🚀 Ready to revolutionize your marketing strategies? 🌟

✔️ Discover the secrets of high-converting email funnels with Christina Lopez!

✔️ Join Brett Deister on Digital Coffee: Marketing Brew for an insightful chat.

✔️ Learn how to automate, collaborate, and avoid creator burnout.

👀 Tune in now and transform your approach to content creation!

3 Fun Facts

1. Christina Lopez avoids caffeine entirely, ensuring a structured workflow for content ideation and creation.

2. Lopez successfully uses freebie swaps as an alternative to social media promotion, particularly through platforms like Letter Growth.

3. Brett Deister and Christina Lopez both use various automation tools, including Zapier and Cast Magic, to repurpose content efficiently across different platforms.

Timestamps:

00:00 Coach turned creator to share career transition.

06:30 Creative ideas sporadically come and are organized.

09:45 Utilize Zapier and TypeFully to automate content sharing.

10:46 Podcaster uses automated tools for video and audio.

14:53 Freebies verify interest, email courses boost conversion. Automate.

17:44 Allocate time strategically to maximize productivity.

20:20 Leverage collaborations to reach wider audience.

23:57 Get a domain for email credibility.

29:02 Free welcome email template for your audience.

31:10 Creating value through promotions and email sign-ups.

36:19 Reddit is favored for community and searchability.

38:50 Reddit: Honesty, value drive upvotes, anonymity helps.

40:43 Consider return on time and your business.

💬 Want to get involved? Leave us a comment, give us a 'like,' and follow us for more insights. Join our Locals for lively discussions, and if you've got questions, email us at bdeister@digitalcafe.media!

👕 Check out our mech: www.digitalcafe.store

Mm, that's good.

2

And welcome to a new episode of

Digital Coffee Marketing Brewin.

3

I'm your host, Brett Deister.

4

But this week we're gonna be talking

about content creators, a little

5

bit of marketing on how content

creators can market themselves,

6

but also content creation because.

7

We've all seen a lot of YouTubers of

are cutting back and they're tired.

8

So we're gonna be talking all about that

and content creators and how they can auto

9

basically automate and be efficient and

not be as tired when creating content.

10

But with me, I have Christina Lopez with

me and she is a former online business

11

coach, turn to online content creator.

12

So this is gonna be a really great show.

13

And she basically, after years of

hitting that burnout, which we've.

14

Already talked about a little bit.

15

She basically had to start over

and she built a creator business

16

and has daily passive incomes,

no sales calls, no team members.

17

It is a one person show, which

I'm familiar with 'cause I

18

am a one person show myself.

19

So welcome to the show, Christina.

20

Christina Lopez: Hey, thank

you so much for having me.

21

I'm really excited to hop on today's

session, so I'm ready to dive in.

22

Brett Deister: All right.

23

And the first question is, all my guests

is, are you a coffee or a tea drinker?

24

Christina Lopez: I am a tea drinker.

25

More specifically, I'm

a caffeine free drinker.

26

I cannot, if I have caffeine in me,

then I will not be going to sleep.

27

So I'm definitely a tea person.

28

I.

29

Brett Deister: Is that any time

of the day, if you have caffeine,

30

you will not be going to sleep?

31

Or is that like a specific time

you have to cut yourself off?

32

Christina Lopez: I think it's just

generally like once when it's for

33

sure after 12 o'clock I cannot

have caffeine, but I just don't

34

like drinking coffee personally.

35

Fun fact, I actually used to work for

an espresso back in college and I took

36

one, you get like free shots of coffee

and I took one, one too many shots of

37

espresso and then after that I was like.

38

Okay.

39

I can never do this again.

40

But I really just like

to go on good old sleep.

41

That's my form of caffeine.

42

Brett Deister: That's fair.

43

I got over the hump after starting, and

I didn't start drink coffee till like my

44

mid twenties and I got over that hump of

the caffeine just rushes through you and

45

now it's like I just do it to stay awake.

46

Yeah.

47

Anyways, I gave a brief summary of your

expertise, but can you give our listeners

48

a little bit more about what you do?

49

Christina Lopez: Yeah, so as my bio

mentioned, I'm a former online business

50

coach, turned into an online content

creator, and I think it's best to share

51

the story on how I really landed on that.

52

So as being a person who

came from the coaching space.

53

If you are from the coaching space, you

really are familiar with the whole kind of

54

strategy of like you hop on sales calls,

you have to do client meetings, coaching

55

calls, and it ends up getting to a point

where you know, you are spread very

56

thin, where you spend part of your time

a lot of time maybe in dms and reaching

57

out to people, having conversations, and

then having sales calls and meetings.

58

Your calendar is jam packed with

meetings and I got to a point

59

where I was like, enough is enough.

60

I.

61

I cannot do this.

62

I think it really hit home for me

when I actually made a very large

63

revenue month, and we can talk about

this in a later topic, but what ended

64

up happening was after that revenue

hit, it was a huge influx of cash.

65

I had this weird feeling where I was

like, I just need to go push harder.

66

So I pushed harder in that business,

did more sales calls to the point where

67

it was actually very detrimental to

the business and I ended up having 20

68

plus sales calls and they all said no.

69

And I was like, okay, it's not, I.

70

It's not like the quality of the lead.

