This week I have decided to conquer email marketing. I have heard great things about what it can do for a business. Since I have a steady flow of traffic coming in, I thought it would be an excellent time to start a newsletter.

The Start

I went into this project with ZERO knowledge about email lists. Other than having seen a subscriber form on a few webpages, I was a complete beginner.

I started my learning quest, the same place I start all my journeys, here at WA. I found a few sound pieces of training, learned that I needed to select an email service provider. The training gave a detail over of some majors companies.

There are so many different companies that it is not funny, and trying to pick one is downright scary. Luckily, I had some planning and at least knew what I needed. The company I went with had to meet these qualifications:

1. Easy to Use... I will give up bells and whistles for simplicity every time.
2. Had to be cheap... my beginning budget is small, and until income starts coming in regular I have limited funds.
3. WP- Friendly... It had to be easy to connect to WordPress.

Making A Choice

Having done tons upon tons of research, I was starting to get a headache. Even more so, I was becoming more and more confused with each article I read. That is when I decided to check out what my trusted partners suggested.

I have two websites I consider to be trusted partners. Now, they are affiliate marketers, so I know that their reviews are going to bias. I also see that they give out good solid advice for free too. They earn their money by building great content.

Each one had a different recommendation. After reading what the pro bloggers liked and disliked about the email services they were with, my decision was much simpler.

One recommended an email service that was more for a person who offered digital downloads, courses, ebooks, things of that nature. That email service did not fit Cat People Jewelry's needs.

However, the other blogger recommended a completely different company. That was super simple when a person clicks on the help button they go immediately to the help for the page they are on. For example, if you are on 'create a landing page' and hit help; it brings up videos and FAQ for creating a landing page. So, criteria number one met.

Now was it budget-friendly? Yes, it is free until you get a hundred subscribers then it is cheap. Ok, I was almost there.

And it hooked into WP (not to mention Facebook) - and sold. I went with it.

(Now I know, I am not giving names and things. That is out of respect for the rules. The point of this post is not to try to sale the email service; it is to talk about my experience)

Company Picked, Now What

I had the email service, and thanks to criteria number one. It was easy to set up. It only took me about two hours, and I had my first form setup into my sidebar.

Another hour and I had a landing page on Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter.

Now for the average person, I know that it will not take them three hours to set up a simple mailing list. But I am old, and it takes my brain a second to get things.

I Have Built It

I have built it, they should come, right?

I have bait in the form of free shipping, so I am waiting for people to sign up. At the time of this post, I do not have any subscribers.

The good news is when they do come, I am ready for them. Task complete, and I am off to my next project.

Setting up an email list does not have to be a scary or overwhelming project. It is a great way to give people a way to connect with you and stay current on your content and offerings. Basically, it is a way to set up a customer base.

Now, I ask you my WA family. How do I get people to sign up? Is there somewhere other than Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest that I should advertise my landing page? Is it a good idea to connect the form to the bottom of my post as well? Is it sketchy to have people automatically signed up when they make a purchase?

I ask you because you know about these things.

Until next time, be the light in the world.

~ Dovey