It’s another “pinch us” moment with this week’s guest! This episode we are welcoming the one and only Jenna Kutcher!! Jenna Kutcher guides millions of listeners each week in chasing their dreams on the #1 marketing podcast in the country, The Goal Digger. A born-and-raised Minnesota wife, mother, and entrepreneur, Jenna has helped women all over the world redefine success and wake up to their lives through her decade-long work as a leading online educator.

Jenna is giving us all the down and dirty details on using email to grow your business. We talk about the difference between using social media and email marketing and Jenna even gives us her time breakdown if you only had one hour a week to work on marketing your business. Don’t miss this chat where we don’t just talk about the why behind using email, but Jenna even gives us 10 ideas for realtors to use email in their business. If this episode gets you excited about using email marketing save a seat in Jenna’s class, “From Zero Subscribers(or Zero Strategy) to an Engaged Email List that Lasts” at jennakutcher.com/hustle.

Find Jenna for more great info here:
Instagram: @jennakutcher
Website: jennakutcher.com
Link to save your seat for Jenna’s class, “From Zero Subscribers (or Zero Strategy) to an Engaged Email List that Lasts”: jennakutcher.com/hustle.

Leave us a review at ratethispodcast.com/hustlehumbly
Get your FREE Database Template
Email Templates 101: emailtemplates101.com
Agent Systems 101: agentsystems101.com
All Resources: hustlehumblypodcast.com
Submit your topic ideas and toasts to hello@hustlehumblypodcast.com.

The following is a rough transcript provided by Otter.ai.

0:01
We have had so many different experiences both super incredible and also terrible. If all of my social media disappeared tomorrow, my business would still continue to run as normal because of my email list. It does not have to be pretty it does not have to be perfect. It does not have to be 30 pages long. It could be a checklist. Everyone’s waiting for the main course. And you’re so busy out there on the street yelling to get other people to come to the dinner party that you’re missing serving the people already there.

0:36
Hi, y’all. Welcome to hustle humbly. It’s Alyssa and Katie and we are two top producing realtors in the Baton Rouge market.

0:42
We work for two different companies where we should be competitors. But we have chosen community over competition. The goal of our podcast is to encourage you to find your own way in business to stop comparing yourself and start embracing your strengths. Hi, Alyssa. Hey Katie. Welcome. It’s episode two wandering to today we have a guest today it is Jenna Kutcher. If you have listened to the hustle humbly podcast, you know who Janet is. But in the event that you have missed it, because we mentioned her all of the time, Jenna is going to tell us who she is.

1:12
I’m so excited to be here with both of you. Thank you for having me. I am the host of the number one marketing podcast, the gold digger podcast and I wrote a wonderful book called How are you really. And I have a very long, windy story that has been over a decade in entrepreneurship and figuring it out and pivoting and changing. I started my journey as a wedding photographer and a camera was my one way ticket out of a corporate office that I had found myself in. And like so many others, I had this dream and this vision and then all of a sudden, I woke up to the reality that it didn’t feel the way that I thought it would. And that was when my boss had handed me my five year plan all excited. And I realized someone else is going to plan my life for me unless I take it by the reins. And so I became a wedding photographer. I loved it being a wedding photographer for many years. And I know we’ll talk about being in that service industry and what that looks like. But I then started to find that I had built this business that couldn’t run while I rested. And we had found ourselves in a really challenging personal season where I needed to step away. But there’s so much fear of the instability of what I had built. And so I promised myself that I would build something that could run while I rested. And so for the last few years, I’ve really focused on this multifaceted business that serves people, but also allows me a type of life that feels good and doesn’t just look good.

2:45
I love that. I know. So good. I think we want to touch specifically on the fact that you were the number one marketing podcast. So if anyone needs to understand your knowledge base on marketing is deep. And I think you’ve you’ve seen it from like a corporate angle. And then you’ve kind of seen it from building your photography business. And now you’re kind of you know, how you transition into an online business and you’re teaching people marketing, especially through the podcast cast in the same way that we’re teaching realtors, how to run their real estate business. So I think you have all the credentials that anyone needs to take your advice, and I’ve been taking it we both have listened for a long time. But today we want to talk about email specifically. And I will give you a little backstory on realtors. I don’t know if you’ve ever had a realtor that you were on their email list, but the traditional realtor has a maybe monthly canned newsletter that has like things plugged in, it’s not personal at all, it goes out to their database or their email list. And then that’s kind of the extent of their email marketing. So I think there’s so much opportunity there. And we want to kind of hear like, specifically since you were in service based business and photography, like how did that play out being a local service provider? Like how did you work that in your email list then?

4:04
Yeah, you know, it’s so interesting because I love real estate, and we have had so many different experiences both super incredible and also terrible. And it’s very fascinating. You recently interviewed my homebuilder KEARSON Erickson from Alma Holmes. And it’s wild when we tell people we just build a home because they’re like, How was the experience? I was like, it was amazing. But Kiersten understands the digital marketing world, and she also understands that level of service. And what’s amazing about email marketing is that it gives you this direct line to reach the right people at the right time with the right message. Social media is like throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks and hoping it reaches the right people. Whereas email marketing gives you this direct, reliable line like if all of my social media disappeared tomorrow my business would still continue to run as normal because of my email list and so many people don’t have that So, from a service based business as a local wedding photographer who didn’t travel very often living in a village of 20 100 people like I mean, 20 100 Is that even right? 1200 It was tiny. It was this tiny little area. And so I had to get really creative about like, how am I reaching people? How am I serving people? And how am I catching them at different stages of their journey? So for me, as a wedding planner, or as a wedding photographer, I had to think about, okay, there are going to be people that will be getting engaged, there are people that are engaged, there are people that are getting married, there are people that have been married. And so same with realtors, you have to think about people that are thinking about selling, thinking about buying, contemplating, can they even afford it, there’s all these different stages of the journey. What’s amazing about email marketing is that you can segment your list so that you can have people self select, here’s where I’m at in the journey, and you know exactly where they’re at so that you can reach them with the right level of communication and personalization. So for me, I was thinking about creating different resources that would not only serve my ideal client, but also help them qualify themselves as to if they were a good fit for my business or not. One thing you talked about with Kiersten was just how she was so clear with her copy. And with the way that she communicated, it was really obvious if somebody is a good fit for her or not. And I think a lot of realtors have missed that. And they end up working with clients that suck the life out of them. Or they very, they avoid being proactive about finding clients that are the right fit for them. And I think that for realtors, it’s so important that you’re not burning yourself out with the wrong clients, just one bad client can totally make you rethink your entire career. And so email marketing kind of gives you this opportunity to set expectations, to deliver content to help people along in the journey, and to be there when they are finally ready to make that purchasing decision.

