Email marketing for creatives – 5 week course – AUTUMN 2024

Do you want to get more online sales, orders, commissions or workshop bookings this Christmas? Of course you do! One of the biggest mistakes creatives make is that they don’t drive the right traffic regularly to their website. And the less visitors you have the less chance you have for a sale!

Did you know that email marketing is 10x more effective for getting sales than social media? It really is one of the most effective, reliable, and creative marketing tools for small creative businesses … especially in the run up to Christmas!

But … many creatives hate email marketing! Do you worry about annoying your subscribers? Are you not sure what to write about? Do you know how to get more email sign ups? Are you unsure what software to use? Do you think email marketing isn’t for you because you only have a very small list?

This online course will tackle all of those questions in 5 really practical workshops, on 5 consecutive Thursday mornings (9.30am – 11.45am UK time) from 5 September – 3 October. Perfect timing to get you all ready for Christmas sales!

Our Director, Patricia will show you exactly what to do to improve your email marketing step-by-step – and you will be working on it DURING the workshops! Make your email marketing more personal, creative and professional, get more subscribers to your email list, use automatisation (and even a bit of Artificial Intelligence!) to make your email marketing easier & quicker AND create and write successful emails that will get you sales. Without being too salesy!

This course will get you into action. We will give you practical homework each week … from creating a plan that’s unique for you and your business, to identifying content topics and getting 50 new signups to your email list (!), to creating a Christmas email marketing plan and writing a promo email in early October to get more sales, orders and commissions this autumn. And best of all: We will give you personal written feedback on your promo email in our private course hub!

Want to get more online sales this autumn? Want to learn one of the most useful marketing techniques to get sales, commissions and orders? A skill that you can use for many years to come? Then join our 5-week Email Marketing for Creatives course which will teach you how step-by-step.

Sign up for this 5-week practical online course now! You can pay in 3 monthly installments and you will have access to the course until 1 March 2025.

the key facts:

• Practical, 5-week, morning course with 5 online workshops of 2-2.5 hours each (total 11 hours)
• Outcomes: Design & write better emails to get sales. Create a plan to get 50+ new and better subscribers to your email list. Get traffic to your website. Get sales, commissions + orders!
• Especially created for: Creatives who want to use creative email marketing to get more online sales this Christmas.
• Tutor: Patricia van den Akker, Director of The Design Trust
• Time commitment: Course is 11 hours. Practical homework will take around 6 – 8 hours in total (to create your email marketing action plan, get 50 new subscribers and to send at least one sales email out.)
• Access to this course, the workshop recordings, presentations, and get feedback in our private course hub until 1 March 2025.

Want to get more sales this christmas? Discover how creative & effective Email marketing can be

We are big fans of email marketing at The Design Trust!

Why? Because it works!

Email marketing is about 10x more effective in getting online sales than social media. Opening rates are far better than your social media reach. You can target specific groups and, as people have signed up to your list voluntarily, they want to hear from you and are much more likely to buy from you too!

In this practical 5-week online course we want to teach you one of the best life-long-marketing skills to succeed long term! And to get you into action … to get many more signups for your mailing list, to publish creative & timely emails regularly to promote your creative products & services, and ultimately to get more sales, orders & commissions (this Christmas and beyond!). From sharing your gift ideas or styling tips for Christmas and educating your clients about your luxurious commissions to signing them up for the creative workshops you run too.

We will show you EXACTLY how to create a simple email plan and to write better & more confident emails that will reach the right people. How to turn your social media followers into paying clients (oh yes!). And how to regularly drive traffic to your website, build relationships with your ideal clients, and grow your creative business.

Be aware … this is a practical course where you have to take action! You will be working on your own email marketing action plan, on getting more subscribers to your list, segmenting your list into groups so that you can target them with the right content, and you will be writing and publishing your own sales emails DURING THE FINAL WORKSHOP!

email marketing for creatives: 5 online workshops on THURSDAYS 5, 12, 19 AND 26 sEPTEMBER AND 3 OCTOBER (11 hours)

workshop 1: an intro to email marketing – THUR 5 september 9.30Am-11.30AM UK

This first workshop will focus on the fundamentals of email marketing:

