The Ultimate Blog Podcast - 57. Email Sequences with Allea Grummert

Episode Date: January 17, 2023

Do you have a welcome sequence in your email marketing?  On today’s episode we welcome back Allea Grummert where we talk specifically about email sequences. Allea is the owner and CEO of Duett. She is an email marketing strategist and conversion copywriter who helps online business owners make a killer first impression through automated welcome and nurture sequences.If you are wanting to add a welcome sequence to your email marketing or want to learn a little more about email sequences, tune in to today's episode!Thanks for listening! Connect with us on Instagram: @sparkmediaconceptsCheck out The Blog Depot. This is a community and course that we have set up for you if you need questions answered before you start your blog. Join the waitlist for The Ultimate Blog Bootcamp, our online course and coaching that helps you build the blog that you have always dreamed of.SHOW NOTES: www.sparkmediaconcepts.com/episode57

Welcome to the Ultimate Blog Podcast with Amy Reinecke and Jennifer Draper. We're on a mission to empower women who want to start or grow their own blog. This podcast is for women who want to learn blogging basics and who crave inspiration and encouragement. Whether you're just getting started or have been a blogger for years, we're excited to welcome you into this space where we are passionate about creating community over competition. We are bloggers who want to encourage you to believe in your potential, step outside the norm, and step into a life where you create your own schedule, your own success, and your own story. Join us for weekly episodes as we navigate blogging

and work from home life, all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. Hey, everybody. Today, we are thrilled to welcome back Allie Grummert. She was on the podcast last November on November the 8th, episode number 47, to talk to us all about email marketing. Allie is an email marketing strategist and conversion copywriter. And we had so much to talk about on that last episode. We wanted to ask her back to talk to you guys today a little bit more about a specific topic as it relates to email marketing and being a blogger. And that is creating a welcome series. So welcome back, Allie.

Hello. Thanks for having me back. There's so much we could talk about. I laugh because I'm like, oh, Allie. Hello. Thanks for having me back. There's so much we could talk about. I laugh because I'm like, oh, two episodes. That's it. I could talk about email marketing. We'll keep that in mind, Allie. We'll bring you back. You can just be a regular on the Ultimate Blog Podcast. Yeah, there is so much we want to dive into. We're going to try to keep it as much on this topic as possible today, but just to kick us off in case anybody has not heard that episode yet, would you just tell us a little

bit about yourself and what you do? Yeah. So like you said, I'm Allie Grimmert. I'm an email marketing strategist and conversion copywriter. I help bloggers create welcome and nurture sequences, the automated kind that really welcome and introduce you to your new subscribers. The goal being that we can increase like brand loyalty, site traffic, sales, and that just that engagement with your list that everybody wants to have that kicks off with your welcome and nurture content and how you welcome them to your list in the first place. And we did say today, we're going to talk specifically about a welcome series, but can you tell us, you mentioned also a nurture series, and those are the two areas where you focus. Can you talk to us a little bit about what those are and then specifically why we are going to dive into a welcome series today and why it's important?

Yeah. Okay. So it's, people call them different things. You could technically have a welcome sequence that is also a nurture sequence that just goes on and on and on. I like to separate them. My thought process is that the welcome sequence should be like your brand in a nutshell, in three to five emails. So that no matter where somebody comes in from your list,

they get those emails and get that like solid introduction to who you are, your brand, your story, how you're going to help them, the breadth of content you provide. It's interesting because there's a lot to include there. It feels like a big puzzle. You're like, how do I explain all that in five emails? But then a nurture sequence is something that you could create specific to a segment or skillset on your list. So say beginners get this nurture sequence or more say beginners get this nurture sequence or more advanced people get this nurture sequence.

And what that is, it's just valuable content that helps them get to know you, keeps them coming back to your site and trusting you, maybe buying something from you related to where they're at in their journey. So, and the nurture sequence could also just look like a really long general nurture sequence. So content that you've shared before that is general, that is evergreen, and that would be beneficial to your readers.