6:56
Mm hmm. One thing that you said in the beginning is about how people are throwing spaghetti at the wall with their social media. And I have always noticed when I help people in our office, and they’re like, Well, I’m posting on social media, it almost gives you this false sense of security. You truly believe that because I posted this, everybody saw it. So everybody knows. And it’s just not the case there are so you know, if you really went through your database and said, am I friends with all these people on the platforms? I need to be an even if you are, do I see their stuff? Do they see my stuff? Yeah. And so I think that people really have to be mindful of when they think they’re trying that, you know, the way that Facebook and Instagram works, you’re really not seeing the people that you want to see,

7:50
totally. And what’s really interesting about this, especially if we bring in the real estate jargon is that when you are building your business on these platforms, it is essentially rented space, like you do not own the space, you cannot control it, you cannot control when they up your lease, or if they shut down like that is not in your control. But building an email list is like building a foundation and an actual home that you own. It’s a space on the web where you can control the experience. And you are in control of what that experience looks like. It’s really interesting too, because like you said, when people post on social, they just assume like everyone sees it. And if you really think about it, let’s say you have even 100 followers, there are probably only about five of them who are even in the position to become a client of yours, and then chances that those exact five are going to see the post, take action on the post, click off of the platform go to where you want them to go. It’s so low, there have been so many different stats, like Facebook’s average reach is five to 6%. Instagram is like six to 10. And it gets lower and lower the more followers you have LinkedIn is two to 6%. And what’s amazing about email marketing, is that nearly 100% of your subscribers will see your email, right? And then they have to make that decision. Am I going to open it? Am I going to read it? Am I going to engage with it? Or am I going to delete it? And out of that usually 30% of those people open it. So if you look at that that’s like way better statistics, and a way better experience for people because people are on social media to be entertained, to be engaged, people are in their email to do business, right? There are so many different stats, I think that the average email order is like 40 times that have social media, meaning that people are more willing to be in that purchasing mindset when they’re in their inbox. And so I think it’s just a really powerful thing. And the interesting part too, is that it isn’t a contest of like this versus that I think they both serve a role in your business. I think they’re both powerful. But I think what’s wrong is that so many small business owners and realtors are prioritizing social media over that direct line that they actually own for their business.

9:58
That’s yeah, I like that you So you know if it disappeared tomorrow, if your social media disappeared tomorrow, like, what would you have? How would you speak to those people? How would you even find them? If they are not even your clients yet? If they’re not even on your list in some way? I was like, What am I going to call this episode? Y’all are gonna love this because it goes right in line with this and like socialist sexy, but email is effective, because that is the difference. Everyone sees that look at me. And you you believe just like you said that everyone’s seeing it. But your email is a little bit more intimate because you’re in that inbox. And I love what you just said 100% impressions because someone has to still choose, like, are they going to delete? Or they’re going to read? Like, yeah, you want to get them to read. And we’re going to talk a little bit about maybe some tips for that. But just the fact that they saw you in their inbox is still them seeing you when they probably wouldn’t have even seen you on social media. Yep,

10:50
absolutely.

10:51
So when you were working in this small town, trying to build an email list for your photography, business was such like a small pool of clients. Yeah. How were you choosing? It’s not like, it always would feel like you want everybody because it is smaller. But how were you being selective and knowing which clients should talk be targeted?

11:13
Yeah, so it’s really interesting, I had this realization in my third year of wedding photography, of I am not for everyone, everyone is not for me. And I had to do the math and really understand and acknowledge like, I just need 20 of the right people to say yes, versus 1000s of the wrong people. And so it really helped clarify the fact that I wanted to speak more directly to those 20 people. And thus, that changed the way that I was creating content. So I feel like and I’m sure there are so many Realtors listening to this where the first few years I wanted to blend in, I was having impostor syndrome, I didn’t want someone to say who are you to say your wedding photographer, like you were a corporate executive like, and so I wanted to blend in. And by year three, I was like, this is not working. Like I want the right type of clients. Like I want to make sure the right people I’m working with. And so I started to create content for brides that were in those early planning stages that aligned with the types of weddings I love to shoot. So I was creating content of like the five best Milwaukee wedding venues, or should you do a first look for your Wisconsin wedding day, or the perfect Wisconsin summer wedding timeline. And so I was creating this type of content that would serve people, but also inform them show my work, give them these examples. So for realtors, there’s so many different things you could do. Like let’s say, for example, you could do 10 Must see attractions in the city you live in, or the biggest home trends we’re seeing in the city, or three must ask questions before buying a home in your city. And so there’s so many different ways that you can create really specific content that will reach people in this geographical zone that you’re in, while serving them. And the best part is, is that if you’re creating content like this, or you’re creating resources like this, most of the time, they’re evergreen, that content could be making an impact for you, your brand and your business a year from now. And so we can’t say that about social media, we’re creating posts that like live and die within this 24 hour lifespan. But what’s amazing about email marketing is that you can have this longevity that allows you to serve at a much higher level. And in that serving, you’re setting expectations that allow people to qualify themselves and say, oh my gosh, I am ready, or this is the right fit for me or they’re entering it in such a more aligned position to be prepared for the process than they would be if they were just coming in blind.

