Note: I’m continuing my series on email marketing. If you want to know why email marketing matters in 2025, go check out this post!
If you’ve read my book, taken any of my classes, or listened to interviews I’ve done, you’ll know that while I love email marketing, I hate email newsletters. So much so that anytime someone refers to it as an “email newsletter,” I immediately shut that shit down.
Now, you might be wondering what the difference is between email marketing and a newsletter, so today I want to clear that up and share why I’m so passionate about expunging the word “newsletter” from the vocabulary of artists and makers.
First, let’s get some definitions out of the way. Email marketing is a way to reach customers (and potential customers) who’ve given you permission to add them to your list. (This could be online or at a show.) Growing your list is marketing, but so is actually emailing your list. I’m going to argue that emailing your list is the most important part. It doesn’t matter how many people are on your list if you never reach out to them!
Which brings us to newsletters. Newsletters are a type of email marketing. When someone says “newsletter,” I picture a long missive crammed with lots of information, usually sent infrequently.
You might be wondering, what’s so bad about that?
Well first off, newsletters take forever to write. That’s why so many artists and makers struggle to write them. When you haven’t emailed your list in a while, and then you put the pressure on yourself to update people on every. single. little. thing. that you’re up to, well, that takes time. A lot of time. Which frankly, most of us just don’t have.
And because they take time, we send them very infrequently. Maybe once a month. Maybe once every couple of months. But when it comes to your email list, that’s simply not often enough. In my experience, your list is most effective when you email it every one to two weeks.
Yes, you read that right. You need to email your list 2 to 4 times a month to really get the most out of it. And by the most out of it, I mean sales. Now, that doesn’t mean you should expect every email you send to generate lots of sales. Chances are, many of them won’t. But it’s not one email that makes or breaks your revenue. It’s the sum total of all your emails – showing up in your customer’s inbox on a regular basis – that has the greatest impact.
So that’s why I don’t love newsletters from our perspective as artists and makers. But I also don’t love them for customers.
Because just like we’re busy, our customers are also busy. They don’t have time to read a long, lengthy newsletter. For most people, checking their email is a “get in and get out” type of situation. In a world overflowing with information, people appreciate brevity.
The other problem with newsletters is that they imply that you’ve got to fill them up with lots of stuff. Some of it might be about your work, but there’s also pressure to be “personal” and “authentic” – to talk about things beyond your work.
But the problem with this mindset is that your customer may not care about your personal life or your hobbies and whatever random tidbits you feel like you have to stuff into your newsletter. I’m not saying no one will care. But not everyone will care.
When it comes to your email list, there’s only one thing that unites everyone on it:
They like your work.
They’re on your list because they like your work and want to buy it.
And if they’re not on your list for that reason, you really don’t want them there taking up space anyway.
So if you shouldn’t be sending newsletters, what should you send?
Over the years, I’ve leaned into a simple and effective email marketing strategy called “Here’s a thing, go buy it.”
That means every email takes a similar format. An image of the thing I want to share. That could be a new design, a best seller, or something that’s on sale. A little text about the thing. And a link and a button that takes people directly to where they can buy the thing. (That last bit is crucial. The link never goes to the home page of my online shop. It always goes to a specific product or collection.)
And that’s it.
I can hear you arguing now. “But wait? Isn’t that too pushy or salesy?”
Hell no!
The people who are on your list are there because they love your work and want to buy it. They want to see pretty pictures and they want you to make it easy for them to find that thing on your website.
If they don’t want that, that’s fine. They can unsubscribe. Because you only want people on your list who are actually interested in buying your work.
It might take you some time to get comfortable with this type of email marketing, but that doesn’t mean your customers won’t appreciate it. I had someone on my list tell me once that she always enjoyed seeing my name in her inbox because she knew she’d see a pretty picture and wouldn’t have to read a whole long thing.
But if you’re feeling burnt out by the idea of writing a “newsletter,” I encourage you to give “Here’s a thing, go buy it,” a try.
And not just once. Make it your strategy for the next few months and see if you can’t get in a more regular habit of emailing your list.
Because your list is only valuable if you actually email the people on it!
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PS. If you’re not sure what to send out in your “Here’s a thing, go buy it,” style emails, be sure to check out my book, The Artists & Profit Makers Guide to Email Marketing. I share examples and a series of prompts you can use any time you’re trying to come up with an idea for emailing your list! You can get it on my website or on Amazon!