So the idea of being that just because somebody joined your list today doesn't mean that they wouldn't benefit from the stuff you sent out two months ago or two years ago. So you kind of get to curate that list of, in addition to my new content sending out to my new subscribers, what else can I send them that I know would be beneficial? So really having like a welcome series and a nurture series is essentially inviting people into a relationship. I mean, not, you don't really get on somebody's email list that you don't want to be on generally. I mean, sometimes I think we end up on email lists that, you know, we don't mean to be on, but a lot of times if somebody has taken a point to actually physically join the email list,

it's because they've seen that you've provided content that they've been very interested in. So this welcome series and or a nurture series is just a way to strengthen that relationship. Would you agree with that? I would. And I would even go so far as to say, they might not even really know who you are at this point, right? Like they're just opting in to get this freebie. They found you on Pinterest. This is your opportunity to say, this is who I am. This is how I'm going to help you. Here's what you're going to get while you're here, right? It's going to set you apart from like all the other free resources on the internet, right? And it allows you to say, this is the kind of domain that I cover. And this is what

I don't cover. Like, you know, say you're a health blogger. You're like, I'm here to share healthy recipes. If you're looking for like weight loss tips, I'm not your gal. And if they're like, if they're looking for weight loss tips, then they can unsubscribe. Right. So it kind of allows you to like really tell people exactly what they're going to get and they can determine if it's a good fit for them or not. And then in addition to that, the nurture sequence, like when you're sharing your top hits, like your best content, like they're, of course they're going to come back. Right. So like share, share your most helpful blog posts, the most popular roundups you have, things like that, because then people are going to be like, Amy is just so dang helpful. Like this, this really did

work or this recipe really was awesome. Right. Cause you're just like, give them the low hanging fruit, the things that we tend to assume, like, Oh, everyone has sees that on our site. Do they, or are they coming in from another route? How do we make sure that they get all those quick wins? I suppose that make you the content creator, their hero, if you will. That's too bold. I don't know. But in a way, yeah, you want them to experience your content, not just be just a lonesome follower waiting for the next newsletter. So I think a lot of people listening might be newer bloggers. They're still kind of figuring out what do I offer? What is my valuable content? What do I offer?

What is my valuable content? You know, what is my message? What do I share? What do I not share? I guess two questions. One would be how soon should they start thinking about creating a welcome series? Because maybe they only have a few subscribers right now. Should they go ahead and do this or wait until they have more people on their list? Should they go ahead and do this or wait until they have more people on their list?

And second, how can they start to figure out what their welcome series should be about? Okay. So you had first mentioned too that people might not even know what their brand is. And I would say, even if it's just one email, I have a blog post on my site that's like, write the one email welcome sequence. Because what it is, is it's just like, it's an introduction before they get your next newsletter. So if you send out a newsletter every two weeks or once a month at this point, they're going to forget who you are. And so what we want to do is just warm that relationship from the get-go. And it can just look like, Hey, I'm Allie. I'm like, right now I'm blogging about

these things. I got started because yada, yada, like, you know, I started staying home with my kids and realized that this hobby was actually super fun and, you know, a form of self-care and I want to share it with other people. The end, like, or just like, and then you can expect to hear from me a couple of times a month. I'm super busy, but if you ever like have any thoughts or ideas, feel free to reply back to an email. Right. So it's like, it's just saying hello. Like if you think about it that way, it doesn't have to be super complex. The welcome emails, the sequences that get into three to five emails, that's usually because there's a lot to share. And maybe by that time, it's like one of those emails is just like

all of our top posts or fan favorites. Maybe you have different ways to connect with you. So an email could be about like, join me on YouTube, follow me on Instagram. I do an ask me anything on Instagram live and just letting them kind of know, get a lay of the land of the kind of content you're creating on a regular basis. But like I said, that's like when you're further along and you have that capacity. But for now it's just like, Hey, I'm glad you're here. This is my name. This is what I do. It's a real person here in a way. Something I love that you shared there was tell them how often they're going to hear from you. And I like that for a couple of different reasons. One, that way, if you send out an email five days a week and somebody is like, Nope, I do not want her in my inbox five days a week and they can unsubscribe then, or on the flip side, it also kind of holds you accountable.

