Why I Switched To ConvertKit: The Unofficial Definitive Review

May 13, 2016 By Joel Runyon

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Why I Switched To ConvertKit: The Unofficial Definitive Review
May 13, 2016 By Joel Runyon Leave a Comment

Welcome to the ultimate review guide to ConvertKit.

Why Should You Listen To Me?
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I have built multiple lists over 150,000 subscribers, and I’ve used almost every single email marketing software available.

Infusionsoft
AWeber
Mailchimp
Campaign Monitor
Active Campaign
You name it, I’ve tried it.

I use ConvertKit for almost everything in my business: email subscriptions, courses, future interest and promotions. I have 2 accounts with them as well – one for Impossible and one for our Paleo business.

Disclaimer: I do have one small list of around 500 people on Active Campaign, but that’s for a small paid subscriber group that I purposely separate from the rest of the accounts. The rest of my accounts are with ConvertKit.

My email evolution has gone something like this:

Mailchimp (Free!) => Aweber (this is what pros use?) => Campaign Monitor (neat) => Infusionsoft (automation!) => ConvertKit

So, now that we’ve got that out of the way – let’s get down to brass tacks.

What Is ConvertKit?
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The easiest way I’ve can put this is:

ConvertKit is email marketing software where Infusionsoft automation meets AWeber simplicity.

It’s also the best email platform for bloggers and anyone who runs a content based online business. I’ll tell you why, but first I need to make a confession:

I Used to Hate Writing Emails

It’s true.

I had multiple accounts with multiple providers – one with Infusionsoft to manage tags and automation, and one with Campaign Monitor to actually send out normal emails (because I can throw emails faster than Infusionsoft can deliver them). Not to mention that Infusionsoft’s reporting and deliverability is atrocious.

The funny part is, I knew SO many people who did this (and still do) because no single platform did everything they wanted (just check the bottom of the emails of anyone’s email list you’re subscribed to).

I just thought, “This is how it is. Sending emails HAS TO SUCK.”

And I know, because I tried them all…

None of them did what I wanted.
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AWeber was a dinosaur.
Mailchimp was for newsletters, not marketing.
Infusionsoft is a nightmare.
Campaign Monitor was too expensive.
Yadda yadda yadda.

Then I ran into Nathan Barry.

Between a meeting at WDS and a phone call, I found out he had been working on turning this piece of software he was using to do $500,000 in sales in his own business, into a software that other people could use.

It was called ConvertKit and he was trying to get other people to sign up for it.

I was a bit skeptical and pretty busy getting lost in the menu options of Infusionsoft to take him up on his offer to transfer over, but after a couple more months of that, I got so tired of Infusionsoft that I couldn’t take it anymore.

I think this was my temperament at the time.

f this shiz

I made the switch and was something like customer 466, but my list was about 120,000 people and at that size, Nathan told me that I was 20% of the client revenue.

Side note: I thought that was a pretty cool stat, until I realized that meant whatever I was paying was a lot more than the other 466 people 🙂

However, no matter what I paid for ConvertKit, the cost was still HALF of what my previous setup had been (plus there were no setup or moving fees).

When I first started using ConvertKit, it was pretty simple. I would recommend it to people in person, with the caveat that “there was a lot of work to do still.”

However, over the last 12 months, they’ve added a lot of features, and I feel a lot more comfortable recommending them now that I’ve beta tested some of the initial features and know some of the common bugs inside and out.

My experience has been mostly positive (with some negatives and caveats at the end of the post that you should be sure to read), but since more and more people are jumping on the ConvertKit train, I’d like to give the perspective of an OG ConvertKit user that’s probably been using the software at a power user level longer than most people on the service.

kanye convertkit
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Why I Like ConvertKit So Much

So why do I like ConvertKit so much? Well, there’s a few reasons….

Sequences (Formerly Courses)

Nathan built the software as an outgrowth of his teaching courses where he grossed $500k+. Therefore, the main structure in ConvertKit is listed as “sequences” (or formerly courses) – literally a drip of emails sent over time that result in a “sequence.”

Super simple and super straightforward.

Instead of talking “auto-responder” and automation mumbo jumbo, sequences give you a great way not only to communicate with your readers, but also to outline your thinking (what do you want your customer to learn by the time they’re done with your sequence?).

The simplicity in and of itself is HUGE in helping you focus on writing the course, and the interface for adding more emails to the course is the easiest. Rather than hopping in and out of a complicated visual ordering sequence, you simply drag and drop. That’s it.
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ConvertKit Sequences

#boom

Custom White Glove Migration

One cool feature of ConvertKit (that I haven’t seen anyone else do) is that they’ll personally migrate your old list to your new list.

This was a God-send because I was coming from Infusionsoft, which I could barely use – much less export anything or move it to another provider.

Having it migrated for me was HUGE and made the switch a lot less painful and is a huge contrast to other providers that will actually make you pay THEM a mandatory signup fee to learn their software.

Note: You should always check the work anytime anyone touches your list, but the fact that they do the brunt of it means you don’t have to worry about any hiccups in the meantime and can focus – again – on emails, rather than the transfer process.

Complete Focus On Emails – No Distractions

The best thing about ConvertKit is that, if nothing else, it makes me focus on sending emails more. That’s all.

There’s no dumb UI to figure out or reports to mess around with or templates to design.

Infusionsoft screws around with automation so much that you never actually get around to sending emails. Other providers focus so much on designing templates that you forget about the actual content.

ConvertKit is just emails – normal, html emails designed to be written and read. Just this alone – getting rid of the distractions – helps a lot in emailing more (which makes you more money).

Send to Un-opens

There are some features that are so helpful that you wonder why more people don’t do this or why other providers don’t offer it out-of-the-box.

For a long time, people talked about how you could reach more people by sending the same email a few days later to anyone who didn’t open it (Pat Flynn and Noah Kagan come to mind). This was a nice way to get more people to open the email, get more eyeballs on the emails and make more money.

The problem was that this took about 7 steps or so. While that might not seem like a lot, it’s enough friction to make you forget it if you’re in a hurry.

When I read about this, there was no way to do this on ConvertKit. I kept hounding them to make a way for this to happen, and Nathan kept pointing back to his development schedule.

Eventually, I cornered Nathan, yelled, “TAKE MY MONEY,” and offered to help pay for the feature. A couple weeks later – boom – we have it in our account.

Now you can get 30% higher open rate just by clicking a button (rather than running through a 5-step process). As far as I know, no other provider lets you do that.

It’s a bomb feature and one of my favorite things about ConvertKit in general. And we helped sponsor it 🙂

Automations

The other feature I hounded Nathan to add was automation. I think a lot of people think Infusionsoft is a necessary evil because it’s one of the only platforms that lets you do automation.

Unfortunately, Infusionsoft does this in the most complicated way possible. They built a clunky UI that makes you think through every possible scenario, and if you’ve used Infusionsoft, you know exactly the pain I’m talking about.

ConvertKit is much simpler. It’s just, “If this, then do this.”

It takes typically complicated programming and turns it into something the average Joe can understand. If you’re familiar with IFTTT or Zapier, then you can handle ConvertKit’s automation.

Here’s what it looks like in action:

convertkit automation

Attention Infusionsoft users – this is all the automation you need. Stop overpaying for over-hyped automation with Infusionsoft. If you’re an online writer, you don’t need to do more than this.

Here’s a couple ways the automation can work:

Got a course? Put the subscriber in a course.
Got a product? Automatically tag them as on.
Want to keep a list of customers? Add the tags up in a segment.
This is literally all you need from Infusionsoft, and Infusionsoft makes the horrible, terrible mistake of building an entire software that fills un-needed holes.

ConvertKit is a much more manageable amount of automation that makes it actually USEFUL.
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Customer Support

Customer support has changed a lot since I started using ConvertKit. They are still about 100x better than any competitor (other than maybe Campaign Monitor).

I’m an actual leech on ConvertKit’s support queue and probably 10% of the inquiries (I have no idea actually, but I hit them up with features / ideas all the time).

All of the time, I feel like they’re listening. Most of the time, I feel like they might be taking some of my thoughts into consideration, and SOME of the time, the features actually make it to production. That’s more than I can say about Infusionsoft or Aweber in my 2+ years of dealing with them.

Having ideas actually make it to production is awesome, and actually getting timely responses about ideas and seeing new features roll out on a semi-regular basis is more than Aweber has done in the last 10 years.

Easy List Cleaning

One of the most important things that I’ve done over and over again is to clean my email list.

I do this quite a bit, and I see very few people actually talk about this. I’ve cleaved 30,000+ people off my list multiple times and routinely purge people who aren’t engaged.

This might sound crazy because most people think that you want a BIG list – right?

WRONG. Not always.

A big list costs you money. That’s all that means.

A big list with a big number of people who open your email and read is worth it.

A big list of people who are no longer interested in your emails is not.

A big list of people who never buy anything is even worse.

Most people are scared to get rid of people who never open – mostly because they’re afraid of their total subscriber number going down.

This is an ego thing – get over it.

Those subscribers are not reading your emails anyways AND they are costing you money.

This is like you wanting to spend more time with that person that always flakes on you, is always late and says mean things about your dog, simply because “they’re a friend.” Wrong, friends are not flakes, rude or mean to your dog, and good subscribers will open your emails.