13:40
Yeah, I like that you said 20 of the right clients. Because in that way photography and real estate are very parallels 20 clients in a year would be like a killer real estate year, just like it would have been all you needed to have a really great photography business. So I do think that it’s such a parallel industry where the difference would be, you only probably get married once, right? So your clients are coming through and they’re kind of done. Tell us about did you keep emailing those people in what way did you like still speak to them? Because real estate, let’s just say you’re gonna stay there five to 10 years, so they’re not going to be a client every year, they might come back. But is there a way to still serve those people after they’ve worked with you?

14:21
Oh my gosh, yes. These are like your people. Like if you have given them given them a great experience like one they’re gonna love hearing from you. But two, you want to remind them of the service you offered. And just staying top of mind can be so powerful. It’s almost like this like little nudge of like, reminder, I’m still here. I’m still doing this. I still love this. I think that so much of my business was fueled by referrals. And that was because I was staying front of mind with people that way when they heard like, oh my gosh, so and so got engaged. Oh, I have the best wedding photographer. You have to get her She’s so busy. You got to make sure you book her right away. And so what I would Do is a lot of times after I had served the clients and I love that you guys talk about email templates and how you create those, because that gave people such a great experience with me, I would drop them onto a general newsletter. And in that newsletter, I would just keep them up to date on my personal life, I would share about different trends, I’m seeing different ways that they could repurpose their products. So like their wedding photos, like, hey, are your wedding photos, stolen your flash drive, here’s how to display them in your home, I would email them on their anniversaries and just like remind them, again of the beautiful service they had bring back all of those emotions. And so even just having some sort of automation around some of that, and then more of that personalization, I think is so powerful. And I think what people often forget, especially as service providers is yes, you provide a service, but you are the secret sauce, you provide it in the way that only you can. And so you want people to care more about you than the service itself. And that’s how people have followed me through the many iterations of my career is because when I have decided to pivot and move, they care more about me than that service, or that end result. They want to be a part of the journey. And so I think that buying a home is such an emotional process, you are walking through a family, you are helping them create these future memories already in their mind. And so staying front of mind with them is so powerful. It’s also a really great opportunity to ask for things like testimonials and referrals and to let them do the talking for you.

16:27
We own our podcasts are a huge proponent of repeat and referral business. One line days and paying for leads and paying certain companies like Zillow to get clients is sort of like the trendy buzz thing to do. I recently served on a panel at our Board of Realtors, and I was so excited to talk about like the database and getting repeat and referral business and all the newer agents or people that were working on teams, their questions were like, where do you get the leads? How much are you paying? Are they good, and I was like, This is not what I want to talk about. I don’t want to talk about leads. And I love that even from the stance of a wedding photographer, even though you are done with that client, because their wedding is over. You want to be in their face reminding them that you’re there so that they can say you have to call my wedding photographer that is your billboard like you don’t have to spend money on those things. If you do a good job providing your service. It’s funny. Well, and

17:30
it really is. Yeah. And if we think about the whole idea of like, let’s just say we were going for 20 clients, if though if each person recommended one person, that’s it, that’s all you need. You don’t have to be out there like screaming from the sidewalks like this is like the gentle whisper that I think so many of us crave in marketing that you know, selling feels so slimy at times. I don’t know very many people who love to sell. But it’s like this gentle guiding of like, Hey, if you were the right fit, chances are the people you love would be the great fit. And I can’t tell you like how many weddings I got to see my past brides and grooms out because I was photographing their siblings and their wedding parties and like it really creates that family atmosphere. It’s amazing.

18:17
Yeah, it’s so so we do the same. Like we’ll work with fate lab work with one sister and then the next sister and the next sister and then the parents and like so you just kind of like work your way through the whole family because they they feel like you are part of their family. You were involved in a really important part of the process. Okay, let’s get a little logistics. Yeah, what says some our listeners are all ranges. They might be new agents. They might be veterans, they might be tech savvy. They might they may not like what are the what’s the Super Down and dirty? Like how do you get started with your email? Like what are your recommendations like for non tech savvy people? Because I think they’re like, oh, segment a list. I don’t even know what that means. Do you know what I’m saying?

18:55
Yeah, absolutely. Okay. So if we break down and distill down what email marketing is at the very simplest level, it is reciprocity at play. Realtors understand this. So I will give you something of value, you give me something of value. So the biggest thing that you have to think about is what is one value piece that would be so juicy or so exciting or so informative, that someone would be willing to exchange something of value their email address in order to get that it does not have to be pretty, it does not have to be perfect. It does not have to be 30 pages long. It could be a checklist of 10 ways to qualify yourself to see if you’re ready to buy a home or 10 things to do before you list your home for sale or five ways. For better staging photos or five questions. Ask yourself before you go in to get a loan like there are so many different ways that you can create this one piece of value that is free. And then in exchange for someone receiving it. They will give you their email address. We love a program called the flow desk. It’s F LODSK It’s what we recommend to a A lot of our students, because you don’t have to have a website in order to house this beautiful new PDF or this opportunity, they can create a very simple signup form within like two minutes. And people just enter in their name and email and it automatically will send them what you’ve just created without you having to press send. I think a lot of people get intimidated because they’re like, Okay, well, if somebody gives me their email, then I have to, like, go into my Gmail and send it, it’s like, no, this whole process can be automated and simplified in a massive way. So that again, just like I talked about, at the beginning, I wanted to build something that can run while I rest my email list is how I have been able to do that, because you can automate so many different aspects of it. So it is really just as easy as creating a piece of value, creating a place for someone to sign up for it and creating a delivery method. And there are so many different ways that you can do it. There are so many platforms you can do it on it is not intimidating. And once you figure it out once you can rinse and repeat and create different resources, freebies, free guides, templates, checklists, and you can extend that reach and that ability to impact people and get that Rule of Reciprocity continually playing in your business. Hey, Alyssa, Hey, Katie,

