10 Reasons Why I Love ConvertKit

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Abbey Ashley

ConvertKit is the best email service provider for growing an email list. Here’s why.

Building an email list is definitely worth having on your radar as a Virtual Assistant, and my favorite tool for building an email list is ConvertKit, hands down.

I have used my email list as a tool for sales and a way to grow my business over the past several years. My business is on auto-pilot growth at this point, thanks to advanced strategies I’ve used to build my list while I’m working on other parts of my business, on vacation, sleeping, or having fun with my family.

So whether you are a creator, a virtual assistant, or something in between – check out my top 10 reasons why I LOVE Convertkit!

Watch the Video:

 

My Personal Email List Journey

I want to go back in time and just hug whoever gave me the advice to start building an email list early on in my business.

An email list has changed my business; it changes the way I get leads, get referrals, and make sales.

Humble Beginnings

When I FIRST started my email list, I reached out to some people I knew to tell them that I was a Virtual Assistant. I went to local networking meetings and got the word out about my new business.

I immediately started asking my clients and people who I connected with (but maybe weren’t ready to hire me yet) to join my email list. Most people agreed to join, since I offered valuable tips for business owners in my first email newsletters. I added my first clients and connections to my email list.

I started slowly building and that’s okay! Our first focus as Virtual Assistants should be focusing and serving our clients well and doing good work for them, but this little thing (read: email list) growing in the background could turn into a BIG thing in the future.

Think about your future. Think – “What do I want to be doing five years from now?

Would you maybe turn your Virtual Assistant business into an agency model where you’re serving hundreds of clients? Are you offering high-end services? Launching a course? Coaching?

An email list is a vital resource for these five-year goals and plans.

Staying Top of Mind

I started emailing my small list twice a month. I sent a newsletter full of helpful tips for business owners. Sometimes, I included links to book calls with me, but I tried to make my info REALLY valuable.

Side note: If you’re not a blogger or into writing, that’s okay! Send an email with a video of yourself instead. You can also send other people’s content every once in a while, too. (Your newsletters don’t have to be 100% original content every single time. They also don’t have to be long.)

The key to an email list is consistency in order to stay top of mind. When somebody’s email comes into your inbox (twice a month is good for just starting out), the repetition keeps you top of mind.

Switching to ConvertKit

Once I fully booked out my services and had subcontractors working for me, I had more time and dived deep into list building. At this point, I moved my email list to ConvertKit.

I wasn’t always with ConvertKit, but once I made the switch, I decided to make list building a top priority for my business. It was a 100% complete mindset shift.

During the three years I ran my business and wasn’t focused on building my list, I went from 0 – 1,300 email subscribers — which is really good for not really focusing on it! I would throw out a freebie here and there to gain more subscribers every now and then.

Growing by Leaps and Bounds

I launched The VA Bootcamp in August 2016 with 1,300 email subscribers. 

I grew to 10,000 in 2017.

Now (midway through 2018), I am between 22k-23k email subscribers. 

Since I’ve been focusing on building my email list, I’m adding approximately 10,000 subscribers to my list per year. That is going to start ramping up shortly because I’m constantly testing out new strategies.

List building isn’t something I talk about a lot. My speciality is introducing people to virtual assistance, helping them land their first clients and replace their income with virtual assistance.

Since building an email list is an advanced strategy, I don’t talk about it a lot, but I DO want to introduce you to a tool that I love and use all the time.

(This is also REALLY good info for you to use with your clients though, too!)

So without further ado…

Here are the top ten reasons I love and use ConvertKit 

REASON #1:  Metrics

There are two charts on the home page immediately upon logging in to ConvertKit. The first chart is a subscriber growth chart, and the second chart is a new net subscribers chart. 

 

ConvertKit Subscriber Growth Chart


If you do start an email list, welcome in advance to rejection. 🙂 It is normal for people to unsubscribe from your email list. Don’t worry about it. They’re just not your people right now, and that’s okay.

This is where the net new subscribers numbers are helpful, because the net new subscribers number represents how much your list is actually growing (new subscribers minus cancellations, or unsubscribers, equals net new).

 

Net New Subscribers Chart

 

Forms show you where your subscribers are coming from, and we will talk about that in a sec.

Each email is sent either as a broadcast or a sequence, and every single sent email has an open rate and click rate metric included. Genius!

 

REASON #2: Forms and Tags

With other email service providers, you have to use entirely separate lists for multiple audiences in your business (or multiple businesses).

In ConvertKit, your subscribers all live in one list and forms tell you where a subscriber came from.

You can also separate your subscribers with tags. I use tags for everything, like when students purchase a course or cancel their membership, and for surveys and funnels!

REASON #3: Sequences

Sequences are basically email funnels. These have TOTALLY changed my business.

A simple email funnel might consist of a series of emails that eventually lead your audience to take action.

This email series could have helpful blog posts or other types of training, and then the call-to-action (CTA) is to book a discovery call with you.

I have different sequences, or funnels, for different parts of my business. Again, the metrics on these are awesome in ConvertKit.

Sequences are emails people get that I don’t have to manually send out every time. Let’s say someone joins the VA Bootcamp. For 12 weeks, I have an automated sequence that keeps my students involved by sending them an email once a week about how they’re doing in the course.