Your vanity is costing you money. Clean your list and get rid of people who aren’t paying attention. Pay more attention to the ones that are.

Okay – now that I got out of my system…

ConvertKit makes it easy to do this by making it super easy to identify who your “cold subscribers” are. You can find them in one click. Tag them, send them through a reactivation campaign (to save anyone who still wants to be on the list). Then you can delete the non-responders and keep the ones who want to stay on.

The fact that you can do this so simply is another feature that 1) makes sure your list is high quality, 2) gets rid of people that don’t want to be there, 3) saves you money on your overall list size, 4) improves your overall sending quality and reputation over time. This is HUGE.

What Do I Not Like About ConvertKit?
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So as much as I’ve ranted and raved about ConvertKit here, there are a few things I don’t like about it. Close your ears, Nathan – this might hurt a bit. Although, I think the support team already knows how I feel about a few of these.

Templates & Signatures.

Because they are so early and so focused, there are a few areas where they come up short. One of them is dynamic signatures and templates to make sending specific types of emails easier. For example, if you send blog post emails with one footer and a paid subscription email with another. You have to do this manually each time or code your own template.

There will be inserts (where you can dynamically insert someone’s name), but to the user it looks like developer-focused code. Unless you know what you’re doing, it’s a little bit confusing.

Again, this is forgivable because the focus on simply WRITING emails rather than designing them is also one of the strengths, but making basic templating features (not designing) and adding signatures or footers in each email would help a lot.

Forms
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ConvertKit uses forms to sign people up to the service. This worked at first when they were really small, but I really don’t like “forms” and the interface to do this at all.  This is mostly because I have a LOT of forms, and it’s hard to really see any of them. They should put these in a grid format, so that you can see all of them at once and give more analytics based on each one.

Stats & Analytics

Their interface by default shows you the list growth for today, the last 7 days and the last 30 days, along with total subscriptions. They don’t show you much else. They don’t allow you to change the dates you’re looking at – or the time that the stats are collected (they’re GMT by default). They also don’t let you see the total # of unsubscribes immediately unless you dig around for it. This is a really big pain for metrics and KPI focused emailers. They can do better (and almost every other major email provider does). This is probably the biggest issue I have with their software at the moment.

The Software is New

This is great in a lot of ways because they don’t have too many legacy issues, but you can tell from the software that they’re young and bootstrapped. Nathan doesn’t have $20 million backing behind him. They’re adding a lot of features to the mix (and they’re so much more complete than they were a year ago), but they’re still working on it. That said, you do accept that some things won’t move as fast or scale as quickly because they don’t have a billionaire lining their pockets with money.

I actually prefer this way of building a business, but it’s still something worth noting.

Integration Frustrations

This might be the biggest headache. The biggest problem with ConvertKit is that they’re really barely 18 months old. In the world of email marketing, that’s infantile. Because of that, there are very few integrations that work with them (and even less a few years ago). That said, this problem is getting fixed, and as more people are joining, it’s becoming less of a problem. But I’ve still had to hound a lot of different companies to build an integration with CK. The good news is because I’ve done so, you probably won’t have to! (you’re welcome). The full list of integrations available is here. You’ll want to check that they integrate with your software here first before making the switch.

No A/B Testing

This one is annoying, but if ConvertKit would imitate Campaign Monitor’s A/B testing tool (even if it’s just for subject lines), I would be a happy camper and probably stop emailing their support staff (hear that, Nathan?). Right now, there’s no way to do that unless you do it yourself, and they don’t really have the tools to segment and pull that off very easily.

Why I Think ConvertKit Is The Best Email System

Cheaper

It’s relatively cheaper than other expensive automation programs. Aweber and Mailchimp don’t compete here. If you’re looking at Infusionsoft and Ontraport, then you have to consider setup fees and costs based on features, not just subscriber size.

Faster

Because it has a singular focus, ConvertKit is a much faster piece of software and doesn’t have the same laggy issues that some bloated email services have.

Cleaner

Again, there’s not much to do in ConvertKit other than send emails. That keeps your focus on sending the email and making sure that you don’t get lost in the menu bar options.

Awesome Automations

Again, one of my favorite parts of ConvertKit is the simplified automation. It doesn’t take a lot, but it’s very straightforward and does what you need it to do. This is huge because you get the benefits of automation without paying huge price tags or dealing with the bloated feature sets of other competitors.

=> Make the switch to ConvertKit

Why Switch From Your Current Provider?

So if you’re using another email software right, why should you switch? Well, most likely, I probably have used it in the past, and if you’re a professional blogger or entrepreneur, you should switch. Here’s why:

Aweber
Mailchimp
Campaign Monitor
Infusionsoft
Active Campaign
Why Switch To ConvertKit From Aweber?

AWeber is sort of the godfather of email marketing. It’s not the best, but it was the first – so you have to give it respect.

That said, they are SOOOO slow to do anything with the software.

Also, they charge you based on subscribers in your list. So, you could have two lists (customers and subscribers) and the same person could be on both, and they could charge you 2x for that one person. That’s lame.

The tagging and organization system is buggy, and automation features are non-existent. On top of that, it seems like they’ve given up on releasing any new features over the past 5 years. Boooooooo!

Convertkit is like Aweber + automation software. Add to the fact that they’re actively building, developing, growing their business. Being hungry shows, and ConvertKit is looking for a meal.

=> Switch from Aweber to ConvertKit

Why Switch From MailChimp to ConvertKit

If you’re first trying out a new business idea, I 100% recommend you use MailChimp. It’s free for the first 2,000 subscribers, and it’s a great way to test-out an idea.

That said, it quickly hits its limitations.

The automation logic is not what it should be, and in my opinion, it substitutes “cuteness” for utility. It also has the same limitations that Aweber does, in that it looks at your subscriber numbers in “lists” and not at what they’re interested in.

In my opinion, this is a nicer, prettier version of Aweber and well-suited to small businesses who want to send out newsletters a couple times per month. It’s not a great choice if you’re an online blogger or entrepreneur who wants to do anything advanced with email marketing.

=> Switch from MailChimp to ConvertKit

Why Switch From Infusionsoft to ConvertKit?

Do you run a sales team? Use Infusionsoft?

Do you want to send email? Use anything else (please).

Infusionsoft is good at a lot of stuff – but sending email is not one of them. Their deliverability is terrible. Their support is terrible. Plus they charge you $2,000 just to sign up for their service (note to software business owners: if you have to charge $2,000 for someone to “learn” your software, you need to work on making better software).

I famously do not have a good experience with Infusionsoft – despite having had 2 accounts and handling them for clients for years (even early on when they were called “Confusionsoft”).

They make it easy to do anything BUT send email. They also make it impossible to cancel, and when they do, they take 3 months to do it (and then incessantly email you months later asking you to come back – like a sad ex-girlfriend who can’t get over your breakup).

Infusionsoft Breakdown

Best for: anyone who hates life and money

Why ConvertKit is better: more money, more time, more happiness..

=> Switch from Infusionsoft to ConvertKit

Why Switch From Campaign Monitor to ConvertKit

Honestly, I have no bad things to say about Campaign Monitor. I really like them, their support and the company. Their software has a lot of advanced features, and you’re going to feel comfortable whether you’re a power user or someone who’s relatively new to the internet.

The only downside here is cost. I thought Campaign Monitor was more expensive for what I used it for. It also has a big focus on newsletters (which again, seem good to business owners and investors, but don’t really do much for the bottom line as an online entrepreneur). If you don’t believe me, when’s the last time you enthusiastically opened a designed “newsletter” from some random business?

Funded startups – have at it – you’re not going to mind the extra money for the costs. If you’re self-funded or concerned about that at all, check out ConvertKit.

=> Switch from Campaign Monitor to ConvertKit

Why Switch From Active Campaign to ConvertKit

Active Campaign is 100% focused on automation. Some basic stuff is missing (like easy-to-edit plain html emails), and you would think they’d add some of the stuff that MailChimp and Aweber have had for a while.

I do have one small account with them for a paid subscriber list, but it’s not super extensive and runs the basic automation perfectly. I use them exclusively so one set of paid subscribers does not get mixed in by chance with any of my other accounts.

If you have a set use for their automation tools and plan on setting it up one time and forgetting about it, go ahead and use them (that’s what I do).

However, if you plan on sending out multiple broadcast emails per week, it’s not *that* easy to send out individual emails, and it’s definitely not my favorite tool to do that with (ConvertKit and Campaign Monitor are both better at that).

=> Switch from Active Campaign to ConvertKit

Final Thoughts on ConvertKit

If you’re an online entrepreneur with either a blog or a following, and send regular emails[…]

ease of use
automatic send-to-unopens
simple list cleaning
white glove migration
competitive pricing
aggressive feature release schedule
quality support team
If you’re interested in that, you can checkout ConvertKit. It might save you a massive headache.

=> Convertkit  SIGN UP

Have experience with ConvertKit or any of the other email providers at all? Let me know your thoughts below (or if you have any questions I can answer about ConvertKit).

WHY WE SWITCHED FROM MAILCHIMP TO CONVERTKIT FOR EMAIL MARKETING

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AUGUST 15, 2015 BY DONNIE LAWSON

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This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.