• Why is email marketing so effective to get sales? Especially in getting orders from one particular group of (important) clients!
• An intro to the 4 stages of email marketing: 1) how to get more & better subscribers, 2) how to get your emails opened & and 3) read, and 4) how to get traffic & online sales from your emails
• The 12 most common email marketing mistakes creatives make & how to improve your email marketing (instantly)
• What’s STOPPING YOU from using email marketing creatively? The key mindset shifts to start connecting (again) with your audience & clients!
• Patricia will answer the 5 most common email marketing questions:
• Which email software is best?
• How to legally collect & send promotional emails (since the changes in GDPR rules).
• When is the best time to send an email? How often should I email?
  • Can I use email marketing if I don’t have a website?
  • How email marketing can get you sales, even if you don’t have a big email list!
• Throughout this session you will get 3 email marketing mindshifts that will fundamentally change your approach to email marketing for your creative business!
• HOMEWORK: We want to get you into action! After this first workshop we invite you to add 5 activities to your email marketing action plan for the next week, and share with us in the private course hub for extra feedback + accountability. Choose what you will be working on!

Workshop 2: CREATE YOUR OWN EMAIL MARKETING ACTION PLAN – THUR 12 September 9.30Am – 11.45Am UK

During this second workshop you will start to create your own email marketing action plan – to make email work for you and your clients:

• What’s your financial & email marketing goal? What do you need to do, create & learn? Who are your ideal subscribers? Why would they happily sign up to your email list? We will tell you the 4 key reasons people will willingly give you their email address.

• We’ll look at the 4 stages of email marketing, and you will start to identify specific actions to improve your emails
• What would your audience & clients love to read about? You’ll identify 5 topics and subject lines for your autumn content plan (We’ll give you loads of ideas & inspiration … and a super handy template!) Get started with creating your own email marketing content plan for Christmas.
• MINDSET SHIFT: What about PAID-for-emails? A new trend to get more & regular income … how could you get people to PAY for your emails? We have invited illustrator Jo Scott to talk about why she started her Substack email subscription.
• HOMEWORK: Identify the purpose & initial content of your email marketing, and why your potential clients specifically would sign up. Write a short intro for your signing up box for your website & publish a new signup box on your website this week! Get started with your autumn content plan.

Workshop 3: 17 LOW-COST & CREATIVE WAYS TO GET PEOPLE TO SIGN UP TO YOUR MAILING LIST (HAPPILY!) – thur 19 SEPTEMBER 9.30aM-11.45am UK

This inspiring and very visual and idea-heavy session is all about getting more email list subscribers! Afterwards we will challenge you to get at least 50 new email subscribers on your list by the end of the course!

• What to have in place BEFORE you can start sending out any promotional emails.
• Patricia will share 17 creative & low-cost ways to get potential clients to sign up for your emails – with loads of creative examples. There are so many different ways to get more email subscribers … we will give you loads of inspiration. And most of them are free!
• What to do immediately AFTER they have signed up to your list?: How to give your new subscribers a great welcome!
• HOMEWORK: Identify your 3 ways to get more email signups to your list, to get 50 new signups (in the next two weeks!) + finish your email marketing action plan.

WORKSHOP 4: SEGMENTS & SEQUENCES – THUR 26 september 9.30am – 12NOON UK

This workshop will focus on managing your database better and being more efficient with automatisations: We introduced this as a BRAND NEW ADDITION to our course last year!

• What is segmentation? And why is it so important?
• Step 1: How to identify different segments and target your emails much better (and avoid ‘spamming’!) We will share the most common segments for creative businesses.
• Step 2: How to tag your segments and give them the right names to manage your list much better.
• Step 3: Where to get the data from? For existing clients and new clients?
• Step 4: How to get it all onto your email system? Yes, this can be done in minutes per lists!
• FAQ: How to identify & segment subscribers who haven’t opened your emails for a while, and how to re-engage them or archive them to keep your list clean.
• How to create an automated series of emails, with examples of welcome emails and a series of event emails.
• HOMEWORK: After this session identify 5 actions to work on (this week), especially to segment your list or write email sequences.
• BONUS: Broommaker Rosa Harradine will join us to talk about how she uses and manages her email marketing successfully for her business.

workshop 5: writing emails that will get you sales (without being too salesy …) – thur 3 october 9.30am – 12noon uk

In this final workshop, we will focus on writing & designing great emails … and you will write your own promo email.