If you are telling them, I'm going to show up in your inbox three days a week, or I'm going to send out a weekly newsletter or whatever, you're putting that out there. And a lot of times when we say or write down what our goals are, we are much more likely to achieve them. And so I think that that gives us as bloggers, the people who are creating the content and sharing it with them, it gives us something to work towards. It's an accountability, I believe. So I love that you mentioned that. That's a really great way to, I think, to kind of set that up as you're thinking about email marketing and what you want your email marketing strategy to look like.

as you're thinking about email marketing and what you want your email marketing strategy to look like, I think that's something to very much consider is how often can you do it? Because Allie, is there really a magic number in regards to like sending out emails or things like that? Like, is there a magic number?

I don't think so. I would say a minimum of once a week. Like, and if that's a lofty goal for you, then go for twice a month. When I was doing my personal finance blog throwback, my goal was twice a week. And if that's a lofty goal for you, then go for twice a month. When I was doing my personal finance blog throwback, my goal was twice a month. That was it. And so I just say consistency, whatever consistency looks like for you. Just like with showing up with your blog content on a consistent basis, showing up in your inbox on a consistent basis helps build that kind of reputation, if you will, that people are like, oh yeah, I know this person. And the other thing about a welcome sequence is that it is not set in stone.

I just edited mine earlier this year. And now that I've introduced a round table, like a monthly round table for people to attend for free and chat with me, I included that as a whole new email in my welcome sequence. And I drafted a couple other ones, like moved to draft, so they're no longer published. So I think I even shortened my welcome sequence in that regard. So it's something that can change. I know I need to update mine. Guys, I updated, I created mine 2019. A lot has changed in my business since then.

Is it still getting the point across? Yes. Is it still welcoming people? Yes. Is it ideal? Like, is it, you know, everything I'd want to share with them right now? No, it's not. And that's part of like being a content creator and like being a business owner, you have a lot of different things to focus on. The thing is, is like Shelly from Michigan who joins your list today is not going to know that

that's that you wrote that email two years ago. And it feels a little outdated to you. It's still going to introduce her to email marketing, why it's important for her business and start sending her valuable content. So we just have to pick and choose your battles. But that being said, it can be edited and updated at any point. And then Jennifer, back to your question about how big a list should be. I would say when you've published, I don't know, five to 10 blog posts and you feel like you kind of have your, your vibe, go ahead and write up a welcome email, write up a hello or whatever. And then it's done. Like I didn't even have a website the first year of running my business. And I don't think I had an email list for another year after that. No, I got a website

and I started my email list in 2019. No, I don't think I had a website for like two years. I just was like, join this list. Oh, I didn't have a blog. I had a website, but no blog. And then yeah, that way it's off of your list. If you actually just create your welcome email, and it's just one, and then give yourself some time, figure out what it is you like to blog about. You don't have to commit to putting that in an email right away. Get used to creating your content on the broad scale for your blog. And then you can... It'll be even easier to write those emails because you'll know where you want to send people to different category pages, things like that.

Yeah. It just brings up so many questions. It's exciting to think of all the different possibilities. But I do like what you said about start with one email. I have on my smaller blog, I have that like what you said about start with one email. I have on my smaller blog, I have that exactly what you said. I have one email that goes out and I send a picture of myself so they can see who I am because I don't have a lot of pictures of myself on social or on my blog. And then I just introduce myself, why I do what I do, why I share the recipes that I share. And then I ask

them, what's your biggest challenge? And I get a lot of responses and it helps me figure out what kind of content people are looking for. And it just helps me in the future figure out where to go with it. Right. So yeah, it doesn't have to be super intimidating just to start with one email. Absolutely. If you decide later on that you want to add to that, or you have an email that you want to take out and you're adding new emails, like how does that work? Does that only go to new people? So only new people that are subscribing get the new emails that you're adding, or can you also send those emails or should you send

those emails to people that have been on your list for several months? Ooh, that's a great question. So typically like if I, you could send it to people who've already been on your list, but once they're like out of the automation or out of the sequence, they shouldn't be getting new content from you in there. And the idea is that like, you know, you can also send that exact same email to everyone else on your list. So for instance, when I turn on brand new automations for my clients, what we'll often do is email their whole list with an update. And then I will tag all of those recipients. And I'll put it in the automation that anybody with this tag can skip this first email or

something like that. So you can use that information to kind of inform who's getting the automations from then on. But otherwise, it also probably doesn't hurt to email your existing list with that information that's going to go in the welcome sequence. But you also don't have to. For instance, for me, it was my news. Like I said, my roundtable, my list already knows about my roundtable. So they don't need a formal introduction to that. Again, it's specifically for the new subscribers. So you're kind of customizing that to where they're at in the process of getting to know you. So you can kind of send them an abbreviated or different email with updated content or updated information about new things that you offer.

