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What attracted you to email marketing, and how did you get to where you are today?

I love the idea that small business owners own their data. So many business owners put all of their time and money into social media without investing in bringing those followers into their email database. Without doing this, they have no database if social media went away or they stopped using it. Own your data.

What’s your favorite email marketing hack?

I love adding a sad person, maybe someone crying, to the Mailchimp unsubscribe page inside a client’s account. It’s a fun way to show them how unsubscribing makes the business feel, haha.

What could most ecommerce brands improve when it comes to email marketing?

I see too many abandoned cart emails that don’t feature the actual items someone abandoned. Why would someone come back to buy something they never put in their cart in the first place? Use all the data you have.

What’s in your email marketing toolbox?

Hardware:

• Apple M1 Mac Mini (desktop for work/life balance)
• 2 x Lenovo Q24H-10 23.8” USB-C QHD Monitors
• Apple Magic Mouse and keyboard
• Anker Soundcore Mini speaker

Software:

• BeePro is my goto for email design
• Mailchimp is my ESP of choice
• I manage my day-to-day activities using Google Workspace. Specifically, nothing happens if it’s not scheduled in Google Calendar including recurring client work. I use Gmail for Workspace and allocate all emails to specific folders automatically. 
• Toggl Track for tracking my time is great because it connects to Google Calendar, so I can choose an item from my calendar and start the timer. Nice and easy.
• Slack is great for staying up to date with the Mailchimp Partner community and I have a few automations that tell me things like when someone unsubscribes (insert sad face, lol)
• Canva. If you deny using Canva, you’re only lying to yourself… we all know you use it. Canva is great and I love that it was founded by Aussies. Shout out to Mel & Cliff.
• Loom is awesome for walking clients through designs etc. Shout out to Joe and the Loom team, I still remember Joe giving me feedback on a software startup I had years ago by using his own product (Loom) to show me what he was thinking. Great way of getting his software in front of me and countless others I’m sure.
• I’ve just started using PandaDoc for creating proposals within my business. I should have been using it years ago.
• It’s going to be controversial, but… ChatGPT. I’ve built some of my own GPTs and it’s great for expanding on my own ideas, or getting started and then taking over the creative. I love the creative process, so it’s never going to replace that, but for ideas and even specific image creation for something unique it’s helpful.
• Oh, I love Lordicon. I like to use animated icons within the design of my emails (where appropriate) and Lordicon is the absolute best at designing icons that look flawless and can even be color-matched for the client’s brand.

Which Aussie brands are innovating with their email marketing? 

I do love what the guys from Lucent Globe are doing. They have a fantastic group of products and their emails are very Australian in the way they communicate.

Whose email newsletters do you consistently make time to read?

Emily Ryan from Westfield Creative.

Alex James from Meaningful Marketing.

AdNews is good for staying up to date.

Can I include my own? It’s pretty good… when I remember to send it out.

How do you manage work-life balance?

Wow, what a question. I made a conscious decision to work from an office with a desktop computer to make me go to work and leave it behind at the end of the day. The office I work in is a community of businesses so it’s nice to talk to other business owners, plus if I work from home I get less done thanks to Chicago Bulls games and YouTube.

Much love,
Andy

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @emaillove