71

I'm like, there's something

wrong with me here.

72

And that's when I realized I hit major

burnout and I was like, I can't do this.

73

So I had to look back at the drawing board

and think to myself like, okay, is it,

74

what type of business do I wanna have?

75

And I thought to myself like,

okay, I want to still help people

76

because that's what I love to do.

77

Like I was a former coach.

78

I love to help people, create

generational wealth and my modality

79

is teaching people on business, but I.

80

Don't want to have a full calendar.

81

I don't want to have

back to back meetings.

82

I just really like a free calendar.

83

And so that's how I stumbled

upon content creation.

84

So I'm a blogger on Medium as well

as other channels, but Medium is

85

like my main place that I hang

out alongside my newsletter.

86

But.

87

What ended up happening was I realized

to myself, I'm like, okay, if we're

88

gonna do this again, we're gonna

still accomplish the mission at scale.

89

And I think the Internet's

the great place to do that.

90

So content creation.

91

But I don't want any sales calls 'cause

fuck 'em, I'm like tired of them.

92

But I also don't want to have

any meetings on my calendar.

93

I'm very, safeguarding of my time.

94

I have a life outside of my business

and I think everybody deserves one.

95

But more importantly, I also didn't

wanna manage any team members because,

96

I did come from the background of

managing a team of VAs and I realized I.

97

Rather not be a manager.

98

I'd rather just be someone who creates

and helps people and not have to deal

99

with the inner workings of management.

100

So that's just not my personal style.

101

And I really just also thought to myself

like, okay, I don't want rollercoaster

102

revenue, I just want daily passive income.

103

If you were to tell me, say, Hey,

can I give you a thousand dollars

104

or can I give you maybe a hundred

dollars a day or $10 a day?

105

Every day I take the $10 a day

because it doesn't require my

106

time to actually make money.

107

So it's a one woman show back here,

but I'm really have been able to figure

108

out how to fully automate the process.

109

So I'm super excited to just

walk you more through that.

110

Brett Deister: And so consecration has

changed over the years where as I said

111

before, YouTubers are quitting because I

always say it's like feeding the monster.

112

Consecration is feeding the

monster of voracious appetites

113

on just the audiences because the

audiences want to be entertained.

114

Like the whole like little

meme from Gladiator.

115

Are you not entertained type of.

116

How do you not get burned out on that?

117

Because it, for a solo creator, you're

like, okay, I gotta create this, I

118

gotta create this, I gotta create this.

119

And it's like an everyday like

almost hamster wheel type of mindset.

120

So how do you not get into that?

121

Oh my God, I'm so tired.

122

I don't wanna do this anymore.

123

Christina Lopez: So I think the best

way to really talk about this is talk

124

about my workflow on how all this content

kind of gets created behind the scenes.

125

So I think as naturally as your

creators, you're someone who has a lot

126

of creative ideas, hit them sporadically.

127

So when it comes to my

ideation, I don't necessarily.

128

Sit down and think, they just randomly

come to me throughout the day, throughout

129

the weeks and things like that.

130

So I just put everything in an

Airtable base, which it had.

131

They have an app and

I just write my ideas.

132

And then really from that point on, I take

the time one day a month and I actually

133

sit down and look through all my ideas and

I pick a couple content pieces where I'm

134

like, yeah, that's what I wanna do now,

because my, really like my focus is like

135

I only wanna create content once, and the

way that looks like is either I'm gonna

136

create one blog article from that idea,

or I'm gonna create one YouTube video.

137

It has to be one or the other.

138

It cannot be both.

139

And so it's interesting that you

mentioned YouTube because as creators

140

may, maybe stepping back, I'm actually

moving forward a lot more into

141

YouTube because it's an evergreen

traffic strategy, things like that.

142

However.

143

I definitely don't want to

add more things to my plate.

144

So this whole idea of creating content

once, the way that looks for me is

145

I'll take an idea, I'll film the video,

I'll do all the things you need to

146

do, edit, research, stuff like that.

147

But I'm only doing it once and.

148

What people, what creators get

really burnt out with, in my

149

opinion, is the repurposing process.

150

Like when you think about repurposing it

to Twitter, to Instagram, to Facebook,

151

it's just a lot of, I don't know how

to say this, I'm pretty blunt, but

152

it's like a lot of bullshit that like

it doesn't need to take your time.

153

That's not what you signed up for.

154

As a creator, you signed up as

a creator to create, not to be a

155

manual scheduler, in my opinion.

156

When we think about the automations,

really my background is in system

157

design and automation workflows.

158

And a couple tools that I'm

gonna definitely recommend

159

creators checkout is Zapier.

160

Zapier is, 100% a no code tool.

161

I don't know how to code for shit.

162

But it's a great tool to

really think about what your

163

workflow process looks like.

164

So what happens on the backend for

me, actually, is what I do is I

165

will, once the video goes live, that

would be the trigger to start the

166

workflow, the repurposing workflow.

167

And because everything is really

starting to get into place with

168

ai, I think it's an opportunity for

creators to take advantage of that.

169

And so when we think

about my backend workflow.

170

We have the trigger of a YouTube video.

171

What I would do is I would send

that YouTube video to AI and say,

172

Hey, pull the transcript, gimme

the text to work with, right?