But you'll probably write that a little bit differently to somebody that was a brand new subscriber. Right. Because well, even people on my list, similar to the way I introduced the roundtable to them in the first place, I have to explain what it is. People are like, what is this roundtable? What does that mean? That it's free. The kind of things we'll talk about, how available I'll be for Q&A at the end, how they can submit questions, and that it's a really casual time. So actually, when I introduced that to my list, I did a little loom video just saying, this is why I'm excited for this. For years, I've been wanting to help people like you who just need a question answered to keep

doing the thing that you want to be doing, like to send the email. And I was like, and I figured that's the best way I could do that is just to hop on a call with you. I'm on Zoom all the time. Why not hop on Zoom for one hour a month and talk to the people who've been following along on my list? So in the welcome email, it's a similar thing. It's just like, hey, are you hung up on one question? How long should my email be? Can I use emojis in a subject line? And telling them, I don't want these questions to keep you from holding your message in from your subscribers. When if I can answer them and you're sending more emails and your list is happy, we all win, right? So join my next round table. You can click here to book the next month and we'll see you there. They'll still hear about

the round table when they're on my list, but that's their first introduction to it. So if it's happening the very next day, they are on it. They actually know about it sooner than waiting for the next newsletter to come out. Otherwise they'd have to wait until the round table announcement email goes out, which is a whole week before the actual round table. So if they join my list in the meantime, they can still join that month's event. If that makes sense. Do you want to start a blog, but you aren't sure what to do first?

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online course and membership community. You get access to the course and community forum immediately upon signup. And as a special bonus, we do a live coaching call with Depot members every month. So you can talk to us about your specific questions and needs. We want you to feel confident when you decide to finally start blogging someday and the blog Depot will help you do it. It's only $47 a month, but if you sign up today and use code UBP50, you'll receive 50% off your first month. The link to join us is in the show notes, and we can't wait to help you build your solid foundation in the blog depot. I think something that I like what you're hearing is that you're giving people multiple opportunities to hear about either services that you provide, opportunities to connect with you, or just free content that

you've created. Because we cannot be under the assumption that everybody is opening up every single email. That, for sure that. And that's not because people don't want to be following along with you. It's like they live busy lives, right? Yes. Or we have 7,234 emails that we still have to go through. I just pulled that number out. I'm not actually looking at my inbox right now, but I am that person who like I do, I, my emails get completely out of control and it's not that I don't want to open some of them. It's, it's just that I haven't gotten to them yet. I mean, yeah, I haven't gotten to them yet. So I think that we have to kind of get out of our head a little bit when we tell ourselves, well, I don't want to send them an email again,

or I don't want to annoy people. I don't think that you're annoying people. I think if you annoy people, they're, they're going to unsubscribe. Like, but most of the time we can assume that they have not seen all of your emails. Yeah. So this actually brings up a really great point about mindset because when it comes to sending emails, there are a lot of things that can hold you back. One, like what you just said, Amy, is that you think you're bothering people. I'd like to remind you that they joined your list, right? You're not like out there scalping emails off of the internet like the bros of the early 2000s, like every sales company ever. Just scalping email addresses of people they don't know and

just sending them emails. These people have joined your list. They want to hear from you. And like you said too, they have that choice. They can unsubscribe. There are also other things that you can have them opt out of getting a certain campaign. Maybe they're like, I can't be tempted with another course. Please just don't send me this information, but I want to stay on your list. There are different ways you can customize that experience for them. Some other mindsets, things like, for one, if you're getting a bunch of emails, I had this with a client.

