Yo Reader,

This past Monday I volunteered to help at Fall Fest (yeah, on my day off... don't ask).

Local businesses set up tables to recruit college students on campus and get their name out there. Pretty standard stuff.

But something happened that my dark sometimes soulless heart beam with joy.

One of my past clients was there collecting emails the old school way, pen and paper.

His table was packed. I could see he had a stack of sign-ups building up fast.

We said hello but he was swamped, so I let him cook.

Later that night, my phone rings.

"Mike, I got over a hundred emails!!"

No kidding. Two hours of hustling at a college event will do that.

Then came the magic words..."Mike, I need you."

See, he had this pile of fresh emails but zero clue what to do next.

Good thing I'd been talking up email marketing when I worked with him last year. Those seeds finally sprouted.

We met up a 2 days later. He hired me to build his automation, write his welcome sequence, create a landing page, and handle his weekly emails.

Why?

Because he finally gets it. Having direct access to over 100 people who actually wanna hear from you beats 20,000 social media followers who scroll past your posts.

This is exactly why I keep hammering the same point, email is your business lifeline.

Social media algorithms can kill your reach overnight. Email? That's yours.

Your list doesn't disappear when some tech company changes their rules.

If you've got people's email addresses and you're not using em, you're leaving money on the table every single day.

Start simple. Send one email a week. Give em something useful. Build that relationship.

The businesses that get this are the ones still thriving when everyone else is crying about "reach" and "engagement."

Mike 'the seed planter" Downs

P.S. I'll be slangin some dranks this weekend and I see some gaming in my immediate future.

Gamers on my list, what are you playing right now? Hit reply and let me know. Always looking for my next time-waster.