How I Tripled My Email List in Less than 6 Months with Flodesk
Are you making email marketing a priority for your small business? I’ll be totally transparent with you and tell you that in the first few years of business, I was not prioritizing my email list - at all. I was caught up in the gorgeous aesthetics and vanity metrics of Instagram. But, to be honest, it wasn’t doing much for my business.
I felt like a slave to social media.
Instagram is demanding, and constantly changing its algorithm. Everytime you think you’re starting to understand it, it comes out with a big update and you have to completely pivot your strategy. Or it goes down for a day and ruins all of the great content you were planning to share.
The point here is that you don’t own your Instagram profile, Facebook, or TikTok either.
But, do you know what is 100% yours?
Your email list.
Your email list is your tried-and-true, always there for you, rock steady digital marketing tool that will never fail you. This is what I came to realize last year. So, I pivoted my marketing strategy and prioritized email marketing in my business.
And do you know what happened?
I tripled my email subscribers in less than six months!!!
Email Marketing 101
Why am I so excited about tripling my email list in such a short amount of time?
• Your emails are read by a much higher percentage of your audience than your social media posts are.
In general, Instagram posts are seen by 6-10% of your audience. But the average email open rate is over 20%! This means the content you are meticulously creating and sharing with your audience is getting seen by 2x as many people!
• Experts say that every subscriber on your email list equates to a $1/month in revenue!
This is a big deal! The larger and more engaged your email list is, the more people are excitedly opening your emails to see what you have to offer. This builds trust and recognition in your brand, making you your audience’s go-to expert! When it comes time to launch a new product or service, you’ll see the result$ in your email list.
So, what’s my secret to growing an email list quickly?
Flodesk. Four months ago, I switched my email marketing platform to Flodesk, and I never looked back!
In this post I’m going to share with you:
What is Flodesk and why is it the #1 email marketing platform loved by women-owned businesses?
My favorite features from Flodesk that helped me optimize my email marketing
My step by step process of how I tripled my email subscribers in under 6 months
After you read this post, you’ll find clarity in understanding how to start building an engaged email list quickly, how Flodesk has helped me make email marketing my #1 digital marketing tool, and my step by step process laying out exactly how I tripled my email subscribers in less than six months. Make sure you read to the end to get your exclusive discount to Flodesk for 50% off!
I help women in wellness launch successful online businesses with brands and websites that give them the confidence to become the leader of a thriving woman-owned business. The last thing I want is for more women to feel confused or discouraged about how to build an email list that converts. Let’s dive in.
Don’t forget to save this post to Pinterest!
What is Flodesk and why is it the #1 email marketing platform loved by women-owned businesses?
Flodesk is an email marketing platform that focuses on making email marketing beautiful and easy for small businesses. Their tagline is simply “Design emails that people love to open”. Who doesn’t want that!?
Flodesk is the email marketing platform, designed by women, and loved by women simply for its ability to create beautiful and on brand emails unlike any other email marketing platform.Founders Martha Bitar and Rebecca Shostak really knew what women wanted when they created Flodesk. They found solutions to entrepreneurs' complaints about other email services. They addressed small businesses’s concerns about needing to use expensive design programs or coding just to make their emails look beautiful, professional, and on-brand. They also developed Flodesk to be easy-to-use and intuitive, making email marketing quick and headache-free. You don’t have to be a designer, a coder, or super “techy” to create gorgeous emails with the platform.
My favorite features from Flodesk that helped me optimize my email marketing
Aside from the ease and simplicity of Flodesk, it’s also packed with features that will help you optimize your email marketing. Let’s start from the beginning of your subscriber’s journey.
Forms
Flodesk has dozens of gorgeous form templates that allow you to customize a email-opt-in form that converts. These forms can be used as pop-ups or inline designs for your website, or you can even create a full landing page which can be used even if you don’t have a website!
The layouts, fonts, and color options are eye-catching, modern, and just simply beautiful. There isn’t much that needs to be done to update these forms besides adding your own image, writing a catchy headline (or using the ones from their templates- they’re actually really good!), and updating the form to use your brand colors and fonts.
You can attach these forms to a lead magnet too. A lead magnet is a freebie that you offer your audience in exchange for their email, and it greatly increases your subscriber conversion. Once you attach your form to a workflow, you can kick up your feet and let Flodesk do the work. It will automatically deliver your lead magnet to your new subscriber- and you won’t have to lift a finger!
Workflows
If you have been too intimidated to use workflows with other email marketing platforms, you can kick this fear to the curb with Flodesk. Their workflows are intuitive and easy to create, and they work seamlessly!
A workflow in email marketing is a sequence of emails that are automated when your audience opts-in to a form. Workflows help boost engagement in your email list because they allow you to set up an email sequence specific for particular lead magnets or different opt in forms.
Flodesk’s workflows are so easy to create. They provide a variety of gorgeous email templates that you can quickly fill in the blanks, or completely customize if you’d prefer to make them more unique. You can connect these workflows to as many forms as you like, or even connect them to other workflows. This might sound confusing, but Flodesk lays this system out beautifully, making them super-easy to track.
Nurture Emails
A nurture email is the email that you send out on a regular basis. Most entrepreneurs send about one to two nurture emails per week.
This might sound like a lot of content to create- but Flodesk makes this easy! (And totally worth your time!)
You can choose from a variety of email templates that are beautifully designed and also strategically formatted to make them fun and easy to read. You can add or delete sections- all of which are designed with aesthetics in mind. Of course, you can fully customize these emails using your brand fonts, colors, and your own images.
These emails are just fun to read. They break up chunky text, allowing you to highlight the most important points of your email, include plenty of opportunities to add imagery and graphics, and links back to your website to improve conversion.