She's like, I hate receiving emails because I can never get through my own inbox. And I was like, Ashley, that might not be everyone's problem. You're holding back your content from them because of your preference. Whereas you can also set up your email marketing to allow them to let you know their preferences. And then you don't feel as bad sending out those emails. Or if you feel like you're going to be a bother, it's like, you're not a bother. You're creating really valuable content that people want and need to know about and will make their lives better. So send it out of that mindset. And I think you'll feel a lot better. I think mindset is really important with that. I know that Jennifer and I just with Spark have had to kind of change our mindset with that. We used to not send very

many emails when we were launching the course or whatever. And then we got to a point that we're like, we can't just send like two emails. You just can't just send two emails because people miss them. And like this last round that we did, like we sent out emails to our affiliates, for instance, and many, like over half of them never even got it. And so when we checked in with them in another way, come to find out they never even got it. And so don't be afraid to like send it, you know, with a different subject line or something like that. Because I think that we get in this trap of, well, I've already told them about it once. And so I don't want to tell them about it again.

If someone opens up your email with something that they've already, you know, either viewed or listened to or whatever content that they've already consumed, they're just going to delete it. And that's okay. But the other people might not. I would encourage everybody, and I'm not the email marketing specialist here by any stretch of the imagination, but go into your email marketing provider and look and see how many people are actually clicking on your emails. You need to know the statistics there and look at how people are engaging with your list. I you need to know the statistics there and look at how people are engaging with your list. I think that's, that's really important to make sure that you're connecting. Right. So something I was mentioning with you guys before the call is even, I want to go back

and see how many people have engaged with the emails I send out where I share podcast episodes. Like I don't host a podcast. I'm just a guest, but I will often share them with my list because I'm like, Hey guys, we had this great conversation and you should come listen. But if like nobody's clicking on those, then I kind of need to learn about that and say, okay, maybe I just need to share about it in another way. Or I share a roundup like every quarter of, you know, like a podcast playlist that they can dive into and just listen to my voice for eight hours. Enjoyable. I know. But yeah, like how else can I package up that information? Right. Like I don't, it doesn't mean I need to like change the kind of content I talk about. It doesn't mean I need to like change my entire content pillars or anything like that. It's just

like, how can I better package this up? So it's better received, I suppose. Or it's like once a month I send out a podcast email, like one with a podcast episode. And I also just allow people to opt out of that. So it just means I get one viewer email that month or every month from then on. And that's okay, but they're still getting the other stuff. So I think there are a lot of different ways you can switch around your information. And something you had said, Amy, too, about doing a launch or promotion. I know we're not here to talk about launches, but most of your sales are going to come in in that last few hours after that final email, that last call. I see it all the time. 50% sometimes could come in after that last email. And we just typically

frame things like, in case you missed it, because they very well could have missed it. And those emails are also an opportunity for you to explain benefits, to answer questions, share a case study. And it might just be the angle that somebody needs to hear the benefit of your program from that angle in order to take action and say, okay, yes, this is what I need. I guess the opposite is that you're like, buy my thing, buy my thing, buy my thing. And that's not what we're talking about. We're not just like hammering on people's inboxes saying, buy it, buy it, buy it, you know, but they will buy it if they feel like they trust you, they know you, and they've seen some sort of proof or they have a really strong desire for that benefit that you're providing. Email marketing is an essential piece of blogging. Growing your email list is just as important as SEO and keyword research in our opinion.

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has and how it can help you propel your business to the next level. the different plans that ConvertKit has and how it can help you propel your business to the next level. I think that brings up a question that Amy and I have a lot, and that's, we know that you want to nurture people before you try to sell to them. And obviously it makes sense. And we've talked a lot about ideas in terms of ways you can send them super helpful content before you do try to sell to them. But can you try to sell to them in your welcome series? Should that wait till later? How many emails should you send them before you try to sell them something? And does it depend on the price? What kind of factors should you look at there? That is a phenomenal question, Jennifer. Okay.

So I don't typically do a lot of outright sales in the welcome sequence, or at least like it's not framed as like a hard pitch, if you will. So say you're doing a launch, the email that's like this thing, cart open now, like that's like a hard pitch. Carts closing now. If anything, like if I have a client with who has like an ebook or something, yeah, we can have an entire email about like, here are the three ebooks that I have. Right. So in that case, I consider it more like low hanging fruit.

