Email marketing tips for small businesses.

Maximise your email open rates with A/B testing If you're not familiar with the term 'A/B testing' (sometimes called 'split testing'), it's a way of testing different two variations to determine which performs best. In the email marketing world, it's the comparative process of taking two options for subject lines, finding out which performs more effectively, and using it to send most of your emails. Here's a simple example - let's imagine you were sending an email to your list announcing an...

Going from zero to 100 subs using Kit (formerly ConvertKit) The first thing you need to collect your first 100 subscribers on Kit is an account with Kit! The good news is that you can get Kit's free 'Newsletter' plan, which allows you to collect up to 10,000 subscribers and includes one visual automation and one email sequence, normally reserved for premium plans. And don't worry, you don't actually need to have or create a newsletter when you subscribe to the 'Newsletter' plan (although I...

Step #1 of 3: Get your free Kit (formerly ConvertKit) account It starts with an account. If you haven't subscribed to Kit (formerly ConvertKit) yet, head over now and get a free account. When you sign up, you'll automatically get a 14-day free trial after which you can either go for a premium plan, starting at $9/month. Get your free Kit account If you choose the free plan (the 'Newsletter' plan) then you'll be able to collect up to 10,000 subscribers, however, your automations are limited to...

How I onboard my new email subscribers in Kit (formerly ConvertKit) In my business, I have several entry points through which email subscribers can arrive on my list - most commonly via a 'lead magnet'. If you're unfamiliar with the term 'lead magnet', essentially, it's something of value you can give your would-be subscribers as an incentive to join your email list in exchange for their name and email address - e.g. "The Email Marketer's Starter Guide" downloadable PDF document is one of...

Tags, Custom Fields, and Segments - what's the difference? It can be confusing when first getting into email marketing. The terms 'tags', 'custom fields' and 'segments' seem to be bandied around, even used (incorrectly) interchangeably. So, in this article, I'm going to explain the differences and when to use each one when designing and building your email marketing system. Tags Think of these as post-it notes that you (digitally) 'stick' on your subscriber. If you've ever seen the promos for...

The 4-step process of collecting subscribers using an email course Steps: Decide on your course topic and subtopics Craft your content using the email sequence builder in Kit Create a landing page to collect subscriber details Create an automation in Kit to run your system on autopilot 24/7/365 People love a course - providing it delivers on its promise! We all have one in us, no matter what we do in our businesses - yours is no different. An email course can deliver valuable content to your...

Client questions and my answers Every month, from several sources, I field questions about ConvertKit. Some are new and never asked (of me) before - and others are regulars that pop up quite often. I thought it would be helpful to share some of these with you so you can benefit from the questions asked, and from the answer I give for each one. The 10 questions are in no particular order, so jump in wherever you like! Do I need a domain to use ConvertKit? Is ConvertKit a CRM too? Is the...

Tutorial: How to create an email course as your lead magnet, using ConvertKit. Firstly, just in case there's any doubt about what I'm referring to as an email course - it's a course that's delivered to your subscribers, via email, using automatically drip-fed content over a predetermined time; e.g. a series of 7 emails, drip-fed to each recipient at a rate of 1 email per day, starting whenever they join your subscriber list. There can be many elements to the content contained in the emails...

Three reasons why you don't want to miss out on what ConvertKit's doing! Recently, there have been several, what I consider, relatively significant announcements and releases by the ConvertKit team. You get the sense that it's ready to take a seismic leap forward as a marketing platform. I've used many email marketing platforms (or email service providers) over the years, but never have I attached the same degree of affection to one as I do with ConvertKit. It just ticks the boxes when it...