173

And then what I would do with AI is

I would te tell ai, AI after pulls

174

the transcript, is to start creating

other content pieces for me based.

175

On the words that I'm saying

in the transcript of the video.

176

And so it's interesting because, you

wouldn't think that AI would be that

177

great, but it actually does a very

good job where I would say, alongside

178

with the workflow, Hey, ai, create

ai, create a Twitter thread for me.

179

Hey, create Instagram reel for me in

terms of, the text and things like that.

180

Creative Facebook posts.

181

When I leverage all those pieces, at that

point, it's just integrating it with the

182

platforms that I'm repurposing it to.

183

So Zapier is great because they

repurpose to Facebook, they repurpose to

184

Instagram, they're repurpose to Twitter.

185

There's another tool, 'cause the Twitter

recently went off on Zapier, but you

186

can use type fully, which is a great

tool to really auto thread your content.

187

And at that point.

188

All I did at that point was all I did

was just created the video and then I let

189

the automations take care of everything.

190

But I also didn't need to sit down

manually repurpose it and manually

191

schedule it out, because the trigger

is when the video goes live, and if

192

the video goes live a month from now

and I'm on vacation, there's been

193

times definitely where I look and

I'm like, oh, I guess I posted today.

194

And that's the type of lifestyle that

I personally like to live where I don't

195

like to add things to my plate, but I just

like to set it, forget it, and move on.

196

Brett Deister: Yeah, coming from

a podcaster, we have two different

197

things now 'cause we have to do

video and we have to do audio.

198

I know some podcasters don't right

now because it is another extra like

199

resource you have to figure out.

200

But for me, I use cast magic

to automate the transcripts

201

and all the show notes and.

202

X and Twitter slash x and

all those other stuff.

203

I also have another one for YouTube.

204

I also have a new one for automating just

the content for creating the written word

205

for all the other social media that I

just write a few things and it does for me

206

that I, if I don't like it, I just rewrite

it again until I get what I actually

207

want, because AI is never perfect and.

208

You have to do it, but I understand

what you're saying 'cause I heavily

209

use, I use Opus clips just to go through

my whole video and just cut things up

210

for me and then I can just automate

that through that way because I don't

211

have time to repurpose everything.

212

Luckily for Twitter slash x, if

you're a premium user, you can

213

just upload the whole video now,

so you don't have to worry about.

214

Oh, now I need to cut this LinkedIn.

215

You do, because it's still

only 15 minutes long.

216

So I just do clips on LinkedIn

instead because just cutting 15

217

minutes can be a little more time

consuming than I want it to be.

218

So with that is, is it important

to actually use ai but also.

219

Use other means, like email lists

and everything, because YouTube

220

changes all the time and it's

okay I can use curse words now.

221

I can't use curse words.

222

I can do this.

223

No, I can't do that.

224

So is it good to have your

own space as well as using the

225

other social media platforms?

226

Christina Lopez: 100%.

227

Actually my one goal with social

media, and I think it should be the

228

goal for every creator on social

media, is to transition that platform

229

audience to your own audience.

230

And the easiest way to

do that is an email list.

231

And when I really think about what the

purpose behind an email list, I would.

232

100% if you're gonna make money,

like the money is in the list,

233

it's not really on content.

234

Actually, I've been spending the

past couple months, I haven't

235

really created content on my blog

or my, any of my other social media

236

platforms, but I'm still making money.

237

I'm still making that

daily passive income.

238

And when I look at the sources of where

that's coming from, that's a hundred

239

percent coming from my email list.

240

And some content pieces that are

still performing really well.

241

The reason why I say that is because

when we think about the example of

242

YouTubers maybe taking that step

back and creating content creation,

243

it's, it makes sense, right?

244

Because if you are a brand new creator and

you're thinking to yourself like, okay, I

245

have to create this starting process for

you to see success as a very long process,

246

it's a very long timeframe before you get

to see really any kind of return on time.

247

And it's not a surprise that creators are

stepping back because just the return on

248

time, return on effort may not be there.

249

Whether you're ma monetizing

through AdSense, affiliate marketing

250

is just not worth your time.

251

But what is a better worth of your

time is maybe creating an email funnel.

252

And so when you are creating that

content, the call to action shouldn't

253

be maybe to buy your affiliate link.

254

Maybe the call to action should

be, Hey, grab this freebie that

255

I created for you, that works

well with this affiliate product.

256

You could grab the freebie.

257

Now I have their email, and I can

automate the selling to upsell

258

into that affiliate product.

259

And when you think about what this

looks like, I'll give you an inside

260

scoop in terms of my backend, what.

261

My monetization channel is,

I have my content pieces.

262

They all point as a call

to action to my email list.

263

From my email list.

264

I have automations that are

based on behavior, right?

265

So if you tell me and you're saying oh,

I have the problem where I don't know

266

how to build an email list from scratch.

267

And also I don't wanna be on social media.

268

There is that option where it's gonna pick

up, based on, actions within my emails

269

where I'm gonna be pointing specific

freebies to you that I've created that's

270

gonna help you solve that problem.

271

And then when you receive those freebies,

that's also telling me an action, Hey, I'm

272

verifying that you're interested in this.

273

So the backend would be, Hey, you

told me that you're interested

274

because you got this freebie.