The people who are like, oh, heck yeah, I want her Italian recipes in an ebook, you know, so we're not like there's no special offer, anything like that. It's more just like, I want you to know this is available. For instance, I have another client who's a dietitian. She's a food blogger, but she also runs a weight loss course a couple of times a year. One of her welcome emails is just letting them know about that program and asking them to join the wait list. So it's like, the last thing we want is for them to be like, wait, she had this weight loss course this whole time or this ebook this whole time or a cookbook. We don't want people finding out you have a published cookbook six months, a year later. You have this wonderful

thing that they could buy for themselves or gift to someone. And if they're following along with you, they'll probably want to do that. So I think not making assumptions that they're going to buy from those early emails, because they don't know you. But I would even say for me as a service provider, letting people know how they can connect with me. If they're like, finally, an email marketing strategist, someone I can work with will help me do it. And so they can click and book a call with me. I'm not expecting really anyone to actually do it that early in the process, but it's there so that they know that that service exists and they can always reach out to me. That makes so much sense in terms of you're just letting them know who you are

and what you offer. And you're just doing it in a way that doesn't feel salesy. and you're just doing it in a way that doesn't feel salesy. Yeah. I think it goes back to mindset, truly. If we like are sending out emails and like, oh gosh, I don't want to sell. Like, that feels icky. I think we have to like reframe that and ask ourselves,

how am I adding value to this person's life instead? So that value could be added with a product that you've created. Of course, you've created a product that you use that is really beneficial. But if we just constantly go at everything with, oh, geez, they're going to know I'm selling. They know I'm going to do this to make money. They know that's why I'm doing it. No, no. Yes, you are doing it to make money, but you are also doing it to add value to their lives because you have a solution for a problem that they joined your list to solve. Right. Most likely.

Right. So don't, so come at it with a totally different mindset, I think is so helpful. And I'm totally preaching to myself here, not just those of you listening, but I think that we have to just come out of this sales doesn't feel right because we are naturally selling things. I mean, we're natural influencers. If you're in the content creation space, that's what you're doing. Right. And so finding a way to do that in a really authentic way, because I believe that most of our hearts are very authentic and we truly do just want to help people. I know with our blog bootcamp,

I mean, the best of intentions, we have the best of intentions behind it. We know that there are people out there who want to start a blog, who have no idea how to get started. And like, we truly do want to connect with those people who need help. We are not a fit for everybody. We know that not everybody needs to start a blog. We know that there are people who can totally start a blog on their own and they don't need our help at all. But we know that there are a lot of people out there who do need our help, who do want our help. And so don't feel shameful for anything that you've created that you want to share with

your community. And I think email marketing is such a beautiful way to be able to do it in a way that they can easily delete or unsubscribe. So know that. They can do either of those things and don't be afraid to show up in their inbox. Yeah, absolutely. And the more that your list grows and the more that you kind of track where people are coming in from, you can also tailor different offers for different people. Like I mentioned with skill sets earlier.

So say you have a beginner food blogging sequence, you know, or, you know, and in there you could sell a product. Well, maybe the product is a four video, how to cut up produce like course. And it's $14, you know, like, is that going to be super helpful for those particular people? Yes. I have a brother who's just now living out on his own. And I was like, bro does not know how to cut up an onion. Like, do I need to have him come here or can I have him take a class? Like, what does he need for Christmas from me? It's like, how can I get you that education? Because you're going to need that for a long time. And that means you might not be selling it to everyone on your list. You could just sell it to people who are really beginners.

You can ask them, they can click in an email and you will know who your beginners are, right? Like there are a lot of ways you can use email to also make sure you're sending the offers to the right people. So let's back up for a minute. And as we're talking about getting people on your list, like what are your top, top ways to encourage people to join your list? Yeah. So I think a lot of people, especially when you're first getting started, it's just like, join my newsletter. Over time, I'm going to want you to change that, right? People aren't like, oh my gosh, you know what I need? More emails. That's probably not what they're signing up for. They don't know what

a welcome sequence is or welcome series. You don't have to be like, join my welcome series. They don't know what that is. They're just out here looking for recipes, right? Or looking for DIY help. So the most recommended thing is offer some sort of lead magnet. You can put that in quotation marks, lead magnet. So the idea is like you're providing some sort of incentive in exchange for their email address. That's it. So a lead magnet can look like a lot of things. It could be a training video.

