There will never be enough hours in the day.

That’s just an unfortunate truth — your workload will always feel impossibly large compared to the numbers of hours you have to work on it.

But that just means that you need to work smarter.

When it comes to building your email list and creating a high-level email marketing strategy, taking a thoughtful and organized approach is key, and will actually help you operate much more efficiently further down the line.

This doesn’t have to be a daunting prospect. If you approach it the right way, it’s easier than it sounds (and can actually be fun!) I recommend breaking it down into three key steps:

1. Schedule strategizing sessions.

If you want to have an organized email marketing strategy and effectively grow your email list, you’re going to need to come up with a comprehensive strategy that answers the main questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why?

If you find the right answers to these questions, you’ll boost conversions, cut down on people hitting that ‘unsubscribe’ link, and build great relationships with your prospects. Why?

Because you’ll have a subscriber base made up of genuine prospects, and you’ll be giving them the content that they want at relevant times.

So book yourself a three-hour strategizing session at a time when your mental alertness and creativity is the highest – you’ll want to take advantage of that brain power!

2. Choose your tech.

Sending each marketing email manually would be an impossibly tedious task, not to mention a huge waste of your time.

So, you’re going to have to choose an email marketing platform that will make the process quick and painless.

Luckily, there are a ton of options out there!

Look for a platform that has a great reputation and offers the features that you’re most interested in. They’ll all provide basic email marketing functionality, but many will also have unique features.

And don’t forget to check for customer service and technical support options – competent and friendly support can be priceless, especially when you hit a snag. And definitely take advantage of your platform’s segmentation tools!

3. Stick to your schedule.

If you did Step 1 correctly, you should have a well-planned email marketing calendar planned out for at least the next few months. Holiday bargains, summer sales, regular updates, time-sensitive content… you’ve spent a lot of time planning out a great calendar, so make sure that your campaigns are delivered on-schedule.