Ok so let’s just go back to the beginning of how I got started with email marketing. Back when I had my social media management business I (like many other small business owners back then) used Mailchimp but to be really honest I never used it consistently, I never had a lead magnet and I never bothered to send frequent emails. I used it maybe a dozen times in the 3 years I had that business and when I went to sell my business this to my surprise became a bit of a problem for me.
When I went to sell the business one of the very first questions that the potential buyers asked me was “How big is your email list”. They didn’t ask about my social media accounts, my website traffic or even my client base initially – they wanted to know how big my email list was because they knew something I was yet to realise.
An email list equals sales for your business.
They knew that the size of my email list would have a direct impact on their potential to make sales for the business. Realising this I didn’t make the same mistake going into Golden Brands and it was something I priortised from day one. I started growing my email list before we even had an offer to sell. It has honestly been the number one way at Golden Brands we have made sales and grown our membership.
Email marketing is gold and if you’re not using it strategically you are leaving money on the table for your business.
Ok so now that we are hopefully on the same page about the importance of email marketing I wanted to share with you exactly how we are using our preferred email marketing platform Flodesk and why I truly believe this will be a game changer for any small business – especially those of you with service-based businesses.
(psst- make sure to keep reading till the bottom, we are giving you access to one of our most popular email newsletter Flodesk templates for free!)
As I mentioned I had used Mailchimp previously in my last business and the one hurdle I faced back then with it was that it was just to time consuming for me to set up and get it looking how I wanted. I needed a quick and easy option, I needed templates that fitted our aesthetic and that could be beautifully branded and customised. I needed options for sign up pages for our lead magnets that I could set up in under 10 minutes. If it was going to take too long then I knew I simply wouldn’t do it.
And after a lot of frustration trying to use the platform I went searching for a better option and that’s when my business coach introduced me to Flodesk.
Switching to Flodesk changed everything and showed me just how powerful email marketing could be for our business. I have been able to easily and quickly create brand emails in minutes and instead of dreading it, I actually enjoy the process!
Despite what many of our audience might think I’m certainly not tech savvy and that’s the beautiful thing about this platform, you don’t need to be. You really don’t need to customise anything, the templates alone are absolutely stunning and created specifically for different purposes and business types.
Flodesk is a must for small businesses!
Flodesk was designed for creatives and small business owners who want things to look elevated and beautiful. It’s clean, visual and incredibly easy to navigate. If design is important to you and you want your emails to feel polished and professional, Flodesk makes it soooo effortless.
Some of our fav features include:
The beautiful templates
Flodesk has some of the best email templates I’ve ever seen. They’re modern, minimal and actually easy to customise so they feel on brand without spending hours tweaking tiny details. They great thing is that you can now set up your own templates and share the links with clients!
Drag and drop everything
If you’ve ever felt intimidated by automations or email formatting, this is the tool you want. Everything is drag and drop and makes sense at first glance. No coding needed!
They even have the tools now for things like a countdown timer, poll blocks and spinner forms. We are yet to use the spinner forms but these look very cool and were worth mentioning!
Integrations:
There is where Flodesk has really levelled up recently, they’ve introduced integrations with:
• ManyChat • Canva • Thrivecart • Shopify • Zapier • And lots more
For example here is a quick overview of how the integrations work for us:
We use the inline form template inside Flodesk that is embedded on to our website. We have a number of these set up, for example with our business plan freebie.
2. When new leads sign up to this lead magnet they are automatically added to our segment ‘business plan template’ – they end up in either the product or service based segment depending on the response they gave on the form.
3. Next they automatically start our workflow ‘business plan lead magnet delivery’ – where they are given the business plan template.
4. This workflow then goes on to take them through a series of emails to add more information about the template and introduce what we do at Golden Brands.
5. In the final step of the email they are given an opportunity to sign up to our membership. If they choose to take us up on this option they are directed back to our website to sign up.
6. We use Zapier to automatically add any new membership sign up’s to a different segment on Flodesk called ‘Active Members’. We have workflows set up for these new subscribers too
The best part is that all of this happens automatically!
Forms and landing pages
I’m a big fan of simple, beautiful opt-in forms and Flodesk really nails this! We have so many forms set up for Golden Brands for the likes of:
Our freebies
Our membership waitlist
Event waitlist
Challenges
Giveaways
Workshops
Free resources/masterclasses etc.
Workflows
Workflows are a series of automated emails set up to go out to a subscriber of your email list. Based on the action they have taken you can create different workflows specific for this subscriber. For example I’m share you have heard of new subscriber workflows and abandon cart workflows.
We have workflows set up for new subscribers, when someone downloads a freebie, event purchases and when someone joins our membership or waitlist.
We frequently make sales from these workflows without having to lift a finger.
The important things is to remember to check these frequently and make sure they are up to date for your business. Also make sure you are looking at the stats and analysing open rates/click through rates etc. to help ensure your workflows are optimised best for your business. Quick tip would be to set a calendar reminder to check these monthly!
Now let’s take a peek inside my account…
Take a look at some of our sign up forms…
Below is one of my fav email templates we’ve created in Flodesk – our monthly bite sized tips newsletter which has always been one of our most popular emails!
Here is the link if you’d like to grab a copy of this template for yourself!
Why I continue to recommend Flodesk to our community
Over the past three years at Golden Brands, I’ve seen just how important email marketing is for women building service-based businesses. It’s one of the most effective ways to build trust, book more clients and truly stay connected to your audience.
If you’re not using email marketing yet this is your sign that you need to start today!! You can’t put this off any longer. And if you are using it but not strategically please make this a priority, I guarantee this will be a game changer for your business.
Ready to try it for yourself?
If you’re wanting to test our Flodesk for yourself and see how this can help you grow your business we have kindly been offered a discount code from Flodesk to pass on to our community.
You can start a free trial and grab 25% off your first year using my link or code below.
Compared to other email platforms, Flodesk is incredibly affordable for what you get and you don’t need to pay more as your email list grows which is a huge bonus if you’re in your first few years of business.
Wow… where do we even begin?
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