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How To Start Your Email List

“How do I start a mailing list?”

It’s a question that I’ve been asked numerous times in the past few weeks. Hmmm … Where to begin?

One thing is for certain. “Start an Email List” is an overwhelming project that might stop you before you’ve even started. Instead of looking at it as a whole, break it down into steps to make faster progress.

Here are the steps to take. They aren’t numbered because you can skip around until you get to the “Finally” section.

(If you have a mature mailing list and you don’t need these steps, please don’t go anywhere. Jump straight to the end and share your experience with others. Your insights and encouragement are sure to be valuable to someone else.)

Start With Who You Know

Make a list of everyone you know who might want to hear about you and your art:

  • Friends
  • Family
  • Neighbors
  • Colleagues at a day job
  • Other artists

Don’t discount anyone because you believe they’ll never buy your art. You never know how they can support you until you bring them into your art life.

Save the following information for each person:

How To Start Your Email List Read

Megan Carty, Cundy's Harbor

Test Your Email Marketing and Track Your Results

In marketing your art, there are no absolutes. Everything is a test.

Is it better to send your newsletter on a Tuesday or on a Friday?

Will you get better engagement from posting to Facebook at 7:00 a.m. or noon?

Are your Instagram followers more likely to engage with you once or twice a day?

In this article I’m going to focus on email testing. Next week we’ll look at social media testing.

You’ll get a host of different answers if you Google “best time to send an email.” Test them! Track them!

In order for you to understand what works best for you, you have to track your results.

I’ve been testing foods lately to see what is right (and wrong) for my body. I track my weight, basal body temperature, sleep, water intake, and more to see what causes inflammation for me.

Yep, it’s a lot of work to track all of this, but the payoff of optimal physical and mental health will be worth it.

Likewise, your email marketing goal is optimal results for your efforts. You’re looking for more sales, sign-ups, registrations, click-throughs, or engagement. You might also be seeking a higher open rate.

Test Your Email Marketing and Track Your Results Read

Rx for Artist Newsletters

Rx for Sloppy Newsletter Syndrome

There’s an epidemic going around.

Don’t panic. If it strikes, you won’t need to rush to the ER or be quarantined. But you will need to take immediate action.

Your physical health isn’t in peril, but the health of your art business is at stake.

The epidemic is SENS – Sloppy Email and Newsletter Syndrome. Let me explain the symptoms so you can self-diagnose.

Symptom 1: Missing Name

This is the most destructive of all the SENS symptoms.

Rx for Sloppy Newsletter Syndrome Read

Helen Hiebert paper weaving

How to Be a Joy to Work With

What makes someone want to work with you? Sure, it might be your art, but there are a lot of talented artists out there. If you don’t approach your business with the same professionalism you give your art, you are likely to be passed over for other artists. Based on my conversations with heads of arts agencies, curators, and gallerists . . .

How to Be a Joy to Work With Read

Jill Rosoff does a good job sending solo emails for events such as this watercolor workshop

5 Cures for the Email Blahs

Email has become indispensable for marketing, but sometimes we can’t see what’s right under our noses. If you are in an email funk and not seeing results from what you’re sending, consider these five remedies. 1. Understand the difference between newsletters and solo emails. A newsletter is usually a regular update (weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly) that has consistent features.

5 Cures for the Email Blahs Read

Caption: ©Tami Bone, Tributarius. Photograph. Used with permission.

Stop Typing And Start Talking

If you call my business phone and I’m unavailable, you will get a recording that says I respond fastest to email. I love email. Like most business owners these days, I prefer it for my primary communications tool. There are numerous situations when you must stop typing and start talking. Here are five examples.

Stop Typing And Start Talking Read

©Dianna Poindexter, You & Me. Oil on masonite.

Love Your List

The people who give you their postal and email addresses are your secret marketing weapon. They have trusted you with their information and said they want to hear from you. They’re your Valentines! Pull an arrow from your quiver and aim some love in their direction.

Love Your List Read

Woman dialing a cell phone

Pick Up The Phone and Dial

Email is easy. I prefer email to the phone in almost every situation. ​Almost​. Sometimes you have to talk. Email is not good for picking up on subtleties about situations and building trust. Unless we’re extra careful with our messages, email can be easily misunderstood by all parties involved.

Pick Up The Phone and Dial Read

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Your Artist Mailing List: Rethinking + Assessing

Get a transcript of episode 182 of The Art Biz (Rethinking Mailing Lists for Artists) followed by a 3-page worksheet to evaluate the overall health and usage of the 3 types of artist lists.

Where can we send it? 

To ensure delivery, please triple check your email address.

You’ll also receive my regular news for your art business.

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