Start the Conversation: Check out if ConvertKit is Right for You

Blog, Writing

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Are you a writer who wants to get their work in front of more people?
Are you unsure of what is an email list and why it’s important to your business?
Do you want to start selling your work to an already interested audience?

When I first started my writing blog, I completely underestimated the importance of email marketing.

To be honest, starting a blog was a lot of work, and I already had so many other things I had to learn, like how to use WordPress, how to format my posts, how to get my social media accounts set up for business.

Building an email list and figuring out how to get subscribers fell to the bottom of my blogging priority list. It was just going to have to wait.

It wasn’t until months later, when I started using ConvertKit, that I realized that setting up my email list was one of the easiest parts of blogging, and one of the most important assets to a new writer.

Starting an email list is one of the best ways to get your work in front of an interested audience, and start building your writing career.

Setting up your email list doesn’t have to be overwhelming or difficult.

If you’re a writer who wants to start building your email list, and are looking for an email marketing provider to help you do just that, then I recommend you check out ConvertKit.

In today’s review post, I’m going to cover why you need an email list, some of ConvertKit’s top features, and help you decide if ConvertKit is the right fit for your writing dreams.

Let’s get writing.

Table of Contents

What Exactly is an Email List?

Why You Need an Email List

Pricing

What Exactly is an Email List?

So, what exactly is an email list?

An email list is a list of all the people who have given you their email address in order to receive additional content from your blog.

When someone gives you their email address, in essence they’re saying, they want to hear more from you.

A person who gives you their email address then becomes your subscriber.

In order to get subscribers, you have to have something set up on your site, like a landing page or form, for visitors to enter their email address to receive further notifications from you.

This is where an email marketing service provider, like ConvertKit, comes in.

Here’s an example of a form I created in ConvertKit, where readers can enter their email address and subscribe to my blog.

Why You Need an Email List

Email lists are essential to building your business and making an online income.

It’s especially important for new writers who want to build a fanbase for their work. By putting your writing in front of your audience more often, you are creating more opportunities to promote and sell your work.

If you’re a new writer or blogger, here are some of the most important reasons how and why you need to begin building an email list:

Pre-Publication Sales – Keeping in touch with your audience, by sending them updates and blog posts related about your upcoming work, is a great pre-publication strategy. Many writers, before publishing a book or major piece of content, will give their subscribers advance notice, securing purchases before their book has even hit online shelves.

Audience Feedback – The comments section gets the conversation started, email keeps it going. The emails I receive from my audience are much more personal than anything I usually get in my comments section. While you may want to only rely on the comments section of your blog for audience feedback, emails are a great way to build stronger relationships, and get deeper insight about what your audience really wants from you as a creator.

Testing Ground for New writing – Not sure if your writing will take or not? There were a few posts I wrote that didn’t really end up the way I had hoped. No matter how much I worked on it, I just couldn’t get the words right (the ultimate writer’s struggle). I sent it out anyway, and was completely surprised by all of the personal emails I received from people who really took a lot away from it. Sending your audience samples of your newest work, whether you feel great about it or not, is one of the best ways to test out new writing, and see what truly is and isn’t working.

What is ConvertKit?

ConvertKit is an email marketing service provider created for bloggers by a blogger.

It’s on online software that stores your subscriber’s email addresses, and allows you to manage your list, all in one place.

Unlike personal email services, it has the capability to store thousands of email addresses, templates to create landing pages and opt-in forms that get subscribers, and software that allows you to send automated emails to your audience.

What’s Included

ConvertKit comes with many built-in features for managing your email list, as well as keeping your audience’s personal email addresses safe and secure.

ConvertKit email marketing software is designed to help you connect with your audience one-on-one, and start the conversation for selling your online products and work.

Here’s a list of some of the top features they offer business owners, bloggers, and writers:

Automatic Emails – This is one of my favorite features. You can literally write the emails you want to send to your subscribers in advance, schedule it using their automatic scheduler tool, and that’s it. You don’t have to worry about creating new content week-to-week, and going through the process all over again. Automatic emails allow you to keep your audience interested, while you to work on new projects.

Customizable Templates – No code, no problem. ConvertKit has a template library with of over 30 customizable designs you can easily edit to fit your blog theme. You can choose and build beautiful landing pages and forms, that can easily be added to your site, with no coding required.

Dashboard with Analytics – Audience insights made simple. ConvertKit offers an interactive dashboard allowing you to see how many people are subscribing to your blog daily, which emails your current subscribers are opening, and what links they are clicking on in each email. ConvertKit analytics makes it easy to figure out what your audience is interested in, and what they’re not.

Bonus Features

ConvertKit is more than just and email marketing provider, it’s a business builder.

Email marketing is more than just setting up a few emails, it’s about building a long-term relationship with your audience.

ConvertKit offers additional tools and resources to make sure you are able to make every email count, and create a business strategy that converts subscribers into customers.

Some of their bonus features include:

Free Webinars – I’ve attended several of ConvertKit’s webinars. They are extremely helpful. They host live workshops that go deeper than just how to set up an email, they show you how to connect with your audience and build trust in your brand. In addition to this, they also provide plenty of other free resources, like video tutorials and guided posts, to help you build a strong marketing message.
ConvertKit Community – Get involved in the blogging business community. ConvertKit has a social media platform solely dedicated to creators just like you, giving you the opportunity to get involved and build relationships with other online entrepreneurs.
Customer Support – You’re never blogging alone. ConvertKit has a diverse customer success team committed to answering all your questions. Whether it’s how to build landing pages, email integrations, creating tags and segments, or just general account questions, ConvertKit is a full-service operation offering support for all your business needs.

Pricing

ConvertKit is a $29 per month subscription service plan that offers no credit card commitment to sign up.

No one likes having to put their credit card information in for a “free service.” It can make you feel like you have no control over your money. And let’s be honest, there are a lot of companies that will say they won’t charge you, and can cancel at any time, only for you to check your statement later and see a charge.Not with ConvertKit.

ConvertKit also offers a 14-day free trial with sign-up!

So, if you use it and after 14 days feel it’s the right fit you and your business, then you can enter your payment information to keep the service going. If you use it, and decide it’s not a good fit for you, then you don’t have to do anything further, the service will end.

The only commitment when signing up you have to make is to yourself to use the software, explore everything it has to offer, and see if it really is a good fit or not for your business.

Ready to give it a try? Click here to Sign Up for your 14-Day Free Trial!

About the Creator

ConvertKit was created by fellow blogger and entrepreneur, Nathan Barry. Tired of not being able to reach his audience, or have full control over his message, Nathan created ConvertKit as a way to give bloggers the tools they need to make an income online, and turn their blog into a business.

Learn more about Nathan and his story, and meet the whole ConvertKit team, by clicking the link here.

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I hope you feel more comfortable about email marketing and how easy it is to get set-up.

If you’re ready to start building your email list, click the link below to get started with your free ConvertKit trial.

Start My free 14-Day Trial with ConvertKit Today!

Looking for more writing and blogging recommendations from me?

Check out my other review posts, linked below. All blogging products and courses I recommend, I have bought and used to grow my business.