DonnieOver the past few months Abby and I have worked to transition our email marketing systems away from MailChimp to ConvertKit. Chances are, you’ve never heard of ConvertKit. That’s ok! It’s a tiny but effective company with just a handful of employees and around $15,000 in month recurring revenue (as of July 2015). On a side note, they share their financials publicly on Baremetrics so you can track their growth. How cool is that!?

What I think is so awesome about online/software businesses is that a single talented and driven person can see a problem or gap in the marketplace and work hard to create a solution to that problem. That’s exactly what happened with ConvertKit. The owner, Nathan Barry, is a professional blogger who also creates and sells his own products. A few years ago when Abby and I prepared to launch version one of Building a Framework, we purchased his Authority product. We devoured the book and it shaped a lot of the way we think about selling digital products and marketing eBooks.

My biggest takeaway from Authority is the importance of email marketing when selling products. I know, I know… you’ve heard that 1,000 times… in the last week! But here’s the thing: most of the advice and strategies you read about are how to get more email subscribers. Advice on what to do with email subscribers once you get them is seriously lacking.

In blogging, both increasing your number of subscribers and effectively communicating with your subscribers once you have them are both equally important. In just a minute I’ll talk more about why ConvertKit does an amazing job at both gathering subscribers and also marketing to them.

It’s one thing to know how best to use email marketing, but it’s another thing entirely to be able to properly set up the systems in your email provider. Nathan’s frustration with being unable to use some of his advanced email marketing techniques with MailChimp led him to the creation of his own product. He created ConvertKit to solve his own problems. Fortunately for me, his problems with MailChimp were the sames problems I was having, and the integrated solutions in ConvertKit were the exact solutions I needed.

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WHY WE DECIDED TO LEAVE MAILCHIMP

MailChimp has a lot of things going for it: the design is great, the price is reasonable, and they make it easy to build beautiful email newsletters.

If all you need is a place to store your email subscribers and the only email marketing you do is sending out occasional newsletters, MailChimp could be the perfect place for you. They even have a free version (with limited functionality) for up to 2,000 subscribers! That really is a great deal for some people.

What MailChimp is not great at is automated email marketing — the exact thing I needed it to do. Here were some of my frustrations with MailChimp: SIGN UP

1. MAILCHIMP ONLY ALLOWS FOR ONE OPT-IN FORM PER LIST.

There are no unique codes or forms for various incentives, so with MailChimp, if a reader signs up for more than one of your opt-ins, you can end up paying double, triple, or more for the same subscriber to be on multiple lists.

One of the most effective strategies for building an email list quickly is to create custom opt-in incentives to match the content. For example, Abby and I love the “after post content” opt-in box. I think it’s the most polite and most effective way to collect email addresses.

After someone reads one of Abby’s posts, they are given the option to enter their email address. It’s a value exchange that is built on trust: they are giving you their email address, and you are giving them something in return. The more value you can provide, the more likely this “exchange” will take place. It’s also important to offer something that the reader is interested in.

Does it make sense give your reader a free eBook on blog growth strategies if they just read a tutorial on painting baseboards? I don’t think so.

To give you an example, here’s a basic ConvertKit opt-in form that displays after paperless-related posts:

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Why I Switched from Aweber to Infusionsoft to Convertkit

By Pat Flynn on October 19, 2015

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Earlier this year, I made a big decision to move my email list of more than 135,000 subscribers to Infusionsoft from AWeber, which I’ve used for the past five-plus years. Three months later, my email list now lives on a relatively new and rapidly growing platform called ConvertKit.

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I’ve been getting a lot of questions about why I moved and which is the best email service provider. Here’s the entire story of why I landed on ConvertKit as the one that best suits my marketing needs.

From the Beginning

Starting an online business today almost always means starting an email list, but when I started my online business in 2008 I did NOT start building a list until a year and a half later.

Big mistake.

I missed out on a ton of marketing and advertising opportunities on GreenExamAcademy.com, and I didn’t even know how powerful an email list was for things like validation and data extraction.

Plus, it’s an amazing relationship building tool for you and your audience—not to mention a safety net if you lose access to the audience you’ve built on another platform.

In 2009, I finally got my head on straight and signed up with AWeber, an email service provider (ESP) that a number of my online business friends recommended, and I almost immediately starting seeing returns on my investment.

I learned how to get a sign-up form up on my site, and I dropped my first one on the homepage of GreenExamAcademy.com. There were no giveaways or “lead magnets” as opt-in incentive. The only thing I offered was my “exclusive newsletter,” although I quickly added copy to include “exclusive deals on my study guides and LEED-related products.”

Seven days later, I had built a list of just over 200 people. I sent a broadcast email which included a link to my eBook, The LEED AP Walkthrough, and a $5.00 off coupon code that expired within twenty-four hours.

Within twenty-four hours after sending that email, I had fifty-three people purchase the book for $24.95, grossing just over $1,300 in sales with one single email to my list of 200 people.

That was the most money I had ever made in a single day in my life, and it blew me away. This email thing actually worked!

A couple of months later, I discovered the power of having an autoresponder series—a series of pre-written emails that are sent automatically and sequentially to subscribers after they sign up.
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I experimented with creating a short three-email series, which was sent over the course of seven days after people subscribe.

Email #1, which was sent immediately after someone subscribed, was about how to get started studying for the exam, giving people all of the background information they needed to know before getting their feet wet with the material.

Email #2, sent to subscribers a day later, pitched my eBook study guide. I had explained that it was everything they needed to know to pass the LEED exam, conveniently packaged into a printable PDF file and delivered immediately upon purchase. The link in the email sent people over to my sales page, which had a lot more information on the features and benefits of the product.

Email #3, sent to subscribers one week after subscribing, shared a link to a set of practice exams sold by another company I was partnered with. I included an affiliate link to that product in that email.

Apparently, the experiment worked very well because sales started to increase month after month, parallel to the growth of my email list. Unfortunately, however, I didn’t have the tools or knowledge required to be able to track this very well.

As a beginner marketer who tried to do everything himself, I was very intimidated by all of the fancy tools out there that could possibly help with tracking and conversions. I didn’t want to break what already seemed to be working.

For years, the same email list and autoresponder series worked its magic, and I didn’t touch the copy or add any more emails to the series until the exam changed in 2012, and I had to start over on a lot of things.

I was very happy with the results of building my list on GreenExamAcademy.com and was extremely happy with AWeber as an email service provider. In fact, that list still lives on AWeber, and I’m still 100% supportive of the company and highly recommend them for those who are just starting to build their email lists.

So where did this switch come from?

That’s in relation to my email list here on Smart Passive Income. That’s a whole different story to tell…
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SmartPassiveIncome.com’s Email List

The Smart Passive Income Blog started in October 2008 simply as a place for me to report and talk about everything that was happening with my business at GreenExamAcademy.com. Starting an online business changed my life and saved my butt after getting laid off, and it was the least I could do to pay it forward and hopefully help others that had met struggles during the recession, too.

Through research and conversation, I knew that there were lot of other people already teaching online business, but I never saw a real-life, open case study of someone else’s business in the space.

So, that’s what I decided to bring to the table, and that became the inspiration behind my income reports, the niche site duel, and other open case studies here on the blog.

Back on topic—did I start an email list when Smart Passive Income started?

Nope. I did not. Why?

I didn’t feel the need to because I wasn’t selling anything.

Another big mistake.

Although I didn’t have anything to sell, the main point of the site was to serve others and become a top resource for people in this space, and by holding back on the email list, I ultimately limited my capacity to help.

In January 2010, after re-attaching my head again, I finally started to build my list here on SPI. As incentive, I created a PDF guide called Ebooks the Smart Way: A Complete Guide to Publishing, Marketing and Automating a Killer Ebook, which is still being downloaded and used today.

I’ve talked about email marketing many times in the past, and I have a few select articles to share with you about growing your list and increasing conversions:

SPI Podcast Session #78: Rapid Listbuilding with Clay Collins
Conversion Strategies with Derek Halpern (SPI Gets Critiqued)
Conversion Strategies Results (I put Derek to the Test)
I used AWeber again to setup a new list (in the same account), and five years later, I’ve built the email list to more than 110,000 subscribers.

At the same time, I watched that my AWeber bill pass the $1,000 threshold for the first time:

pat's aweber bill

AWeber’s pricing is pretty standard and is actually very friendly when starting out, because you pay as you grow. There’s an annual fee of $194, and you pay more on top of that based on the number of subscribers you have.

aweber pricing structure

As you can see, I was being charged $181 per month for 26,000 subscribers (which, relative to the chart above, looks a bit higher than normal) and an additional $8.00 per 1,000 subscribers.

Including the other lists I had built over time, including Green Exam Academy and other interest and webinar lists, I was being charged $1,101.00 for a combined subscriber count of about 141,000.

That’s a substantial list size, and honestly, there was no big issue here for me. I was happy to pay the fee for the service, although I’ve always had a complaint about how AWeber defines a subscriber.

For example, if someone is on your list and they choose to unsubscribe later, they still count as an email in the system which is included in your total subscriber count. You must fully delete that record from your account in order to not have to pay for it, and so I found myself going into each of my individual lists and deleting unsubscribes from my account about once a week.

And no, there is no easy way to delete them from your account—no “delete all unsubscribes” button, which would be nice for obvious reasons. When you have a large list and send a considerable number of emails, your unsubscribe counts could be in the thousands per week.