21:13
what do we mention almost every episode, email template, you’re right, we sure do. And after every time, we mentioned an email template, do you know what we get

21:23
emails asking if they can have copies of the email template, send

21:27
me a copy of that template? I would like that, that sounds great. And you know what the good news is, you can get all of our email templates from our course, email templates, one on one, tell the people about it,

21:39
our course has all of the email templates you would need to send to your buyers and your sellers and your clients that are buying and selling at the same time. Exactly. To get through every step of the transaction and giving them information that they need for where they are in the transaction. It’s great, because you never forget to tell them something. Yeah. So we’ve already done all the work for you. Yeah, we wrote them. And you can personalize them. Yes. And just feel organized, knowing that you have all the information where it needs to

22:06
be. And if you purchase email templates, 101, you do get lifetime access. So occasionally, we like to go in and make updates based on the market or if we find a new best practice. So we put that right into the template and you get that updated straightaway.

22:21
It just goes straight to your core. Yes.

22:24
It’s already, she’s already on there. You

22:26
don’t have to worry about it. We’ll say email and we’ll say updated. That’s great. Where can they find these email templates? You

22:31
can find the email templates at email templates with an S one Oh, one.com

22:37
email templates. One Oh, one.com. Yes. Head over for reviews and all of the specifics. Wonderful. Okay, enjoy.

22:48
Do you remember how often you were emailing your photography clients? I would love to know, yeah, the kind of I feel

22:55
like it was probably once a month. And so it doesn’t take much. And so kinda like what you said at the beginning, where it’s like a lot of realtors, it’s like the plug and play type email, where it’s like, here are the greatest listings. It wasn’t much, but it was enough, right. And so now in my business, because we run such a digital business, we email twice a week, every single week, like we don’t miss that. But that volume is not necessary or required. I remember when I launched my first online product, I think I had like 300 people on my email list and I was able to match my corporate salary in a launch so it doesn’t it’s not a volumes game. I feel like social media is like this popularity contests this volume, splay email marketing, isn’t that because it’s not direct line. So I would say for realtors, if you could send out maybe that one more generic email per month, where you’re making it a little bit more personalized or a little bit more prettier, a little bit more exciting. And then one on top of that of like, here’s what I noticed, or here are the five things people ask me this month or things like that. I think that then you’re really staying front of mind, especially for people in those critical planning stages before they start to make those decisions.

24:06
Jenna, let’s talk about how your email has changed the literal email so when you email now, I don’t know that I normally even see a photo in there it is just you telling a story a quick tip say something about what’s going on by like, it might even just be one paragraph or two paragraphs. And I think that Realtors like oh, if I’m only going to email once a month, it’s got to be this big production right? So kind of tell us how you like think about approach your email list and and how even a simple communication maybe is okay.

24:37
Yeah. Oh my gosh, I love so like we we are constantly testing things like I look at everything as an experiment because experiments are not successful or failures. They are just yielding information for us. So like when we go out like after this call, actually, I’m jumping on a call with my team and we’re planning out our entire email calendar for the next month and And that process takes like 30 minutes. And we can knock out our entire email plan sending two emails per week in one day. Like that’s how streamlined we do it because we want a business that we can set and forget in a beautiful way. And so we are constantly identifying what is the goal of the email, there are so many different types of goal. A lot of times it could be just straight up serving, it could be informing it could be pre launching, it could be having them qualify themselves, there’s so many different goals that your emails can accomplish. And the type of goal that you assign to that email will change how you show up, whether it’s beautiful and graphics and lots of links, or it’s just straight up plain text, like my favorite like you were talking about is I love thinking about me sending my friend Sarah an email like my friend Sarah, I always think about her everything. She’s a mom of two, she’s busy. She writes cookbooks, she’s doing a business and being a mother like all these things. And so whenever I think about emailing my list, I think about Sarah, because I can speak so clearly to Sarah, I know her I know she’s busy, I know where she’s at, I don’t want to waste her time. And so like a lot of times, just so it’s plain text of like, Hey, I just wanted to check in on you. I know that you might be overwhelmed. Right now, I just wanted to encourage you with this. Here’s one quick thing that I learned this week that might help you. I hope you have an awesome day hit reply. If you want to chat like we it can be so simple. And I think people love that. And what’s amazing about email marketing is the average business owner is sending like 30 emails a day. So what would it look like if you sat down and just wrote one strategic email a week or a month, like you’re already sending out so much communication with intentionality, just a tiny bit of intentionality to identify the goal and how you want to communicate, you can move the needle so much more in your business, then you could have you sat there trying to create a reel on Instagram, or you know, a video on Facebook like so it’s just an amazing use of time. And I love thinking through like how is this going to be best communicated and best received? And what is the goal of this email?

27:05
Okay, I liked that. You mentioned time because I have a question. If you only had Realtors running a full time business, you know, they’ve got to ship the houses and do inspections. And there’s a lot of parts to that marketing is just one of the hats that you have to wear. If you have one hour to devote to marketing every week, how would you split that time social media email? What would you do with your hour?