Analytics
I’m a bit of a numbers nerd when it comes to my business, and Flodesk really hits the mark when it comes to tracking the analytics of my email marketing.
Not only does Flodesk lay out your analytics information in a minimal and easy to understand way, but they include all of the essential information for every step of your email marketing strategy.
Their analytics feature allows you to see which emails are opened the most, what links your subscribers are clicking on, how many people are opting into your forms, what percentage of subscribers are finishing your workflows, and so much more.
This can tell you a lot about how to optimize your email marketing strategy. You can tell what email subject lines are most intriguing to your audience, what pages of your website they want to see, what kind of blog posts are interesting, which lead magnets are performing better, and where your workflows might need some TLC.
My step-by-step process of how I tripled my email subscribers in under 6 months
I know these features sound really great, but you’re probably wondering what you actually have to do to grow your email list quickly? Because, email marketing does go a bit deeper than simply sending an email once a week.
Create an irresistible lead magnet
The first thing you’ll need to do to grow your email list is to create a lead magnet that your audience can’t say no to. Lead magnets are essential because they offer something of value to your audience in exchange for their email address.
A lead magnet should be something that helps your audience on their journey toward working with you. Think about what they need in the very beginning stage of their buyer's journey.
For example, if you are a wellness coach, your lead magnet could be a 7 day plant-based eating challenge, a guided meditation, a recipe, a workout video, or a self care checklist.
Your lead magnet should give your audience a small taste of what it’s like to work with you, and something of value to them.
Create a gorgeous opt-in form
Now you need to create an opt- in form for your lead magnet. I like to create full-page landing pages, because I can use that URL and link directly to the sign up form.
Make sure your landing page is on-brand to keep it cohesive with your website, social media, or other marketing platforms your subscribers may interact with. This helps your business be easily recognized, trustworthy, and professional.
You’ll also want to add a catchy headline that draws your audience in. Then include a few bullet points about what they’ll get from your lead magnet. Don’t forget a call to action!
I also like to include an image of the product (lead magnet), a professional image of you, or an image of what you want your dream client to feel when they work with you.
Set up an automated Welcome Sequence (workflow)
Next, you’ll want to write a welcome sequence for your lead magnet. My welcome sequence consists of five emails that I send over five days, but you can totally change this to whatever works best for your business.
The point of a welcome sequence is to start to develop a relationship with this subscriber, so don’t be afraid to let your personality shine here. Make sure that you introduce yourself and your business, tell them who you are, what you do, and how you can help solve their problem, give them a desired result, and how you do it differently than anyone else. You can also let them know how often they can expect to see you popping into their inbox.
Content you can include in this sequence are emails addressing the problem that your clients are having, and how you can provide a unique solution for them. You can also discuss FAQs, testimonials, or case studies that help build social proof and show how you are an expert in your industry. Make sure your final email includes a call to action telling them what to do next. Maybe this is to schedule a free consultation for your coaching services, or purchase that digital product you just launched.
Send nurture emails 1-2 times each week
Now you need to be consistent. Make sure you are sending a nurture email on a regular basis. Your email subscribers will be looking forward to this email. A lack in consistency loses trust in your audience, so just be sure you develop an email schedule you can stick to.
I send my emails one-two times a week. In 80% of my emails I share brand, web design, and marketing tips to help my subscribers find ease, clarity and confidence in growing their business. The other 20% of the time I offer a sale or promotion.
It’s important not to sell to your email list all the time- because… no one wants to be sold to all the time! Share your knowledge and expertise- build trust in your brand and a relationship with your audience, and prove yourself as an expert first and foremost.
Share your lead magnets absolutely everywhere
I use an opt in form for each of my lead magnets and my Pricing + Package Guide. I share the URLs to these forms absolutely everywhere: on my website homepage, in my blog posts, in my Instagram links page, in my Instagram posts, and in my Pinterest posts.
And I don’t stop sharing. I create new pins for my lead magnets each month and I’m constantly talking about it on Instagram.
Remember, you should be spending more time marketing your content than you do creating it!
Analyze the data and make adjustments when necessary
Each week, I track my analytics and see how my emails, workflows, and opt in forms are performing. By tracking this information, I can see what kind of content my audience is enjoying most, what I should be creating more of, what time to send my emails, and what kind of adjustments I should make to my workflows to improve conversion.
Next Steps
Flodesk has played a core role in helping me optimize my email marketing strategy and triple my email list in under six months. Not only have I seen enormous growth in my email list, but it’s been easier than ever to prioritize email marketing in my business.
Flodesk is now one of the small business tools that I absolutely can’t live without- and something tells me you’ll feel the same way!
Now that you know everything there is to know about building an email list with Flodesk, I hope you feel confident about how to get started with a new and improved email marketing strategy. You now have the roadmap to help you grow your list quickly, develop a highly engaged audience, and grow your business bank account in return.
→ Sign up for Flodesk today and get 50% off
If you liked this post, you may also like:
→What is a Lead Magnet and Why Do You Need One?
Don’t forget to save this post to Pinterest!
Hey I'm Jamie
-web designer, brand strategist, and former certified health coach turned creative studio founder. I specialize in building strategic, elevated Squarespace websites for wellness professionals who are ready to grow their business with more clarity, confidence, and ease.
After designing over 90 websites and supporting dozens of service-based entrepreneurs, I’ve seen firsthand how intentional design and smart strategy can completely shift the way you show up, and how you sell. This blog is where I share the real stuff: design tips, marketing strategies, and behind-the-scenes insights to help you build a brand that actually works for you.
Disclaimer: My policy is to only share products and resources that have brought value to me and/or I believe will bring value to my audience. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, and I will earn a commission if you make a purchase using them.
Related Posts
Shop the Templates
For more web design inspiration and marketing tips, follow @glocreativedesign
