Are you going on holiday or taking some time off from your business? What will you do with your email marketing? Will you stop your emails? Or will you keep them going? What are your options? This is what we're sharing today - how to do your email marketing while you're on holiday, whether you’re physically leaving and going somewhere or simply switching off from your business for some well-deserved time off.  

Ready to find out what your options are to keep your email marketing going during the holidays? 

SOME EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

(4:51) Option 1 - Stop sending emails (don't do this!)

(10:08) Option 2 - Schedule your emails in advance.

(12:59) Option 3 - Run a campaign.

(15:02) The importance of having customer support while you're away.

(17:27) Option 4 - Send your emails while you're on holiday.

(20:56) The importance of having an Email Engine.

(22:44) Let your holiday inspire your emails.

(24:51) Always capture new ideas for your email marketing.

(30:54) Take advantage of these helpful resources inside The League.

(32:04) Subject line of the week.

Option 1 – Stop sending emails (don’t do this!)

The first option you have (and - spoiler alert - this is something we don't advise you to do) is to stop sending emails. You simply disappear for however long you're away or taking time off. 

This is definitely an option you have, but just because you're taking some well-deserved time off, it doesn't mean you don't have to continue showing up. In fact, you don't want to stop sending emails. Because that means losing momentum and traction.

Why you need to keep showing up for your subscribers

Remember that one of the things you’re doing by sending regular emails to your subscribers is to build and reinforce a habit. If you know that someone sends you an email every day of the week, you expect that. Or if you publish a podcast episode every week and suddenly stop, chances are people will stop listening.

The same goes with your emails – you stop sending them, and your subscribers will stop reading them. When you drop your frequency, from a technical point of you, you mess with the algorithm. But people also stop paying attention to you.

And from a psychological perspective, the minute you stop doing something, you find it harder to get back to it. So stopping your emails is bad for everything! It's bad from a tech point of view in terms of your deliverability, it’s bad for engagement, and it's bad for your audience because it gives them a chance to disconnect and forget who you are. And last but not least it's bad for you! Because once you've stopped, it's harder to get back into it.

So, yes - you absolutely deserve time off. But you also have a responsibility towards your subscribers and customers to show up and deliver value. It’s part of the promise you made to your subscribers. So what other options you have to ensure you can keep showing up even when you're on holiday? 

Option 2 – Schedule your emails in advance

Another option you have is to prepare in advance and write and schedule your emails. So let's say you're going to be away for 16 days - you'll want to have all your emails written and scheduled in advance a couple of days before that. And potentially, you'll also want emails scheduled for a few days after you return to give yourself a chance to get back into the swing of things.

This means you batch-create the emails in advance for the duration of your trip (plus a few days before and after). And this is great because it means that as long as you spend some time preparing and planning in advance, you can take as much time away from your business as you want. 

The only thing to bear in mind if you're going to batch-write your emails is that you don't want them to all sound the same. We have a resource called Batch It Crazy inside our membership The League that helps you do exactly that. You want your emails to have different flavours and vibes to them. But most importantly, you want to be talking about your products from different angles. And using our resources will help you do that (and also ensure you won't run out of ideas). 

Option 3 - Run a campaign 

Another option you have is to run a campaign. What’s the difference between batching your emails and scheduling a campaign? If you decide to send X amount of days' worth of emails while you're away, you'll simply write and schedule those emails separately as you would when you're not on holiday.

Running a campaign, on the other hand, takes your subscriber on a journey. You're telling a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. The emails in the campaign work together to serve a common purpose.

We have about 30 campaigns inside our membership The League that you can take, fill in, and apply to your business. The shortest one we have is about 6 days, but most of them are longer. So there’s a good chance you can cover the duration of your holiday with just one campaign. 

And you may think this is counterintuitive. A lot of people tell us they can’t run an email campaign because they’re away. But actually, it's the perfect time to do it! Because you can set it all up in advance before you go.

The importance of having customer support while you're away

The only thing we'd add to that is that you'll want someone for you (maybe someone in your team if you have one) to monitor your emails and respond to any queries while you're away to make sure your customers are getting access to the right content and can buy your product. You don't want broken links or pages or payments that can't go through. And if something goes wrong, you need someone to fix it. 

If you don't have anyone who can help, maybe you could set up your campaign a few days before you go away and test it all out to make sure everything works fine. You want to be sure that the fundamentals are solid. And if you don't have anyone who can provide customer support while you're on holiday perhaps you could check in once in a while. 

And if you can't, at least set up an autoreply for your support email address and let people know that you're away and when they can expect a reply back from you. This isn't ideal, but it’s better than nothing. 

Option 4 – Send your emails while you're on holiday 

Another option you have (and what Kennedy does) is to find 10 minutes a day when you’re away to write and send your emails. You might have heard us say this before, but Kennedy writes his emails first thing in the morning while he waits for the kettle to boil. Whereas Rob writes them during the day, when inspiration strikes. That’s harder to do if you’re not disciplined – because it’s easy to let it slide.

But the way Kennedy does it means that doing his email marketing doesn't interrupt his day. His morning cup of tea is still part of his routine, wherever he is. Just like you don’t stop brushing your teeth when you’re on holiday, there are still things you do every day. So you can incorporate writing your emails into your daily habits, even when you're away or taking time off.

