Why my Instagram is 450% smaller than my email list

To quote the connector my co-founder was thinking of hiring: “I have THE rolodex.” With his custom-made suit, Rolex, and Italian loafers, he looked like he did too. Plus, his career checked all the boxes: Ivy League background, the best Venture Capital firms, and the right LinkedIn connections. So what do you think we did? Of course we hired him — on the spot! AND thanked our lucky stars we’d found him. Then we sat back and waited for the pitch meetings we knew were about to rain down on us. But three months later, that fancy fund-raiser hadn’t delivered on even a single call, investor connection, or pitch opportunity. Yet another of the many, many mistakes we made during my tech startup days. In this case: Falling for flash over substance. Too bad there’s an equivalent in every industry. In online business, it’s your social media following versus your email list. Like the Instagram star with 2 million followers [who couldn’t sell even 36 T-shirts]( (which apparently is NOT that uncommon)... That’s why early on, I focused on building my email list and learning how to write great emails instead of obsessing over my social media audience size. And it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Because that one choice is the reason why... >> I don’t have to hustle on social media all day, every day. >> Trying to keep up with the latest platform and rebuild my audience every time a new one takes off isn’t something I even have to worry about >> I can talk about whatever I want, the way I want, instead of having to kow-tow to the latest algorithm update. And last but definitely not least… >> My business is much more profitable than most social media influencers’ — including those with audiences a LOT larger than mine. After all, google email marketing stats and you’ll find dozens of reports on how email marketing’s profitability continues to crush every other channel’s. But because you can’t see someone’s email list size or sales, I still get asked almost every week, “Is email dead?” Definitely not. But what does seem to be dying is the art of writing a great email...that also helps you make a lot of sales. That’s why over the next few days, I’ll be sharing the top reasons most entrepreneurs are not making the sales they could be from their emails. And later this week, I’ll be opening enrollment to one of my most asked-about courses, Sold Out Sales Emails . Luisa Zhou PS - Another thing that isn’t “dead”? Good interviewing skills. I haven’t been doing as many podcast interviews lately because I feel like a lot of podcasters these days ask the same questions and are more focused on churning out episodes than on crafting genuinely interesting and unique content. But my good friend Marc Aarons has helped revive my love for a good podcast interview — My conversation with him covered a lot of topics in a way I haven’t been asked about before. Unflattering picture (you’ll see what I mean on the page) aside, this is possibly one of my favorite interviews…ever. And you can listen to it right here: [$1M Course Launches: The Traps and Freedoms of 7-Figure Business w/ Luisa Zhou]( If you no longer wish to receive these emails, click here to [unsubscribe]( Zhou Ventures, Inc. 54 State Street, Ste 804 #5511 Albany, NY 12207