27:24
Yes. Okay, I love this question. It’s so good. Okay, so what I always tell entrepreneurs is that they’re overcomplicating their marketing, there needs to only be two focuses in their marketing. That’s it, their email marketing, the number one focus should be growing and serving their email list. And the secondary focus in all of their marketing should be getting people off of every other platform that they’re showing up on onto their email list. So for you for your podcasts, the goal should be to have your listeners getting onto your email list for realtors, that like if they’re showing up on Instagram, the goal should be getting those people off of Instagram onto their email list. So any secondary marketing efforts should be inviting people onto their list because again, this is a place that you own. It’s this direct line. So if I had an hour, I would spend 20 minutes of it writing a really thoughtful email to my current subscribers. I think oftentimes, when it comes to marketing, like you were saying, it’s like this numbers game of like, how do I get more leads? And it’s like, how about you serve the leads that are already there. It’s like hosting a dinner party, and everyone’s waiting for the main course. And you’re so busy out there on the street yelling to get other people to come to the dinner party, that you’re missing serving the people already there. So I would spend 20 minutes of the hour serving the people that are already there, even if it was 10 people, I want them to have a really great experience on my email list. And to really deliver the other 40 minutes of my time, I would be thinking about how can I create content that connects with people? And how can I create content that invites people off of the platform and onto my list? And so you could a lot of times what happens with our marketing is that when we shift our modes, or we shift our focuses, we shift the way that we show up. And to me social media is the handshake. And email is the sales pitch like that’s where we actually make the sales. And so I would just spend the other 40 minutes thinking about how can I create content that is connecting with people that is inviting them and that is informing them about this invitation to come on over to my email list and what they’ll get with that reciprocity app play.

29:26
That is fascinating.

29:28
Because it doesn’t take a lot of time. I know it does build it up in our mind, that takes way more time to worry about what you’re going to do than to just truly something truly so people can just unsubscribe, they don’t have to be on the list, but they’re not going to I think that a lot of times we just think oh I should or that’s boring or it’s not going to do anything or I don’t have time for that because I’m so busy doing this thing and that’s why I wanted you to pick an hour because everyone’s marketing for an hour a week. At the very least you’re spending a lot more time thinking about how they’re going to market though. So let’s just get past that.

30:01
And it’s so funny because she and I are so different. Like, every time I write something, I’m like, think Katie be fluffy or say something with a little more. prettiness you know, like, I would probably be more like a point to the point direct. This is my style, this is who I am,

30:22
I have to tell you guys a funny story. So, so this week, I had to change accounting. So I have been with my accountant for a decade, and I love them. They’re from that teeny village of Wisconsin, but we have just outgrown what they offer. I went on to chat GPT, which is AI, and I typed in, please write me a kind and warm email to my accountant of 10 years, letting them know that I have to switch firms, thank them for their service, and ask them to help facilitate the changeover. The email was so beautiful that the my like new person called me and she’s like, I’m like crying that was the sweetest email ever. And I was like, I hate to tell you this, but AI helped me write it because I didn’t know what to say. And so there are so many different ways that like you can help hone in your voice. There are templates, like you guys have templates, there are so many different ways that you can hone in on that voice and understand how to help match those goals. But there are also so many tools that allow you to do that. So it was just kind of a funny story. Because even my husband called me he’s like, that email was so good. And I was like, Babe, I chat GPT to like, and he was like, Oh my God.

31:32
They were all like who wrote this email on your like, not me. Yeah. Yeah, I know. Oops. Okay, what is a good tip for staying consistent with email? I also think people will listen to this and get excited. And maybe they push past the mindset issues that keep them from emailing, and they send one email, and then next month comes along, they don’t ever email again. And then they feel weird and awkward. And they don’t want to go back to it. Like, how do you keep consistent?

31:59
Yeah, so we do one day a month, like I said, so one day a month, where we devote it to? What is our email plan? What is our system and strategy now I have a team, but for so many years, it was just me typing, hitting, play, replying, like doing all the things. So I understand that hustle. What’s amazing about email marketing is again, it’s one of those places where you can set it and forget it. And so I actually recommend when you sit down to write an email to your email list, sit down and write two emails, or three or four and then schedule them out. Not only will it help you be more strategic, but it’ll help you be more concise and more clear and more in alignment. Like when we look at our emails, we create one huge doc and I can read the entire month’s emails all in one sitting. And that allows me to make sure like, Okay, in this email, we said this is this repetitive, or, you know, we were talking about this one thing is there more to the story that we can add here. And what I love about email marketing, is unlike social media, most people aren’t consuming your content in order because there’s only a small fraction of people even seeing it. But with email marketing, you can kind of tell a bigger story or have a different theme, or something that you’re kind of staying on a little bit longer to give people a better experience and a better understanding. And so my biggest tip of advice is to think a little bit more long term than just the immediate email you’re going to send. Because it allows you to be more strategic and think about the user’s journey and their experience with you. Another pro tip that I have that I just think is so smart, if I do say so myself is if you are creating a freebie, and people are going to opt in for it. A lot of times people are like, okay, they get that delivery, and then they don’t hear from you for a while. And so we always recommend having a very short welcome sequence. It could be two emails long, it could be six emails long, where you’re like, Hey, I’m Katie, or I’m Alyssa. And I’m a realtor. And this is why I do this. And this is who I serve. And this is what I love. And it really gives people again, the U factor that can sometimes be hard to communicate in a service based business. And so what’s amazing about a welcome sequence is if you just dedicated 20 minutes a week for the next four weeks, and wrote one email per week with the thought the forethought of like this is gonna turn into my welcome sequence that’s done. And now it can be automated. And so I always encourage people who are short on time to be thinking about things in a long form of like, Could this email that you’re writing today work for you in six months? How can that work for you, because it’s all about working smarter and not harder. And so when we think about it, what’s amazing is is that we can create something once and literally serve multiple people with that same piece of content for weeks, months and even years to come.

34:41
That’s so interesting, right? Because you can just

34:44
repeat I mean, if you’re telling someone about a process about how you work about you who you are, it doesn’t change like it can be repeated and I think again, just like on social media, we assume everyone saw everything and then all of a sudden you’re like, Oh, you don’t know my dog’s name. Yeah hosted at once you A year ago, like why would you not know that? You’re like, I don’t want to be annoying. And I think that’s one of those mindset trips where you’re like, you have to get past the fact that not everyone read everything. Certainly not everyone remembered everything you sent. So you just have to keep at it. I want to ask you, when you’re emailing, is there anything specific you do to get them to respond back like to open dialog, because I do feel like it is a one to one communication. And if you can get those people on your email list talking to you, then they do feel like these emails are made for me like we’re in a relationship. We’re deepening this relationship. So do you have any like, like tips on that? Oh, yeah.

