Are you sending emails about your upcoming events from your personal account? If so, you could be losing a ton of studio time to the business side of your art endeavors while creating more computer aggravation for yourself.
I know you want to do bigger and better things with your creative biz so I’m sharing how harnessing the power of using an email service provider like MailChimp or Aweber can grow your business without stealing your studio time.
If you’ve already stopped using your personal Gmail, Yahoo or Outlook account for your biz emails, keep reading because you may find a few features that you can better use and I’ve got a Take Action idea for you, too.
Here are nine reasons why using an email service provider will save you time while helping you to get the word out about what you do.
Translation…more people at your events, openings and clicking-throughs to your sales.
1. Your Email Gets There
As soon as you send a group email from a personal account, especially to a larger number of contacts, internet services providers start to get suspicious and flag your email as potential spam.
When this happens, that letter that you carefully crafted might never make it to your friend or collector because a server has been programmed to stop its delivery or plop it in the junk mail folder which can mean fewer people at your next event.
2. Can SPAM Act
Yep, there are actual laws that you could be breaking by sending emails the wrong way. By using an opt-in email provider, they have systems in place to help to make sure you’re not breaking the rules. --Isn’t it awesome to have someone look out for you like that?
3. You Look More Professional
Every email provider has pre-designed templates that you can use. They’ll make your email and any images you include look great without you having to spend time learning to be a graphic designer.
And you’ll never look like a rookie by accidentally cc’ing everyone on your list instead of blind copying them. This also means you won’t anger your tribe by accidentally sharing their email with everyone on your list.
4. Automatically Share on Social Media
Using an email provider means that you can check a box and automatically post to places like Facebook so you don’t have to spend another half-an-hour to create a whole new post.
5. Like Looking Into a Crystal Ball
How many people opened your mail? How many people clicked through?
Email providers offer this great feature called reports. Without this information, you have no idea is anyone read your email. The feedback of these stats allows you to know that all the work on that email was worth it.
6. Responsive Design
This means that your emails will open and re-scale to fit the screen that your friend, customer or potential buyer is using. It could be an ipad, laptop or smart phone. It helps to make your email and any images you include in it look good, no matter the gadget someone is using.
7. Subscribe Form
Email providers allow you to create subscribe forms that you can place on your website and social media so people can opt-in to your list all on their own. Cool, right?
8. Auto Responders
A big time saver. You create a “thanks for subscribing” message once and your email platform will save you time by sending that message on your behalf every time someone subscribes to your list.
9. You Allow EASY Unsubscribes
Honor your followers by respecting that at some point, they may want to unsubscribe from your list.
It may be that their inbox is bursting and they are going on an email diet. They still love you and support what you do but they can’t receive your emails right now.
Using an email provider makes unsubscribes easy for your followers and requires NO EFFORT from you. This means that you don’t have to take time to read their unsubscribe request (if they’re not too shy to send one) and then pull them from your list.
If you’re ready to save yourself a boatload of time, look more professional, make your tribe happier and set yourself up to grow your creative business, pick an email provider and start using it for your next email! Here’s a comparison list if you want to see what company offers a good match for what you’d like to do.
If you want a shortcut on the decision making process (that comparison chart is long), I always tell my clients to try MailChimp because they’re such a good fit for artists, makers and creatives. ---Nope, not a sponsor here. I just like what they do so I’m sharing that with you.
If you’re already using an email service provider, NICE WORK! Here’s a Take Action idea for you:
Look at the reports from your last three to five emails. Do you notice any trends? What’s getting clicks? What’s subject lines are working best to get you the most opens? Does any of this change your approach to crafting messages?
Okay, now tell me what’s the biggest thing that you’re worried about if you stop sending emails from your personal account?
What’s your favorite feature of using an email provider?
Hit reply to let me know or leave it in the comments. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this and so would everyone who reads this.
With much gratitude,
Kate