I have one on how to help your subscribers self-segment because I'm a super nerd. And when you opt in for that, you're joining my list. You can opt in through a PDF on my website. You can opt in by joining my round table. All these different places lead to the welcome sequence. So what I've seen good success with, I mean, anything you can promote an outcome, like how to do anything better, faster with less stress, like whether it's meal planning or it could even just be like a checklist for like what you need in your pantry to cook Dominican food, right? To you,

it's an assumption to people who've never cooked Dominican food are like, what is that sauce? Or what is that spice? And where do I get it? You know, you can also include a shop link on your site. That's like, here's where I get it from Amazon and link to affiliates. You know, there's a lot of ways you can help make sure that they feel prepared for your future content. It can look like a short ebook. It can be content you already have on your site, just packaged up differently. So like I said, an ebook, you could do some sort of email course. So like a five days to meal planning a month in advance or something like that. And everything that they need to split up over those five emails. So it's free to join. And it's just a different method of

receiving that content. And I know email courses are kind of, in a way, training people to go back to their inbox to hear from you. So that's kind of like, oh, if I click here, if I go to my inbox, maybe Amy sent me something or the next day. And so it's getting her excited to look for your name or your business's name. That's a lot of really, really good ideas. And I think that anybody could grab one of those and start somewhere and just go in with the intention that it's going to be simple for you to create. You're not going to spend hours and hours because you kind of want to, I believe, like test it out a little bit and see what people get excited about. I know I've played around with offering different like downloadables for signing up for my list. And I've even just played around with changing the text in how I'm inviting them to sign up. And that can make such a massive difference. I don't even remember what I did one time and quadrupled the number of people that were

signing up for my email list every month. And now I would like to go back to that moment in time. You added an emoji. An emoji. Yeah. Oh my goodness. Like a little raised hand emoji. Like, I need help with this.

Yeah, I need it. I want it. That's awesome. Yeah. And this kind of goes back to like where your welcome sequence doesn't have to be perfect the first time around. It doesn't have to be all inclusive the first time around. So like your different freebies that you offer on your site, you can start with one and then you change it. And you're like, Ellie, where do I even start? Guys, go with your gut. Honestly, for the first one, I went with my gut and I've created better resources since then. But for the time that that was my only opt-in for like a year, it,

it did me well. And it's still a resource that I have. So, you know, I'm even looking at my website, girl, you have too many resources. You're confusing people. So I might just like take them, you know, put them in the vault, if you will, that can be a Disney reference or Taylor Swift reference. It's up to you, but you know, and I can always come back and offer those as like a bundle that people can purchase, like all of these other resources that I have. You can use it for future things. You could put a dollar sign on it and sell it to your list. There's a lot of different ways that you can create and share that information. We've had that question before about how many should I have or not have. So I love that you just answered that.

Like you can have multiple because you can have your multifaceted. And so you have lots of different things that could be bringing people to your site. So it's okay to have a freebie that might go in each content bucket, you know, to get, to get those people in. And that doesn't mean that it's going to be pretty unlikely that somebody is going to come to your site and they're going to need every piece of information that you're ever going to share. They might only need two out of the five content buckets or something like that, but that doesn't make them irrelevant at all.

You can provide really great content in those buckets that they need. I love that you just offered that advice that you can create different types of freebies for different content pillars. I think I know that our students have asked us that question before. We have an alum membership for our bootcamp students and we have had that question here just recently. Somebody said, can I create more than one freebie?

You know, is that okay or not? So, yeah. And you can, I mean, there's, I've got a blog post on this too. I can share with you of like all the different ways you can share your freebie, like in your sidebar, in the actual blog content, in your footer. You can have a resources page. You're going to have it on your homepage most likely. You could have it as a sticky bar at the top of your site. There's a lot of different ways you can present it. So think about it from

this way. It's the topic you create. You're testing that out and making sure people are interested in it. The actual words you use to promote it on those forums, wherever they're at, can adjust, can, let's say, impact how people engage with it or don't. And then where you share it can also impact how people engage with it. So you've got all these different elements. So just because you feel like you struck out or you're like, I don't know, it's like, let me tell you, I don't know either. I don't know your audience. I'd be doing the same thing. You're testing it out. You're seeing what feels on brand for you, what creates value for your audience, and then different ways to get it in front of them and see how they respond.

