I recently wrote the introduction to a really helpful How-To Guide by the folks over at Mailchimp and I wanted to share it with you. My goal was and is to talk you into thinking about email marketing in a new way. MailChimp, is not only free for lists with up to 500 subscribers, its also easy, fun and powerful. Yes, there are many other options for email marketing, but this one has caught my eye as an opportunity that crafters might not want to pass up.

I’ve had an online business for the last 5 years and only recently began to send email marketing. It’s not that I didn’t know how. Sending email newsletters is a big part of my day job. I think a lot of small businesses mistakenly dismiss email marketing as a tool because they don’t want to “bother people.” I know that was how I felt. This past year, I finally got over that feeling and have learned to love email marketing. Need to be talked into using email as a marketing tool? Here’s my take on it.

1. If you already have a customer or fanbase, your emails will be welcomed! Have you seen multiple customers come back year after year to purchase holiday gifts from you? Those people like you! They want to hear from you and know about new products or sales. People who like you want to hear from you if you can present your information in a genuine and meaningful way, they will be excited to see what you are doing.

2. If you don’t currently have a customer or fanbase, you DO have family and friends. And likely you are the most creative person you know and the people around you want to hear about it! They are inspired by you, so go forth and inspire! Seriously. You likely don’t know how much people around you believe in what you are doing and want to know more about it. The people who already love you are the best word of mouth you’ve got! So present them with something awesome that they can forward on.

Mailchimp has so many cool features. I am currently enjoying the Paypal integration that allows all of my customers to sign up for my newsletter upon check out when they make a purchase with me. The RSS to email feature allows you to automatically send a newsletter to your list when you update your Etsy shop. And pushing your newsletter out to social media has never been easier.

So don’t be afraid to bother people. You are awesome. Let email marketing help you tell everyone about it.

Download Market Your Etsy Shop with MailChimp (pdf). Check out http://www.mailchimp.com/handmade/ for more information as well.

* A note. I don’t work for Mailchimp or Etsy. Mailchimp is not affiliated with Etsy. We are all just trying to help YOU!