Every creator hopes for thousands of YouTube subscribers, Instagram followers, and Twitter likes. But if you’re approaching your email list with a similar “more is better” mentality, you may be missing the mark. In this episode, Alyssa and Melissa discuss why not all email subscribers are created equal and why smaller, high-value lists are healthier than a massive list filled with cold and unengaged subscribers. Let’s outline what makes a great subscriber, the common mistakes that attract “bad” subscribers, and why bigger isn’t always better. “Email addresses that are undeliverable are worthless and costing you money, and bad addresses that are just spam traps are even worse. Don’t waste your time on email addresses that are not doing anything for you. I think it’s a really hard concept for people to wrap their minds around sometimes because we really do want a larger list, we want to focus on the numbers, but when it comes to email, we don’t see more equaling better.” ~ @mel_lambert_Main Takeaways
[08:55] Disposable domains, role-based accounts, and spam traps are emails to weed from your list. These can often, if not always, be classified as “bad subscribers.”
[20:00] Clean your email list! The longer you go without cleaning out cold subscribers, the harder it will be to clean out your list down the line and the longer your deliverability will suffer. 
[29:30] Someone can subscribe to your emails as a highly engaged, high-value subscriber, but if you don’t deliver value, they can quickly become a cold subscriber. 
[31:52] Rather than focusing on the number of subscribers you have, treat your subscribers like real people and focus on providing consistent value.
Links
James Clear
Deliverability Defined 0105: Avoiding Spam Traps The Right Way
SparkLoop
Nathan Barry’s Newsletter
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