• What makes an email great? The key characteristics of good emails – and why engagement is much more important than the size of your list!
• The 9 different types of emails you can send (all with creative examples): including intro emails, emails to get sales, emails to promote events.  
• Get into action: Create a content calendar for Christmas using your topics from workshop 2.
• 3 professional copy writing tips to make writing your own emails much better. Patricia will share great subject lines to get your emails opened and to encourage more online visitors & sales.
• How to design & brand your emails professionally and get the branding of your emails right for your business
• Step-by-step analysis of a simple but great creative sales email. This is so useful!
• 3 easy steps to craft your own sales email … during the workshop! And maybe even press ‘send’ (!). SUPER USEFUL: Share your sales draft email with us in our private hub for personal written feedback!
• How AI (Artificial Intelligence) can help you brainstorm, write, and plan your email marketing campaigns. Patricia will do a short intro around how ChatGPT can help you to make the whole brainstorming & writing process faster.
• BONUSES: A list with useful & creative subject headlines for inspiration, a template for your content calendar for the autumn, and a checklist for before you hit ‘send’.

This is a very hands-on course with practical homework, where you will be working to increase your own email list numbers and learning how to segment & automate, write and send effective emails. You will work on your own and with other creatives during the workshops, you’ll get feedback, and you can ask questions in our private hub afterwards too.

Are you ready to drive more traffic to your website and get more sales and commissions? Then sign up to Email Marketing for Creatives now.

at the end of this course you will …

• Know why email marketing matters! It is so much more creative, effective and useful to promote yourself and to get sales, trade orders, commissions & bookings for your creative training than other marketing tools, including social media. We will share loads of creative examples, in detail!
• Be organised & professional: Create your own unique, email marketing action plan, with specific goals for subscriber numbers and sales. Stop sending out emails last-minute ad hoc … make them work for you.
• Know the 5 main reasons why people sign up to your email list and which topics your ideal clients want to hear about. Write a better intro for your signup box on your website to get more email subscribers. Set expectations from the start to guide potential clients to a sale.
• Create your own email marketing content plan for the autumn with a series of emails in the run up to Christmas.
• Get more & better email list subscribers!!! We will share with you 17 useful & creative ways to get more email subscribers, and we will inspire you to get into action between workshops 3 – 5 to boost your list with 50 new subscribers.
• Write your own intro, sales & event emails. We will encourage you to send them out throughout the autumn to boost your Christmas sales.
• Discover how to write better + publish beautiful & unique emails to build your profile, credibility, & trust. We will share our 4-step process to make writing emails much easier and we’ll show you how artificial intelligence can help you too.
• Write better subject lines to get your emails opened, read & actioned. With loads of examples.
• And of course … email marketing is about building relationships with new & existing clients, getting better traffic to your website or event, and of course … getting better sales, commissions and orders. The aim of the course is for you to get £100’s if not £1,000’s of extra sales this autumn, and that you master a skill that you can use for years to come … generating many more online sales.

who is this 5-week email marketing course for?

This practical, 5-week in-depth email marketing course is for professional creatives who want to get more traffic to their website, events or workshops, and who ultimately want to get more sales, orders, ticket sales & commissions!

We recommend that you have a website or Etsy shop. Although email marketing can work if you don’t have a website but sell at events, have a bricks-and-mortar shop or gallery, popup space or sell through social media. If you are very new and don’t have any stock or aren’t able to sell any products or services yet, then this course will be too advanced for you.

Ideally you have some email subscribers already, but if you don’t then we will tell you in the first workshops which email softwares are best, and we will encourage you to get at least 50 new subscribers by the end of the course.

This course is very much geared around getting interest and sales for your creative products for Christmas. We run this course in September – early October so that you are ready with more subscribers and with plenty of ideas for your own sales emails and your content plan for the final weeks of the year. However, if you provide creative services (e.g designer, illustrator) or Christmas isn’t the main time of the year for you to sell then this course will still give you loads of ideas and tools to work on your own email marketing strategy, your email database and to write intro and sales emails relevant to your creative services and products.

This is an action-orientated course … you will get the most out of this Email Marketing for Creatives course if you do the work and use our tips on boosting your email list with more subscribers, create a content plan for the autumn, and indeed send a series of emails in the weeks before Christmas … if you want to get more traffic & sales. We recommend that you spend 1-3 hours each week in doing the practical homework exercises to make the most of this course.

