24: 3 Unexpected Strategies That Rapidly Grew My Email List (Without Paid Ads)

Feeling stuck in email list slow-growth mode? You’re not alone! In this episode of The Creative Bodega, Em shares 3 unexpected (but wildly effective) ways she’s grown her list to over 15K—without funnels, ads, or burnout. These are quick-win strategies you can test this week to finally get momentum: from spontaneous freebies and smart Reels to newsletters people actually love reading. If you’re ready to grow a list of dream clients who want what you offer, this one’s for you.

👉 Check out the full show notes for this episode.

Things I cover inside the episode:
✨ Why one-off freebies are a secret list-building weapon
✨ How my December Reels Challenge brings in more than engagement
✨ My exact 3-2-1 newsletter format and why people actually forward it
✨ How I clean my list without fear (and boost open rates)
✨ The mindset shift that helped me ditch “perfect” freebies and grow faster

Resources & Links Mentioned in this Episode:
🎁 Grab my "One-Off Freebies" Tutorial Here
📲 Join The 12 Days of Reels Challenge Waitlist
👉🏼 Hop on the waitlist for the next round of Start & Grow Your Email List (From Scratch)

Connect with me:
🫶🏼 Follow me on Instagram for daily insights
🫶🏼 Join my 321 Create Newsletter for weekly content tips
🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership

Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

Transcript

0:00

Hi there. Welcome back to the Creative Bodega Podcast. Today I am sharing three unexpected but super effective ways that I've grown my email list and know they don't involve some like giant launch or fancy funnels or Facebook ads. Uh, those last two I've never done before. I've never had a fancy funnel. I don't have funnels and I've never run a Facebook ad. So, uh, I definitely have had giant launches, though. That's a topic for a different podcast. But these are real doable things that you can test literally this week or this month to build. Your list without, uh, feeling really super burnt out or over it. Um, if you've been feeling like your list is stuck or growing too slowly, this episode is absolutely for you and you've gotta keep listening. These three ideas that I'm going to share might just shift your strategy in the very best way. It is not gonna come as a surprise to you that I am a ginormous email list building fan. I have a course dedicated to starting and growing your email list. I always say that it is one of the number one reasons why I am a multi six figure earner. My husband was able to leave his job. I've, you know, had a hundred thousand dollars in cash kitchen renovation that I paid for myself. Um, it's my email list. It's, it's not from Instagram, but I, it's hard to say that completely because it's, it's a, it's twofold. It's like if I weren't showing up consistently on Instagram and promoting my list and growing my list using Instagram, how would've I have ever grown that list? You know what I mean? So I absolutely needed a platform or a place to mention my list and to grow it. And that's been Instagram for me now and the podcast. Um, and that's it. I, I don't show up anywhere else, so I have been able to grow my email list. Uh, well, I mean, it's over 20,000 people, but if you take away all the people that have possibly unsubscribed or that I have scrubbed off of my list, um, we're sitting at around 15,000 right now. I actually just got rid of. Almost 2000 people. Um, after listening to a flow desk, talk about email deliverability. So basically like the things you need to do to get your emails to get delivered to your subscribers. And one of'em is keeping a very clean list with flow desks, which is who I use and love. Um, we are not charged per subscriber, which a lot if not most, all other email, email. If not all other email platforms charge per subscriber, so we can have as many as we want, which tends to lead to us keeping people on our list who have not engaged or opened anything in months and months and months. So that's not cool. So I, every six months go and I look at who has not opened an email from me in six months and I delete them and they gone. And I have to just take a deep breath and do it, and it hurts. And it makes me sad, but I know it's for the best. And my email open rate always goes up after I kind of get rid of that dead weight. So that, again, I feel like I say this all the time, that's another podcast. I, I do wanna record a podcast on making sure your emails are delivered to your subscribers, but that's not what this is about. This today is about the three unexpected ways that I have grown my email list that other people aren't doing, or not talking about, at least, that are very actionable and that you could do too. So here's what we're gonna cover. How one-off freebies, AKA quick casual value drops have been a list building secret weapon of mine. Number two, why my December reels challenge isn't just for engagement, it's also super strategic in helping me build my list and the power of treating my newsletter. Like content people actually wanna read because they do, they love it. I, I'm so proud to say that and I don't feel any like. Shade. Is that what the cool kids say now? Like, there's no shade in this, but, um, my kids would die right now if they heard me say that. So, yeah, I just got off track. Okay, so before I keep going, I want you to know that anything I talk about or mention, you can find. On my website, the cred bodega.com/blog/ 24, and anything we talk about in this episode you will find over there. So let's dive into this. Let's break each one down. So number one, one-off freebies. So what? What the heck are one-off freebies? Okay, so here's what they are. They're not my official lead magnets. They're not my official freebie. Right. I have three main freebies that, you know, I promote on social media once a week. I say, comment this word and it gets delivered to them, and it's like a beautiful PDF or links to templates or whatever it may be. They're, they're my official freebies slash lead magnets. They're more, um, these one-offs that we're talking about. They're more spontaneous, they're more just helpful resources that I pull together based on what my audience. Is asking for in the moment, or based on what my social media post is for that week. So think like, you know, a quick Canva template link, uh, a quick checklist, a mini tutorial. I've even emailed those out. Um, and, and they're honestly based on video tutorials that I already have. They're either inside a course or at least I'm not reinventing the wheel on these one-off freebies. These are things that I just have or I can quickly put into an email to deliver to someone like, Hey, I know I just showed you these really complicated steps in this reel for this thing to do in Canva, but just comment this word. And I'll email you step by step or give you a more in depth like 15 minute video walking you through it. Because high, like a 30 to 62nd reel is not really cutting it. They're really lightweight. They're really fast for me to create, and they're incredibly effective at growing my list. Why? Because they're timely. I don't always have a great way to segue into a freebie that I have based on what I'm posting that week. So this is a great way for me to just be like, what am I posting this week and how can I offer something just quick, easy one-off that speaks to my audience, um, you know, and is working right now. So, no fancy funnel. No, no, no. This is literally how it works. I make a post whether it's a real or a carousel, most likely I say, comment this word to get this little resource. People comment the word my many chat fires. Okay, and flow desks gets to work because I've created a segment, I've created a workflow, and ba bing, ba boom, it gets delivered via email. Okay? So it's just like a quick post saying, Hey, I made this resource, drop your email and I'll send it to you. Like I, I actually like approach it very casually. I'm just like, oh, by the way, I just whipped this up for you. You know? So low pressure, high value for them, and it works. So. One-off freebies, y'all. I actually have, I created a free resource on this. I'll put that in the show notes. I forget what it even is. I think it's a video tutorial, but I remember, I'm, I'm having like deja vu right now. I know I created something to walk you through exactly what this looks like. Um, so check the show notes. The next thing that you could do that's worked really well for me. Is some type of series or challenge. So for me, it was a 12 Days of reels challenge. If you were a, a listener of mine or a super fan follower, hi, I love you, you know exactly what I'm talking about. In December, I host a 12 days of Reels challenge. Inside my membership, I open it up to the public as well, and I, I, I like massively grow my email list through this challenge. In fact. Let's just pull up my stats. So when I did this last, let's see here, let me just scroll back. Um, I ended up growing my email list by 18% over the month of December into January. And for me, that is a lot like I average. I don't know, I mean, every week is different depending on what I'm doing, but anywhere from one to 3% per week. Um, so it's a, it's a, it's a big jump and I, I love it personally. So each day focuses on one specific topic, and every single reel includes a call to action. That ties