Overcoming the Resistance, Fear & Anxiety of Email Marketing

Why you’re not email marketing—when it’s not only the tech holding you back

I’ve been doing research to find out why people haven’t begun email marketing for their business, and what’s stopping them from starting.

Occasionally it’s simply a matter of not even knowing how powerful email marketing is for small businesses. Why would you start an activity if you didn’t know the benefits?

But sometimes small business owners know the benefits, and don’t start email marketing for other reasons; some reasons are known to them, and some are more elusive…

I know I should be doing email marketing, I heard it’s really helpful for online business. But I don’t know, something is blocking me from starting…

Could that ever elusive block be...unexamined fear?

It makes sense that you might be scared or have resistance to sending emails to a bunch of strangers! It’s a fairly vulnerable activity, like posting your image on social media, pressing publish on a blog post you wrote, or going live on Facebook—you’re putting yourself out there and opening yourself up to scrutiny and judgment.

Below are some of the top reasons why entrepreneurs don’t start email marketing, plus some helpful thoughts and activities to counter your resistance and fear.

I’ve put these “reasons” into two buckets: what I like to call plain ol’ excuses, and then there’s the deep-seated fears.

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Top excuses for not email marketing 

I’m not tech-oriented—it seems so overwhelming, and there are so many rules!

First, remember the benefits of email marketing. When you let the benefits soak in, you may start to wonder if maybe you aren’t so bad at tech after all…

The tech isn’t so complicated that you wouldn’t spend a bit of time learning the basics so you can start. And if you are really stumped, you could hire someone to set it up for you.

To let tech stop you from potentially seeing a 4400% return on investment from email marketing doesn’t make sense! Maybe it’s time to look into this one, since you are leaving money on the table.

If you feel overwhelmed, start slow. Read an article a week to start dipping your toe in.

You can start with these:

Email Marketing Best Practices in Plain English

Top 7 Email Marketing Metrics in Plain English

I don’t have the time.

This excuse is as old as time.

If you have a business, you will need to market your service to attract and keep potential customers in the pipeline.

Email marketing is one of the best ways to help potential customers learn about your business, start to know, like and trust you, and it doesn’t take too much time once you’re set up and get the hang of it!

Even writing and sending one email per week (about an hour or two, max, of your time) can make an enormous difference in your business—it’s the difference between being top of mind, or not.

I don’t know what to write. I’m not a good writer.

As far as truly learning what to write, there are copywriting courses like Marie Forleo’s The Copy Cure, and resources such as Laura Belgray of Talking Shrimp that are well-known, reputable and will help you become a better copywriter.

There are also a bajillion templates, prompts and “swipe files” out there to help you write emails quicker and more easily, like this one.

Practice will help you become a better copywriter. Do a “shitty first draft” and rewrite until it’s more polished. You have to start somewhere!  Ultimately, just write what’s in your head and eventually it will become an email you can send.

In the end: what do you know or offer that will provide value to your ideal customer? Come from a place of service and generosity, and people will like it on the other end!

I have a small list, so what’s the point?

The people on your list have no idea that they are one of four people on a list. They could be on a list of 20,000—it’s still an opportunity to provide value, offers, and let them know of sales or new services.

If you keep in touch with them, you’ll stay top of mind. They might mention you to someone else, who then visits your website and signs up for your list…

If you don’t get into the habit of learning how to send emails, then when you have a bunch of signups from a free webinar, or you get some unexpected press, you won’t know how to wield your email marketing power! Start emailing now to gain confidence and learn what works and what doesn’t.

You also want to have email marketing ingrained as a habit in your business. It should be a regular, scheduled activity—something you plan. You’ll need content, offers or thoughts to send out in advance.

The worst thing you can do each week is sit down to write with no idea of what you’re going to send one hour before you have it on your calendar to “send weekly email.”

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Start thinking of this as a major part of your marketing plan—which means your tiny list is a mighty list that deserves to hear from you!

Top fears of email marketing 

First of all, email marketing anxiety is a real thing, and a lot of it centers around the unknown of the response. Meaning, you don’t know how you’ll be received by others, and it’s uncomfortable to not know.

Email marketing service provider Campaign Monitor realizes this and put together a checklist and tips to help you combat this fear.

Keep reading to learn about what’s keeping entrepreneurs from sending emails to their lists, plus helpful ways to approach and reframe these fears.

I’m scared to sit down to write.

This is a common one. Just the act of sitting down to write scares a lot of people.

The very process of writing can be uncomfortable—there is resistance built into moving forward. Resistance is part of growth, expansion and self-expression, and it’s our ego’s job to keep us “safe” from judgment, ridicule and harm. So get to know this feeling and realize that it’s not a problem, but a natural part of creating.

Writing is so hard. Scene about the creative process from “Hamlet 2” with Steve Coogan.

You must keep showing up and learning how to be with that uncomfortable feeling—I recommend checking out Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art, which really helped me understand this, and has helped me with writing all kinds of things.

Also, I recommend The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron (there is the famed book, and now an online course), which can help you face whatever it is that stops you from feeling free to create.

These books are the reason I’m writing and publishing blog posts and emails in the first place. They freed me and made me show up every day to write!

But you have to do the work of showing up and being with the resistance and discomfort…nothing is going to change how difficult it is until you learn to just be with it.

I’m scared to send emails with my words on them. It’s so final!

Yes, it’s also scary to press send. There’s no back-sies. Once it’s out there, it’s out there.

