Why I Switched My Newsletter From Mailchimp To Beehiiv and How Beehiiv Transformed My Growth

[00:00:10] [SPEAKER_00]: What up, potty people? And welcome back to Clipped. As always, I'm Eric, your host. And Clipped brings you the tips, resources, and people to help you crush your online content goals. And today, this episode is all about email newsletter providers and why I switched from Mailchimp to Beehiiv. I'm going to be breaking down why you need an email list as a creator, podcaster, business owner, YouTuber, you name it, you need an email list. And why I chose to move to Beehiiv.

[00:00:38] [SPEAKER_00]: But first, got to give a shout out to Riverside, this podcast sponsor. Head on over to Riverside.fm and enter promo code CLIPPED at checkout to get 20% off. Now let's give it a go.

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so first let's discuss why it's important to have an email newsletter as a YouTuber, podcaster, business owner, creator, a brand, an agency, whatever. Having an email list is crucial because it's your direct pipeline to your audience.

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_00]: An email newsletter is a marketing tool that is strategic because it bypasses having an audience on social media. Because as we know, the social media algorithms often limit your content and not all of your followers get to see it.

[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And with an email newsletter, you can provide deeper value. You can educate about your industry. You can educate about your company. And it gives you a chance to put your products and services in front of people directly and not worrying about like your website or social media holding back your message and your content.

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_00]: If you can solve problems for people directly and with that email newsletter, you get that direct pipeline, it's going to be more efficient. And you're going to find that building that community and having that back and forth feedback from an email newsletter is going to be key to your success.

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Hey, building that loyal and engaged following for your brand, for your company, for your content is key.

[00:02:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so that's why you need an email newsletter. Now let's talk about why I switched from MailChimp to Beehive.

[00:02:19] [SPEAKER_00]: For years I was using MailChimp, probably three to four years. And to be perfectly honest with you, I don't have a huge list.

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_00]: A couple years ago, I put some time into growing my list. But since then, I haven't really done anything or put any effort to continue to get more subscribers.

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: I had a signup form on the website. And I did do some social media marketing with I have a free ebook. And I promoted that on social and got people to sign up and then they got the free ebook.

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_00]: And in some of my blogs, you know, I did embed like the MailChimp signup form. But honestly, it wasn't really going where I wanted. And about three or four months ago, I was kind of getting angry.

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_00]: It this happened even before that. But like three or four months ago is when I took action. I was mad at myself because I was like, dude, what am I doing not growing this list? It was kind of popping off for a while.

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_00]: And then honestly, for like two years, it was stalled out. So I was like, why am I not growing my list? I was mad at myself and frustrated and didn't really know what to do or how to grow it.

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Three, four months ago, I really got motivated. I was like, dude, I've got to figure something out.

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And at the time, a buddy of mine, Dylan, who hosts a podcast called Digital Creator, I'll link to that. You should subscribe, follow. It's awesome.

[00:03:29] [SPEAKER_00]: He was talking about how he switched to Beehive. And then he started talking about like some of the Beehive features.

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And I was like, dude, MailChimp doesn't have any of that stuff. Like, I think at one point, MailChimp was like super popular.

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Or maybe it still is for like businesses and like e-commerce and I don't know, like more corporate style newsletters.

[00:03:49] [SPEAKER_00]: So I was like, okay, MailChimp doesn't have this, but I think it's like a decent platform to be on.

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_00]: And they have a great interface. Like it was super easy to craft like professional looking email templates with graphics and embedding stuff and having the text all organized and links and everything the way I wanted.

[00:04:08] [SPEAKER_00]: And so I was like, okay, well, I do have a professional looking email newsletter on MailChimp.

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe I should stick with this and then figure out how to grow it, but stay on MailChimp.

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_00]: But then I was like, dude, what's up with Beehive? It seems like it's for creators.

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_00]: And again, listening to Dylan's episode, he was talking about like these features.

[00:04:26] [SPEAKER_00]: And so I was like, you know what? Whatever.

[00:04:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Literally like kind of blindly after listening to that show, I was like, I'm signing up for Beehive.

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_00]: So I went with Beehive. I signed up, I transferred over my list.

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_00]: That was all very easily. That was all very easy.

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_00]: And I wrote like my first couple newsletters and the templates also super easy to like structure and, you know, craft like a professional looking newsletter with different headings and pictures and all that jazz.

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_00]: But as I got into it, I noticed that like they really do gear it for people that like want to grow and that are in the content creation space.

[00:05:01] [SPEAKER_00]: And the raddest thing that I saw, it's like, all right, there's this thing called Boost, B-O-O-S-T-S, Boost.

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_00]: It's where you can set a budget.

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_00]: And I started with like $50.

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Basically, it connects you with similar types of newsletters in your genre or in your industry.

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_00]: There's like Bitcoin stuff, there's photography stuff, sports stuff, finance.