Additionally, if someone were subscribed to two of your lists, they count as two subscribers. For example, perhaps someone is signed up to your main list as well as a secondary list you created for a particular webinar you conducted. That counts as two.

Some of my records were found to be subscribed to four or five of my email lists!

Apart from this, AWeber was exactly what I needed to build my list. It has helped me foster a deeper relationship with my audience, while also helping me collect valuable information and feedback over time. I can also directly account hundreds of thousands of dollars in total earnings to specific emails that I’ve sent to my list.

It wasn’t until I started to focus on the future of SPI that I saw AWeber lacking functionality in terms of segmentation, “tagging” subscribers based on certain actions and easy to setup automation.

You can set up “rules” in AWeber to automatically segment your audience, but these rules simply subscribe or unsubscribe people from various lists. For example, when one person joins list B, they can be automatically unsubscribed from list A. This simple rule is particularly useful when you have a non-customer email list, and a customer email list.

As I look to better segment my audience based on not only what you want but also what you have read, downloaded, and purchased on SPI, AWeber just didn’t seem have the more advanced capabilities that I wanted.
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SPI was growing up, and it was about to outgrow AWeber. The question was then . . . where was I going next?

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3 Powerful Partnerships That Will Accelerate Your Email List Growth

APRIL 28, 2016 BY VAL GEISLER
Sometimes we start businesses by building a website, getting business cards (because those are gonna be useful), and putting a shiny new opt in form on that sparkly website.
“Here you are, world. My solution to your problems is ready for you.”
And then we sit back and wait for the subscribers to come rolling in. But it’s more trickle than flood and we wonder if we did it all wrong.
Well, let this be your solution to those flood gate woes. You see, building an email list isn’t a “if you build [a form] they will come” situation.

if you build it, they won't come: list growth opportunities from ConvertKit

Finding the ideal subscribers for your list doesn’t have to be a complete mystery though. As it turns out, they already exist (yay!) and with a little effort, they’re easy to tap into with three outreach methods:
Guest Posting
Podcasts
Summits
Now, before we unpack these game plans, it’s worth mentioning that these are long term efforts. This means that you’ll see a spike on the first few days (typically) but these methods are designed to be repeated and worked into your annual marketing strategy. They aren’t a “one and done” kinda deal. Got it? Okay, let’s do this.
Guest Posting
Guest Posting Lessons on ConvertKit
If you aren’t guest posting already, consider this your official call to action. Jeff Goins, master writer and business builder said,
“I believe guest posting is the single most important strategy for growing your blog readership and platform.”
Guest posting is as simple as writing a post for someone else’s blog that their audience will love. The specifics, however are important to consider.
Give away your very best stuff
Some people think that the way to go with guest posts is to share your second best stuff and save your very best for the blog. The thinking makes sense on the surface – get those readers to click through to your blog, find the really good stuff, and become loyal raving fans – but it’s unsound. Darren Rowse of Problogger agrees:
“…if you want to maximise the chance of getting a guest post published on a well known blog and you want to maximise its impact upon the readers of that blog – you need to keep the quality up in your guest posts. 2nd rate posts are not likely to get published and if they do – they’ll not drive you the traffic that a first rate post would do.”
So don’t be shy about giving away your best stuff – and original content at that! – to have the greatest impact from your guest blogging efforts.

3 Powerful Partnerships That Will Accelerate Your Email List Growth - ConvertKit

Get strategic
With a powerful guest post written, your next step is to optimize it for maximum returns. Let me be a tale of caution for you here. When I first started guest posting a few years ago, my only strategy was “find blogs where my potential customers hang out and write for them”. And while that was a good first step and I certainly saw a bump in traffic to my website on my Google Analytics, I wasn’t capturing those potential customers as subscribers on my email list and they were gone as quickly as they came.
You can avoid those same costly mistakes by building a custom landing page for your guest posts.
With a custom landing page on your site (or even one hosted by ConvertKit) you’ll be able to drive those interested customers straight into your email list where you can have access to them on an ongoing basis. Over time I learned to link a freebie opt in to that landing page and saw even higher conversions. By mentioning the freebie in the guest post, especially when it was a true content upgrade, and linking to the landing page, I was able to quickly build my email list from guest posting alone.
Of course, some sites don’t allow for this level of engagement with their audience and prefer a more passive approach. At minimum, you’ll want the link in your byline to head to a landing page and not the homepage of your site. A landing page is not only smart, it’s crucial for conversions, says Unbounce,
“Every link on your page that doesn’t represent your conversion goal is a distraction that will dilute your message and reduce your conversion rate.”
Another way you can get strategic is to link to other posts from the blog you’re posting on within your post. In fact, an article on their blog might support or conflict with your point of view in the piece you’re writing. When you find those gems, link to them! These internal links are great for SEO and your host will just love you for it. Including a few links to articles on the same site earns you bonus points in the eyes of that blog and in the eyes of the SEO Gods.
Share the love
So you’ve nailed the guest post, added your strategy into the mix, and now you’re done, right? Wrong. You’ve put just as much work into this guest post as you have with your own blog posts and it deserves the same love and attention.
Start out with a few social media mentions on your favorite channels. Be sure to use the host’s handle and tag them so that your audience knows that something really special is happening.

Screen Shot 2016-04-28 at 10.59.37 AM

Then set a calendar reminder to keep tabs on the comments of your post. Since you’re reaching a new audience who likely is experiencing your words for the first time, you want to set a good first impression. Check for comments in those first few days (and maybe a few more times in that first month the post goes live) and reply to your new fans. It’s what Taylor Swift would do and we all know how well her marketing efforts have panned out.
Lastly, ask your host if they’re interested in guest posting on your site. Make it simple for them to say yes by proposing a few topics they might cover and give them everything they need to be successful (like a potential publishing date, where/how to send images, any bio information you need). After all, if their audience loves you, you can bet that your audience will love them and they payoff for sharing that love is almost never-ending.
Podcasts
Podcast Guest Lessons on ConvertKit
It’s true, I’m a self-proclaimed podcast junkie. I listen to everything from meditations with Tara Brach to marketing tactics with Call To Action to every podcast fan’s favorite podcast: Sampler. I love them all. In fact, I’ve used podcasts in the past for my own blog – filling my 1×1 client roster and nearly doubling my email list. Here’s how:
Find shows in your niche
The podcast search bar is a handy little secret weapon in finding your ideal customers. Let’s say you have a blog all about minimalism like Courtney Carver. You head to your podcast app and search “minimalism” and find 7 podcasts with that keyword in their information.

podcast search method - ConvertKit

So you subscribe, listen to a few episodes of each, and decide that you think you can contribute to the conversation in a meaningful way. In fact, you have something that you believe hasn’t yet been covered on the show or is maybe a hot button topic for the host. Now you have your next step…
Perfect the pitch
Remember, this is a long term strategy so you’ll have plenty of practice pitching yourself to podcasts in the long run. After you’ve gone on the show’s website and determined they a) are accepting pitches and b) don’t have a specific setup for you to apply, it’s time to send in your pitch. As you compose your email, keep in mind the show host, the topic at hand, and how you can add to the conversation. In fact, here’s a little fill in the blank to get you going:

podcast pitch mad lib by ConvertKit

Show up

Being a good podcast guest is about more than the hour or so you spend prepping and recording the actual episode. The podcasts you appear on rely on you to do your part in sharing the episode with your audience too. While most podcast hosts will ask you to share your latest product, offering, or opt in on the show, you’ll want to follow that up with a heaping dose of generosity in the form of shares. So put a PS in your email to your list, queue up a few social media posts, or even participate in their Twitter Chat (if they host one) for some extra credit.
Summits
Digital Summit Strategies for List Growth on ConvertKit
No, we’re not talking about a long hike here. Summits of the digital variety are a way to speak to groups without leaving your house (yay!). Digital Summits have been popular for a few years now and while you may not see them with the frequency you did in say, 2014, that’s actually a good thing. With less summits around, the quality has gone up and the opportunity to connect with your ideal audience is even more powerful.
The biggest difference between guest posting/podcasts and digital summits is that the attendees for digital summits are typically paying to listen to the content so they’re a much more targeted audience. But that’s really where the differences end as far as you’re concerned here.
You’ll find that the same steps to maximize your return on your time investment apply here:
Find your niche
Perfect the pitch
Give away your best content for free
Get strategic
Show up and share the love
Being part of a digital summit tends to have a domino effect since all of the presenters are promoting the same event. You’ll get promo from others and start to see crossover between your like-audiences – which could just lead to more guest posts and podcast appearances!

Summit List Growth Strategies on ConvertKit

Of course, there’s nothing like your name and face appearing all over the place to have your audience take notice and even finally hear what you have to say. When you guest blog on their favorite sites, appear as a guest on podcasts they love and respect, or participate in a digital summit they’ve invested in, you have their attention in a whole new way.
Have you ever had that moment when you go “Well, why didn’t anybody tell me that??!?” Yeah, me too. But I’ve always realized that somebody DID tell me “that”, I just didn’t hear it until it was presented in that particular delivery method.
By getting your words read and heard in other places, you’re more likely to give your customers what they want before they ever know they want it.
So tell me in the comments below, which strategy are you putting into place for you blog? It’s time to branch out and grow your business more than you ever thought possible.

