Where to Start (Even If You Have No List Yet)
If the words “email marketing” make you want to close the laptop and make a cup of tea instead, I completely understand.
It’s one of those things that sounds technical and a bit intimidating, especially if you haven’t started yet. But here’s what I tell everyone inside Shine: email marketing is genuinely one of the simplest, most powerful things you can do for your business — and it’s a lot less complicated than it looks from the outside.
Why Email Still Matters (Even With Social Media)
I know social media gets all the attention, but let me tell you why I still bang on about email.
Your Instagram following isn’t yours. If the algorithm changes tomorrow, or the platform has a bad day, your reach can disappear overnight. Your email list is different. Those are people who’ve said “yes, I want to hear from you” — and nobody can take that away from you.
An email list is one of the few business assets you actually own. It’s there for you at 2am when you’ve got a launch to announce, a new offer to share, or you just want to check in with the people who matter most to your business.
And the numbers back this up — email marketing is consistently rated the channel with the best return on investment, with businesses seeing an average return of around £36 for every £1 spent. No other channel comes close – Data & Marketing Association (DMA)
How to get started
Most business owners avoid email because they don’t understand the value. They avoid it because they don’t know where to start, and the whole thing feels like one more overwhelming task on an already long list.
So let’s simplify it.
Start With One Reason for People to Join
You don’t need a fancy funnel to get your first subscribers. You just need one good reason for someone to hand over their email address.
This is where a lead magnet comes in — a simple, useful freebie that solves a small problem for your ideal customer. It doesn’t need to be a 40-page guide. A checklist, a template, or a short “here’s exactly how to do this” resource works just as well, often better.
Write Like You Talk
This is the bit that trips people up the most. They sit down to write an email and suddenly they sound like a corporate press release.
Don’t do that.
Write your emails the way you’d explain something to a friend over a cuppa. Tell a story, share what’s been happening in your business, be honest about what’s working and what isn’t. People buy from people, and your list wants to hear from you, not from “Your Business’ Marketing Department.”
Send Before You Feel Ready
You don’t need a perfect twelve-email welcome sequence before you send your first message. You need one honest, useful email that goes out this week.
Consistency beats perfection every time. A short, simple email sent regularly will always outperform a beautifully designed one that never gets finished.
Keep It Simple
You don’t need every automation, every tag, every fancy segment from day one.
Start with:
- A simple way for people to join your list (a form on your website or a lead magnet)
- One welcome email that says hello and tells them what to expect
- A regular rhythm — weekly or fortnightly — so you stay front of mind
That’s genuinely enough to get started. You can build the rest as you go.
Your Next Step
If email marketing has been sitting on your to-do list for months (or years — no judgement here), pick one small step and do it this week.
Set up your sign-up form. Write your welcome email. Or just draft one honest email to the list you already have, even if it’s small.
Small, consistent actions build momentum. That’s true for email, and it’s true for the rest of your marketing too.
And if you want a proper step-by-step through all of this — from building your list to writing emails with confidence — this is exactly what we cover inside the Shine Marketing Membership. When doors open, members get access to our Email Marketing Essentials course as part of their membership, walking you through the whole process from your first sign-up form to emails that actually turn subscribers into customers.
You don’t have to figure this one out alone, we are here to help.