Somewhere on your to-do list, probably a fair way down, you’ve got “set up email list.”
It’s probably been there a while. Maybe even a couple of years.
Because it’s another thing to do, when you’re already busy with the day-to-day running of your business. It’s a bit techy and you might need to figure a few things out, so it gets pushed to one side while you do other things.
When I ask makers what has stopped them from getting started, the answer I hear over and over is “I don’t know what I’m doing and I don’t have time to learn.”
So here is a quick start guide to show you the setup, step by step. It works on any of the main email platforms, because underneath the different screens and different feature names, they’re all built around the same features and functionality.
Work through the steps in order and you’ll finish with a working email list you can send to.
(And if you’re still wondering whether an email list is worth having at all, read this post on why your handmade business needs an email list.)
Before you start: pick the platform that makes sense to you
Every email platform does pretty much the same thing. It stores your subscribers, gives people ways to sign up, and sends your emails. Most of them have a free tier to get you started.
The differences mostly come down to what the features are called and how generous the free plan is.
So which platform is best? Firstly, the one you can most easily understand. And then second, the one with the best features for the price.
And when you’re looking at features, there is one feature that is really important to have.
Automations.
Automations allow you to write an email once, and then send it to lots of people automatically and over time – like a welcome email that everyone gets when they sign up to your list. They also allow you to send a sequence of emails over a set period of time.
We haven’t got time here to go into all of the ways that this is really useful in making email a lot quicker and easier for you, but trust me that once you get started, you’ll want these features.
So check what your provider offers. Some of them limit the free tier to just one automation – so you can have a welcome sequence, but not another one that follows up when people buy something, asking them for a review/testimonial.
Some only allow you to have a one step automation – so you can send a single welcome email but you can’t have a longer sequence to nurture that audience in a very targeted way.
Sending automated emails is really useful for businesses like ours, where we’re limited on the time we have for marketing, so make sure that you’re not picking a provider that hampers you on that.
Beyond that, open free accounts on one or two platforms, spend ten minutes clicking around each, and pick the one that makes the most sense to you. (I think Mailerlite gives the best combination of ease of use and a generous free tier)
Under a 1000 subscribers, most platforms are free or very low cost, so this isn’t an expensive decision. And you own your list of subscribers, so if you change your mind later, you can export the list and move it to another platform.
The same principle applies to every step below. Where you have a choice between tools or methods, choose the one that’s easiest for you to understand, even if it means you don’t get something for free. It’s better to pay a little bit each month for a system you can actually use, than stay confused and keep intending to sort out email when you’ve got time.
Quick note: You do need to have a domain-based email address before you can use an email marketing platform. That means an email address like me@makersbusinesstoolkit.com, rather than makersbusinesstoolkit@gmail.com
If you haven’t done that already, Google Workspace is a great option. You access and read your emails just like any other gmail account, but you have your own domain-based email address.
Step 1: Import the subscribers you already have
If you’ve been collecting email addresses (a signup sheet at fairs, customers who asked to hear about new work, a spreadsheet somewhere), you’ll need to enter them into your email provider so that you can send to them.
Every platform has an import option for subscribers. You can usually upload a spreadsheet as a CSV file, copy and paste addresses from Excel, or type them in one by one. Only import people who agreed to hear from you and be wary of importing email addresses you collected a long time ago. It’s better to start fresh than have people make spam complaints about your emails because they don’t remember signing up.
One thing to watch out for here is that some platforms allow you to create multiple lists of email addresses, so that you can email people about different things.
While it can seem sensible to keep different lists for different kinds of content or different kinds of subscribers, in almost all cases, it’s best to have one list. It keeps things simple, and it mirrors the way your subscribers think about signing up for emails from your business.
When you want to treat groups within it differently (for example people interested in buying products vs people interested in joining workshops) it’s usually better to do that with tags and segments.
If you don’t have any addresses yet, skip this step. Every list starts at zero, and the next step is how it grows.
Step 2: Create a signup form and a landing page
This will be how new people add themselves to your list.
A signup form is a small box (name, email address, button) that you embed on your website.
A landing page is a standalone page hosted by your email platform, with its own web address that you can send people to, to sign up.
A landing page works even if you have no website, which is what makes it so useful. You can link to it from your Instagram bio, give the address to anyone who asks or add it into your product descriptions.
It’s also a good option if you’re not comfortable with tech. Most of us can add a link to our website. It’s sometimes a bit more tricky to embed a form.
Set up one of each if you can. Your platform will probably have ready-made templates for each that you can use. Some have ai assistants that can help you to set up your form.
For the wording, tell people what they’ll get: first dibs on new collections, news of the shows you’ll be at, 10% off their first order.
Instead of just saying “Join my email list” you’re highlighting a benefit to them, which is that they get reminded about you later and can find you again. They also might get some insider benefits that you only give to your subscribers, or that you give to them first.
