Episode 179: 3 Ways to Grow Your Email List Using PR w/Liz Wilcox
Looking to grow your email list without spending on ads? PR expert Liz Wilcox reveals three powerful strategies to attract subscribers using media coverage and publicity. Learn how to turn press features into email sign-ups, boost brand credibility, and nurture long-term customer relationships. Don’t miss this episode—discover how strategic PR can fuel your email marketing success!
How to Build Multi-Six-Figure Business Without Paid Ads Using Organic PR:
Strategies to get noticed through podcasts, summits, and online networking
Convert PR exposure into email list growth with a strong call to action
Create a PR pitch that captivates and converts
Optimize your website to capture leads from PR-driven traffic
Leverage social media to amplify PR efforts and grow your email list
By securing media coverage, crafting a compelling call to action, and optimizing your website for lead generation, you can turn press features into a steady flow of email subscribers. Leveraging social media further amplifies your reach, boosts brand credibility, and keeps your audience engaged for long-term growth.
Product Businesses! Download my free HOW TO GET INTO A GIFT GUIDE/PRODUCT ROUND UP roadmap for free HERE to get more sales and traffic to your site this season.
If you want to land your first feature for free without any connections, I want to invite you to watch my PR Secrets Masterclass, where I reveal the exact methods thousands of bootstrapping small businesses use to hack their own PR and go from unknown to being a credible and sought-after industry expert. Register now at www.gloriachoupr.com/masterclass.
Resources Mentioned:
Join the PR Secrets Masterclass
Join the Small Biz PR Pros Facebook Group
DM the word “PITCH” to us on Instagram to get a pitching freebie https://www.instagram.com/gloriachoupr
Connect with Gloria Chou on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/gloriaychou
Join Gloria Chou's PR Community https://www.facebook.com/groups/428633254951941
Learn more about Liz Wilcox:
Website: https://lizwilcox.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelizwilcox/
Additional Resources:
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Transcript
00:00:00 Gloria: Hey, small business heroes. Gloria here. Welcome back to Small Business PR, where we make marketing and PR super accessible for the everyday small business hero. So today, I have my friend who I actually had the pleasure of meeting in real life, Liz Wilcox. She is the Fresh Princess of email marketing. She has an epic, and I mean epic, email marketing membership, you can look her up, where she provides tons of values to businesses in hundreds of industries, providing them with email templates, so that they can message their customers. Welcome to the show!
00:00:28 Liz: Oh my gosh! I finally made it! I feel like a real celebrity. I love this show so much, and I'm really excited to chat today.
00:00:37 Gloria: Thank you so much for being here. Now, we were talking about all the things that we could talk about, right? Obviously, you are an email marketing expert. But one thing you told me, which was interesting, was, "You know, Gloria, I've never run ads to my multi six-figure business. I had a lot of success attracting an audience just by doing organic PR," and this is the PR show. So, I want to just talk really quickly about a little bit about your background and how you've been able to leverage organic PR, speaking podcast visibility, to grow your business without any ads. This is insane!
00:01:07 Liz: Listen, I'm just really cheap. And by cheap, I mean, I grew up super poor, right? And so, when I started my business... Actually, this www.LizWilcox.com thing is my third business. When I started my business, I didn't have any money. And so, running ads wasn't even anything that could be a possibility.
00:01:28 Liz: But I also knew I had to play to my strengths. Everybody and their mother will tell you, "Oh, what are you good at? Go with that." And I'm really good at getting in a room and getting noticed, right? Gloria, actually, we met at an event. I think Podfest back in February 2024. And you know, she was like, "Oh my gosh! I love your outfit!" And we got to talking. I know if I can get in a room, I can get noticed.
00:01:55 Liz: And so, I thought about what are the virtual rooms that I can get into at first? What are those podcasts, summits, Instagram lives? How can I start networking with people so that I can get these PR opportunities? And so, that is where the no-ads sort of strategy came from. It was really out of necessity, and then realizing, "Actually, I'm really good at getting PR, getting noticed. I'm just going to go with that."
00:02:28 Gloria: I mean, the fact that- and you're being humble. You have what? Like 4,000 people at any given time in your membership and without any ads, which is absolutely incredible.
00:02:38 Liz: Thank you. Yeah. I love my membership so much. And I think that also lends when you love your product so much, it becomes super simple and actually fun to talk about.
00:02:53 Gloria: Yeah. And that's why I was so happy to have you on here, because you're someone who not only can leverage organic PR and doing it the non-paid way, because who wants to be paying for ads, anyways? But to be able to show that this is all organic, and yes, you can have a really thriving business playing by your own rules, which is not spending hours and hours on Instagram or paying an influencer or paying for ads.