Yeah. I think what I hear you saying is don't just create it, stick it out there and move on with your life. Look and see, are people signing up for it? Is this making an impact? Is it, do more people sign up for this or this? And really keep refining, not only like your freebie offer, but like look and see pretty much any platform you use to send out emails. You can go in and see how many people are opening, how many people are clicking. You just should constantly be looking and refining as you're working on trying to grow that email list and that relationship with those people.

Yeah. And I would go so far as to say, if you're in maybe even your first year blogging, maybe don't look at any of that information. Like I always say that because for your sanity, if you're tweaking every email based on how people responded to the last one, it's just going to like stall you, you know, do the bulk of your work on your blog, on your site, use email to get it out there. And then over time you will have more data. Like, it's not really fair to the six people on your list to like, oh, so-and-so didn't open my email. It's like, zoom out, do the big picture, put in the work, and you'll have more data when you have more subscribers. So in the meantime, shoot from the hip, go with your gut, create resources that

you think would be applicable to each of those content pillars. Start there. And then with time, you can also tweak. You might learn a year from now, you're like, I actually hate writing about baking cookies. I just don't want any cookies on my site. I ran out of ideas and you might just trash it. But you learn that by doing it, I suppose, versus like, I don't know. I also don't want you changing everything you do in your business because of a few clicks. I still want your blog to be yours, even if how you share that information needs to be changed in the future to better serve your audience. Two things I love that you just said. One, you don't have to have it perfect to start, but you just have to start somewhere. And two, be willing to look at the data as it rolls in objectively without tying

it to a morality like I am good or bad based on if people click or do not click. That is not true. That does not mean you're irrelevant. So just begin. Like, you know, you obviously did that when you started your blog, you just began, you know, and you did it imperfectly. You did it without having all of the information. And that's the same thing with email marketing. We have said this time and time again, that email marketing, we believe is next to having a blog. It is the most important piece of your blogging business. So that's why we are going to have Allie on here probably multiple times to talk about email marketing, because I would rather talk to you about email marketing and how to strengthen this relationship with your subscribers versus how you can get more

social media followers. Yes. Is that an important tool to have in your toolbox? Absolutely. But you want these people to convert to people who are part of your community, truly part of your community, who will then turn into fans and champions. And when you decide to create something that you want people to know about, they're going to be the first to buy it. They're going to be the first to share it. And it's going to feel very genuine and real. I mean, and so that is important. That's going back to the very beginning of this. It's creating that relationship with the people who are showing up on your blog. Allie, thank you so much for always just, I love the way you talk about email marketing in such an approachable way.

And it always energizes me after we get off these calls together. I always feel energized and excited about what there is to learn and do with my own email marketing. So thank you for just bringing your energy. And can you please let our listeners know where they can connect with you? And can you please let our listeners know where they can connect with you? Absolutely. So if you go to duett.co, D-U-E-T-T dot C-O, I have a handful of resources there. One that might be a really great start based on this conversation is called Your First Welcome Sequence. And I literally give you like, these are the five steps to writing your welcome sequence.

So if you're like, just tell me what to do. I walk you through like determining what would be most important to share with your list and how often you're going to email them. Like all those questions are in there. So feel free to check that out. And then if you want to join me for our free round table every month, you can find that on the site as well. Thank you so much, Allie. We will include all of that information in the show notes. And yeah, we look forward to hopefully having you back on to dive even deeper into more email topics in the future. Absolutely. I'd love to do that. Thanks, Allie. Thanks so much for tuning in today. If you'd like to continue the conversation about blogging with

us, please find us on Instagram at Spark Media Concepts. You can also sign up for our weekly newsletter where we share blogging tips and inspiration. You can sign up by finding the link in the show notes. For those of you who are ready for the next step and want to start your own blog, join the waitlist for the ultimate blog bootcamp. The link to join the waitlist is also in the show notes. Go out and make today a great day.