Welcome to our online campus

Flodesk University is an educational community teaching you the email marketing strategy you need to grow your email list and send better emails.

By leveling up your email marketing strategy, you’ll be on your way to making more sales, getting more clients and, ultimately, growing your business.

You’ll find quick, information-packed videos taught by Flodesk members and real-life small business owners, just like you. And best of all, it’s 100% free.

Wondering where to start?

→ Check out How to Build an Email List Without a Website
→ Learn all about creating content from everyday experiences to fuel your email strategy
→ Find out why you should focus on your target audience and not just ideal clients if you really want to grow your email list

Flodesk University is for small business owners and entrepreneurs who want to learn and level up their email marketing strategy.

Whether you’re just dipping a toe into the email marketing waters or looking to get more out of your campaigns, you’ve come to the right place. It can be overwhelming figuring out where to start and how to find the answers you’re looking for quickly, and we can’t wait to cut through all the noise for you.

If you're short on time and no matter what stage of business you’re in, we got you. You’ll get answers to your most burning email marketing questions through quick and impactful videos.

Our instructors range from bestselling authors to course creators to award-winning film producers and everything in between.

One thing they can all agree on?

Email marketing is a huge growth-driver for their businesses.

Meet your instructors and learn why they love it:
→ LaShonda Brown
→ Rosanna Clark
→ Cody Hays
→ Christine Hansen
→ Jess Ekstrom
→ Kent Heckel
→ Natalie Franke
→ Sobrina Pies
→ Kayla Hollatz
→ Amanda Stores

Email marketing strategy is your approach to sending emails that helps you achieve your end goal for your business. Common goals include growing your community, increasing community engagement and making more sales.

While your strategy will be different based on your goal, all great email marketing strategies are:

→ Consistent—Email your list on a regular basis to stay top of mind with your subscribers and increase your brand awareness
→ Engaging—Don't only send an email every time you want to ask your subscribers to buy something; make sure to send content that's entertaining, inspirational and/or educational, too!
→ Intentional—Make sure there's a clear point to every email you send that helps you get closer to your end goal
→ Beautiful—While you should never judge a book by its cover, your subscribers definitely judge brands by their email designs. Well-designed emails help your readers connect with your message—and take action!—to learn more, buy now or whatever your CTA may be.

As our co-founder and Chief Design Officer Rebecca Shostak says, "Unlike social media, email is a level playing field. You don't have to compete with an algorithm. You don't have to spend a ton on ads. You can show up in the inbox exactly the same as some of the biggest brands out there—and you can get the same impact."

With Flodesk's stunning email templates, you can showcase your brand and message in the same attention-grabbing way that big brands (with bigger budgets and design teams) do and get the same results.

To create your own email marketing strategy plan, always start by identifying your goal. Do you want to use email marketing to build your community as a personal brand? Make sales? Book clients? Keep that in mind and create a plan that all funnels down to that.

(For more details, check out our course on the marketing funnel and how to make it work for your business.)

Next, think about a freebie you can offer people in exchange for their email address.

Learn the exact steps to create your freebie download in this course and then deliver it automatically whenever someone signs up to receive it via an email workflow.

Once people have signed up to your list, regularly send them content.

(Watch our course on how to write email for more details.)

Your content should be entertaining, inspiring and/or informational and educational. This could be:

→ a success story
→ a before and after
→ a common mistake you often see your clients struggle with and how to fix it
→ a new blog post you've written

The options to get creative are endless. Just make sure all of this content is related to your end goal and what you have to offer.

After you've been sending valuable content for a while, you can start sending sales emails with a CTA to "buy now" or "book now." Remember, not everyone is ready to buy from you when they receive your sales email.

This is why it's important to keep emailing your list regularly. Keep showing up in their inbox, providing entertainment and education with the occasional sales email.

Don't forget to continuously promote your freebie on all your favorite social media platforms to keep building your email list and expanding your pool of potential customers. (Learn 5 ways to market your freebie in our course on how to build an email list.)

And check out what are workflows to learn how you can send the right emails to the right people at the right time—even when you're sleeping.

Head to our glossary for the full list of email definitions you need to know.

Here are some of our favorite email definitions:

→ Call-to-action (Commonly abbreviated to CTA)—The direct action you want subscribers to take on your email, which often begins with clicking a link or button.

→ Conversion—When a lead turns into a paying customer or client after interacting with your email sequence. Or when someone signs up for your freebie.

→ Full-page form (aka landing page, opt-in page)—A separate page with its own URL that's solely dedicated to collecting your subscriber’s email address.

→ Layouts—A specific element inside Flodesk that gives you the freedom to create gorgeous email graphics, add a cursive signature sign-off and more—no HTML code or design software required. Strategically designed to look beautiful on any screen, no matter how it's edited, Layouts let you customize your design on a whole new level.

→ Preview text—A customized line of copy following your email’s subject line that explains what your email is about. Use this to tease what's inside to boost your open rates.