A welcome sequence might include 3-4 weeks worth of welcome emails. Welcome (or indoctrinate) your new subscribers to who you are and what value you provide. You can put those amazing blog posts that you write into your sequence so that every new person who joins your email list will get an email about them.

I love sequences and think this feature is super awesome. Again, can’t say enough about how much I love the metrics on the sequences!

REASON #4: GDPR Compliance

ConvertKit has been ON.THE.BALL. in terms of GDPR compliance. They were so quick to comply to all of the new regulations surrounding email and consent.

If you don’t know what GDPR is or want more information about it, check out this interview I did with Danielle Liss in May 2018.

However, ConvertKit has made it really super easy to be GDPR compliant. Basically, their system already automatically knows if someone is located in the EU. They give only those people a special opt-in form.

There are also some really helpful articles on ConvertKit’s site about GDPR! They’ve honestly made GDPR a no-brainer.

REASON #5: Link Triggers

Again, I’m singing the praises of ConvertKit because link triggers are AWESOME. They are exactly what they sound like – an automated trigger (or action) happens when an email subscriber clicks on a link in an email.

Basically, you can write an email and include a link. When the user clicks the link, ConvertKit will automatically perform actions for that subscriber as a result of the link click.

For example, we launch our VA Bootcamp twice a year. I include at the bottom of all of my launch emails the following language, “Love The Virtual Savvy but don’t want to hear about the launch anymore? Click here to stay on the list but unsubscribe from our launch emails.

(I have a dedicated landing page for this at thevirtualsavvy.com/unsubscribe if you wanna check it out.)

However, link triggers make it so that the system automatically tags people who click the link. The tag can say “NO VA Bootcamp” (for example). When people click that link, it automatically gives them a tag in the system. When I go to send my email audience another email about the Bootcamp, I can then exclude that tag.

Link triggers help people get the information they want to be getting!

REASON #6: Clean-looking Interface

ConvertKit’s interface is super clean and modern, which is incredible considering how much information is packed inside of it (see metrics examples above).

The platform is very easy to experiment with and quickly figure out where to go. All in all, I would say ConvertKit has excelled at crafting an amazing user experience.

REASON #7: Customer Service

ConvertKit has amazing customer service via direct chat on their website and via email. The chat box in the bottom righthand corner includes handy resources already selected for each individual. These are links to resources that might help answer a question before spending time chatting with someone trying to figure out a solution.

 

ConvertKit is incredibly attentive to user feedback and requests. In fact, I wanted a way to be able to search my broadcast emails in ConvertKit and requested the feature. Less than a week later, a search bar appeared in broadcasts! I made that happen; that functionality is there partially because I requested it. 🙂 

REASON #8: ConvertKit Facebook Community

If you can’t get an answer from someone on chat immediately (which is unlikely), or if you want a second opinion or workaround to a problem you’ve been having, head on over to the ConvertKit Facebook Community.

The ConvertKit community is an awesome, helpful community, AND they usually reply to Facebook posts within minutes.

ConvertKit also has an AMAZING conference that I attended this year, and I plan on going again next year. It’s called Craft + Commerce, and it was an incredible experience. I highly recommend this conference.

REASON #9: Email Optimization

Personal email providers, such as gmail and hotmail, have strong filters in place in order to weed out unwanted or spammy emails. Gmail even has different category inboxes now — separate folders for promotions and updates.

ConvertKit works really hard to keep your email newsletters in the priority inbox, so they make sure their email designs are really basic. Most people prefer text-based emails, and ConvertKit has shown that text-based emails without bells and whistles will lead to higher open rates. 

Content-based emails for the win.

For my own personal design, I keep my logo and brand colors consistent across all of my emails, and that’s it for the basic layout. (We teach you how to customize ConvertKit templates in The SavvyVault.)

REASON #10: Free Trial 

ConvertKit offers a free 14-day trial. Get your free trial today by clicking here (affiliate link at no extra cost to you).

Being able to use ConvertKit is a valuable virtual assistant skill. We do offer an in-depth ConvertKit tutorial inside of The SavvyVaultOnce you take the ConvertKit tutorial, start your free ConvertKit trial and become a ConvertKit wizard.

Remember, email list skills with ConvertKit are still super beneficial for new or future clients, even if you’re not ready to use it for your own business quite yet. 😉  This is a great back-pocket skill to have for landing clients.

 

 

THERE YOU HAVE IT!

These are the TOP 10 reasons why I have chosen Convertkit as my email service provider and why I LOVE their service!

 

AbbeyAshley3-21Print-5033

Meet Abbey

Abbey Ashley is the Founder of The Virtual Savvy. She helps aspiring virtual assistants launch and grow their own at-home business from scratch. She's since gone on to grow a multi-six figure business and retire her husband ALL from her at-home business. It's now her passion to help others start their own VA business so they can taste the freedom and flexibility of entrepreneurship as well.

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2 Comments

  1. Daphne M Sipes on August 21, 2020 at 7:10 pm

    I am looking for a virtual assistant who knows convertkit. Any referrals, maybe from your students. They must already know CK.

    • Abbey Ashley on August 28, 2020 at 2:44 pm

      Hey, Daphne! We actually have a hire form just for this reason! To help connect you with some great VAs! You can fill it out at http://www.thevirtualsavvy.com/hire and we will help you find the perfect fit 🙂

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