Email marketing is one of the best & the most creative marketing tool for creatives! In this course we will show you how to start treating your email subscribers as the VIP’s they truly are and how to create beautiful emails that sell you and your work. It’s one of the most important & effective marketing skills you can learn as a creative professional!

NOTE: This course will NOT show in detail how to use software like Mailchimp (there are plenty of online courses on that available!) but we will share links to specific techniques in Mailchimp and other popular email management softwares. This course is about conquering your email marketing fears, getting organised and creating a plan to regularly send promotional emails, and to give you the tools, knowledge, confidence and inspiration to do just that!

FAQ

• How does this online course work?

  Email Marketing for Creatives consists of 5 consecutive Thursday morning workshops of 11 hours in total, spread over 5 weeks to give you time to do the work … to get more email subscribers before starting to write your own promotional emails.

  Each online workshop is very practical with loads of specific creative advice based on our own successful email marketing experience.

  All our online workshops take place on Zoom so you can join from anywhere in the world. During the live session you can ask questions, and will be working on your own email action plan and writing your own sales or intro emails too.

  Our sessions are interactive! Each 2-2.5hour workshop is full of practical and creative examples to inspire you to get more people to sign up to your mailing list, and to create and send better, more creative, and visual emails.

  The sessions will be partly teaching, and partly doing – we believe in learning-by-doing – and we know how important it is to take action! So no excuses here to not boost your email list or send out a successful sales emails this autumn!

  After the 3rd workshop we’ll encourage you to get at least 50 new subscribers to your email list, and during the final workshop we will encourage you to even send a short intro or sales email to your list.

  You will be working on your own database and email marketing, and working with other creatives during the live workshops too for additional inspiration and accountability.

  In our private course hub you can find the recordings + presentations of all live sessions, and post your homework for personalised feedback till 1 March 2025!

  All sessions will be recorded and you can access them till 1 March 2025 to revisit and learn at your own pace if you prefer.

• Money is a little tight … How can I pay in monthly instalments?

  You can choose the option to pay in 3 monthly instalments. You will be charged 34% today, and then 33% in 30 and 60 days’ time. Please note that these payments are not automatic. You will get an automated email with invoice and you will need to click the link to pay the instalment.

  PLEASE NOTE: Once the course has started we expect you to pay the full amount through these 3 instalments. You are not allowed to cancel.

  Also, our Business Club members get 15% off this course. If you join our Business Club membership now then you will get the details of the coupon code to use to get your special discount.

   

• How much time will this Email Marketing for Creatives course take?

  The Design Trust courses are very action-orientated and results-driven. Taking part in these 5 online workshops (total of 11 hours) is just the start …

  it’s what you DO with your new knowledge and inspiration that will make an impact on the numbers on your email list and sales!

  To make the most of this Email Marketing for Creatives course we recommend that you spend an additional 6-10 hours in total throughout September/October on creating your email action plan, getting more subscribers to your email list, to create your email content calendar for Christmas, and to write and send your intro or sales emails.

  And once you know what you are doing and have planned out your email calendar for the next 3 months, then you might  surprised how little time it will take in the future to write really great emails that you are proud of, and that your readers love to receive!

  With this 5-week intensive course we teach you essential marketing techniques that you will benefit from for many years to come.

• What if I don’t have an email list yet, or very few subscribers?

  No worries! This course is a great starting point for you.

  Patricia will show you how to get started with email marketing: Which professional email marketing software to use. How to legally collect and send promotional emails. How to get more email subscribers in loads of different and creative ways. What to write about. When to send emails. We will show you exactly what to have in place to get started, even if you are a complete newbie or have very few subscribers so far.

   

• Is this course only for beginners?

  It depends slightly what you mean by ‘beginners’ …

  We work with many creatives at any stage in their careers and we find that very few established creatives use email marketing in a creative and effective way; to build their reputation regularly and stay in touch with their audience, to drive traffic to their website or events, or to get more sales and commissions.

  So, it doesn’t matter if you are a recent maker or design graduate, or if you have been working for decades … this course will help you to improve your email marketing skills and get more interest in your work and more traffic to your website.