How Color Choices Affect Calls To Action Online

MAY 2, 2016 BY VAL GEISLER
What are your brand colors? I’m sure you know them off the top of your head (maybe even have those hex codes memorized, right?) but do you know what kind of feelings they evoke?
When I bought my first house back in 2007, every single room needed to be painted before we moved in. Well, they didn’t need to be painted, I suppose, if I wanted a baby pink dining room and a dark purple (including the ceiling) guest room. But I didn’t want that so off I went to buy rollers, paint trays, and several gallons of paint.

Along my drop cloth covered path, I did a little research into the colors I was choosing for each room. Red for my dining room was ideal – that color “stimulates the appetite and is often used in restaurants and is an excellent choice for dining rooms in the home”, according to Sherwin-Williams. Perfect. Those same paint pros also told me that green has a “calming effect” so that one went in the home office.

When it comes to brand design, many people take a similar approach. There’s the “what’s your favorite color?” set – those who choose brand colors based on their wardrobe or home interiors, and there’s the “what colors do my ideal customers love?” set – those who tap into their ideal customer even if it’s outside of their normal comfort zone.
colors of buttons

Naturally, after toiling over your brand colors and finally(!!!) making a choice, you want to slap those bad boys everywhere you can. Website, office supplies, Twitter homepage, phone case. You name it and it gets branded.

But when it comes to the buttons on your website and inside your emails, do your brand colors matter as much as you think they do? Are your customers just as likely to click on a button that is your brand color versus an alternate color?


In this post, I’m sharing 18 examples of buttons that encourage clicks so that you can compare,  contrast, and get the most out of your own buttons. You’ll find real-world examples of companies that are doing buttons well— and some who might be missing a beat.

Of course, a click of a button is only the first step in your journey with your readers before they become customers. But with a little care, some focused testing, and a few tips from those who have come before you, your buttons could become the best buttons on the virtual block. Some of these buttons are for free items (like PDF downloads or deeper information on a sales page). Others are more transactional and your click equals putting money down for a product. No matter the type, if you treat your buttons as “just another thing to brand”, you might be missing an opportunity to truly connect and convert.
kissmetrics color chart



Blue
A color that we’re fond of here at ConvertKit, blue is an easy color to find on websites and software. For good reason, too. Blue stands for trustworthiness, loyalty and sincerity. It’s seen as an intellectual color that also has associations with communication, logic and coolness. (hey, thanks, blue!)
Crazy Egg
If you’re going to install a software onto your own site, you want that built in trustworthiness, right? Crazy Egg makes use of the color blue with their call to action button and even outlines the box where you put your URL before clicking that button in the same color. Since blue isn’t one of their brand colors, it stands out from the green around it on the rest of the page. By having a light blue background, Crazy Egg ties the color into the graphic and shows you that the sky is the limit when it comes to their heatmaps.
crazy egg blue button
Laura Belgray
Laura uses ConvertKit to handle her email marketing for Talking Shrimp, her brand dedicated to content and copywriting. Instead of using her pink and orange brand colors splashed all over her emails, Laura keeps her call to action button simple with our standard ConvertKit blue and, like a good little copywriter, she focuses on the words within the email.
laura belgray convertkit standard

Yellow
Yellow might remind you too much of that famous PayPal “Buy Now” button but it’s effectiveness there is for good reason. According to Unbounce, yellow is seen as a youthful, optimistic color that grabs attention. It’s also associated with emotions, self esteem, creativity and friendliness.
Moz
Rand Fishkin and the fine folks at Moz know a thing or two about online visibility and their homepage button is no exception. Not only are blue and yellow complimentary colors (one cool and one warm), the yellow button really stands out in a dark header. It’s a bit of light in the dark and it invites you in to see more before ever scrolling down the page.
moz yellow button
LeadPages
Using yellow buttons inside emails works for LeadPages too. Another example of partnering this bold color with our friendly pal Blue, LeadPages gives exact instructions on the button copy and helps it stand out in an otherwise jam packed email.
leadpages email yellow button
Brian Tracy
See that tiny bit of yellow in Brian Tracy’s logo? Brian’s actually able to incorporate his brand color here by choosing a yellow button for his goal-setting guide on his homepage. This time yellow is partnered up with red – another hot color – to entice action out of the reader.
brian tracy yellow
Red
Red, the color of my dining room back in my first home, is a very physical color which quickens the heart rate and promotes urgency. It stands for energy, courage, strength, excitement and defiance. Warmth is also a key association. When used in small doses, red can really pack a punch.
StitchFix
Taking a more understated look with the rest of their branding, StitchFix is all about the clothes and the focus on their site is clear. A red button in the center of the header invites the reader to take action with their service and start down the path to getting their fix every month.
stitchfix red button
Acuity Scheduling
In 2014, Acuity Scheduling worked with Joanna Wiebe’s team to optimize their website, including their buttons. By changing the button color (shown below), Acuity saw a 94% lift on clicks of that single button. “We made that one outside of the brand color, so different from the palette, and that was the point with making it really stand out,” Joanna said on The Lede Podcast. You decide – does the red button stand out to you?
acuity red button
Kyla Roma
Another happy ConvertKit customer, Kyla decided to swap out her button color inside her incentive emails to match her branding. With simple text and a clear call to action, the red button ties back into the website the reader just visited and also inspires a sense of urgency.
Want to learn how to change your own incentive email button colors? Click here to learn all about customizing your incentive emails with ConvertKit.
kyla roma red button
Green
The color of money, green seems like an obvious choice for banking and financial websites. After all, as Josh Pigford reminds us, this is often seen as the color of wealth. It’s a relaxing color which is the easiest one for the eyes to process. It promotes balance, health, refreshment and restoration, and is often associated with the environment.
Xero
As an accounting software, money is the center of the Xero world. And this brand makes the most of the relaxing color by pairing it with the word “free” in their button text. They’ve also chosen an image that ties in the blue of their logo and the green of the button, helping the eye move along the page to that ever-important button to click (Clever, Xero. We see what you did there.)
xero green button
Copyhackers
Using a popup in the middle of a blog post is a common known tactic (love ’em or hate ’em, popups convert). But common tactics are only successful if they’re done well and Copyhackers is making the most of theirs with this color combo one-two punch of Trusty Blue and Refreshing Green.
copyhackers green button
Orange
Long known as a popular color for buttons, brands tend to shy away from this exciting color lately. But orange deserves a second look: it’s an aggressive color that creates a call to action. It is associated with fun, warmth, passion and security. Hmmmm – maybe we should consider using some orange buttons…
Mint
Mint is about money, yes, but their mission is more than just dollars and cents. It’s about getting closer to your goals through better money management. It’s about freeing up your time and mind space so you can make the most of your days. And it helps that the color they chose for their buttons is associated with security and fun. After all, if Mint is out to do anything it’s to make you feel secure while making managing your money a bit more fun.
mint orange button
Social Media Examiner
One of the industry’s leading authorities on all things social, Social Media Examiner takes a strong approach with their call to action in orange. Their brand color of green (a cool color) sits opposite the warm color of orange making them ideal to support each other on their website – like this call to action for their industry report.
social media examiner orange button
Pink
“Pretty in pink” has never been truer than online. Pink is generally seen as a romantic, feminine color. It stands for love, warmth, nurture, tranquility and sexuality and it’s used in many women-focused brands across industries. Pink can be a power play when used well and it reinforces a warm and loving message for the right brands.
Gala Darling
Dedicated to living a life full of self love, Gala Darling speaks to the feminine mystique and her audience revels in all of the pink girlyness of her site. Even her invite in her popup is to “get love letters in your inbox” so a pink button is a natural choice here.
gala darling pink button
A Little Creative
Enveloping those big-hearted entrepreneurs in a massive hug, Morgan at A Little Creative uses pink as a standout color on her more neutral background. In conjunction with yellow (remember – that warm/cool color combo works everywhere), this site draws your eyes and your clicks right down to that bright pink button.
a little creative pink button
Purple
Historically known as a color of royalty, purple is a soothing color that has a spiritual element. It is associated with luxury, vision, quality and truth. Purple is also a rarely used color online, especially for call to action buttons, so why not stand out?
9to5 Chic

This brand happens to have purple in their brand colors, but 9to5 Chic makes the most of purple in an understated way. Highlighted against the otherwise mostly grey tone homepage, their purple buttons really stand out and keep you engaged with their site.
9to5 Chic purple button
Wellness Mama
Sitting almost exactly opposite of one another on the color wheel, green and purple go naturally together for Wellness Mama. Not only that, but the purple color really stands out in this mostly green homepage and encourages the reader to take action right away.
wellness mama purple button
Black
It’s hard to find a black button, and rightfully so. While black is a powerful color that exudes sleekness, sophistication and efficiency, it also has a tendency to blend in with the rest of the copy on a webpage. Shops like Sephora and luxury retailers such as Apple make the most of black in a meaningful way, but most bloggers, especially those who aren’t experienced with button testing, are best advised to steer clear of black for their calls to action.
Ghost

Okay, “ghost” isn’t a color, obviously but it’s a button type worth examining. While having a standout button color can pay off, many sites are opting for these more understated ghost buttons (translucent backgrounds that pickup the rest of the site) and seeing big returns from them.
A word to the wise: much like black, ghost buttons should be used by the experienced brand builder and tested against color buttons to know what works best with your audience.
Stripe

Sure, Stripe is using a blue button to encourage you to explore more about them, but their Sign Up button is a ghost button right next to the blue one.
stripe ghost button

Wedding Wire
With many options on one page, Wedding Wire makes use of ghost buttons to segment their audience into next steps on their site. Knowing that their audience is highly interested in powerful imagery, Wedding Wire makes the most of that by continuing to show the image behind their ghost buttons.
wedding wire ghost buttons
And now it’s your turn. What color will you use for your buttons? Are you more willing to test out some options now that you’ve seen the power of each color in action? Tell us in the comments below if you see buttons in a different light now and what you’ll do with your newfound knowledge.