275

I am also gonna recommend, you may

wanna consider grabbing our audience

276

profits course because this is a course

that's gonna teach you how to build

277

an email list without social media.

278

And you'd be surprised, like just by

having the actions segments your list,

279

you get a higher return on, I guess you

can say email, because you're targeting

280

the people that actually want, that have

raised their hand to said, Hey, I want

281

to know more information about this.

282

And then conversion pieces are better.

283

And when you think about how

this really all plays into.

284

Action.

285

It's honestly great because

email, you can automate that all.

286

I'd rather spend my time building, writing

email sequences, and all I have to do is

287

maybe take a couple hours, within my day,

write all the email sequences, put it in

288

an automation flow, and then I'm done.

289

And then I just, my point is just to

create content, drive traffic, and let

290

the funnels and automations do its thing.

291

Because I think the problem

that creators are having is

292

that they're doing everything.

293

There's this, I've seen this

post before where it's like.

294

There's arrows and they're all

going like halfway up, and that's

295

you trying to do everything.

296

But if you focus on one thing,

that arrow's gonna shoot up.

297

And so if you're gonna think about

where you're gonna invest your time,

298

think in ways of return on time.

299

It's not necessarily always

return on investment.

300

You wanna think about return on time.

301

What are the strategies that are

gonna help me make money even while

302

I'm sleeping that are gonna help me?

303

Build my audience even while I'm sleeping.

304

And when you think about your

time, 'cause time is the one

305

asset you can never get back.

306

Things are gonna ch change.

307

Things are going to, you're

gonna do things differently.

308

And so I always tell people,

start with your non-negotiables.

309

Like, how can I work

around my non-negotiables?

310

For me, no sales calls,

only passive income.

311

No team that's gonna limit and filter all

the things that you do from that point on.

312

Brett Deister: Yeah, I mean for me

it's always about the efficiency flow.

313

How can I make it this more efficient so

I don't have to do every single thing?

314

Because your brain can only

focus on so many things at a

315

time than you get burned out.

316

Because that's the problem with people

is that we focus on everything and

317

then we get so burned out because

we're not focusing on specific

318

things that need more attention.

319

And so the automation or the AI or

whatever would help that process because

320

I don't have to think as much on.

321

Do this.

322

I can just think of one specific thing

and have the other things be tasked

323

out to AI or automation or whatever.

324

Christina Lopez: It also allows you the

time to really think on strategy, right?

325

Because if you are spending 80% of

your time actually doing the work,

326

then it's not a surprise that you're

feeling burnt out because you're not

327

actually, you don't allow yourself the

time to really think about, are the

328

efforts that I'm doing really worth it?

329

A perfect example that I had

was actually just yesterday.

330

I was thinking like, okay, do I,

work on this content piece or do I

331

work on creating this email funnel?

332

And then I asked my myself the question

which one's gonna bring me money?

333

And the clear answer was email funnel.

334

Okay, so I'm gonna

focus on writing emails.

335

So instead of focusing on

content, I wrote emails all day.

336

And I created an automation.

337

And then the idea is to layer

on strategies that work for

338

you while you're not working.

339

And so I think it's just,

again, reiterate that point.

340

Return on time is the next

thing you wanna focus on.

341

Brett Deister: So let's say a content

creator has an actual email list, but.

342

Nobody's signing up.

343

They try their best to like

promote it and everything.

344

How do they create that email funnel

that will actually be successful?

345

Because you could create an email funnel

and it basically does nothing for you.

346

Christina Lopez: I would say

the worst thing, and no audience

347

is definitely dead audience.

348

So let's kinda talk a little

bit about both sides, right?

349

So if you have no audience, I

actually think that you need to

350

use a different strategy, right?

351

A lot of.

352

Creators.

353

What I see them doing is they

post on social media, right?

354

But if you don't have an audience on

social media, then you're not gonna

355

get Jack shit from social media.

356

And so it doesn't make sense for

you to invest your time into it.

357

But maybe if you are a creator who does

have an audience and you're still not

358

getting leads through social media, then.

359

Maybe that just tells you

social media's not working.

360

And that's why in my

chorus, audience profits.

361

I talk a lot about using

non-social media strategies.

362

Now the other strategy that people

talk a lot about is paid ads.

363

Right now, I'm not personally

someone who loves paid ads.

364

Even though I love leverage, I personally

don't like to use it 'cause I'd rather

365

you know, go for free than paid.

366

But when you think about.

367

Let's take a moment to think

about what paid ads are.

368

Paid ads are essentially a pay to play

way to leverage other people's audiences.

369

That's all you're doing.

370

All you're doing is paying to have

access to another person's audience.

371

So you know, it works really well

for other people, but I'm thinking to

372

myself, how can I make this ad level

reach for free to me as a creator?

373

The next best thing for you

to focus on is collaborations.

374

When you think about.

375

Audience reach.

376

The best way for you to have

collaborations at scale is to

377

collaborate with more people.

378

And the two strategies that I spend a lot

of my efforts on to grow my email list

379

are bundles and freebie swaps, right?

380

So when we think about bundles,

really, if you're not familiar with

381

the concept, I definitely think

it's worth your time is essentially.

382

Everybody, there's a bundle,

there's a host who decides,

383

Hey, I'm gonna create a bundle.