  We recommend that you have a website already or an event or brick-and-mortar shop that you can invite people to. That will make it much easier for your readers to come and buy from you! They are often reluctant to phone or email you, although that could be an option.

  If you have 100’s of subscribers to your email list already (ideally grouped into different categories), are confident in writing about yourself and your work, always feel inspired to write emails to your list, and regularly stay in touch by email with your list, and you get great opening rates and sales results from your list already … then this course is not for you.

  Congratulations! Keep doing more of what you are doing already as email marketing clearly works for you!

• What if I am not very tech-savvy?

  We try to make it as easy for you as possible to join the workshops, and access the recordings + presentaions.

  We use Zoom for our live online workshops, and we’ll do a short intro tutorial for those who are not familiar with Zoom at the start of the first session.

  We’ll post the recordings of the 5 workshops on our private online platform on our website afterwards, which is very easy to access. You’ll need basic computer literacy in order to navigate it.

  You will have access to this course till 1 March 2025. In the course we’ll tell you about different professional email marketing software that you can use. However, it’s up to you which one you choose because everybody’s requirements are slightly different. Therefore, we’ll NOT show you how to use a specific email marketing software, but most software offer very good (and often free!) online training in how to set them up, how to create branded emails, and how to set up a signing in box etc.

  Remember, Email Marketing for Creatives is an action-oriented course. Come prepared to do the work. We find that a willingness to learn and finish what you start is much more beneficial than knowing the latest technologies!

• I can’t make those 5 live workshops. Is that a problem?

  We recommend that you join our live workshops. Especially the final workshop when you will be working by yourself on your own intro or sales email, and then discuss this in a private online room with other participants.

  If you don’t join us live then you will miss out on that participatory element. Plus you won’t be able to ask questions during the live sessions.

  Our experience of teaching online for over a decade has shown us that students who join us live connect better with their fellow students, are more committed, are more likely to do the exercises, stay on track, and make the most of the course.

  However, if you have other commitments or you live in a different time zone, then remember that all 5 workshops are recorded.  The recordings of each session will be posted in the private hub, together with your homework on the day of the live session. You will have access to the hub for 6 months till 1 March 2025.

  If you can’t make the live sessions, then especially do we recommend that you use the private hub to post your homework and any questions you might have and to get feedback. That way, you’ll still get the accountability and feedback that you need to succeed.

• How long will I have access to this course?

  All our workshops are conducted online, and all 5 workshops will be recorded.

  You’ll have access to all the content of this course for 6 months till 1 March 2025, including the recordings of the 5 workshops, the presentations & additional resources, the network of fellow creative business owners, and your homework.

  So, you can learn and work on your email marketing at your own pace!

  We won’t be running this course for another year. So even if you are not ready yet then sign up now, and watch the sessions and do the exercises when you are ready.

• Can I share this course with a friend?

  Sorry, you can’t.

  When you purchase this course you get a license for your own use only. If you work in a partnership then you can share it with your business partner or one relevant employee only (e.g. Marketing), but please do not share with others who have not paid for this course.

  The Design Trust is a small creative business and this course is based on our 25 years+ experience. It’s full of our proprietary knowledge and copyrighted strategies. Please do not share it with others who didn’t pay for this course. 

  If we find out that you have shared with others then we will remove you immediately from the course and might refuse you in the future for other courses or memberships as well.

  We can provide access to Email Marketing for Creatives in bulk or as a small group course. Get in touch with us at [email protected] to find out more.

• Can I get a refund if it’s not for me or if I run out of time?

  We want you to be completely happy with your purchase. That means that if you decide the course isn’t for you, you can claim a full refund any time before the first scheduled online workshop on Thursday 5 September 2024

  All you have to do  request your refund in writing to [email protected] before that date.

  If you suspect you might change your mind about the course, please make a careful note of the date of your first workshop. Once the course has started we are unable to give you a refund (and any outstanding monthly paymens are still due).

  Remember that if you are unable to attend the live sessions then you can catch up with any recordings for 6 months till 1 March 2025.

  We also suggest that you check out our recommended time requirement to make the most of this course(see question above), and that you schedule enough time into your diary before the course starts to DO the actual work. Our courses are very action-orientated and if you want to see results then you do need to put in some work.

• I have another question!

  If you have got any questions about this or any of our other online courses then please email us on [email protected]