Why Nofollow Links Are Good For Your Blog

MAY 5, 2016 BY VAL GEISLER
If there’s anyone’s good side you want to be on with your blog, the list probably goes (from least to most important):
3. Your college creative writing professor
2. Your mom
1. Google

Google, you see, is the Master of the Internets and can truly make or break things for you as a blogger. Mom and that old prof? They’ll love you no matter what.

But, see, Google isn’t just a search engine that looks for keywords and checks on that SEO you’re so diligently working on with your Yoast plugin (I see you working hard on that.) Google is a computer that looks for many different elements on your blog and makes sure you’re following their rules.
That’s right. Just like mom (and the college prof, probably), Google has rules and if you want to live under their roof, er, Internet, you gotta play by them.

There are, of course, the quality guidelines like don’t throw in irrelevant keywords for no reason and don’t just copy of a bunch of other people’s stuff onto your own site (because that’s stealing), but there are other less obvious rules Google wants you to know about.
Wait, though. Before you click that link above just hang out for a second so you can learn about the most recent and incredibly important one. We’re diving into nofollow links and why you need them on your blog.


Why Nofollow Links Are Good For Your Blog and How To Use Them
First of all, what the heck is a nofollow link?
The SITSGirls give us a simple, real-person answer:
It really is a straight-forward concept. “Nofollow” provides a way for bloggers to tell search engines “Don’t follow links on this page” or “Don’t follow this specific link.”
CoolCoolCoooool. Yes. So….. why would I want that?

Well, I’m not sure if you noticed but the world is chock full of product placement and bloggers being given products for free in exchange for blog posts with links back to the product and all kinds of other incentivized blog posting. Raise your hand if you’ve participated in those on your blog (:raises own hand:).

Okay. So we know nofollow links mean that Google won’t trace the fact that you sent someone from your blog to another site and we know we send people to other sites via links on our blogs all the time. So why does Google care?

Ya know how people called Abraham Lincoln “Honest Abe”? Think of Google as the modern Honest Abe. Google wants to give preference to content and pages that perform really well on their own, not whoever can give the most products away for free to bloggers who will link back to their site.
nofollow links have long been used for paid products, but Google is counting free products in the mix now too. Let’s be honest, as Alison Kramer said on The Unpodcast, “Getting something for free is essentially getting paid.”

Google wants us all playing a fair game so recently they added to their blogger guidelines:
no follow links on Google
Ah. Got it. And look at that. Google even gives us bloggers a tip at the end there. “The most successful blogs offer their visitors a compelling reason to come back. If you’re a blogger you might try to become the go-to source of information in your topic area, cover a useful niche that few others are looking at, or provide exclusive content that only you can create due to your unique expertise or resources.” Thanks, G!

Now I understand this whole thing, but what do I do with it?
I’m so glad you asked (or the rest of this article wouldn’t make much sense).
Nofollow links have been around since 2005 (whaaaat? It’s true) but Google is just now making them part of their guidelines so it’s time to take them seriously. And I should note here that you don’t have to go back and change every link for all eternity. Just clean up your act from here on out. Ready? Here’s how:

Add the simple nofollow code after the URL you link to inside your post. It looks like this:
rel=”nofollow”
Or even more specifically:
<a href=”http://www.thatcoolcompany.com/” rel=”nofollow”>That Cool Company</a>
Okay! I’ll do it. But… can you help me not hate it so much?
Sure!
Links (of any kind) do a lot for a brand and for you as the blogger.
Adding links to other products and services establishes you as an authority. Want to become known as the go-to resource for easy after-school crafts for kids? Linking to products and other resources on your blog establishes you as the first place to look when a busy momma is trying to entertain her littles. She knows you’ll have everything she needs with your fancy in-line links and she probably even tells the other moms in her neighborhood all about you.
Links give you a reason to reach out to others. Web strategist and all around smart dude Andy Crestodina recently reported joint research that shows that 75% of articles have zero external links. Let’s get that number up! We’re constantly talking about how to increase your audience and an easy way to do just that is to link to others and then let them know you did.
For instance, we recently published a post featuring a number of call to action buttons. By linking to each site, we were then able to reach out on social and tell those bloggers we gave them some love:
Screen Shot 2016-05-05 at 9.25.13 AM
And we’ll do the same for this post too. It’s a long term strategy, but building relationships this way gets you on the radar of others.
How does that work with nofollow links? Let’s say Fossil gives you a free wallet to review on your fashion blog. You’re a good little blogger so you use a nofollow link and then take to social media to let Fossil know the post is live. You give that a few shares over the next several days and, lo and behold, Michael Kors brand follows Fossil and sees your post. So Michael Kors reaches out and strikes a deal with you about reviewing their products. And so the cycle continues again. Sound impossible? It’s real life, friend. Nicole Kohler made it to the front page of a little publication called The Huffington Post using this very nofollow link strategy.
Finally, nofollow links are still trackable. Using a link-shortening tool like bit.ly or goo.gl for your link will give you the ability to track clicks from your site to the external site. This information is invaluable to bloggers who take on a lot of product reviews – with this data you can prove the amount of traffic that’s sent from your site to another site and make the most of new opportunities.
Let’s take that Fossil example again. If you plugged the URL of the wallet on the Fossil site into your bit.ly account and created a shortlink, you might end up with something like: http://bit.ly/1rsE0p9 (that’s a fake link, btw, just setting up the example here)
Then for your nofollow link you’ll use:
<a href=”http://bit.ly/1rsE0p9” rel=”nofollow”>That Fossil Wallet</a>
and track all of the clicks inside your bit.ly account. Neat, huh?!
One more question: do I need to use nofollow on social media or embedded images?

Yes. No. It’s up to you.
Google isn’t looking at links you add to Instagram or Twitter (at least not yet) and the best practice for images is, of course, a nofollow link. But the guidelines aren’t explicit there. Also, I’m not Google (obviously) but I’d venture to say that if you want to really get on their good side, stick to those nofollow links on embedded images too.
Got it. I’m ready. Thanks!
You’re welcome! Be sure to let us know any questions you have and we’ll do our very best to help you navigate those Google guidelines and make the most of your ranking online.

6 Free Tools To Make Your Writing More Powerful

MAY 9, 2016 BY VAL GEISLER
In a world full of software developers and rapid development, it seems like there’s a new must-have tool or product on the market every single day. Facebook Groups, Slack Channels, and private forums are full of talk about the hot new writing tools for professional bloggers. Honestly, it’s all a bit overwhelming.
How do I know which tools to choose? What’s going to serve me well over time? Better yet: which free tools are going to make the most of my minuscule budget and stretch my dollar so I can invest in others I’ve dreamed of using?
It’s time to set aside the new hot wonder tool and focus on the tried and true systems that will really have an impact for you. I’ve pulled together a list of the top 6 free tools every professional blogger needs to add to their writing toolbelt. This focused list is guaranteed to help you squelch any cases of FOMO you’re struggling with when it comes to your writing process.
Of course, a huge part of blogging going beyond writing into image creation and design so we have a post coming your way all about free design tool for non-designers.
But let’s start with the writing, shall we? And, who knows, all of these free tools might just give you room in your wallet to invest in the systems you’ve been eyeing up from afar.
6 free tools to make your writing more powerful

Google Docs + Research Tool
Almost every ConvertKit blog post is written in Google Docs and researched with Google. But to avoid having 46 tabs open at once and overwhelming both my brain and my computer’s hard drive, I make use of the Research Tool built into Google Docs to keep things simple. Simply head to Tools>Research and type your topic. From there when you hover over a link you can Preview, Insert Link, or Cite that article. Heads up: if you click on it, it will open another tab. So grab your data or quote and then close that sucker so you can stay focused on the task at hand.

