So, what do you do when your email list has gone a bit — shall we say — ICE COLD?!? 

Whether it’s because you attracted the wrong people, or you got too busy to deal with sending emails regularly, maintaining a warm email list fell to the wayside. 

No judgment here — I’ve done it too, my friend. 

But one day you wake up and think: “Uh oh, I’ve spent all this time, money, and effort to attract this email list. Maybe I should actually DO something with it!”

That’s when we decide that it’s time to start sending emails to our lists again. 

Now what? 

Speaking as someone who has 1) done that multiple times and 2) been on the receiving end of other people doing that, I’ve got some thoughts on this matter — what works, what doesn’t, and how to get that email mojo back. 

So, let’s dive in!

Biggest Show Takeaways:

• There’s a very real fear of sending to a cold email list. I’m not going to tell you to just do it now without being upfront and real about the very real blowback that might occur. 
  • The longer it’s been since the last time your list heard from you, the more carefully you need to approach your re-engagement. 
  • You may experience a wave of people unsubscribing. If I don’t remember you because it’s been so long since I last heard from you, I probably don’t remember why I opted in. 
  • What also happens online is that the more people who report your emails as spam, the more bad marks your email address receives in the eyes of Gmail and other email providers, making it more likely that your emails will skip users’ inboxes and go directly to the Spam folder. Not great for your long-term email options.

Let’s talk about three things NOT to do when working with a cold email list AND what to do instead. 

• #1: Don’t Act Like Their Email BFF
• If it’s been more than four weeks since you last emailed your list, it’s a pretty good bet they don’t really remember you and why you’re showing up in their inbox. 
• The longer it’s been since you emailed regularly, the more likely it is they just don’t remember you at all. 
• Instead of acting like you haven’t been MIA, take it easy, and reintroduce yourself to them. Give your email audience a reason to stick around and read your email. Remind them what they’ll get out of reading your email AND staying on your list. 
• #2: Don’t Sell ANYTHING  
  • I see this every year around Marie Forleo’s B-School launch. I haven’t heard from people in weeks or months, and suddenly, I’m bombarded by B-School affiliate emails. Not a good way to re-engage an email list. 
  • Instead of going from email MIA to hardcore sales, give something valuable away. It could be a new lead magnet, a Facebook or Instagram live, or something else that your audience would love and would get them re-energized with why they want to pay attention to you. 
• #3: Don’t Be a Robot
  • This is good advice for any marketing in general, but it’s especially important for your cold email list. Take the time to create something real — don’t get the latest email swipe files and just slap your info in there, hit send, and be done. 
  • Instead, think about your audience’s journey. What are they struggling with? How can you connect with them in a human-to-human way? 
• When you take a step back and treat your emails just as seriously as you would face-to-face interactions, it can go a long way to getting positive attention from your email list. You’ll probably find out that you’ve got a few buyers hiding in that list when you make the effort to re-engage and reconnect with them. 

Create Profit Without Worry – one system at a time. I’ll show you how to attract a steady flow of buyers without all the hustle with this free download →  5 Steps to Profit Without Worry.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• FREE DOWNLOAD: 5 Steps to Profit Without Worry 
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• Create Profit Without Worry – one system at a time with this free download →  5 Steps to Profit Without Worry.