00:03:17 Gloria: So, let's break it down. What are some of the really interesting but proven ways that you have been able to leverage a PR opportunity, like speaking, doing Instagram live, just visibility? How have you leveraged visibility in a way that has actually grown your bottom line, grown your email list, like actual factual growth? I want to hear about that.
00:03:36 Liz: Yeah. So I know you're listening to Gloria and I, and I know you're down with OPP, other people's platforms, right? I already know that. But there's no point in getting these PR opportunities, speaking on a podcast, getting inside Business Insider, if you are not fully optimized to capture those listeners, those readers, right? And so, before I even started getting on podcasts or anything like that, I knew I wanted those eyeballs to go onto my email list. So, there were a few things that I did to maximize that PR and grow my email list at the same time.
00:04:17 Liz: So, the first one is you've got to nail your pitch at the end, even if the pitch is just the email list, right? I'm sure you listen to podcasts, you're listening to one right now, when the host, you know, "Hey, Liz, how can I... How can we learn more?" And we've all heard the guy that fumbles, "Oh, well, I've got an Instagram account." "Oh, don't check out my website. It's in a redo. Just holler at me on Instagram." We've all seen people fumble the ball.
00:04:45 Liz: This is something you have to practice, especially when you're doing speaking engagements. When you're on a virtual or in real life stage, you've got to nail that pitch at the end. When somebody asks you, "Hey, where can we find out more?" You've got something completely set up. This is something. Practice in front of the mirror. And also, making sure your topic is fully aligned with your call to action.
00:05:12 Liz: So, if you have a product, let's say you're speaking at a local community event about crocheting, and then your call to action is a guide for knitters. That makes no sense. You just talked about crocheting, right? So, making sure the topic you're talking about is fully aligned with that call to action. For example, normally, when I got on a podcast or on a stage, I talk about the welcome sequence. And guess what my call to action is? "Get my free welcome sequence," and I've practiced that. I purposely pitch people a topic that is aligned with the right next step, which is my call to action.
00:05:58 Gloria: Yeah. I love that. This is key, by the way. This is number one. Number one is if you have any PR or visibility opportunity, you want them to take the next step. And so, Liz has given you a great framework. What about the difference between, let's say, if I make skincare, I might not have a PDF, right? What about giving them either a coupon code, or let's say if I have more time, I can create a quiz. How do you feel about a call to action with a coupon code versus finding out about yourself, and something that's like information education?
00:06:27 Liz: Yeah. I love both of those ideas, and just making sure you are excited about it, right? That's something we haven't mentioned yet. If you've got that coupon code, no one should be more excited than you to give away that coupon or to talk about that quiz. So, making sure at the end... And I know, it's usually at the end of your speech or the end of a call, you might be tired, you're ready to just get offline, go get a Diet Coke or whatever, but making sure you keep that excitement and say, "Hey, I've got this 10% off. We just talked about all the reasons you should buy organic when it comes to your skincare. Well, guess what? I've got this 10 % off. Oh my gosh! I'm a small business owner. 10% off. That's the difference between me buying ribeye and me buying hamburger. But I want to give it to you today." No one should be more excited than you about that call to action, whether it's the quiz, it's a PDF, it's a coupon code. Whatever it is, it should be something that excites you to offer.
00:07:34 Gloria: I love it. One thing I actually do is when I'm on a podcast, because it's audio and you can't really tell people to scan a QR code, which sometimes I also do, like at the end of my presentations, that QR code will have all the links. But let's say if people are just listening to you as they're walking their dog, one thing I like to say is "DM me the word 'pitch' and I'll give you something in the DMs." How do you feel about that call to action?
00:07:56 Liz: I love that. Make it simple. So Gloria, just to give you an excellent example, especially when you're doing virtual PR, where they might be walking their dog, doing the dishes, something I do on top of the DM is you can have like a special pretty link, right? LizWilcox.com/Gloria. That's something. Because you listen to Gloria and I've said my name several times in this podcast already, you're going to remember.
00:08:25 Liz: My personal strategy is, and this actually leads into my second tip, is my homepage is optimized to make it really easy for you to sign up. So my pitch is, "Oh my gosh! Yeah! Go directly to www.LizWilcox.com and hit the hot pink button in the top right-hand corner." So, I've optimized my homepage to make that lead magnet, make that call to action, make that next step Gloria and I were talking about super, super simple, right?
00:08:58 Liz: So, you know www.LizWilcox.com. Gloria said my name at the beginning. I introduced myself and said my name. I've mentioned my name several times. By the end, you're going to remember my name and you don't even have to do any slash. You don't have to DM me. You can just go there, hot pink button. "Oh, she's wearing hot pink even in the video I watched of her. That's super simple to remember. I'm going to hit the hot pink button."
