unsubscribes than any of my other emails! 😂
How a HIGH quality emailing list will help sustain your biz 💰
To explain what I mean, let’s pretend we’ve got 2 people, each with a list of 100 people (a very small list). A list of 100 CAN be just barely enough to fill a small-group program (I know because I've done it), but only if you've got a very high quality list.
Person A: When a list of 100 might work (high quality list)
Folks on your list are interested in and anticipating what you're going to sell. Folks on your list have intentionally signed up to receive your weekly emails because they want to hear from YOU. Folks signed up for a free offer that is VERY closely related to your paid offer, and you have followed up with weekly emails containing content relevant to your program. You're selling a SMALL group program. Person B: When a list of 100 won't work (low quality list)
Folks on your list signed up for a freebie that was too broad and would appeal to almost everyone (like how to save 5 hours a week in 5 minutes or less). Subscribers are specifically interested in the content that you are selling, and are unlikely to become future clients. You haven't been emailing regularly. Even a HIGH quality list of 100 will need to GROW