35:35
There’s so much benefit to having people reply back, because not only does it allow you to continue the conversation, but it also shows their email sender that this is a trusted person that they want to respond with, right? It’s not just spam or something coming in, we often will just put like P is hit reply, yes, there’s a real human on the other side of this email, and encourage people to reply, so will ask questions will encourage people to forward the email to other people, which can be huge for realtors of like, do you see this listing forwarded to five people that you know are looking or is this informative forwarded to five friends who’ve been talking about moving, and that’s an really easy way to, again, grow your brand with that business of referrals without you having to do it. And so email is a much personal way to have an ask that is a lot lighter of a lift than being like go to the link in my bio, click the link, scroll halfway down the page, fill out the form. It’s like it’s this direct line, which I just love. So we love asking people, you can also put in surveys, polls, quizzes, there’s a lot of different ways that you can incorporate different tools. And I think that what’s amazing is with people in those purchasing positions, they love to say, here’s where I met, here’s my story. Here’s what’s going on. Like when I was a wedding photographer, I would just be like, tell me about your dream proposal? Or like, what is the dream wedding venue that like, if you could get married here, you would die like and people would respond because they just love talking about themselves. And so when you give people this opportunity to really talk about themselves, you’re not only growing that relationship, but you’re also getting insight into who it is you’re speaking to, again, so that you can speak more clearly to them.

37:17
Okay, when you are saying hey, forward this email logistically, is there something in your email that helps let’s say I received an email like forwarded to me how do I get on to the email list? Like what what is the the little piece there that if you told people to forward it, then the person who received it could get on your email list? Like what what? Yeah, so

37:37
you would just want to have some sort of link in that email where they could opt in. So you could have like, click here, like, send this to five friends, and they can click right here to join so that they don’t miss the future communication. So it’s super simple again. Yeah,

37:53
I keep a pretty tidy inbox. And I tend to unsubscribe from a lot of things. That’s crazy. But what’s funny is I think about the ones the few that I’m like, attracted to Yeah, and there’s this one particular person that is kind of in the nursing field and shares sort of like encouraging things. Yeah. But at the bottom of her email, it’s like a continuous story of how her dog is doing. Oh, and like he had to have ACL surgery because he went ran too fast and like slid for his tennis ball. And anyway, sometimes if I’m in a hurry, I’ll just scroll to the bottom to get the quick paragraph of what the dog is up to and his picture. Sort of like when you’re watching a series, and you have to know what happens next. That’s like my little treat of the week. Like when I get her email, I just want to know, like, what’s going on there? Okay, but I do have a question for you. Before you had a team and you’re doing all this on your own, and you’re like, every Monday I’m gonna do this. Okay. What about the Mondays? You didn’t? What about the times that you didn’t do what you said you were gonna do? And you forgot or got busy? Like, I feel like at that point, so many people just call it quits, because they’re, like, I said, I was gonna do this, and I didn’t. So now it’s over. How do you overcome that?

39:14
Oh, my gosh, I mean, that is my life. So I have ADHD, aka my entire life is here’s what I’m going to do today. And then I have finished the day. And I’m like, and that totally didn’t happen. So that is you are speaking to me. What I found is that we are very consistently doing other things in our lives, like scrolling on our phones, or dreaming about the types of reels that we’re probably never going to create, but we would love to create some day. And it really doesn’t take all that much time like my I don’t honestly even think about our email marketing all that much because it takes such a small amount of time and brain space compared to all of the other places I’m pulled in my business. And so once again, if you think about it, if you could just do one day per month and send out two emails a month, that would probably take you an hour or if you use chat GBT, or email templates or anything like that, like, it really doesn’t take you all that long. And I think too, we have to give ourselves so much more grace than we do. Nobody is refreshing their inbox waiting for your email to pop in on Monday. No one is refreshing your social feed, wondering where you were this weekend. Like, I think that oftentimes we have like the microscope down on ourselves in our lives, and we think everyone else does. But the reality is, is everyone else is looking at themselves the same way you’re looking at yourself. And so I even for people that lose track, one of my really good friends, she had this awesome email is she had a book come out, she’s really well known. And then she’s like, and I haven’t emailed them since my book came out. And I was like, that’s okay. This is when you pop in and say, life got busy, I have two little kids, I’m so embarrassed, like, I’m sorry, I didn’t show up. But here’s the plan moving forward. And I was like, people are gonna love that even more than just like showing up and pretending like nothing happened, like, this is your chance, again, to infuse the uniqueness of like, Oops, sorry, six months just passed, but I’m back. And like, this is why I’m back. And like, I love when people give those human moments to me. Because, again, when I think about the realtors that are on the top of my head of like, you have to work with this person, there was a human connection there. It wasn’t about the properties. It wasn’t about the process, it was about the connection. And so email marketing gives you a much like lower risk place to have that human connection. It’s not going public, it’s going to these, this precise list. And so that’s oftentimes where I’ll tell stories about marriage, or my children or things that like I don’t necessarily feel comfortable, like getting on Instagram stories and be like, guess what drew did today. But in my email list, it feels like a much tighter knit community. And it also is that place for that two way conversation that allows for it to feel less like in your face and less risky.

41:58
Right. It’s a good point. And I mean, truly, probably more people see your email list than your social media posts. So it’s totally ironic. 100% intimate?

42:07
Yes, yeah. 100%. Like,

42:08
remember when I had gotten an email from one of the people that I subscribed from, and it was like, I’m so sorry, I missed last week. And I’m thinking, Did you? Yeah, because nobody cares. You know? Yeah. No, I maybe would have noticed in like, a few weeks like, Wait, that stopped. But missing a week or two is like we’re all so busy. Yeah. Like you said, we’re not you’re staring at our inbox, waiting for that one email. We got plenty to do in the meantime.