384

And when they create that bundle,

they're getting contributors to,

385

contribute a free product to the bundle.

386

Now, when you think about, okay, what

is in it for the contributors, right?

387

They're giving away a.

388

Paid product for free.

389

The benefit for the contributor is

that they're getting hyper traffic from

390

everybody else's audience within a short

period of time, and they're also gaining

391

emails because emails is, I really want

you to think about, instead of thinking

392

of pennies, thinking of dollars, right?

393

The reason why I say that is because

the benefit for them, yeah, I might

394

give a $37 product of mine for free

to that bundle, but I'm getting 200,

395

sometimes even 500 subscribers from

that one bundle within a week, right?

396

And so what we think about later

down the line is, okay, I got

397

500 leads down in my email list.

398

Later down the line, they're

gonna buy a $97 product.

399

They're gonna buy maybe a membership of

mine, they're gonna buy something else.

400

And so if I just thought to myself and if

I was just thinking small and I was just

401

thinking oh damn, like I'm losing $37.

402

In the grand scheme of

things, you're really not.

403

Because I probably gained a

hundred plus dollars on the backend

404

and I gave something for $37.

405

That was, to them for free.

406

So bundles is a really great

strategy for collaborations.

407

Another strategy that I mentioned

was freebie swaps, right?

408

Freebie swaps is a little bit more

time, but it is definitely more

409

of an engaged strategy because

at that point it's a one-to-one.

410

Swap.

411

It's a one-to-one collaboration.

412

And so it's really easy in the sense

of all I do is just, I just pitch.

413

I pitch people, I pitch to creators

who are serving a similar audience.

414

I highly recommend this

platform called Letter Growth.

415

It's a really great platform and

I find creators who are within

416

my niche and I say, Hey, I.

417

I have X subscribers.

418

I think that we serve

the similar audience.

419

Would you be open to a freebie

swap and you'd be surprised?

420

A lot of people say yes,

and at that point, great.

421

I've already secured an audience

reach and an example of what I've

422

been doing that I'm testing in 2024

actually is, just going, doing a

423

freebie swap every single week.

424

Now I have a database to track all that

and to see okay, what does my audience

425

reach by booking freebie swaps once a

week for the first half of the year.

426

When I look at the total reach, my total

reach is over $130,000, 130,000, sorry,

427

and I don't have to be on social media.

428

Literally just took an email

back and forth with a creator.

429

I didn't need to actually

create content, right?

430

So that's why when I tell creators

it's like you, maybe content is not the

431

place where you wanna spend your time.

432

Maybe the type place you wanna spend

your time is actually in collaborations.

433

So that's the aspect.

434

If you have no audience if

you have a dead audience.

435

There's a couple things that I'm

gonna recommend for you to do.

436

Housekeeping.

437

Are you doing double opt-in?

438

Now?

439

Some people would, say to me like, Hey,

I don't wanna do double opt-in, because

440

that means people may not subscribe.

441

You're also telling me that if

you're having the problem with

442

an engaged subscriber, then they

probably didn't double confirm that

443

they wanted to be on your list.

444

So people are not, I'm going to the list

and I think another thing that I'm seeing

445

that creators are gonna come up with

sooner is definitely with the whole domain

446

in terms of verification of domains.

447

Dude, go get a fricking domain, it's

$6 on Google a month or whatever.

448

I don't know what it is,

but it's super cheap.

449

And it adds a level of, credibility

to your name, but also isn't that

450

other level of verification of making

sure that your emails are not spam.

451

So those are like a little bit of

housekeeping things, but also like simple

452

things of a welcome email template.

453

Did you even welcome them to your

list and tell them the expectations.

454

I have this welcome template where I send

to my list and I say to them like, Hey.

455

You sign up for this list and I use that

welcome template as a filter, if you will.

456

Where it's okay, if you want

to stay on the list, we gotta

457

cover some ground rules.

458

The ground rules are, when I think

about the people that I like to

459

serve, the people that I like to

serve, they're people who love money.

460

And you have no problem saying that.

461

But that second thing is you love helping

people, but you don't love saving people.

462

There's a difference.

463

And the third thing is

that you value your time.

464

You have life outside of a business.

465

And I just simply say if those three

things value are, within your values,

466

hey, you may wanna stick around because I

have some freebies, trainings, resources

467

that are gonna help you if they don't.

468

Happily, no hard feelings, unsubscribe.

469

And some people would say to myself

like no, Tina, like that means

470

you're losing a lot of subscribers.

471

No.

472

What that is telling me is that I'm making

space for the subscribers or for the

473

people that actually want to be served.

474

Because when you think about

having a dead audience, that

475

actually negatively impacts you.

476

It from an email standpoint.

477

It doesn't really do great with your

scores, and then it can drive down your

478

deliverability and also just doesn't

really create a relationship with them.

479

Now, when you also think

about a dead audience, I.

480

Think about the relationship that

you're creating with your audience,

481

and I like to think of it like this.

482

If I said, Hey, I'm gonna come up

to you and I'm gonna Hey, buy this.

483

You haven't given me any value, so why

would I even want to interact with you?

484

Because you're just coming off too soon

in the relationship because it is a

485

relationship, even though it's on email

to even consider promoting anything.

486

Maybe what you might wanna do

instead, which I recommend doing,

487

is asking them, Hey, what things

do you want to hear more about?