Google Doc Research Tool

Noizio
Speaking of focus, every good writer needs a solid work environment and one of the best ways many of us solve that is with ambient noise. Moving to a bustling coffee shop, turning on some classical music, or even employing a white noise machine are tricks I’ve heard from fellow writers. And, sure, they work. But a favorite app around the ConvertKit “office” is Noizio. This iPhone app allows you to create your own mix of ambient noises based on what you need that day. This post is being composed to a subtle mix of October Rain, Coffee House, and Thunderstorm. I had Campfire mixed in but it was too much so I took it out. You can try any combo to your heart’s content until you find your perfect mix for that day’s focused writing project. No excuses – get that blog written!

noizio

Hemingway App
I dropped the intro to this article into Hemingway and got a 12th grade reading score. With a few adjustments to some of my more complicated sentence structures, I got it down to a more simple 8th Grade reading score. With this free app by your side, you can easily see how “readable” your articles are and adjust them as needed. This is an incredible tool if you are a more technical writer wondering if people understand what you’re writing or if you simply want to up your writing game and get a “coach” along the way.

hemingway app

Grammarly
Don’t have an editor or even a VA with an English degree who can edit for you? No problem. This Chrome extension will do the editing for you on everything you write online. After Hemingway told me how “readable” the intro to this article was, I dropped it into Grammarly and was shown a few things I needed to fix. (Pro tip: you can also make use of the in-browser checker and use Grammerly right inside Hemingway App.) This powerful tool works from your browser so you’ll see it’s helpful indicators everywhere you write online. Never let another hasty tweet embarrass you again! Grammarly to the rescue.
Editor’s Note: If you’re a ConvertKit user, you can compose your emails in Google Docs or Hemingway, run them through Grammarly, and then then schedule them inside ConvertKit. Grammarly and ConvertKit are still getting to be friends and don’t always play well together but we’re working on that relationship!

The Paralyzing Fear of Change And How To Overcome It

FEBRUARY 29, 2016 BY VAL GEISLER
The Paralyzing Fear of Change And How To Overcome It
What are you most afraid of? When we were kids it was things like the dark, strangers, Aunt Edna’s kisses, and broccoli. Now that we’re out in the world adulting, those fears (while mostly likely still valid) have been replaced by bigger fears.

Public speaking. Rejection. Heights. Failure. Winning. Losing.
While our fears differ as adults, there’s one fear that many of us hold close to the chest and never let go of: the fear of change.

No, I’m not talking about the fear of coins as currency (though that is a classified fear called cuprolaminophobia). This change is the kind that happens in our everyday lives: we move, we get married, we change jobs, we get a haircut, we gain new clients, we have kids, we sign up for new email lists, we pick a new bookkeeping software. Some change is big and some is small. But the fact that things were one way and then all of a sudden are a different way is what defines “change”.
Actually, let’s define “change” formally, since defining words often aids in removing their power. I spoke with Nancy-Jane Smith, counselor and host of the Live Happier Podcast, and asked her to shed some light on this difficult word.

Change is inevitable, it is simply moving from one state to another. Change becomes hard because we resist it. We’re resistant to it because change reminds us that basically we aren’t in control. Change leaves us open to insecurity, fear and shame all the ‘negative emotions’ we spend much of our life trying to avoid.  Even ‘good changes’ can spike those emotions.

So if a fear of change is something we all deal with in various degrees and can expect in our lives and businesses, why talk about it at all? Why worry about overcoming the fear if everybody’s feeling it?
Because overcoming a fear of change can make or break your brand.


Out With The Old
Believe it or not, there was a time when Old Spice was less Swagger and more Sinking Ship.
In late 2009, Old Spice was the “old man” brand of America. “Ugh. My Uncle John hugged me at Thanksgiving and I smelled like Old Spice for two days,” was a sad phrase muttered across the country. Despite having changed their logo from a turn of the century ship to a modern day yacht, sales just weren’t high and Old Spice’s target audience was (literally) dying off.
All of that changed on February 4, 2010. Breaking out of their commercial box (typically aiming their commercials at men), Old Spice took on the real buying power in the American household: the women. Remember this guy?

Doing a near 180 on their marketing strategy saved Old Spice from the back of the medicine cabinet for good. That commercial, the “Old Spice Guy” commercial, got 5.9 million views on the first day alone.
5.9 million.
Old Spice, of course, responded with more Old Spice Guy, more funky commercials, and a warm embrace of this new change that paid off.

But change doesn’t just pay off when you make a multi-million dollar pivot like Old Spice did. The payoff for embracing change can be high even on smaller moves in your business, no matter what you might think when you set out to make them.
Self Limiting Beliefs

Let’s pretend you’re running a small business on your own and you’ve been managing your company bank statements and invoices yourself with a handy spreadsheet. You sit down every two weeks and go through your numbers, earmarking expenses, confirming invoices have been paid, and settling the final balance. It takes a few hours but you’re proud of the work you’ve done in your Excel spreadsheet (you learned how to write formulas, after all!) and you consider it the “cost of being in business”.
At an industry conference, a new friend starts to talk to you about their bookkeeping software. They tell you that the program hooks up to their bank account and payment portal, reconciles everything automagically, and keeps a handy dashboard on the homepage for easy at-a-glance checks of the company finances. When you realize the potential with this powerful system at work in your own business, you sign up as their next customer.

And then the change monster begins to float around your head.
It will take too long to set everything up.

I don’t really know much about finances so it’s going to be hard to understand.
I’ve been doing it my way for so long. This new way will be confusing.

Understanding this software is a huge undertaking and I’m really not technically inclined.
And so on. Self-limiting beliefs are the root cause of the fear of change and here they are staring you in the face. Our beliefs color our vision and perception of the world around us. They determine our action or inaction.

Self-limiting beliefs want us to stay in inaction. Inaction is comfortable, safe, easy. It’s keeping the spreadsheet instead of moving everything into the software. It’s holding onto the ship instead of upgrading to the yacht.
Steven Pressfield said in The War of Art “Are you paralyzed with fear? That’s a good sign. Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember one rule of thumb: the more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.”
When our self-limiting beliefs have their way, they stall progress. You can take all the action you want, and in the right direction too, but anytime you make progress, that mindset pulls you back to conform to your inner beliefs.

What’s To Be Done?
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates
Luckily, there’s a way out of the trap of self-limiting beliefs and that paralyzing fear of change. Jonathan Mead of Paid To Exist offers a few pointers:
Stop identifying with the belief. Most beliefs are so difficult to change because we identify with them. They seem to be ingrained as a part of who we are. And because we identify with them, we allow ourselves to be defined by them. If you think you’re not creative, you’ll see yourself as someone who just wasn’t born with that ability. If you think you’re bad with getting things to work, you might think you’re just not a mechanical person. It’s easy to get caught up in allowing our beliefs to define us, but they don’t have to. So the first step is to stop identifying with or defining yourself based on what you believe.

Kill your conclusions. Whatever you think you know to be certain is probably a lot more flexible than you think. What you think to be required is certain to be much more negotiable. Question all of the conclusions you have about what you think to be true, fixed or possible.

Test your assumptions. Without pushing the boundary and testing your assumptions, it’s impossible to move past your limiting beliefs. You need to do something to break the pattern of your limiting belief. Questioning is the first step, but if you only do that, the possibilities of moving to a more empowering perspective stay in your head. Some type of action must be taken that puts your conclusions to the test. Just make sure that you’re not staying in the limited head-space that leads you to reinforce what you already hold to be true. Suspend your judgment and take some kind of action to test your assumptions.

So the key to change is to, well, change your self-limiting beliefs.
Since it’s often challenging to separate yourself from your own experience, take a look at David de las Morenas’ story.
When I self-published my first book, it was done as an experiment, not with the intention of making money. But it did make money.

However, at the time, I believed that my career as a software engineer was, well, my career. I didn’t believe I could turn writing and marketing books into a full time profession.

I eventually decided to write and release another book. And then another. And another. Each time, I paid more and more attention to how Amazon markets products internally. I also improved my writing with each release. I figured out that getting a big initial wave of sales and reviews causes Amazon to place my books at the top of relevant search results, on the best-seller charts, and in the “customers also bought section” of similar books. This led me to focusing on building my email list so that I have a solid initial crowd of potential buyers when I release a new book. In fact, the most recent book I released – “Write Book, Make Money” – details my findings and the method I’ve developed for making a living writing and selling books on Amazon.

Now, while I still work part time for a gym as a personal trainer, I make the vast majority of my money through this website and my book sales.  I fully believe that I can survive solely on the money I make from my own business endeavors. And this belief has given me the confidence to devote more and more of my time to my business, and less and less of my time to working for other people. But I didn’t have this confidence until I transformed my limiting belief into an empowering one.

Change As An Antidote to Laziness
No matter how productive you might feel on any given day, we are all hard-wired to be as lazy as possible. “Netflix and Chill” is a saying for a reason and while we can all “Hustle Hard” from time to time, eventually our biology will catch up with us.

Joanna Wiebe of Copyhackers saw first hand how a little change made a big difference for a recent colleague. In their ad copy work with a client who sold warranties, they shifted from a tried and true copy standard to something a little edgier.

Why switch? They had been getting good results for a long time and the original copy was working. Even with ads that converted perfectly well, they wanted to see what would happen if they tried something that pushed it just a little further. A slight change resulted in big results in their return on their ad investment and they were instantly hooked on change as strategy.

But change of any size is hard, for sure. Joanna recently shared on the Call To Action Podcast:
It’s hard. It’s harder. It’s going to take you stopping and not doing the same things you’re used to, not jumping into the fun part. But, it’s the better way to do it.

When Change Is Only The Beginning
According to Gary Vaynerchuk, social media marketing expert and author of The Thank You Economy, Old Spice missed the, um, boat.

Old Spice saw a major spike in sales and brand awareness, but there are plenty of brands that have done great marketing, spiked for a while, and then disappeared off the consumer radar. The brand had an opportunity to continue the conversation with all of those people who connected with them, and they squandered it. They left their customers behind, limiting the full impact the campaign could have had on the brand.