42:34
Absolutely. Well, I have a question because I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Because people have now figured out that the vulnerability or the admitting you made a mistake or saying that? Oh, you know, I forgot to email you last week they’ve started doing this. Do you feel like big companies are doing this on prem? Oh, we sent the wrong. Like, don’t send three emails in a row like, Oh, we’ve made a mistake. Yeah,

42:56
our top open emails have been like, Oops, emails, because they’re genuinely oops, of like, oh, we forgot the link, or like, Oh, that was not the right photo. And people always want to connect, even with our podcasts. My top podcast episodes are like the number one thing I did wrong in XYZ, or like the five things that I messed up on, because again, people are craving that human aspect. Now, I wouldn’t abuse that. But like, I’ve seen some big companies be like, Oh, no, our our tech assistant is getting fired, like, and it’s like, what, but then you’re like, what happened? Oh, my gosh, and so. But I do think too, so many realtors have so many good horror stories of different things. And so like, you could easily be entertaining just through that. And again, while you’re entertaining, you’re staying front of mine. You’re reminding people that this didn’t happen to them, like you know what I mean? Like there’s so many fun ways to do it.

43:50
Yeah, I’m so glad you said story. Because there was a particular quote from the book that I want to read because it is about story. And it says legacy starts in the simplest ways with a story, when we have the space to confidently share our stories that reveal our passions, illustrate our transformations and pass down our hardest lessons. We open ourselves to being fully known, but that’s the person you want to work with. Right? Yes. One that shared the stories can be so little or they can be so big, but I feel like the way to relate them and get them like some traction is with your email.

44:25
Yes, absolutely. And I think too, especially with service based businesses, you are showing up and you’re being a part of people’s really vulnerable season of their life right like they’re making a big decision there may be worried is this the right move? Is this the right decision? And I think that when you bring that humaneness to it, it brings that honesty that gives people a really great experience like the kind of raving experience like when I think about being a wedding photographer like I am literally in the room when the bride strips down and gets into her dress that is vulnerable, right like you are allowing a stranger to watch you change Your dress, but because we’re sharing this like experience and the stories and like, oh my gosh, like I remember on my wedding day this happened like, it gives that connection that leads to those strong referrals of like, you cannot choose anyone else this is the right person for you do not even look any further. And that is the type of business that I want to run. Because that’s why I enjoyed wedding photography so much. Because I had so many clients where I was like, This is amazing. Like, I love these people. This is awesome that I get to do this.

45:33
So good. Okay, I could really talk to you all day and about all the topics, but we’re not going to keep you all day and talk about all the topics. Do you have any like final email tips or thoughts that you really want? If everyone needed to hear this is what they need to hear. Share that with us.

45:51
Okay, so I prepared because I love realtors. I love real estate. And I knew that one of the objections would be like, Okay, what am I actually going to send? So I’ve prepared 10 ideas on emails you could send now if you think about this, if you were to send one intentional email per month, I’ve almost planned your entire year for you. Okay, so we really appreciate you are so welcome. Okay, so idea number one property listing. So again, you already talked about this, but you can send regular emails featuring new and recently listed properties. And here’s a great idea. You can offer exclusive previews or early access to your subscribers. So you could say this property is going to hit the market, if you want to be the first to see it opt in for my email list. That is amazing. Because guess what one person is going to buy that home, but maybe 100 People wanted to get that early access in that preview. And now you know, they’re looking, you know, they’re available. Number two, market updates. So many people, especially with the shifting sands of the market, want to know market insights, trends, statistics, you can share more about your local real estate market because I know for me, I can listen to all the podcasts in the world, but I don’t know what that means for Duluth, Minnesota. So you can provide updates on home prices, inventory levels, like any notable shifts or opportunities. So that’s number two. Number three, which I love this idea of neighborhood profiles. So highlighting different neighborhoods or communities in your area, you can include information about schools, local attractions, nearby services, like as a mom, I’m like, does I have a park? What school district Am I am, and this can help buyers understand the unique features and benefits of various neighborhoods. And it can avoid you having to go on a wild goose chase taking people into areas of town that they might not even be attracted to. So again, you’re helping them identify, Okay, is this an area that I’m interested in purchasing in or not? The next one is home buying tips, I think this is an obvious place to begin, but providing tips and advice for potential homebuyers. You can talk about mortgage pre approval, negotiating offers, understanding closing costs, the importance of home inspections, all these different things that you appreciate about the experience. And what I love about this, too, is you are setting the stage for the type of experience that you want them to have, so that you’re not battling them on like, I think a home inspection is really important. They’re like we don’t want one like you, again, are kind of pre framing them to be making the right decisions that give both you and them a great experience. The next one is home selling tips. So you can offer guidance, I think a lot of home sellers get really nervous because they’re like, am I going to get what I want? What are people going to think about my decor or my decisions. And so you can share tips on staging a home improving your curb appeal, setting the right asking price navigating the selling process. And again, this is going to help you as a realtor, kind of have them eyes wide open as they enter into this part of the process. You can also share real estate news. So just sharing relevant news or developments, you can talk about articles, market reports, legislative updates, anything that can impact the local housing market. And what I love about this is it positions you as knowledgeable expert and this trusted source of information, which then poises you to be the person that they’re coming to, to ask those questions. And the cool thing about this one is you don’t have to write all that content, you can literally link to existing content from sources that you trust. And that takes care of an email to your email list while providing value. You can share it testimonials and success stories. I think this is a really powerful and underutilized tool by so many service providers of allowing your people to speak about their experience or successful transactions, the value you provide. And it makes it so much easier because who likes to talk about themselves and so sharing those stories can maybe help people envision themselves as the hero of their own story. You can share home ownership tips. So again, even after the process of selling someone a home guess what maybe three years from now they’re going to buy another home, you’re staying front of mine but you’re also affirming that they made the right decision. I think this can be super powerful. So you could talk about maintenance tips, energy saving tips, seasonal Property Care. I know our builder, Kiersten from all mahomes Does like all these different ways like ways to win Raise your home for Minnesota and like I’m like, okay, protect the screens that I just bought, like all these different things. And so staying on that is really powerful. Number nine is local events and activities. So keeping your subscribers informed about local events, festivals, community activities, again, then to if you’re going to be at them, this is great FaceTime that’s connecting and not selling. And then lastly, exclusive promotions and offers. So maybe you have a discounted property or free property evaluations. Or maybe you’ll do a home staging consults or discounted commission rates, this is a great way to have that direct line, I think, when the pandemic hit, so many people realize that they don’t have a way to directly reach out to the people that they want to work with and communicate, here’s what this is going to look like. Now, here’s what this process is, here’s how I need your support, here’s how we’re going to get through this. And so having that direct line allows you to set the stage of like, here’s what this can be like. And it allows you to create different promotions that will support your business and maybe some of those slower seasons. So that are that is 10 different ideas that realtors can use. And I hope that it got the juices flowing. Like for me, I’m not a realtor. And I’m like, I want to write those emails. Like there’s so much every that is so exciting to me.

