Well, well, well, you may have missed the last few episodes, that time of year, but we just cracked on, soz about that.  Anyway, for those who are joining us for the first time, welcome and for those that are regulars, it’s time to put down the turkey and lets get back to business as its regular programming from here on in. Just a quick note on a new Facebook Group we’ve launched, aptly named the Marketing Study Lab Facebook Group, so before we move on, head over to Facebook and join the group. The more people that join the better the ‘bants’ will be. But in all seriousness, join us and keep the knowledge flowing. It’s someone’s birthday, well tomorrow it is, yep, it’s our guest this week, Catherine Gladwyn’s birthday tomorrow. What a present, to be on the Marketing Study Lab podcast. I haven’t got you a card so again, soz about that! So who is the birthday girl? Catherine is an efficient, self motivated, proactive, dependable VA (Virtual Assistant) who specialises in MailChimp, WordPress and social media management under her own brand – Delegate VA. Takeaways - When building any type of mailing list, to engage with your audience you need to focus on not just your idea client and their needs and wants, but also their pain points. What are you helping them with to make their life easier or more manageable? Once you have discovered this you can lead them on a journey to the resolution of that pain point. - Lead magnets. Use other channels, especially social media as the gateway to gain a following and convert them into subscribers. Try to keep your core audience up-to-date with what is going on and build a reputation for providing good content, content people wont want to miss. - Once you have a solid mailing list, make sure you are talking to them about relevant, engaging topics (see where all these tips end up – engagement). This doesn't have to be for your entire mailing list, just those the content is relevant to. Make sure you headlines are always interesting (click bait if you like, but for the right reasons) and always respond to any replies, don't leave it to an automation system to do all the work. They are unfriendly, impersonal and, yep you guessed it, not engaging. Join The Marketing Study Lab Facebook Group Over the course of this year, I’d like to start to introduce you to a whole host of new (and old) theories, concepts, acronyms and some tips on where to find the best information on Marketing but also to help with your studies a little. So lets kick this off with reminding you to join the Marketing Study Lab Facebook Group. It’s in its infancy but I intend to create a group that is engaging and informative, so hop over to Facebook and join in! Happy Marketing Everyone! Peter www.marketingstudylab.co.uk www.linkedin.com/company/marketing-study-lab/ www.facebook.com/marketingstudylab/ https://twitter.com/mktstudylab (@mktstudylab) Music Featured on this Podcast: Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.de Creative Commons License   LinksCatherine Gladwyn https://delegateva.co.ukcatherine@delegateva.co.uk https://www.linkedin.com/in/delegateva/ https://www.facebook.com/DelegateVA @DelegateVA: https://twitter.com/DelegateVA  Books:Catherine Gladwyn – How to be a Virtual Assistant: https://amzn.to/2QR4bx5  App:Mailchimp: https://mailchimp.com/about/