The channel you own
Email Marketing
Email is the one channel you own. The list is yours and no algorithm sits between you and the people on it. The platform can start free: Mailchimp costs nothing up to 500 contacts. I'm Chad, I've built websites and their email for 20 years, and the work here is making the channel earn its place: a clean, segmented list and sends people open.
Email marketing, at a glance
You own the list. Rankings and social reach are rented from an algorithm; the email list leaves with you, whatever platform it lives on.
It can start at $0. Mailchimp is free up to 500 contacts, and I'll tell you when free is all you need.
Segments beat blasts. Every client list I've set up across 20 years of website builds proves it: relevance is the open rate.
Restraint is the strategy. Over-sending burns a list faster than anything else, so the calendar is part of the build.
Most business email is sent to be deleted
The list deserved better than the blast.
Businesses collect addresses for years, then send everyone the same newsletter until the opens die. The list grows while the channel stops working, and the platform bill grows with it.
The list decays. Dead addresses and never-opens pile up, providers notice, and your legitimate sends start landing in spam for everyone else too.
Blasts bore. A customer who bought twice and a stranger who downloaded a PDF get the same email, so it's relevant to neither. Segments exist to fix exactly this.
Over-sending burns. Every send spends a little of the list's patience. Send too often and the unsubscribes and spam flags eat the channel from the inside.
None of this needs a bigger platform plan. It needs the setup done properly once, and a calendar with some discipline in it.
How I build the channel
- 01
The list gets cleaned
Dead weight comes off and the senders get authenticated, so providers trust the domain before the first real send goes out.
- 02
Segments get built from behavior
Repeat buyers and the merely curious each get their own slice. Relevance is the entire open rate.
- 03
Sends get designed to be pressed
One job per email and a button instead of a buried link. People love pressing buttons.
- 04
The cadence gets a calendar
A sending rhythm the list can sustain, written down. Restraint keeps the channel alive longer than any clever subject line.
Where email fits in the bigger picture
Email compounds best when the rest of the funnel feeds it. These are its neighbors.
Proof, not promises
The recommendation leads with the cost
Mailchimp is my go-to, and the first fact I give every client is that it's free up to 500 contacts. The wallet comes first, every time.
The same advice, every time
Ask me in person or read my writing: segment your list and don't over-send. The rules don't change, because they're the ones that work.
Forms that feed the list properly
I build the site forms too, so subscribers land tagged into the right segment from the first click instead of dumped into one bucket.
Setups that outlive me
The platform lives in your account with the segments documented. If we ever stop working together, the channel keeps working.
What it costs, plainly
Email setup runs at $315 an hour as a scoped block: list cleanup, authentication, segments, templates, and the calendar, with the number in writing before we start. Ongoing sends can be scoped after, or your team can run the system themselves. It's documented for exactly that.
Straight up: if your list is under 500 contacts, your platform is free and the spend here is setup only. I will never move you onto a paid plan you don't need.
Get a straight answerIs email the right move?
This is for you if
- You have customers worth talking to more than once.
- You want owned reach that compounds instead of rented impressions.
Probably not if
- You want to buy a list. That burns the channel and the domain, and I won't do it.
- You need mass volume this week. That's advertising.
Email Marketing FAQs
The questions buyers ask about email marketing, answered the way I'd answer them on a call.
Mailchimp is my go-to, and it's free up to 500 contacts. Other platforms are fine too. The platform matters far less than the list hygiene and the segments, which is where the actual work is.
Less often than you think. Every send spends some of the list's patience, and over-sending burns a list faster than anything else. The calendar gets set to what your business can sustain with quality.
Yes, matched to your voice, or I can set up the system and templates so your team writes them. Either way the structure that gets emails opened and pressed is built in.
It's the only channel you own outright. Algorithms change, rankings move, ad costs climb, and the inbox keeps being the inbox. For businesses with repeat customers it's usually the highest-return channel on the menu.
Usually unauthenticated sending domains and a decayed list. Providers score senders the way banks score credit. The cleanup and authentication pass fixes the score, and the calendar keeps it healthy.
Why it's safe to start
- The platform and the list live in your accounts from day one.
- Scope and number go in writing before any payment.
- Segments and the calendar get documented, so your team can run it without me.
- If free is all your list needs, that's exactly what I'll tell you.
What happens after you reach out
- 1
You reach out
Tell me where the list stands through the form here. I usually reply within a day.
- 2
A straight answer
What the channel could return for your business, and whether it's even your gap.
- 3
A scoped setup
Cleanup, segments, templates, calendar, and the number, in writing before anything starts.
- 4
The channel runs
Sends go out to people who want them, and the list stays yours.
Want the channel you own working?
Tell me about your list, even if it's a messy export nobody has touched in a year. You'll get a straight answer on what the channel could return and what the setup takes.