51:12
And it’s fun, that’s really fun concept. It’s fun to write, it’s fun to learn about, it’s fun to read about. So it shouldn’t be embarrassing for you to send that to your database. It’s it’s entertaining, it’s very entertaining, we’re lucky to be in a business that’s so entertaining truly.

51:26
And we have so admired watching your journey and just how you’ve evolved. I even think the reason that we started the hustle humbly podcast was because it was a day that one of your episodes aired about how to do a podcast, and she and I texted each other and was like, I think we could do this and started and we have never missed a Monday. So it’s just been wonderful to see you evolve even into like motherhood and then like adding another child. And so I guess what we wanted to end with to is, what does hustling humbly mean to you? I mean, you have you work so hard, and work life balance and keeping priorities in check, like, what does that look like to you?

52:14
Yeah, it’s it’s so aligned, you and we all share a very similar vision, but it’s finding that balance between contentment, and achieving. And I want to live like a peaceful life. I want to live a life that feels good and doesn’t just look good. But I’m also very driven. And so it’s learning how to honor where I’m at in a given day in a given week, month, season or year. And really figuring out is this the time for contentment, and just being so at peace with where I’m at? Or is this the time to hit the gas pedal and drive forward and see how far we can take this thing. And I think for a lot of women, specifically with young children, it’s a day to day basis of like, I want to live in the woods and have chickens and I want to shut this whole thing down. And then the next day, it’s like, I want to blow this up, I want to be the best of the best. I want to see how far I can take this. And so learning how to honor both sides of who I am. And do it in a way that allows me to just enjoy everyday as much as I possibly can.

53:10
Okay, at the end of every episode, we toast Did you bring a toast? Do you want to honor someone on the show toast to them, someone who’s contributed to your success or is important in your life? Just whoever you want, we would love to hear it. Yes,

53:25
I want to toast my husband drew this morning was chaotic. There was Cheerios and Rice Krispies. And my daughter was drinking her milk out of a bowl like a kitty cat. And we just had to laugh with each other because this life is wild. And it’s magical. And it has taken so many twists and turns. And I think for every successful person that is listening to this there has been someone in their life where they have had that moment where they lock eyes and it’s like, I can’t believe this, but I also can’t believe this. Like it’s just amazing. So I am just so appreciative to him and the role that he plays with our children. So that I can do amazing things like sit down and have a coffee chat with you guys.

54:04
I love that. Okay, so cheers to Drew change to so much Jenna for being here. How can people find you I know that you have maybe a webinar going on like right now. So tell us like how people can find you right now and how they can get started on their email.

54:18
Yeah, totally. So if you want to just connect with me in general Jenna kutcher.com is the hub for all the things I’m Jenna Kutcher on the platforms. I am not on Tik Tok. I’m not that great of a millennial. Again, I’m just putting my ROI in the right place like email Jenna Kutcher across the board, and I’m teaching a free live training if this has piqued your interest or you want to learn more about email marketing or how this can work, it is called from zero subscribers or zero strategy to an engaged email list that lasts and I’m going to teach you how to do more of this and so you can find out more information at Jenna kutcher.com/hustle So that’s Jenna kutcher.com forward slash hustle. And you can check Got that free training and you can sign up, join me and I’ll teach you all about email marketing and how you can leverage all the things we talked about and so much more for your business.

55:10
I love it. Thank you so much for being here. It’s just super valuable. I hope that everyone goes to follow you if they don’t already and learns more about email because it’s so important.

55:20
Thank you guys. Great. I took so many notes. Yes.

55:23
Okay, thank you so much, Jenna. We’re gonna take one last photo just to make sure we have a good thing. And then we’ll let you be on your day. Okay. 123 All right.

55:35
Thank you guys. I appreciate you wonderful.

55:38
If we can ever help you. We’ll be on the show. We’ll talk about

55:43
all your email and then all I have Marissa my team reach out and then maybe we could do something for DCA. That’d be so fun.

55:51
I would love that would be super fun. Okay, awesome. So my day, bye.

55:57
Bye. Thank you so much for tuning in to the hustle humbly podcast.

56:02
If you enjoyed this episode, please go to rate this podcast.com/hustle humbly and leave us a review or like this video. Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel and hit the bell for notifications.

56:13
If you have an episode topic or someone you’d like to toss on the show. Please email us at t at hustle humbly podcast.com Find us

56:21
on social media at hustle humbly podcast don’t forget to find all the free resources at hustle humbly podcast.com/resources See you next week.