We recently interviewed Flourish + Grit’s email-marketing maven and Jottful Community member, Emily McGuire. We asked her what small business owners needed to do in order to finally conquer email marketing.

Here are five things we learned from Emily: 

1. Email can be a goldmine. 

For every dollar your business invests in email marketing, you can expect to see $38 in return. 

It’s the highest return on investment (ROI) marketing channel. 

2. Don’t automatically subscribe your contacts. 

Making sure all your email subscribers have opted in is not just the best way to avoid getting into legal trouble, it also makes the most business sense. You never want someone to receive your emails and wonder why they’re getting them. 

3. You can “rent to own.”

You can “rent” a list (e.g., by sponsoring an event) and use that as a starting point to build your own opt-in list.

4. No one likes reading newsletters.

Don’t send out “newsletters” — lengthy emails that are all about you. Make your communications about them: your audience. 

For example, what are their most frequently asked questions? Answer those! 

5. Don’t be afraid to email frequently. 

Your subscribers are not paying very much attention to how often they receive an email from you. Really, they’re not.

Watch or listen to our full interview with Emily >