488

This is the action piece that I was

alluding to earlier, where it's are you

489

struggling with building an email list?

490

Let me know in this poll.

491

Are you struggling with

automating your content?

492

Click this button if you are.

493

Are you struggling with maybe

converting to affiliate sales?

494

Check this box right here.

495

And so what that will tell me is it'll

tell me, okay, this is your problem.

496

So I have this area where,

okay, I know your problem.

497

I'm gonna send you some freebies that I

think are gonna be really good for you.

498

So if you are struggling with an

email list and you don't know how

499

to build it, then you're gonna get

a freebie from me and says Hey.

500

Maybe I should give you

a welcome email template.

501

Is that something that

you're interested in?

502

And people, they say, yes, I'm

interested in that, and then I've

503

already given a piece of my value.

504

Now obviously, I'm here

to also make money.

505

That's not a lie, right?

506

I given you value.

507

The next thing that I'm gonna say is hey

I'm happy to give this to you, but did you

508

also maybe consider this course might be

something that you might be interested in?

509

And it's yeah, if you're interested in.

510

Go ahead.

511

I don't really, personally, I

don't go for a pushy approach.

512

I'm just like, you're an adult.

513

Make your own decision.

514

If you wanna make a decision, go for it.

515

If not, no hard feelings, right?

516

There's an opt out section.

517

If you don't wanna get these emails.

518

But even in my emails, like even if

I'm on the way of promoting a specific

519

E like product or whatever, I'll give

you value within those set of emails.

520

And it's I'll say like strategy of

Hey, this is a strategy that I use.

521

This course is just giving you the rest of

the pie on how to actually implement it.

522

So I think, the engagement piece is

just, you're missing value and if you

523

provide value, whether it's freebies,

resources, trainings, even if it's just

524

a weekly newsletter that's gonna, that's

gonna really create a relationship.

525

And I think it's just creating

a relationship is gonna help you

526

drive engagement for your audience.

527

Brett Deister: Got you.

528

Yeah, it's like one of those things

where when you said like getting the.

529

Get, like doing the double thing of are

you sure you wanna be a part of this?

530

It's getting the right customers,

not the wrong ones, because you can

531

get a bunch of customers and they all

might be completely wrong and they

532

won't ever really open your email.

533

They won't really engage with you at all.

534

And how do creators like I guess

the best word is to create that.

535

That email, they don't sign up

for you, but how do they create

536

that welcome email where they

do get that double confirmation?

537

They wanna learn it, learn the

hard way, so how do you how do they

538

like build that step or those steps

to create a good welcome email?

539

Christina Lopez: So I actually have

a welcome email template that I'm

540

happy to give to your audience.

541

It's actually, I usually sell it for $9,

so I will give it to your audience for

542

free as just a thank you for anyone who

wants to listen in and I'll send you.

543

The coupon code for that

and things like that.

544

So definitely check out the show notes.

545

But when it comes to creating

the welcome email and really

546

welcoming your subscribers, I think

it's being upfront and honest.

547

I don't really like the marketers

who try to sneak things.

548

If, and if you know what I'm talking

about, you know what I'm talking about.

549

For all those who have

had that experience.

550

But if you dunno what I'm talking about,

maybe they like, they'd start sending you

551

random emails so quickly, like it's just.

552

Tactics that like, let's be honest,

like we're on a first name basis.

553

Like you wanna get to know me, right?

554

I wanna get to know you but you also need

to have this other layer of filtering out

555

the people that don't serve you, right?

556

So obviously the double opt-in,

that's just an automation

557

within your email provider.

558

I use mailer light.

559

They have that button where

I just click to let that go.

560

Then when we think about the email

template, I like to think about.

561

Really having it within two to

three sections where the first

562

section I'm gonna say, Hey, welcome.

563

Thank you so much.

564

Like genuinely thank you for

deciding to take the next step and

565

come into the world of Tina, right?

566

And so that's the first thing.

567

The second thing that I'm gonna

talk about is what can you

568

expect from joining my list?

569

So I'm upfront where I tell

them, you can expect, freebies.

570

You can expect resources, you can expect

a weekly ish newsletter because I'm human.

571

And then you can also expect promotions

to specific products of mine, right?

572

And I don't hold that information back.

573

People like to think, oh, like

I'm just setting up our list.

574

I'm not gonna get promoted

to let's be honest, creators

575

need to make money, right?

576

So I just tell people that is a clear

expectation and there's gonna be options

577

for you to opt out of those sequences.

578

No hard feelings.

579

If you wanna stay on my list, that's fine.

580

And you'd be surprised actually, there are

people that I've, who I was doing research

581

and seeing okay, who bought this product?

582

There are people who've been on my

list for two years and they didn't

583

buy a product till two years later.

584

And so I, and I did a ton of promotions.

585

I did a ton of emails and some

people are just not ready.

586

And I have to honor that.

587

I have to like totally respect that.

588

And so the last piece is I actually.

589

Like to give that a piece of value

in terms of Hey, maybe your signup

590

process for your newsletter can be

like, Hey, here's a bonus of you can

591

get my idea, my content idea generator.

592

So I would just have the end

off, be like, Hey, this is also a

593

thank you for UV part of my list.

