0 T0 500 NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS
I did not plan to write this today but after rectifying the glitches from my newsletter platforms, I’ve decided to share why I am shifting from my all-time favorite Flodesk to Squarespace.
If you’ve been following me since day one, you might remember my first few newsletter to you. Not sure if anyone of you kept it, but this was how it looked:
Sent: Dec 17, 2021, 11:40 AM
Surprisingly, I was asked to create Digital version of my calendars in 2021 😹
Mailchimp was a good to start if you’re looking at growing your subscribers without paying any fees. However, I was challenged for a few months trying to grow manually. Without paying for any plans, there was no automation. It means, at any time a subscribers join, I have to manually send a “Welcome Letter”
I did not think much of an emailing strategy, all I wanted was to start. As I grow into about 200 subscribers (most from Procreate Students and Instagram back in 2021) When I rolled into 2022, I felt that I needed automation (ie. a workflow system) to do the hard hard.
So, I spent hours reading and finding the best mailing platform to grow. then, I found sandra’s page
I remembered following her and joining her newsletter community. After receiving multiple emails from her, I truly felt the importance of having a mailing list community! In a few days, I paid in full for Flodesk with 50% discount and started this newsletter journey.
This is my data from a year ago from Flodesk Analytics
CSV refers to an excel format that is used for most Mailing platforms. That was the first time I uploaded all my subscribers from Mailchimp into Flodesk. The manual entry came from my XHS students that I had to manually insert.
After a year, I have grew 50%!
500 may not sound like much but leading 500 people into my website monthly is plentiful!
This second data that I felt necessary to share, is the reasons why Flodesk is a great tool for me. It kept most records and it has a segmentation function that you can streamline what your subscribers wants to read
Because I am a data driven person, seeing this helps to focus what to write and how to engage with my niche. I know I may not write as much in Creative Business (consider this as one) but because more of you are here for slowness or Procreate Studio, thus I have to be relatable in my current.
reasons why I am shifting from Flodesk to Squarespace:
1 NEWSLETTER POP-UP ON THE WEBSITE
The great thing about having a pop-up form within your website is that visitors can hang out on my website longer compared to a third-party pop-up form. In addition to this decision is the ability to narrow down my offering. For the past year, it has been experiential. There are multiple offerings for my readers from freebies to procreate etc. Today, my business is thriving differently and it needs to stay rooted in its vision. Thus keeping all my assets within Squarespace is a smarter choice.
2 TOTAL VOLUME OF EMAILS SENT OUT
Over a year, I have sent out a total volume of 7000 emails but only 12% click through. This 7k includes “Welcome messages to product launches, announcements etc. Since May, I am sizing this volume down by focusing only on sending 1 letter on the 20th of each month.
3 A cohesive mailing process
The thing about using Flodesk is that you have to constantly double-check that your mailing details and product links are correct. There are times I attached the wrong link and have to resend the message again. But with Squarespace where I host my products, blogs, and Procreate Studio. This function adds value and saves me much more time.
4 Cost
NGL, paying over USD$400 for 500 subscribers is not quite worthwhile. I need to manage my funds to focus on other important sectors such as my monthly Procreate videos, and external teaching platforms to reach China.
Over time, I believe my mailing list will be increasing. By then, I’ll decide again to return to Flodesk because of its unlimited emailing volumes.
So if you’re looking at aesthetics, creative copywriting prompts, and want to share consistently, I still do highly recommend Flodesk! Get an entire year at 50% off your first membership with unlimited emails and unlimited subscribers on Flodesk today!
