This blogger spills the deets!
Shocked to see that number, over 60,000 email subscribers? When we heard that we KNEW we had to have Crystal Allen on our blog to share all of her secrets with us! In this episode Crystal shares how she took "grow an email list" off her to-do list and make it happen, how she gets email subscribers, and how her email list is her community!
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"What happens if tomorrow your top traffic drivers go away? What are you left with? Really, the answer is that you're left with your website; because you own that. And you're left with your email list. When I had it framed like that, to me, it just became so important to try to foster and build my email list."
Discussed in this episode...
Taking "grow your email list" off your to-do list and make it happen!
Building an email list was on Crystal's to-do list for a really really long time but she, like many of us, kept pushing it to the back burner. The main reason for this was that she's not someone who enjoys high-tech stuff, and email felt overwhelming and almost insurmountable. She kept having friends tell her she needed to do it though, so she originally hired a VA to do it for her. With that, she saw very little return on her investment. She wasn't seeing many click-throughs and she ended up confused about why so many people were enthusiastic about email.
She canceled her VA email service and decided to give it a try herself. And she hated every single second of it! The email platform she was using wasn't intuitive to her, and every single email she sent out was a struggle. She had no consistency and no email opt-in set up.
What Changed?
January 2020 came and that year an intention she set for herself was to do hard things. She told her blogger group about her intention, and that she wanted to really focus on email, but didn't know where to start. Everything changed when she asked for help. Someone told her about a free email course she had access to. Another person told her about Flodesk and how easy it was to create workflows and beautiful emails.
And what was possibly most helpful, a group of them came to her and shared that they wanted to also make email a priority and were feeling the same as she was. Together, they set goals and deadlines, rolled up their sleeves, and got to work. They are all still in touch and ask each other questions often. At the beginning of this process, Crystal had 2,000 subscribers, and at the time of this episode, she has over 70,000 subscribers! In just two and a half years!
How are you getting so many subscribers?
A major component of Crystal's business plan is designing SVG files, and she is really really consistent with when these files are released. This consistency is something that Crystal believes has helped her build her list and keep people subscribed to her list (which is perhaps most important). At the top of the home page of her website she has a subscribe area that asks people to join her community. Then on her sidebar, in all of her blog posts, there's also a subscribe button. Readers can also subscribe through her SVG and printables forms. Crystal's top suggestion is to figure out what people are connecting with you for, and what you can offer them that will resonate. And then continuing to offer that value to subscribers!
Also Discussed:
- Why is email so important?
- How has focusing on email changed Crystal's business?
- Can we get the same sense of community through email as we do through social media?
- Having the plan to retain your email subscribers
- What are some things to look for when deciding on an email platform?
- What sort of content are you sharing in your emails?
- What is a good open rate?
Resources Mentioned
More about Crystal Allen:
Crystal is the author of two Cricut craft books and the owner of Hello Creative Family, where she shares free SVG files, Cricut tutorials, printables, sublimation projects, handmade gift ideas, and so much more. As the busy mom of two kids (and two fur babies), Crystal loves quick and easy crafty projects that give you that instant hit of gratification!