Different time zones make things interesting, too. When Kennedy went on holiday to Las Vegas, for example, he kept sending his daily emails at the same time. But because of the time difference, his audience would receive them 8 hours later than usual. Did that affect engagement with his subscribers? Nope. Nothing happened because he was emailing later in the day.

And part of the reason why this is, is that your subscribers probably know that you're away (if you've included that in your daily emails), and they feel like they're travelling with you. And by the way, this also proves that there is no perfect time of day to send your emails - to this day, we have never statistically found one. 

The importance of having an Email Engine 

On top of these options, there's something else we'd like you to consider. In our business, we have something we call our Email Engine. This is our core philosophy, and something all our subscribers go through in our business. It's a series of campaigns that talk about our membership The League from different angles, and it takes our subscribers 60-70 days to go through it. We make most of our sales from our Email Engine. 

After that, our subscribers go into our day-to-day email marketing, but what having our Email Engine means to us is that no matter how many new subscribers we bring in each month, they're all going to be taken care of. They're all going through the sequence of campaigns and emails we have already set up. And when you do this in your business, it means you can constantly make sales regardless of what you're doing - and even when you're away. 

Let your holiday inspire your emails 

Holidays are a great opportunity to give you ideas for your email marketing. Regardless of what strategy or option you choose from the ones we mentioned, you can use your holidays as inspiration - whether you share the stories in real-time or once you're back. 

Sending emails while you're on holiday allows your readers to feel like they're away with you. And that's great because it helps deepen the relationship with them. But regardless of when you send those emails, you'll find that a lot more happens around you than when you're not at home or following your daily life and routines.

When you take time away from your business, opportunities for stories multiply - totally different things happen. You see people you wouldn't normally see and immerse yourself in different situations. And that’s amazing inspiration for stories, which you can tell as they happen or when you're back.

Always capture new ideas for your email marketing

One thing you must make sure you do as you're exposed to more stories is to write them all down. Inside our Bottomless Email Strategy, we talk about a tool called the Story Vault. It’s our methodology for recording the stories to share in your emails as they happen to you, and it's super handy for those days when you feel you don't have anything to write about. So while you're away, make sure you capture all your stories so you can use them later. 

Ultimately, your email marketing has to continue even if you're taking a break from your business. You still need to show up and serve your audience. And by doing this, you're subconsciously telling your subscribers that you won't let them down. You're still there and will continue to be there for them, even when you're away. It teaches them that they can rely on you because you're not the business that suddenly disappears. 

If you decide to take time off from your business (either out of desire or necessity), email is one of the only things you can remain consistent with because you can have it running in the background. Plenty of other activities (like Facebook lives, networking, or sales calls) require you to be there and present. But not email marketing - not if you plan and schedule in advance. 

Take advantage of these helpful resources inside The League

We mentioned quite a few resources today. So for any members of The League, take a look at our campaigns. Are there any you'd like to implement during your next holiday? Whether it's something new you're launching or an existing product you want to put a new spin on, you'll find a campaign or two to use.

Another resource to check out is the Batch It Crazy programme and course, which is all about how to batch emails quickly and succinctly. And finally, take a look at the Bottomless Email Strategy and the Story Vault element from that. And if you’re not a member yet, what are you waiting for? 

Subject line of the week

This week’s subject line is one of the longest we’ve ever sent, and it’s “It’s 30 mins for free email marketing coaching”. What this type of subject line does is to stack curiosity. We see a lot of people who give away the point of the email in the subject line. But that means there's no need for your subscribers to open your email! 

This subject line, on the other hand, raises lots of questions. Why 30 minutes? Why is it free? And what is email marketing coaching? Because it raises multiple questions, we call this compound curiosity. Try it out!

Useful Episode Resources

Related episodes

The Therapeutic Benefits of Writing Your Own Emails.

The Absolute Best Time To Send Emails.

7 Essential Email Campaigns Examples For Your Business.

FREE list of the top 10 books to improve your email marketing

If you want to write better emails, come up with better content, and move your readers to click and buy, here's how. We put together this list of our Top 10 most highly recommended books that will improve all areas of your email marketing (including some underground treasures that we happened upon, which have been game-changing for us). Grab your FREE list here. 

Join our FREE Facebook group

If you want to chat about how you can maximise the value of your email list and make more money from every subscriber, we can help! We know your business is different, so come and hang out in our FREE Facebook group, the Email Marketing Show Community for Course Creators and Coaches. We share a lot of training and resources, and you can talk about what you're up to.

Try ResponseSuite for $1

This week's episode is sponsored by ResponseSuite.com, the survey quiz and application form tool that we created specifically for small businesses like you to integrate with your marketing systems to segment your subscribers and make more sales. Try it out for 14 days for just $1.

Join The League Membership

Not sick of us yet? Every day we hang out in our amazing community of Email Marketing Heroes. We share all of our training and campaigns and a whole bunch of other stuff. If you're looking to learn how to use psychology-driven marketing to level up your email campaigns, come and check out The League Membership. It's the number one place to hang out and grow your email marketing. Best news yet? You can apply everything we talk about in this show.

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