Yesterday’s post on business cards generated some questions in the comments about mailing lists, and whether you should add contacts who give you their business cards to your mailing list. I don’t have a one size fits all mailing list, and I don’t think you should either. Here are the four types of mailing lists I recommend all designers and makers have (and what to do with those lists once you’ve built them):
- Your opt-in email list. This is the list for people who actually sign-up, whether through a form on your website or on a list at a craft show. This is also the list that I don’t recommend managing yourself. Because federal regulations require recipients confirm their membership on the list, and have the ability to unsubscribe, and because sending mass emails is difficult through your mail server (many end up in spam folders) I recommend you use an email list service. I like AWeber – they have lots of options and great customer service. (And customers can reply directly to you through the email – none of that impersonal, no-reply stuff.) Constant Contact is another service that a lot of artists use. You should chose a service that fits your needs and budget.
Once you’ve established your list, determine a regular schedule for sending updates. Some designers may send a monthly, bi-monthly, or even quarterly newsletter, while others may send an email when they’ve got a show or big event planned (or when they’re having a sale). In addition to including updates about your company and products, you should try to include something of value to your readers (that still relates to your products). You may want to include tips on decorating if you make home goods, or wedding planning tips if you make custom stationary. - Your press list. This list will include both print media and online press, such as bloggers, and will probably be a mix of email and regular mailing addresses. It will include both press you’ve met who’ve asked you to contact them, and press for publications you dream of being featured in. You should make sure that the press on your list are a good fit for your work – for blogs, make sure it is a topic that they actually cover. (If a blogger doesn’t cover jewelry, don’t send them constant updates about your jewelry.) For print press, make sure any correspondence is directed to the appropriate editor. Never send a mass email to the press. Anything you send should be personalized to the writer or editor. Include their name, and make it clear that you understand their publication and how your work relates. Its best to contact press when you’re launching a new product or product line, or when you’ve got a big event coming up (like an exhibition, trunk show, craft fair, or wholesale show.)
- Buyers and stores. This list could actually be broken down into two categories – your current accounts and prospects. Even if you aren’t wholesaling yet, its never too early to start compiling a list of stores you’d love to sell your work to. For your current accounts, you want to make sure you update them when you’ve got new products, and if you’ll be participating in any upcoming shows*. For prospects, I would avoid any type of mass email. Instead, work on personalized, targeted contact. Before a trade show, I recommend sending a postcard to all your current accounts and potential stores to let them know about any new products and where you’ll be located at the show.
- Your cheerleaders. These are your family, friends, college professors, mentors, yoga teachers, and anyone else who wants to see you succeed, but might not be on your opt-in email list. While you might do the occasional email blast*, remember that a more personalized email goes a long way. While these people may not be your customers, they might be your biggest fans. Keep them informed of what’s going on with you and your company, because you never know who they might share that with.
*Anytime you send an email to multiple recipients who don’t know each other, you should always enter the addresses in the BCC field, to protect everyone’s privacy.
Do you keep any other types of mailing lists? Have an email service that you love? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Great advice! One size definitely does not fit all when it comes to mailings.
I adore Mailchimp, and use them for both my own business and for Cleveland Handmade. It’s a robust service, customer service is good, and it’s free for lists with up to 500 names. Once you get past that limit, the pricing is comparable to Constant Contact and similar on a monthly basis, but if you send infrequently, you can also by credits that end up making it much cheaper.
Thank you so much for sharing this info! I have those four lists of contacts too and I’m happy to hear I’ve been organizing them in the correct way.
Again, you read my mind! I’d love to hear any suggestions of what people use for their opt-in list, I am in desperate need of a proper system.
Mailchimp and Aweber are both fantastic! You can’t go wrong with either one. (Though I will say that Mailchimp’s interface is a little more user friendly.)
Thanks for this! It’s perfect!
Great info. I need all the help I can get 🙂
Birgitte
If your mailing list is small – you might be able to get away with sending an email through Gmail (using BCC as Megan suggests). You can pop images right into the body of the email with a special add on found in the Labs section (Settings > Labs). Just enable “Inserting images”.
I, too, adore MailChimp. I’ve used them for over two years now, and was blown away by their customer service before I was even a customer – they were incredibly proactive when answering all my questions, and their articles are extremely helpful. I highly recommend them to anyone looking for an email mailing service.
Here’s a third plug for mail chimp – they make it easy to write a really nicely formatted newsletter. Thanks for the reminder that I need to start keeping those other types of mailing lists as well!
A great reminder for me. I have my newsletter mailing list but really need to organise everything else better.
I have 3 of the 4 of these…although the press list needs to be cleaned up a bit. I will say that keeping up with active accounts is also important in these email lists. It’s no good having a list of 200 subscribers if 1/4 of them are faulty emails or return bounce back messages.
Thank you for the advice!! I appreciate it!
-Georgia
Thank you for the advice. I am new to newsletter and emails for my business so I love hearing what other people do.
I recently signed up with godaddy.com for a domain, multiple email addresses and newsletter service. I got a spanking deal and I really like it. I used couponcabin.com and got 25% off my purchase! So I am all paid for the year for $100 for all of the above. I was pretty happy.
It also has a nice feature to resend your newsletter campaign to new opt-ins or people that I have asked to be added, with one click. Love it.
I just discovered your blog this afternoon via an Etsy email and I’m totally hooked! Crafting an MBA is now safely tucked into my Google Reader so I won’t miss a post!
It never dawned on me to have multiple mailing lists (probably because I don’t have any mailing lists, YET) so this is excellent advice I plan on taking.
Thank you!
Also don’t be afraid to consider designing your own custom email template and mailing list.. when you are small this is managable and can be done with a fairly simple text editor.. When you are a new business owner the 10-15 dollar cost for a email service can be a big additional expense. Creating your own is no more difficult that some of the things you have already done to get you this far! Hopefully you will grow quickly and the cost of a email service won’t be so steep. Remember YOU are the creative one… go do it !!
Great info, I’ve got one of these sorted but need to work on the others 🙂
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I never thought about segmenting my list of subscribers this way. I’m definitely going to do this right away. Mail Chimp is my email provider — love it!
I’ve been using Constant Contact for years and love it. They now offer Event Marketing which is a great tool to promote and logistically manage an event.
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Just found you – so inspiring. 2011 will be the year I focus on this aspect of my business to grow things. Thanks for the inspiration & info. I’ve been a little intimidated to start some of this because I simply didn’t know how. Thank you!
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