Tune up your online operations for the holidays
Small tweaks that can help pay your rent
I recently did an email marketing “tune-up” for a record label and got this email soon after:
If you run a small business and want to make a few more bucks every month, you should schedule a time with me to discuss working together.
Most of you don’t run big e-commerce operations, so I modified my tune-up advice for those sending out emails via Substack and other platforms.
Let’s get into it.
WATCH YOUR AUTOMATED EMAILS
Substack doesn’t have flows or automation like Mailchimp or Klaviyo, but it occasionally sends emails on your behalf.
With your Welcome Email, you can link to your newest material, a special download, or make a specific ask, like introducing themselves in a big community post.
Every message you send (even the automated ones) is part of the creative universe that you’re building, so don’t leave anything with the default text.
Did you know Substack will send out automated upsell emails? You do now!
Have I checked mine in a while? Nope, and I just discovered it has the old name of my newsletter! How many new paid subscriptions did I miss out on because of this confusion? Learn from my mistakes, friends!
Same with “Enable re-up referral emails” - make sure you customize it so it’s not just some plain old default text.
DON’T LINK TO SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
I will die on this hill - kill all links to places like Spotify and Instagram and Facebook and Twitter - platforms where you can’t reliably reach your own audience.
A higher percentage of your fans will open and read your emails, so link to your website (with Bandcamp or Spotify or YouTube embeds).
START USING SEGMENTS
You can build granular segments with Klaviyo and Flodesk and Mailchimp (like sending to people in a particular zip code or region), but Substack is pretty limited.
Personally, I’d say focus on two segments here - free and paid.
I’m not saying paywall everything, but you can post things on Substack (or your website), and then send an email to just your paid subscribers as a way of making it exclusive. Or maybe it’s an early pre-order link, or to RSVP for an upcoming Zoom call.
From Substack: How do I send an email to one or a select group of subscribers on Substack?
MIND YOUR DESIGN AND LAYOUT
I don’t want to get too deep with this - to each their own, but I feel every email campaign should have your most compelling image at the top. It’s how newspapers, website articles, blog posts, and Instagram work, so it can work for your newsletter.
And please, use your own photos. Stock photos are great for content farms and SEO clickbait articles, but if you’re reading this you’re a smart and creative individual with a phone filled with 100 photos you took last week. Use one of those.
STOP SENDING TRAFFIC TO YOUTUBE
I will die on this hill.
If you’re emailing your fans to let them know about your new video, embed it on your own site and link to it there.
Embed it on the product page of the thing you’re selling.
Embed it on the sign-up page for the course you’re booking.
Embed it on the page of tour dates where people can buy tickets.
When you send people to YouTube, you’re dropping them off in the middle of the busy food court at the mall, and expecting them to not get distracted by all the recommended videos and assorted noise of the YouTube platform.
I’m doing the ‘Take Back 30 Challenge’ with
of the Introvert Drawing Club!We reclaim 30 minutes a day by putting down our phones and being creative, working on new projects, playing scales on our guitars - it’s gonna be fun!
I’m Seth Werkheiser, and I’ll help you spend less time on social media, and make money with your email list in a non-creepy way.
First, we’ll talk for an hour about your project, your goals, and dreams.
I’ll load your Social Media Escape Plan into a private Basecamp project (it’s cool, I promise).
You start working on the tasks I assign to reach your goals, and I’ll be there to assit!
We’ll wrap up with another one hour call.
This whole process usually lasts 2-3 weeks. Got questions? hey@sethw.xyz
Just want to talk about what you’ve got going on? Find clarity on your project? Rethink the direction you’re heading in? Book a 1-hour call:
Join the 30+ folks directly supporting this publication by becoming a paid subscriber.
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Seth, thanks for the encouragement. I’ve been spending a few weeks cleaning up my email list that I’ve been neglecting for an embarrassingly long time.
I’ve been banging the drum about this with my clients too, maintaining organized email list and having a strategy and process is critical. The sooner you start the better!
Seth, you are literally taking a page from the playbook and enhancing it! This will be my fun read for the weekend! Thank you, thank you!