00:09:22 Liz: And then, going into that optimization of your homepage. If somebody forgets the second step of hot pink button, guess what? They can continue scrolling on my homepage and I ask them four more times for their email address. I give them little opportunities, I'm telling a little story, I'm making logical sense, and each button just goes to, "Hey, join the list. Join the list." I'm pretty sure at the bottom, because I'm very '90s themes, I say, "Oops! You did it again. You got to the end of the homepage and you didn't sign up for my list."
00:09:59 Liz: So, that second tip, again, for maximizing your PR while growing your email list at the same time, is to make sure when you get that PR opportunity, people start Googling you, they start finding your homepage, that homepage is optimized to capture those eyeballs, to get leads from it.
00:10:19 Gloria: Yeah. And in this day and age with privacy controls and your account can be banned on Instagram, you need that first-party data. So, I love how everything leads to an email, because that way, you can have that conversation with them ongoing. So, you're not depending on whether or not they're going to take that step. I love what you said. Is there any... Do you have any pretty link tools or anything that people can use to create that link?
00:10:41 Liz: Usually, I create it from my own website. So, it will be LizWilcox.com/Gloria/10%off/ because it's very important for me, for my customers or my potential leads, to remember the business name, which just happens to be my name, right? So I know, you might be listening, you might be an e-commerce brand, right? You might sell candles. And so, it's very important for the people to remember the Wix Wax brand, if that's the name of yours. WixWax.com/Gloria/product/coupon, right? So for me, that's what I prefer to do. And also, I'm already paying from my own website, so it's not an additional tool that you have to buy.
00:11:33 Gloria: So good. Make it easy, make it simple. Anything else we should know about that second point before we move on to the third?
00:11:38 Liz: Yeah. I just want to remind people. I've mentioned it before, but if you're an e-commerce brand or if you're selling a physical product, I know maybe you're selling on more than your own homepage. You're selling on Etsy or Amazon. But it's important, still, to have that homepage set up, especially when you get the PR that Gloria helps you with.
00:12:02 Liz: If you're on the local news, you make Good Morning America one day, you get that Oprah effect or something, you're not sending people to your Etsy shop, right? You're going to send them to your own website. So again, making sure that homepage is optimized to capture leads, because they might not buy a candle or your jewelry or your glasses or whatever right now, but we want to capture that lead.
00:12:29 Liz: That person is warm. They're not super hot yet, but they're warm. So, making sure your homepage is more than best sellers, new products, old standbys, or whatever. Making sure within that homepage that you have a way to capture the lead, whether it's gathering their email address in exchange for a coupon or a quiz or whatever you decide. I just want to emphasize, like yes, e-commerce, physical products, this advice is for you, too.
00:13:05 Gloria: Love that. Okay. So, do we prefer a pop-up or do we prefer it in the main page? Because people are like, "Well, I want to use that main button for Buy Now," instead of sign up.
00:13:16 Liz: Yeah. So, I would recommend, have your "Buy Now" buttons, love the Buy Now buttons, but make maybe one or two more buttons that are, "Get the coupon," or "Sign up for more updates." So, you can have a mixture of both. You really should have three to five calls to action on your homepage. So, if you want to use three of those for the Buy Now, maybe try one or two, and always be testing. Set it up, check it out six months later or a thousand eyeballs later, and see what is working for who.
00:13:56 Gloria: So good. Testing is the best. All right, let's take us to number three. What is the third thing we should know to increase our email list when we make an appearance or a PR, any visibility event?
00:14:08 Liz: Right. So, we are not Amazon, right? When people go to Amazon, they go to buy, like Gloria just mentioned about, "I want to use my homepage for the Buy Now button." Well, guess what? Most people are going to your homepage or going to your social media to just browse, to get a feel for you. "Who is this Liz character anyway?"
00:14:31 Liz: And so, making sure when you get the PR opportunity, because people might go to your homepage, but they also might go to your social media. I know... You know, when I listen to podcasts, I hear most people say, "Oh yeah, just catch me over on Instagram," right? So, making sure your Instagram, TikTok, whatever is pointing people to your email list, especially when you have that PR opportunity.
00:14:59 Liz: If you know, "Okay, I've got an interview coming up tomorrow at noon." Guess what you're doing tomorrow at 10 am? You're getting on your Instagram stories, you're making a reel or a TikTok, and you're pointing people to your email list. You're introducing yourself. "Oh, by the way, my name is Liz. I was just on the podcast with Gloria. We were talking PR. So excited if you're brand new to me. Oh, don't forget. Go to my website, hit the hot pink button,” or maybe, I just put a direct link to that lead magnet, right?
00:15:31 Liz: So, making sure on the day of your PR, and maybe even the day before, a couple of days after, making sure you're pointing people to your list, making sure your pretty links or your LinkedIn bio is set to join the list. "You can actually go to my Instagram. I just updated it today, day of recording, where it says something like, 'Join 13,000 other readers,' and it's just my newsletter as the link.