In other words, Old Spice needed to fully embrace change in all areas of their business for their strategy to pay off to it’s maximum extent. They needed to change how they approached social media, customer relations, and the full brand experience.

A little change is good. A lot of change is powerful.
Which brings us to a final point: change is eternal. To bring another great philosopher into the conversation, Heraclitus famously said “’The only thing that is constant is change”. If there’s one thing we can all anticipate (beyond taxes and death), it’s that change will come.

With regular practice, shifting our self-limiting beliefs, and expanding change into multiple areas, change won’t be so scary after all. Making any shift isn’t easy, but the greatest opportunities lie in the hardest moments.

Wasted Real Estate Marketers Are Missing

MARCH 3, 2016 BY VAL GEISLER

wasted real estate
We all have that bit of wasted real estate in our homes: the space behind the sink in the corner of your kitchen, the potential storage in your bathroom blocked by the door opening the wrong direction, the closet that’s super tall for no reason whatsoever.


And it’s frustrating to walk around seeing the potential… if only…. sigh.
Wasted real estate doesn’t just exist in homes, though. It’s all over the place from websites to marketing brochures to bio pages. We’ve talked about 12 potential places for your opt in form before but there’s even more wasted real estate to discover. You see, gathering opt ins through a simple form is one thing. Integrating a landing page into your overall marketing plan is taking things to the next level and we don’t want you to miss a single opportunity to get your landing pages in front of your community.

Here’s 4 key places you can make use of landing pages and increase your conversions to your email list:
Thank You Pages

When your subscribers opt in to your forms, you have their attention at the highest point. They’ve just expressed interest in hearing from you and are excited to get to know you better. Now’s the time to share more details with them! If you’re using ConvertKit, we make it easy to re-direct your new subscribers to a custom thank you page.
change your thank you page

Use this page to share some of your top blog posts, direct them to your products or services, or share a favorite GIF with them. Give them more of you on this landing page and ditch the standard out-of-the-box page that comes with your forms as is.
Email Signature

Including a link to an opt in landing page in your email signature is often overlooked but it’s a powerful way to convert your regular emails into subscribers to your email list. Build a landing page for an upcoming or current offering and nab their attention with a call to action in the signature of your emails. Chances are high that the people you email every day about your business are also the perfect fit for your email list!

Email Template Footer
Have an ongoing offering or even just something really fun to share with your readers? Add a link to that landing page inside your email template (the footer is a great place for this) and draw them back to your website or to wherever your community gathers.
RealPlans uses their footer to promote their Facebook Group:
RealPlans email signature

But you could use that link to head to a page on your website, a YouTube video you made, or even a fun link you enjoy. Email footers are a great place for those “Easter Eggs” that bring little bits of joy (and detract from that required Unsubscribe button)
Guest Posts

Writing successful guests posts is a whole article in and of itself but we’re talking results via landing pages here so I can’t leave this one out. When you do write a guest post on someone else’s blog, be sure to include a direct link inside your bio or byline to a landing page designed just for that audience.


When their readers click through to your site, they’ll find themselves on a page that says “Hey! Welcome here from that other site! I’m so glad you’re here.” (or, you know, something along those lines). It’s the difference between remembering someone’s name at a big mixer event and greeting them with a “Hi, Mark!” versus forgetting who they are and how you know them and giving them a hearty “Hey, guy!”. Give them the custom experience and the option to sign up to stay in touch with you through an email sequence or PDF download that speaks to that audience.


Where have you found wasted real estate that you’ve put to good use? Share them in the comments below and let me know if you’re implementing any of the ideas here.

How Bloggers Earn a Living Online: Heath Padgett

“At least five times a day I wonder what the heck I’m doing with my life.” – Heath Padgett
When I asked Heath Padgett to share his story of running his blog from an RV while traveling around the entire country with his wife, I never expected him to share the exact same sentiment I’ve heard from so many other small business owners.
“What the heck am I doing with my life?” is a resounding chorus in Facebook Groups, masterminds, and private Slack channels around the globe. And there Heath was, saying it again.
For the past two years my wife and I have been working on a documentary called Hourly America that follows my story as I drove an RV cross-country and worked an hourly wage job in all 50 states.

We also film online video courses for clients. Since beginning Hourly America, I’ve also been asked (and paid) to speak for large companies like Chick-Fil-A, UPS, and several others on my experience finding and working jobs in the hourly job economy.

I blog about our RV lifestyle at HeathPadgett.com and host a weekly podcast called The RV Entrepreneur where I feature interviews of location indepent entrepreneurs who run businesses from their RV’s (I know, super random… but also cool).

My work is super diversified at this point but I’m enjoying trying a bunch of different things. At least five times a day I wonder what the heck I’m doing with my life, but in my own way, I’ve also been really intentional about experimenting with different forms of income and crafts.
That’s right. The “what the heck am I doing with my life” conundrum even occurs when you’re getting speaking gigs from major brands and seeing the incredible country most Americans only get glimpses at.
So if Heath asks himself this question as often as many other business owners do, his days must be long and hard, full of meetings and endless deadlines, sapping the joy out of life, right?
My day typically starts at six AM. I read for a half hour, journal, then spend some time writing a blog. Our day is typically spent working on a project for a client or editing our documentary. We spend most of the day working inside the RV and on travel days we’ll pack up our entire home and hit the road.
DCIM106GOPRO
the first time Alyssa drove their first RV
Hmmm. So those days don’t sound incredibly challenging. Sure, they have their ups and downs (as anyone who’s ever been on a road trip or tried to post a blog on a spotty wifi signal can certainly attest to) but it’s not the day to day that causes Heath to question his sanity.
So it must be a small revenue pool.
In the past couple years our income streams have been:

Video/client work for online courses: Typical projects are $4-6k for an online course plus 15% commission from sales. $1k/day for typical promo shoots.
Sponsorship from two major sponsors: Snagajob for our 50 state trip and Hourly America project ($1k/month while traveling and $5k to visit Alaska & Hawaii) and Winnebago for our 2016 RV (discount on new purchase and monthly stipend for blog posts we write).
Speaking: $2,500 speaking fee
Freelance editing & shooting weddings: $300/ per edit & $300 per day of shooting. We’ve been hired as additional shooters close to 12 in the past six months (I shoot and Alyssa edits).
Affiliate income: I am just getting started in the affiliate income space but am excited to increase this stream in 2016.
We don’t have an average income just yet. Our yearly earnings last year was ~$50k. Here is a complete breakdown of our year #2 expenses and income while living, working and traveling in our RV.
wds laughing
conferencing at World Domination Summit
Okay. So that common question isn’t about hard days or finances. Well, the other thing that comes up constantly with other professional bloggers is the desire to diversify but not knowing how. Turns out, that’s not really Heath’s problem either:
I’m currently working on building an online booking system for RVers to book campgrounds. This is a huge need in my space. We are also working to put together a physical product & guide for people who are transitioning into the full-time travel lifestyle.
Could it be that this is just a normal feeling? That every small business owner has a “is this real life?!??” moment about five times a day?
Heath’s certainly pinching himself.
I love the fact that we live, work, and travel in our RV. I love that we can pick up and go whenever we like and the fact that we’ve seen so much of America. I also love being able to work on projects alongside my wife. People seem to get a kick out of the fact that we live in an RV, it makes for a great conversation starter.

“Wait, you live in an RV?! How old are you?” ← Typical response.

My definition of success is having fun in my work and providing value to the world, without the feeling that I’m sacrificing my health or relationships. When I do that, I know I’m successful.
And yet, despite all the love, the plans for growth, the multiple revenue streams, and the days that feel like a beautiful mix of work and play, Heath is still a student of his craft. He admits to not having all of the answers (who does??) and seeking advice from him mentors along the way.
Heath hard at work at Denali in Alaska
Heath hard at work at Denali in Alaska
The best part about Heath is that he wants to teach everything he knows to others who want to live the RV (or professional blogger) life:
When I first got started I didn’t really know about affiliate income, online courses, or any of those things. I started blogging because I eventually wanted to publish a book, so I needed to work on building up an audience.

A big push for me actually came from Nathan Barry when I first signed up for ConvertKit last year. I recently wrote about how up until that point my blog had been hovering around 2,000 monthly page views and only 112 subscribers. I told Nathan I thought it was pointless to continue blogging about the RV lifestyle because I didn’t think I could ever monetize it. He told me that I should stick it out and try to provide as much value as I could in the RV space.

And after one year of using ConvertKit I’ve now grown that audience from 2k monthly page views to over 25k monthly page views. My email list has grown from 112 subscribers to over 1,600 subscribers. Best of all, we recently struck a one-year sponsorship deal with Winnebago and a 2016 RV (see more details here about how I made this happen).

I know this wouldn’t have been possible had I not buckled down to grow my audience. Much of this stemmed from a seven day email course that I released via ConvertKit to my followers.
If there was one word that Heath would tattoo on the forearm of every new blogger today, it would be the word VALUE.
When I first got started blogging, I thought about me, me, me. Once I quit thinking about myself and started asking the question, “How could I provide value?”, that’s when I really started to grow my blog.
So maybe that common thought every business owner has is resolved with one five-letter word. Provide value and see the fruits of your labor in your bottom line. Value can shift “what the heck am I doing with my life?” to “wow, I can’t believe this is my life!” and that’s a road any RV-driving-blogger would be happy to drive down.