Everybody Has An Email Address

Think about how much you use your email on any given day. A bunch right?

Then think about where you use that email. You probably use it to log on to social media, adding an app on your phone, or maybe as a username for your Paypal.

We use email addresses in every facet of our daily lives, everyone has one. It makes sense then that everyone that has interacted with you and your business would also have an email address or two.

 

The List Is Right In Front Of You

There is a significant amount of information present in the nooks and crannies of our businesses. As business owners we have more email addresses available to us than we think.

Email addresses are essentially personal identifiers now, so it would make sense that email addresses of old customers, colleagues, friends, and contacts are all available to you if you look in the right places.

Any established business small or large should have at least 2,000 to 3,000 contacts available. It’s just up to you to find them.

5 Places To Look For Hidden Email Addresses

First look at your email accounts. If you use Apple Mail, Gmail, or Outlook; export all your contacts to an excel spreadsheet or a .csv file.

Export your contacts from LinkedIn. An average user on LinkedIn might have 500 contacts, while the average CEO on LinkedIn has around 900. That is a potential for 500 to 900 extra contacts for your list! Not only that, it is a list of people that you have already connected with, so those leads are warm.

Now for some, it’s not so glamorous work.

As a business owner you probably have customer records. Go through your customer records and move their email addresses to a spreadsheet. Not super fun, I know, but it’s for a good cause. Customers are people that have already purchased your product, so you have a pretty good shot at getting them to buy again. It’s potential revenue, and it’s definitely worth the trouble.

Depending on how far your records go back you may need to delegate this task to someone else on your team. If you don’t have someone to delegate to, hire a freelancer.

Social media is a great place to get email addresses from interested friends. Post and offer a lead magnet to get people you know to join your list. This lead magnet will allow you to attract and incentivize people you already know who may be interested in your services.

Now the last and final place to look is through your business cards. Every business person has them. Go grab ‘em from that dusty box you have sitting on your desk! The good news is that there are phone apps that can move all your business card info onto a spreadsheet. Use those apps and get those contacts!

What To Do After

There you go! If you look at these 5 places you can gain 2,000 to 3,000 contacts or more that you didn’t even know you had.

But should you just add these emails to your regular email newsletter and start sending? No! While most spam laws in your country of residence usually say it’s okay to add business contacts to your list (if unsure, check with a lawyer), most people naturally don’t appreciate being thrown onto a regular newsletter when they didn’t actively opt-in.

So, perhaps start with a ‘thank you’ message, offering a friendly gift. Thank your network for supporting you and your industry. But don’t forget to include a lead magnet that will allow them to join a smaller and more frequent newsletter. That way, you can ‘wake’ dormant contacts and better target leads that are interested.

Action Steps

  1. Export your contacts from your personal and business emails onto a .csv file or excel spreadsheet.
  2. Export your contacts on LinkedIn to a spreadsheet. That’s 500 to 900 possible contacts.
  3. Look at old customer records and enter them onto a spreadsheet. If needed, hire or delegate someone to do the task.
  4. Post a lead magnet on social media to get people you know to join your list.
  5. Move your business cards onto a spreadsheet. You can use an app to do this

 

Result You Will Achieve

Gain new subscribers to your list from warm lead sources you didn’t know you had, potentially adding 2,000 to 3,000 new leads.

Mentor: James Tuckerman

Founded one of Australia’s highest circulating business magazines in his twenties but ‘ditched print’ to pursue digital in 2009. He is responsible for digital ventures including Anthill Magazine, Entrepornography.com and the Not-So-Freaky University.

This article is based on an EHQ interview with the mentor.