594

Here's this download that I created that I

think is gonna be really helpful for you.

595

So what this does is it allows people

to understand the expectations, but

596

it allows people to also be filtered

out if they don't wanna be part of it.

597

And I 100% tell people all the

time, if you don't wanna be

598

on my list, you don't have to.

599

It's fine.

600

And the reason why I say that is

because as you grow and as you scale.

601

Costs go up.

602

And when I think about my email list,

I was on the free mailer light plan.

603

It's a great plan for a couple

years until I started using all the

604

strategies with growing my email list.

605

And I was like, oh shit.

606

Like now I have to start

paying for it, right?

607

And then you go to another level and

you're like, damn, it's more money.

608

And so you just think to yourself

like, okay, yeah, I want people

609

to unsubscribe because I don't

wanna pay for a debt subscriber.

610

And that shit's the truth.

611

Brett Deister: Gotcha.

612

And what are your feelings

about the subscription model?

613

Because there is that other aspect

of you can use Patreon if you

614

wanted to, but what is that aspect

of the subscription model that I.

615

Could it be tied to your email list?

616

Could it be part of the

passive income funnel as well?

617

Christina Lopez: Yeah I'm gonna be

completely honest, I don't have a

618

subscription model when it comes to my

newsletters, because for me personally, I.

619

The way that I like to tell

people is I don't like to have

620

to be obligated to do anything.

621

My automations fulfill my oblig, my,

my automations fulfill my obligations.

622

But I do think that if you are

someone who likes to write and you

623

have that consistency and you have

that schedule to do something, then

624

yeah, a paid newsletter makes sense.

625

If you wanna gate, keep

some of your content.

626

My only forms of gatekeeping content

is through my courses, right?

627

And so I.

628

I'm pretty like generous when

it comes to strategy, right?

629

Like I tell, I'm telling your audience,

like everything that I'm doing, I have

630

no problem telling you the strategy.

631

But if you're someone who is okay,

how do I actually really do that?

632

And you need like the templates,

you need, the the landing pages,

633

all those things, the copy, then

that's where I'm gonna be like.

634

This is gonna be like a paid relationship.

635

You can purchase the course.

636

But for me it just, it really comes down

to if it works for your energy style.

637

And, I personally, the reason why I

love automation so much is because

638

I think consistency is bullshit.

639

It's not realistic and it's not

something that is sustainable.

640

I'm definitely someone who likes to take

a couple weeks off at a time and to tell

641

me that I have to, be obligated to write.

642

A weekly newsletter that's

paid for my audience, that just

643

doesn't work for me and my energy.

644

So I don't do it because I can't, I don't.

645

I know personally that I won't have the

consistency to fulfill that obligation.

646

And also, I can't really automate

a personalized newsletter, right?

647

I can create an automated newsletter

with an RSS feed, but when it comes to

648

personalization at scale, I can't do that.

649

So I don't offer it.

650

So I would say it comes down

to your energy levels for that.

651

Brett Deister: Got you.

652

And then where do you see all the

content creation content creators

653

going in the next five or 10 years?

654

Do you see more automation happening?

655

Do you see more AI being used?

656

Do you see AI avatars being used

way more than just real humans?

657

Because it might be

easier to use AI by then.

658

Like where do you see this all going?

659

Christina Lopez: So the trends, and I

actually need to eventually either film

660

a video or write something about this.

661

But when I think about the trends

going forward, newsletters are

662

gonna be the new social media.

663

Social media's not going away, but it's

definitely becoming very difficult for

664

you to compete with the algorithm, right?

665

But also when we think about burnout.

666

There's always gonna be a new platform.

667

There's always gonna be

a new version of TikTok.

668

I remember Clubhouse was something that

was popular back in the day, right?

669

And so there's always gonna be like a new

platform on the radar, but realistically

670

it's just too much to handle.

671

So I think people are gonna transition off

of the platforms as you see with YouTube.

672

And they're gonna go more into their

list because A, you can automate it,

673

but you can also, gain your own list.

674

If a, if the platform dies

with whatever your traffic gen

675

processes, then your audience goes

with it, with your newsletter.

676

It doesn't die.

677

You just don't pay your email subscription

and you don't back up your audience.

678

And then that's when it dies, right?

679

So that's one thing.

680

The other thing that I think

people are investing a lot of their

681

time on, and I just like to think

about my habits personally, is I.

682

People are shifting more towards

community rather than social media.

683

So personally, I know I'm a

creator and it seems ironic, but

684

I don't go on social media at all.

685

I let all my automations

take care of it, but.

686

The, when I think about what's

actually allowed on my phone, 'cause

687

I don't really allow social media

on my phone for my mental sanity.

688

It's community based platforms.

689

So I actually really love school.

690

School is something that I'm seeing

pop up a lot in terms of it's a paid

691

it's a paid platform where creators

can create their own communities.

692

So I'm seeing that.

693

Being an area where

people are hanging out.

694

But I also see the resurgence

of Reddit coming up.

695

And people might disagree with

me, but I actually would say if

696

you're gonna focus on a platform,

I think Reddit might be just it.

697

And here's why.

698

Reddit is one of the platforms

where obviously it has the maturity,

699

where it has, acquisition of users.

700

Millions of people go on Reddit every

single day, so you have the traffic.