00:15:57 Liz: So, making sure you do that again, if you're some kind of e-commerce and you've got a coupon. "Get 10% off here." "Did you come from this website that you got the PR? Get your coupon here. Get your exclusive discount here." And so, making sure, again, when you get that opportunity that Gloria is always telling you, you're going to nail your social media because people will be Googling you. They will be searching you on the TikTok. Is that what the cool kids say? The TikTok? I'm old.
00:16:31 Liz: When they finally find you on social media, you're getting them on the email list, because you're pointing it out to them that that's where the exclusivity comes. That's where they're going to get updates. That's where the next best information is coming from.
00:16:47 Gloria: Yeah, and it's always about taking the next step. Let's say people are not on social, not on Instagram, even on my LinkedIn banner. By the way, anyone can see your public LinkedIn banner without being connected to you. Have a call to action, right? So, it doesn't always have to be just Instagram. So, I think that's brilliant. You've been able to leverage PR in all of the most amazing ways, and it has proven. You have a community, you have a thriving audience. Any other thing that you want to talk to our audience about in terms of growing their business without ads, without the pay to play, which you've done so well?
00:17:20 Liz: What I want to say is I just want to give you some encouragement. I know it sounds scary. It's so hard to be the face of your business, right? And all of this stuff that Gloria and her amazing guests come on and tell you and the rah-rah we see on social media and in newsletters of "Just do it!" I know that gives you, you know, it used to give me hives. I used to break out in hives when I would do any sort of public speaking, had any sort of visibility around myself or my business.
00:17:56 Liz: But no one is going to promote your business for you, right? You have to be the face of it. Even if you're this e-commerce brand and you're not actually, like your face isn't on the products, right? You have to be the face and you have to be the voice for your products. You have an amazing product service offer that the world needs and people are actively on the internet, on TV, searching for. And so, it's your job and it's your responsibility to get out in front of people, to do the scary thing, to put your products in their minds and later in their hands. And I'm so excited for you to go for it.
00:18:42 Gloria: Oh, it is so good. Because I think, at the end of the day, we tend to just delegate this others or pay someone because we're afraid, right? So, we either throw money at the problem or we relinquish our power. But you're so right in saying that no one cares about our story as much as we do. And even if you do, they're not going to be able to tell it the way that you do.
00:19:00 Gloria: So, regardless of whether you make a soap or if you have an online business where you need to show your face more, like me and Liz, your business needs you to be its number one spokesperson. So, I'm so glad that you are living proof that this works. You're living proof that showing up and being visible and being the person to take control of your story really, really can be the one thing that grows your business. Is there anything else that you want to leave our audience with? And how can they check out more about you? Because I just think you're so fun and so authentic, and just love your vibe overall.
00:19:32 Liz: Yeah. Thanks so much. Of course, you just learned the three ways to maximize that PR. Of course, then, people are going to get on your email list. So come back to this podcast, and definitely check out the episode with Eman Ismail. She's going to walk you through some really amazing emails that you can send to actually sell, which is the point of getting PR, right?
00:19:54 Liz: And if you're looking for more email tips from me, I'd love for you to join my email list, of course. You can go directly to www.LizWilcox.com. You can hit that hot pink button in the top right-hand corner. You can't miss it. And now you can see why practice makes perfect. And you're going to get a welcome sequence, three newsletter samples, and 52 subject lines for a year full of ideas, all for free. www.LizWilcox.com. Hot pink button.
00:20:19 Gloria: Woah! That is so much value. Thank you so much, Liz. We're going to have you come back to talk about really the area that you're so expert in, which is those emails. But for now, we've given our audience so much to think about. Let's give a round of applause for Liz. And if you know anyone who can benefit from this podcast, who is just starting their business, or maybe has a really amazing mission but a little bit afraid to put themselves out there, tell them to listen to this podcast. And as always, thank you so much for being here.
00:20:47 Gloria: Hey, small business hero. Did you know that you can get featured for free on outlets like Forbes, The New York Times, Marie Claire, PopSugar, and so many more, even if you're not yet launched or if you don't have any connections? That's right. That's why I invite you to watch my PR Secrets Masterclass, where I reveal the exact methods thousands of bootstrapping small businesses use to hack their own PR and go from unknown to being a credible and sought after industry expert.
00:21:15 Gloria: Now, if you want to land your first press feature, get on a podcast, secure a VIP speaking gig, or just reach out to that very intimidating editor, this class will show you exactly how to do it. Register now at gloriachoupr.com/masterclass, that's Gloria Chou C-H-O-U pr.com/masterclass, so you can get featured in 30 days without spending a penny on ads or agencies. Best of all, this is completely free. So, get in there, and let's get you featured!