back to my email list. So it's not random email. No, it's not random reels. It's very intentional. Because while reels are really great for reach, I don't just want views. I don't give two, you know what's about views? I want connection and I want action. I want to inspire people to do something. Okay? So each challenge day drives people. I. Towards a freebie or I'm literally just saying, sign up for my newsletter, or something like that. Sign up using this form. Or some lead into my newsletter. Right? The key here, the reels have a purpose. I always ask, how can I turn this view into a deeper relationship? Hi, it's by getting them off social media and onto my email list. So I love these 12 Days of Reels challenge. Or you could host some type of series, like I said, like. For the next 10 days. But here's what I don't want you to do. I do not want the real covers or the covers of the carousels or however you're sharing your content series to have the name of the series big and bold in the front.'cause every post is gonna look exactly the same. That's the biggest mistake people make. The headline should be what you're actually talking about. And then in very small, if you wanna put, you know, this is one of 10, da da, da, go for it. But that's small. Okay. So I think I did 12 days of Canva Hacks last December, and you could scroll my Reels tab and you'll find'em real easily because all the covers look the same and it's 12 of'em in a row. And otherwise, mine all look kind of mixed and matched. So I will not have 12 days of Canva reel hacks real big.'cause why would anyone click on that when they came to my reels tab? Like it, it doesn't even say what it's really about. So I have what it's about very clearly, right? How to make your font pop. Over top of a photo in Canva, like I'm specific. So that's just a quick little tip I wanna share with you. All right, number three, stop thinking newsletters are dead. Like, I don't know how many times I have to say this, I actually just read something that open rates on newsletters are like 40% higher than just regular emails from people. And why? You know, I think it's because people really love kind of knowing what to expect. So if, again, you know me, you're on my email list, I have a 3, 2, 1 format and it's three ideas. Two things I'm loving and one Canva tip, and I flow through that. And every time people respond to my newsletter, they're like, I just love your newsletter so much. I know what to expect. I love kind of like skimming to the parts that I love and it's very familiar and I know it's packed with value. So I just think newsletters are so very much alive and if you treat your newsletter like a conversation with your bestie or with your coworkers, instead of some like super formal robotic corporate memo, your audience is actually gonna look forward to it. And there's some big names that have recently switched over from the former to the latter. And it is a smart move, to be honest. And I've been teaching and preaching about personal brand newsletters for three years now. And I'm never gonna go back. I make my weekly newsletter really consumable, really consistent and really interactive. People know what to expect and that builds trust. And I write it in my tone of voice, like as if it's me talking to someone that I'm very comfortable with. And that's very relatable and very consumable. Um, I even ask my Instagram audience to help me shape it on the weekends. I literally did it yesterday. I run polls asking, which subject line are you most likely to open? Or what do you want me to focus on this week? And I put a poll up and people get so into it, especially the subjects.'cause I kind of suck at words. I say it all the time, like words are not my jam. So I get overwhelmed choosing between three potential subject lines. And I want people to weigh in and I choose the winner every time. And I'm like, thank you. You just figured that out for me. So that not only boosts my engagement inside my stories, but it makes my audience feel included, and I don't know who doesn't like to be needed. Like I think everybody likes to, especially when it's light, you know, and it doesn't even have to do with your business. It's like, oh, cool, I can wait on this, but God ask me to make a decision on my business and I am floundering. I think that's everybody. That's what I'm learning. But when we feel seen, um, you know, it, there's automatic connection there. And my list grows from referrals, people forwarding, people screenshotting my newsletter and word of mouth big time. So some things that I've learned that I want to share that, you know, so you don't over. Some things that I've learned quickly and some mistakes to avoid. Don't overthink your one-off freebies. It doesn't need to be perfect. It just seems to be helpful. So some people prefer information delivered to their inbox, and if you're offering to do that, instead of just listing something out in a post, do it. Go to your analytics right now. Look at what's been the most. You know, commented on or the most saved and, and how can you turn that, you know, post that again and turn it into a one-off freebie that is included in that, right? Um, stop assuming people don't want another email like they do, especially if you're providing value. They don't want it. If you're not providing value, forget about it. They're gonna unsubscribe asap. But if you're providing value in this really lovely format that, you know, people feel connected with, they're gonna open it. Uh, reels or any type of post without a call to action, you're absolutely missing an opportunity. So even a simple like DM me or grab this freebie is gonna go a really long way. Another thing I've done is I've included a very specific call to action in my bio. You can go and look at that. So instead of just saying, click below for freebies, or, you know, whatever, I'm like. Free seven day Insta Starter kit. Like I name the freebie, even though I have a couple other freebies inside my bio or my Lincoln bio, I just call one out. So it's really specific.'cause I just find if you're like, click below for courses and freebies, like no one's gonna do it. It's just, it's too vague to be honest. So try to make that real specific. So the truth is list building, email list building doesn't have to be this giant complicated task. But you do need to try, like you do need to ask people to subscribe or remind them that you have a newsletter. It can be really small, intentional actions that, um, meet your audience where they're at if you're doing these special one-off freebies. But it doesn't have to be this like big complicated thing. But every time I'm making a post, I'm asking how can I help my audience even more with this? What can I provide that is gonna make this even better? Or how can I call out my newsletter to get people? To join it, right? Want more tips like this? Comment 3, 2, 1 to hop on my newsletter. It's, it's really simple. And you know what? People do it. They do it so newsletters aren't dead and asking people straight up to join your newsletter, that's not dead either. This week I want you to pick just one of three of these ideas and try it. You don't need a full funnel to start seeing Mo. You don't need a full on funnel to start seeing momentum. You just need to start. You've gotta keep your email list top of mind. You've got to mention it frequently, and your future subscribers. They're already out there waiting for that one piece of content that finally is gonna make them hit subscribe. Alright, a little bit of a shorter episode. Summer M is here. I'm gonna head out to kick my. I'm gonna head out to pick my kids up at summer camp, but thank you so much for being here today and let me know what email questions you have. You know my dms are always open to you. You're very likely gonna get an email. No, not an email. You're very likely going to get a DM voice response from me'cause that's just how I roll. All right? I hope you guys have a great week. I'll talk to you soon.