701

The other layer of Reddit is that

it allows you to actually have

702

searchability, especially with all the

updates that are happening with Google.

703

When you look up search terms,

what's actually popping up in the

704

search traffic is not blog articles.

705

It's Reddit threads.

706

And the reason why that

is, is because experience.

707

Is more valuable to a user than maybe,

cans information from a blog article.

708

The other area of that is it's evergreen

able, so when I say Evergreen able,

709

it's accessible, 24 7, 365 days a year.

710

It's not just the fact that it's

searchability, but that adds to

711

the evergreen piece, but also.

712

The piece of, having your own social media

kind of platform within the platform.

713

You have your own audience

within the platform, if you will.

714

And it's interesting because I've actually

been, experimenting with it for a while

715

and it's the one platform where people

actually go out of their way to reach out

716

to me and they DM me and they're like,

Hey, like you said, you have a product.

717

Can I check it out?

718

And so it's actually been an interesting

acquisition channel and I was talking

719

to one of my friends about Reddit.

720

And so she's a creator and so she makes

money through affiliate marketing.

721

And so what she's been doing is she's

been using Reddit as a traffic channel

722

to her blog articles, which will then

monetize through affiliate commissions.

723

And people would argue and say

Pinterest is the place to do it.

724

Pinterest is.

725

Great.

726

It is helpful.

727

But she told me, she's Tina, like

I just started this account and

728

I've already made commissions

just by, hanging out on Reddit.

729

When you think about traffic and like

conversion of traffic, I think Reddit

730

does a better job at conversions

because Reddit is the one platform.

731

Where it has a higher

priority on value, right?

732

Because you could up vote, you

could also down vote, right?

733

If people, see through the bullshit of

like you just trying to sell something,

734

then they're gonna down vote that.

735

I've definitely seen

that with other people.

736

But if you are coming from the

place of actually providing

737

value, then people upvote that.

738

And that's a great traffic,

area for you to grow.

739

But also it's just, when you think

about the way Reddit is created,

740

the anonymity is phenomenal.

741

Because one of the things that I really

like about Reddit personally is that

742

I don't have to worry as a creator

about tarnishing my personal brand.

743

If that makes sense.

744

Where it's like I can, drive traffic to

my blog articles and things like that,

745

but I love that it's anonymous, right?

746

I can be.

747

A little bit more honest in terms of

like, when I see something that doesn't

748

look right, I could say, yeah, like

that just doesn't work, rather than

749

if, if it was a public facing platform,

I wanna think about how is this gonna

750

look like across things like that.

751

So I think it's just, it is

really prioritizing experiences.

752

It's also prioritizing, value

driven comments, posts, things

753

like that because people's.

754

Bullshit meter.

755

It's just the, it's pretty darn I read it.

756

It's a greatly great

place to sift through it.

757

Brett Deister: And so people listening

to this are like, man, I really wanna

758

set up for email newsletter, learn more.

759

Where can people find you online?

760

Christina Lopez: Like I said, I'm gonna

give you guys my welcome email template.

761

We talked a lot about email lists, so that

is the plug and play template that I use.

762

If you want to welcome

any of your subscribers.

763

You're gonna use the coupon code podcast

24 at checkout, and then you can get

764

this $9 template completely for free.

765

I'll also send you the link so that

the coupon's already attached to it

766

so you guys can grab it, and then

you can automatically, sign up for

767

my list by that channel from there.

768

Brett Deister: All right, any

final thoughts for the listeners?

769

Christina Lopez: I would say,

biggest thing, think about

770

return on time as your creator.

771

Also think about what type of

business do you want to create?

772

There's a lot of people who will tell

you this is the right way to do things.

773

That's the right way

to do things, honestly.

774

Take pieces of the puzzle, right?

775

Take pieces of what works from other

creators and see how it applies to you.

776

My business model might not be your

business model, and that's okay, but it's

777

also not supposed to be right, because

we are different humans and that is 100%.

778

Okay?

779

I would say if you're going to

really think about the scalability

780

and the growth of your business,

really ask yourself, what is it that

781

you wanna be doing with your time?

782

If the answer is, if I had a million

followers, a million subscribers

783

tomorrow, do I really want to be

spending my time scheduling content?

784

Probably not.

785

If I think to myself, I just want to send

emails and make money and do that, then.

786

Do you go do that?

787

So you don't owe, you do not owe anyone

anything in this business, but you do owe

788

yourself a life outside of your business.

789

So go live it.

790

Brett Deister: All right.

791

Thank you, Christina for joining Digital

Coffee Marketing Brief, sharing your

792

knowledge on content ion and email list.

793

Christina Lopez: Say that one more time.

794

And.

795

Brett Deister: I said thank you,

Christina, for joining Digital

796

Coffee Marketing Brew, and sharing

your knowledge on email lists and

797

content creation and content creators.

798

Christina Lopez: Thank you so much.

799

I was happy to be here.

800

Brett Deister: And thank you as always,

please subscribe to Digital Coffee Market

801

Brew on all your favorite podcasting apps.

802

We have five star reviewer does

really help with this podcast.

803

And join us next week as we talk

to another great thought leader

804

in the PR marketing industry.

805

Alright guys, stay safe, get to

understanding how to make your email

806

list better and see you next week later.