Day 20. Build an Email List.

The whole idea of collecting email addresses seemed a bit outdated to me. We are living in the time of big internet and social media and I can follow my favorite people on twitter, become friend on facebook and read everything they would like to share instantaneously. So why bother with emails?

The only explanation I could come up with is it has a better “delivery warranty”. I feel like if I have something really important to say, a big announcement or perhaps a few words about closing my shop (just joking!) how can I be sure that people I care the most – my customers, of course – will read it? I’m personally following hundreds of people on twitter, but I check my news feed only (!) a couple of times per day. So there is really big chance that I can miss something important simply because the number of posts in my feed is measured in hundreds per day! Emails, on the other hand, usually get more attention and therefore could be trusted for a message of extreme importance. I’m not going to abuse it, of course, but I feel that I need this “priority” service.

I started looking for a simple email service, but could not find anything better than what Lisa has recommended: Mail Chimp. Basic service is free and it allows registering multiple mailing lists. It also generates nice subscription forms, which could be placed in blog or facebook. I have to admit though, that as of this writing it does not really collect emails, but I have already contacted them and hope this issue will be resolved soon.

So, Mail Chimp helps collecting and managing emails. It also allows me to send emails to all my subscribers. I’m planning to do it only once in a while, when I have really good reason for it. Something like a phenomenal sale event! Or perhaps something even more exciting, a GIVE AWAY event, which starts yesterday!

I have made this beautiful set for Mother’s Day.

I’m going to give it to the one WINNER for free! In order to have a chance to win, please, read give away event details here:

Mother's Day Giveaway

The winner will be announced on April 29th, 2014. Good luck to all of you!

If you’re just joining me, you can click here to catch up from: Beginning,  Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, Day 15, Day 16, Day 17, Day 18, Day 19