Listen or Subscribe
When you’re developing your blog and building your audience, including a newsletter signup form may not be high on your list of priorities. However, if you listen to the latest social media and online blogging gurus, you’ll notice that many of them recommend committing time to creating and growing your email list. So, what do you think? Should you have an email list? If so, what are some of the best ways to grow your list and to create a process for your outreach to your email list? That’s the topic of today’s podcast episode featuring email marketing expert, Alex P. Gates, talking about Top Email Marketing Tips for Food Bloggers.
Alex and I are talking today about creating and cultivating email lists. It may seem like another task on your “to do” list, but isn’t it so worthwhile if it adds value for your readers? Or provide you with another opportunity for value-added outreach to your readers? If you’re onboard with the idea of cultivating your email list, learn how you can take an email list and turn it into a great tool for your site! Alex talks about all of this, including some simple tips on how to grow your list.
If you want people to share, you have to be forthright and ask. Combine really great content with a very specific request and say ‘Hey, share this with somebody and make them smile,’ and support our blog. — Alex P. Gates
That’s right, creating a compelling call to action is important for email marketing just as much as it’s true for other parts of your outreach. Learn more about Top Email Marketing Tips in today’s podcast episode!
Featured Content – Top Email Marketing Tips with Alex P. Gates
Here are some of the highlights of my discussion with Alex:
- Alex is not a food blogger himself, but his wife Jamie is. You might know her from the blog The Kitchenarium
- Why Alex recommends for food bloggers to have an email signup list
- Alex has recommendations for how to grow your email signup list, including creating original content
- Why you should have a mission or theme to your email campaign
- We discuss the different email newsletter services for food bloggers
- Alex talks about tips for how to save on costs when your email list starts to get large and therefore more expensive to deliver to your audience
- We discuss the difference between having your email newsletter delivered with every post that’s published vs. writing a weekly summary of the posts published on your site
- Your goal with your newsletter is to provide engaging content that encourages your audience to open your email and then to click on a link and head to your site
- Alex talks about some ideas for creating engaging content in your newsletter
- Email is one of the most popular apps on smart phones – so investing time and energy to get your email list and newsletter right is time well-invested
- Alex talks about the value of A/B testing with your email campaigns
- Alex describes the worst time of week to send out your email newsletter
- Alex encourages you not to wait to start sending emails to your list. It can be tempting to wait until you have a certain number, but Alex suggests to go ahead and start reaching out to your lis regardless of your numbers
Show Notes
This episode includes references to some resources you might find interesting. Here they are:
- Learn more about today’s guest, Alex P. Gates and check out his web development services
- Check out Jamie’s blog (designed by Alex) at The Kitchenarium.
- We discuss a couple of different email service platforms such as MailChimp and Mad Mimi
- Alex talks about Amazon Simple Email Service for bloggers with large mailing lists as a cost saving option.
- Alex talks about using UTM links within your newsletter to track results
- The favorite app on Alex’s phone is Day One, a journaling app. It’s good for the soul says Alex!
- Alex’s favorite TV show is the animated Bob’s Burgers.
- Why not give Alex a shout-out on Twitter and say thanks for the Chopped Podcast interview!
- Connect with Chopped Academy Online: Instagram | Twitter
- Connect with Marly: Namely Marly | Instagram | Twitter
- Production, music, graphic art & sound design by Shawn Beelman.
Announcements
- Learn about future Chopped Podcast episodes by subscribing to the ChoppedCon newsletter. Just add your email in the subscribe section at the bottom of this page. You’ll be glad you did!
- Tickets for the 2015 Chopped Conference are available. You can also attend a Food Photography Workshop with Matt Armendariz or participate in the dynamic Food Blog Success Summit. Take your food blog to the next level…learn more and buy your tickets today!
Our next podcast interview is with Cara Reed of the site Fork and Beans and we’re talking about finding your authentic voice and style with Instagram. If you’re thinking about how to grow your audience on Instagram, Cara has a message for you: find your authentic Instagram style and watch what happens! Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss it!
Subscribe to the Show & Feedback
Thanks so much for listening to today’s podcast. I hope you found it informative and helpful to the work you do every day. Make sure you don’t miss out on any of the Chopped Podcast episodes by heading on over to iTunes to subscribe to the Chopped Podcast. While you’re there, provide a review and rating is a great way to help other podcast listeners find it too! That’s it for today’s podcast. As always, thanks so much for joining in the discussion!
Ready to Grow Your Audience?