Step 3: Set up a simple template
Most platforms include a drag and drop editor. You build an email by dragging blocks (text, image, button) onto the page, the same way you’d arrange objects on a slide. It’s very easy.
Use it once to set up a simple template: a header with your business name, logo or a header image at the top, and a footer at the bottom. The platform usually adds the legally required unsubscribe link to the footer for you, along with your address (also required).
Add your branding, save it, and then every email you send using that template will already be branded for your business.
Don’t try to create a complicated or highly designed email template. Emails that look like emails a friend might send, with a bit of your personality in the writing, often perform better than heavily designed ones, and they’re much quicker and easier to put together.
Step 4: Authenticate your domain
At some point, your platform will ask you to “authenticate your domain”. What does that mean and what is it actually asking you to do?
Inbox providers like Gmail want proof that the platform sending email on your behalf has your permission. They also want to make sure that you are a genuine business and not a spammer.
To give the proof, you copy a couple of codes from your email platform into the settings of your website host. That’s often also the place that runs your website – like Squarespace or Shopify.
This proves that you own the website. Think of it like those codes you get in a text message from the bank when you’re setting up a new payment.
It’s just like that. Copy codes from one place, paste them into boxes in another, to prove that you are really who you say you are.
You add these codes to somewhere called your DNS settings. It feels scary but it’s a one-time job. Once it’s done, you never think about it again.
Your email provider and your website provider/hosting company will have step by step instructions for this. Search their support documentation for “DNS management”
If you’re using a big platform like Shopify or Squarespace, you might even find that they have an integration with your email marketing company, that can make it even easier.
So if tech isn’t your favourite part of running a business, that’s a good reason to keep your website and domain with a big, established provider with good support rather than a small, cheap host that relies on posting on message boards or getting support from other users.
And if you hit a wall partway through, don’t be afraid to contact support at your email marketing company and ask them to walk you through it. Helping you finish your setup is in their interest.
Step 5: Create and send your first campaign
On most platforms, a single email sent to your list is called a campaign.
To create your first one, start from the template you saved, and write a short message. Tell people what you’re working on, or show one thing you’ve got for sale. Don’t overthink it and try not to show too many things in one email. If you’ve got lots of things to show, then spread it out over several emails.
If you’re unsure what to write, this post on the six emails every maker should be sending will give you more ideas.
Before sending, you’ll fill in a few fields: the subject line, the sender (your own name, and an email address at your own domain once it’s authenticated), and the preheader, which is the snippet of text that shows next to the subject line in the inbox.
Then send it, even if your list is three people. Those three people are worth taking care of, and the next email is always easier than the first.
And you’re done!
If you’ve got some extra time, here are a few additional things you can set up.
Extra credit: tags and segments
Tags and segments are how you treat groups of people differently inside your one list.
A tag is a label you attach to a subscriber: met at a specific fair, bought online, interested in commissions. Think of it like a post-it note attached to that person.
A segment is a group of subscribers that your platform builds from a rule, like everyone who joined in the last month, or everyone with a particular tag. You can also combine multiple rules to get a more targeted segment
Some examples:
- Everyone who has bought online AND has opened an email in the last month
- Everyone who opened your last email OR has bought something.
- Everyone who has opened your last 3 emails but has not bought something
- Everyone who signed up over 6 months ago and has never clicked on anything (a useful one for removing unengaged subscribers)
You don’t need tags or segments on day one, so if you’re getting ready for a show and just want to get your list up and running, you can skip this until later.
But, if you’ve got time, it’s a good idea to at least create a tag for buyers (most online stores can integrate with your email list and add a tag automatically when someone buys something). If you have different income streams it can be useful to have separate buyer tags for online store purchases, commissions and workshops.
If you do nothing else, remember to tag people you sign up at a show with the name of the show. That way, if you do the event again and want to invite people you know are local, you’ll be able to send an email just to the subscribers with that tag.
Extra credit: a welcome email
A welcome email greets each new subscriber automatically, the moment they sign up. It reaches people right when they’re most interested, so it usually gets opened more than anything else you send.
Write a short one: who you are, what you make, what you’ll be sending. Then set it up as an automation so it sends itself. Your platform may call this a workflow, a sequence, or an automation.
They all mean the same thing: an email that goes out on its own when something triggers it, in this case someone joining your list.
This isn’t the place for perfectionism. Just get something up that thanks them for signing up and reminds them that you exist (always the first step in your marketing plan!)
Start before it feels finished
None of this has to be perfect before you get started. Everything can change later. The words on your form, the template for your emails, even the platform itself.
At first, only a few people will see your emails, so let that be your permission to do it imperfectly and learn as you go along, instead of expecting to be great at it right from the beginning.
The important thing is that you start collecting email addresses and sending emails.
If you grow that list of people over time, eventually there’s a good chance that enough people are ready to buy any time you send an email. That’s how you smooth out your sales and make money whenever you need to.
And if you’d like to sign up to my email list, I send a weekly email to makers running handmade businesses, with practical things you can use in your own. You can subscribe here.