Here’s the thing…and I don’t mean this to be flip, but rather liberating:

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Yep, I said it. No one cares. No one is on your list just waiting to judge and ridicule you. They are likely there because you have something valuable to offer them. Whatever you’re writing is probably not that offensive! No one is picking apart your words—they are busy living their lives.

So, I hope you keep this reminder with you as you write and send your email: it’s very important to send emails because it will help you grow your business and increase revenue, and your email is very unlikely to generate a reaction that will have any major bearing on your life.

Other than helping other people and making more money. 😉

What if people unsubscribe?

Then good for you - you are curating a list of people who actually want to hear from you.

Unsubscribes aren’t necessarily bad, they are people self-selecting and realizing that what you are offering isn’t for them—it’s better that they leave so you don’t have an unengaged list of people who don’t open or click.

What you want to look out for are a lot of people unsubscribing; it could be a sign that your offer, message or something about your email is not resonating. Learn from it what you can, and keep going!

It can be uncomfortable seeing an unsubscribe, especially from someone who used to open and engage with your emails. It’s important to work on not taking it personally.

It’s part of business and life that relationships change, and rather than avoiding email marketing, it’s better to simply get used to it!

I don’t want to annoy people.

Who says you’re annoying people? It’s possible that you’re providing a moment of pause or inspiration, a helpful tip, a cheery voice, an offer that’s needed—ideally you’re being of value when you send emails.

Email marketing gets a bad rap sometimes because it’s often misused. But when you send emails according to best practices, and try to be mindful of matching your offers to your audience, then in general, you’re not being annoying.

And if someone finds you annoying, which you can’t really help, they will unsubscribe, and it’s not the end of the world.

What if I say the wrong thing and alienates my audience?

First of all, it’s unlikely that you are going to say something so bad that you upset a bunch of people. But yes, it’s possible—but it shouldn’t stop you from email marketing altogether.

You don’t want to miss the benefits of email marketing because you’re afraid to say the wrong thing. That’s like saying I might as well not talk in case something bad comes out of my mouth.

Put yourself in your audience’s shoes—think about who you’re attracting and what kinds of content they’d be interested in. Make sure your email is on-brand and takes your audience into account.

If you want to get more educated on how to communicate in a business setting, you can take business copywriting courses to learn about phrases or topics to avoid, or how to tread carefully on certain subjects.

I don’t want to come off sales-y or gimmicky. 

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Then don’t be sales-y or gimmicky! Just be yourself, share what you know, share what you have to offer, and those who find value in that will stick around.

It’s not gross to put yourself out there and offer something for sale. If you feel it’s wrong or unspiritual to market yourself, you may have some limiting beliefs there that are stopping you from activities that are necessary for having a healthy business.

It’s okay to have a business and promote it. If people don’t want to hear from you, they will let you know by unsubscribing.

What if I send too many emails and put people off?

Again, the worst that happens is they unsubscribe.

Be reasonable—probably don’t send emails every single day. Aim for a weekly email, and more if you’re launching an online course—but once a week is a normal, expected cadence for many online businesses.

Subscribers can be forgiving! They may feel that they aren’t interested in that one email from you, or you’re sending a bit too frequently for their taste, but may still stay on your list because they want to stay connected in case something they want or need comes through.

Also, let yourself make mistakes!

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What if I mess up the tech or send a broken link?

So be it. This is bound to happen. Just do your best an allow for the occasional mistake—you’re a human being.

If you make these mistakes often because tech and proofreading aren’t your strong suit, outsource your email marketing management to a reliable email marketing assistant or agency.

What if I send an email with a typo?

If this happens once in a while, no problem. We all make mistakes.

If you’re notoriously bad with spelling, proofreading or grammar, I recommend getting a proofreader to look over it before sending. There are services such as Proofread Now that can turn around documents in a matter of hours.

Don’t let this fear or concern hold you back from having greater success in your business.

What if I look or sound stupid?

I think the biggest thing to remember is that your business and your creations are not about you. They are about service. They are about serving your customer. If you’re thinking too much about how this reflects you, what this says about you, your focus is in the wrong place.

To succeed in business, you’re filling a need. You’re giving your ideal customers what they need and want. You’re providing value. It’s about them, not you.

I recommend reframing your thoughts and fears to focus on how showing up will help others and solve their problems.

I promise, when you have something valuable and your ideal customer opens that email and needs your help, they are likely to take action.

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Affirmations to combat fear and anxiety when sending emails

It’s just another person on the other side.

We forget, it’s not a “list,” but rather a collection of emails addresses with actual people on the other end. You are simply sending an email to another person.

Not everyone is going to like me, or what I have to say or offer, and that’s okay.

Accepting this will help you put yourself out there in an authentic way, which may alienate some, but it will attract and retain the right customers for your business.

It’s okay to make mistakes in business.

It’s better than not going for it—what’s the worst that can happen? A typo? A wrong link? A few unsubscribes? Is it worth not using a marketing channel that is proven to grow your business?

I am sending this email to make an offering to help another human.

It’s not about me, it’s about serving others. I have a service or product that will help others, and my email benefits them.

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Conclusion

Maybe you’re not email marketing because you have hidden fears and resistance. I recommend examining them, getting real with yourself, and doing the work to take a step forward, because email marketing will really help your online business.

If you need a guide in the process, sign up to be notified about the launch of my upcoming course to help you get started with email marketing. And if you need someone to hold your hand and walk you through the setup, you can hire me to set up and write your core emails for you.

Wishing you all the best as you get started! You can do this.