Hey there fellow entrepreneur! Let’s have a chat. Running a business takes some serious time & dedication, am I right? So any time you have the chance to increase your business’s visibility you want to take it.
It used to be flyers, billboards, and benches were the top way to do that. But now everything’s virtual. Seems like social media is the best, easiest, cheapest way to do that, right? Wrong!! Social media has its place (and can be so amazing for your business!), but it’s not the best way to promote your business. Believe it or not, a good ole’ fashioned email list is!
Unlike social media, you “own” your subscriber’s email addresses. This means that should something happen with your email provider (like they go out of service or just cease to exist), you can take those email addresses to another service provider and continue keeping in touch with your audience. On social media, there is no such advantage. We’ve all heard the stories….one day a person/business is pushing their tolls on Insta, Facebook, etc, and then next their account is shadowbanned or deleted completely. Poof! Just like that. Years of hard work down the drain because you don’t “own” anything in your social media account.
Sold on building your email list now, aren’t you?
Flodesk, MailChimp, ConvertKit…which one should I use?
You’ve seen the light, and now you need to figure out how you’re going to talk to the audience on your email list. Sure, you could just send out a standard email from your inbox. But there’s no pop to it. An email full of words isn’t going to snag or keep your audience’s attention. If you’re anything like me, graphic design is SO not your forte. So how are you going to make a good looking email to pull your audience in?
Luckily for you, there are dozens of services you can sign up for to help with just that. They all provide templates for designing emails, allow you to personalize the emails, upload your mailing list, (some of them even offer landing page creation, but that’s for another day), and will send out your emails to your list when you’re ready. So how do you know which one is for you?
When choosing your ESP (email service provider), everyone has their own opinions. The right provider will depend on what you’re looking for. More templates? Automated text? Automation options? Price? Many ESP’s will base price off the size of your list…something to keep in mind if you’re actively growing your email list. Some of the most popular for creatives (especially us photographers) are Flodesk, MailChimp, and Convertkit.
MailChimp
- Allows you to create different lists for emailing.
- Has plenty of templates to choose from; both free and paid. Also offers blank templates if you don’t love the template options.
- Offers drag and drop modules for easy customization of your email.
- Doesn’t have pre-loaded text in the templates so you’ll need to input your own copy.
- Input different forms to help grow your mailing list.
- Has a free option for their service; they start charging at 2,001 subscribers.
Flodesk
- Sequences already built into the service.
- Easy to send first email.
- Templates covering different types of offers.
- 1 monthly cost vs paying based off the size of your mailing list.
- Design blocks within email are easy to change/tweak to your preference.
- Downside – can only have 1 brand in Flodesk.
ConvertKit
- Pricing starts at $29, regardless of how many subscribers you have.
- Single mailing list organized by segments and tags.
- Only offers 3 email design options to keep things simple.
- Has unlimited signup forms to help promote and grow your email list.
- Great automation sequences that are easy to set up.
- Calls itself ‘an email marketing software for creators’.
My pick? Flodesk. I’ve fallen in love with Flodesk for so many reasons. Flodesk was built by creatives, for creatives, and it shows when you get into the service. I’ve personally found it easier to work with than other services, and feel the emails are visually more appealing. But that’s just for starters…here are just a few more things I absolutely adore about Flodesk!
- Many great templates so it’s easy to build out beautiful emails – design your own from scratch or choose from a premade template.
- Very user-friendly – so things are easy to find and do.
- Workflows work well to distribute freebies to your audience.
- Give your email personality by adding your branding, beautiful fonts, colors, and gifs.
- Sequences are already designed in Flodesk (perfect for selling down the road), but you can start simple with delivery of 1 email.
- Seamless social media integration with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest!
- But the best part of all – it’s just 1 monthly fee you pay, no matter how many subscribers you have. Most other email marketing providers charge you based on the number of subscribers you have. This can lead to some hesitation building your list, because you don’t want to hit that next level until it’s worth it. With Flodesk it’s just one rate, no matter the number of subscribers you have.
Regardless of which service you choose, an email list is sure to help give your business an extra boost. Feel like trying out Flodesk? Here’s a code to give you a little discount on your first month.
