Email Marketing - What a Tricky Little Booger
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:
- Easy to Use... I will give up bells and whistles for simplicity every time.
- Had to be cheap... my beginning budget is small, and until income starts coming in regular I have limited funds.
- 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
Recent Comments
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Ok Dovey, I am impressed, I too am “old” and struggle with high tech things as I have a low tech brain 🤓
So a very very big well done thus far, looking forward to hearing about your email subscribers progress....
👍
Thank you. It can be challenging learning all this information. I can feel my age. When I was younger, this would have been no issue. As I have aged, well, now it takes a minute.
I refuse to give up. Congrats to you as well for pushing forward. There is no reason that this line of work only has to be for the young. As young at heart we can take a chunk for ourselves, we just might have to take smaller bites and chew a little longer :-)
I appreciate you stopping by, and I wish you tons of success.
Nice work Dovey.
To get people to sign up you can either go with paid adverts and direct people directly to your sign up form.
Alternatively you just mention it regularly in your blog posts and perhaps add a sign up box to the sidebar of your site
Thank you for the suggestions. When people say "paid adverts" are they talking about ads on Facebook, Google, or where? I have not looked into it much because I am still working on building out my site and I figured I want a robust site before I invest that kind of money into it.
Yes paid ads are on Facebook etc. Its definitely something for further down the line when your site is more established.
At this stage id just make it clear on your dite that visitors can sign up for your newsletter and perhaps get a free gift in return
Free shipping is a wonderful offer to get people to sign up. Who doesn't want free shipping. Well done!
I thought free shipping was a perfect way to get people to sign up. It is not free shipping on one order; it is free shipping as long as they are on the list. I am hoping that will be incitive enough to keep them from unsubscribing.
I am only losing $5 per order. The way I have set up pricing that will be covered even if they only order one item at a time.
Thank you for taking the time to read my article. I hoped you enjoyed it.
Hi Dovey. You have done well. I don't know any other way to sign people up to a email list apart from social media and posting or paying for advertisements. Jim
I do not have a marketing budget yet. I figured I would build my site up a lot more before playing with advertising. I am afraid if I do it too early that I will not get the returns I am hoping for. Thank you for trying to come up with different ways. I appreciate all the advise and help I can get.
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Love the progress and journey. Congratulations on getting Setup. I’ll be there soon enough.
Onwards and upwards. 😊
Thank you! It was hard work; I am praying that it will pay off. If nothing else, I do think it adds a level of professionalism to the site. Which I think is essential for building trust.
Let us know how the journey goes for you. I believe that by sharing our experiences, rather good or bad, helps to encourage and inspire others. We all need that now and then.
Here is to your success!
Will do and thank you very much. I totally agree. 😊