Is an email list worth it for a small business?

If you've ever thought...

"Do I really need an email list?"

...you're definitely not the only one.

When you're running a business, there's always something more urgent shouting for your attention. Client work, admin, social media, development. Then there’s the washing, the garden, the kids, the dog wants another walk. Oh now the dog needs a bath.

Starting an email list is just one more thing to add to the ever increasing to-do list and everyone’s on Instagram, LinkedIn or TikTok anyway.

So let's answer the question properly - is an email list actually worth it?

In my opinion...

Yes.

Not because it's a magical marketing trick that suddenly fills your diary, and your bank, overnight, but because it's one of the few marketing assets you actually own.

 

Social media is brilliant...until it isn't

I love social media. It's where conversations start and where people get to know you. It also allows your personality to shine through.

But social media is rented property. Algorithms change, platforms disappear, accounts get hacked, reach drops overnight and your account can get disabled for seemingly no good reason.

We've all had that moment where a post we've spent ages creating reaches about seven people and one of them is your best mate.

With an email list, you're building something that's yours, nobody can suddenly decide your subscribers only get to see 8% of what you send. If they've chosen to hear from you, your email lands in their inbox.

That matters.

 

"But can you actually measure the return?"

This is probably the biggest objection I hear from service providers.

If you sell products online, it's fairly easy to say,

"That email made £500."

For freelancers, consultants and service businesses? It’s not that neat.

Someone might:

• read your email
• see a LinkedIn post three days later
• listen to your podcast
• finally enquire after seeing your name pop up again a week later

Which bit made the sale?

Honestly, you often won't know.

That doesn't mean the email wasn't doing its job. Email keeps you front of mind, it reminds people you're still here and it builds familiarity and trust over time.

Sometimes an email isn't responsible for the sale on its own, but it is part of the conversation that eventually leads someone to work with you.

 

"I don't have time."

I get it. Email feels like another content machine to feed. But here is my reminder to you…

If you've already written:

• a LinkedIn post
• an Instagram caption
• a Facebook post
• maybe even filmed a Reel

...you've probably got the bones of an email already.

An email doesn't need to be a 2,000-word essay, 200 thoughtful words are often more than enough. Tell a little story, share something you've learned, answer a question a client asked this week, or link to a blog. Done.

Once your welcome emails are set up and quietly doing their thing behind the scenes, your regular emails become much less overwhelming.

Of course, multiple surveys have been conducted to find the perfect email length. Unsurprisingly there is not perfect number, it varies based on the type of email you are sending and while the numbers below are interesting, my advice is to test and measure to see what works, remembering that your emails compound over time.

Newsletter Type	Target Word Count	Main Objective
Flash Sale / Promo	50 – 100 words	Drive an immediate purchase decision.
Standard Marketing / Update	100 – 250 words	Get clicks to a blog, landing page, or video.
Curated Round-up	300 – 600 words	Share resources, articles, or community links.
Editorial / Deep-Dive	500 – 1,000 words	Educate, build trust, and deliver direct value.

"Isn't email marketing expensive?"

Not really. Most email platforms have free plans when you're getting started and once you outgrow those, you're often looking at around £120 a year for a few hundred subscribers up to £200 for up to 1,000.

That might sound like another business expense, until you look at what one email can do.

I was chatting with someone recently after their email platform changed its pricing. They'd moved onto a paid plan and were wondering whether it was worth the cost.

We worked it out together. The annual fee was around £120. I asked,

"You run a Black Friday offer every year that only goes to your email list. Roughly how much does that bring in?"

She said: "When you put it like that...it's definitely worth it."

One marketing campaign each year more than covered the cost of the platform and so everything else becomes a bonus.

"I don't have enough subscribers."

Why would you? I started with one, me and then my second subscriber was my personal email address!!

Every business starts with one subscriber. Then ten, then fifty. Waiting until you have a bigger audience usually means missing opportunities to build relationships with the people who are discovering you today. You may also find your first ten subscribers are your most engaged because they've found you early and genuinely want to hear what you have to say. Or it could be because they’re related or your pals!

Start before you think you're ready

One of the biggest mistakes I see is waiting until everything feels perfect. Waiting until your website is finished (been there), waiting until you've got the perfect freebie (also me), waiting until you've got thousands of followers and even, waiting until you know exactly what you're doing (ha - as if).

Your first ten subscribers matter just as much as your first thousand. Email marketing grows with your business and so building a huge list overnight shouldn’t be the thing you’re focussing on. Starting is.

 

So...is an email list worth it?

For me? Absolutely.

Not because it's the quickest marketing tactic and not because every email results in an enquiry. It’s because it gives you a direct way to stay connected with people who've already told you that they like what you do and say enough, find it useful enough to want to hear from you.

That’s incredible, especially in a world where algorithms change every other week and you don’t know whether it’s ok to say “link in bio” or not…

My final words on this…

Start small, keep it simple and write like the human you are. Future you will be utterly delighted that you did.