The best way to show up for the community that you are building is through your newsletter.
A newsletter is one of those things that often gets pushed to the back burner for photographers. I get it. We have so many other things that have to be done on a day to day basis: shooting, editing, social media and client correspondence. Plus if you have a spouse, kids or pets, your list of obligations just got a lot longer.
Here is the thing though, you really should be making your newsletter one of the top priorities because a newsletter is super important to the long term success of your business.
Why?
Most of us put a heavy focus on social media for sharing our work and showing up for our followers. You are not wrong in thinking that social media is very important. It is important. But here is the catch:
You own your newsletter list, you don’t own your social media followers.
Your followers live on Instagram or Facebook. Sure, they clicked “follow” on your feed but you don’t own that list.
Another thing to consider is that daily social media engagement is historically really low. If you look at your engagement statistics, you are only showing up for somewhere between 4-12% of your followers every day! If you have 1,000 followers, that means that somewhere between 40-120 people are seeing you every day. Y’all that is NOTHING.
However, you actually own your newsletter list. And you are guaranteed to end up in Every. Single. Inbox on that list. If you take the time to send a newsletter.
So, maybe you have been prioritizing your social media feed because you have a 1,000 followers but you only have 250 emails on your newsletter list. I am here to tell you that even in that case, you are reaching more people with your newsletter than you are your social media feed.
Friends, another BIG thing to consider with your newsletter is that every person on that list raised their hand and said, “I like you. I want to hear more from you.”. They made a conscious choice to allow you into the sacred space that is their inbox.
This is HUGE.
They have already told you they are interested in hearing more. They have already decided to support you and let you in to their inbox. So you need to actually SHOW UP.
You don’t want to be a super annoying account that emails too often. But you also don’t want to be the silent account that only sends one email per year when you are asking for money.
Your email subscribers have said they want to hear from you. So, let them hear from you!
Even if you don’t have any sales, promotions or mini sessions to announce, you should check in with them. Tell them what you are up to. Share your favorite recipes or amazon purchases that your kids are loving. Tell a funny story about your crazy dogs. Ask for travel suggestions to the new vacation spot you are visiting next month.
Whatever it is, just show up! Showing up consistently will build community. And community builds connection. And connection builds long lasting clients that will be loyal to you through the years.
Want to sign up for my photography newsletter? I would love to have you! You can drop your email in the box here to get on the list. Plus I will send you a FREE guide teaching you What to Post on Instagram!
Want to learn more about newsletters and all the other ways to grow your photography business? You can learn more about my Making Lifestyle Work Mastermind here.