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_00]: And it shows you similar audiences that you can pitch your newsletter to, to promote your newsletter within those newsletters.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_00]: You can set a price and it can be like, I don't know, a few dollars, one to $3.

[00:05:35] [SPEAKER_00]: And if these other newsletters accept you, they'll promote your newsletter within their newsletter.

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_00]: If people subscribe to your newsletter from within their newsletter, they get paid and you can set that budget.

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_00]: And I've been having really good luck with it.

[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_00]: And I don't have a big list.

[00:05:50] [SPEAKER_00]: As of recording this, I have 500, no, I have 659 subscribers, but the last 40 of them are from these boosts.

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And like I said, I think it's been four months since I started.

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_00]: So call it 10 subscribers a month.

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_00]: And that was for that $50 budget that I set, which I haven't even hit yet.

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_00]: So I still have money left in that budget.

[00:06:11] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm still getting new subscribers from these other email newsletters that I've partnered with through the Beehive Boost program.

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And so that's one of the main reasons why I switched.

[00:06:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Because like I saw that and I didn't know a lot about it.

[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I still kind of blindly like signed up.

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_00]: But I saw that there's an opportunity to grow your newsletter within their platform, within their ecosystem.

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_00]: I was like, okay, I got to try this.

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_00]: And my buddy Dylan, like I said, he was having good success with this as well.

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_00]: So that was like one of the tipping points of why I signed up.

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm stoked.

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_00]: And I've got some money left over.

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Like I said, I haven't spent the full $50.

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_00]: And so I just like that within their product.

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_00]: It's like community and creator driven.

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_00]: And you can connect with these other people.

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And you know, you can ask them to promote you and they get a kickback.

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_00]: I just think it's a good system in MailChimp.

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_00]: At least to my knowledge, maybe now they do at the time.

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't see anything like that.

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_00]: MailChimp's expensive too, man.

[00:07:11] [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm glad I switched.

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_00]: And you know, the Boost feature is one of the ones that I wanted to highlight with you.

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_00]: I think if you're looking to grow and you don't really know what else to do.

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_00]: You've tried organic.

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_00]: We all still try organic.

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: But I think like adding that paid strategy within their platform is huge.

[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think if you try it, you'll see some growth as well.

[00:07:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so how do you make money with your newsletter?

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_00]: So they've got this ads marketplace feature where Beehive's algorithm will start pitching you

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_00]: stuff that you can promote within your newsletter.

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Doesn't even have to be like, for instance, I'm in the content creator space.

[00:07:45] [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't have to be like companies that are also in that space.

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_00]: It can be.

[00:07:50] [SPEAKER_00]: But you can also branch out a little bit.

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Like I got pitched these CBD gummies.

[00:07:55] [SPEAKER_00]: I approved that.

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_00]: You get to approve the advertisers that they pitch you.

[00:08:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I approved that.

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_00]: And I've promoted CBD gummies in a few of my newsletters.

[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_00]: And on the monetization sponsorship side like this, it's all click-based.

[00:08:09] [SPEAKER_00]: So if any of my subscribers click on an ad in my email, I get some money.

[00:08:15] [SPEAKER_00]: And the advertiser or the brand, the company, they set the rate.

[00:08:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And for instance, the CBD gummy company, which I'm fine promoting, by the way, CBD gummies.

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't see anything wrong with that.

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm on board with CBD.

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's great.

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_00]: I've made a little bit of money because I've dropped their ad in a few newsletters.

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Some of my subscribers have clicked on it and boom, I get paid.

[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And now, if you don't have a huge list that's engaged, you're not going to make a ton of money.

[00:08:42] [SPEAKER_00]: But $1, $3, that kind of adds up.

[00:08:46] [SPEAKER_00]: But more than it adding up and being about making all this money up front, really, it's kind of like proof of concept.

[00:08:52] [SPEAKER_00]: It's like, oh, I can make money for my newsletter via sponsorships.

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_00]: And Beehive has allowed me and given me a place to do that.

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's just kind of motivating.

[00:09:01] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, in any kind of like online endeavor, as soon as you make your first few dollars, you're like, oh, okay.

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_00]: I see how this works.

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_00]: And I can make more now because, you know, I can crunch the numbers and I can see, oh, if I get X amount more subscribers at a click rate, that's pretty consistent across my list.

[00:09:17] [SPEAKER_00]: I can make X amount of dollars.

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_00]: All I got to do is continue to grow.

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_00]: And so, I just love that.

[00:09:23] [SPEAKER_00]: I love that they have that feature.

[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_00]: And hey, if you got tens of thousands of subscribers and you get 100 people to click on an ad in your newsletter via the Beehive Marketplace, yeah, you're not fucking making millions.

[00:09:38] [SPEAKER_00]: But baby, you're making a little bit of money.

[00:09:40] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think having all these buckets of revenue coming in as a creator from the content and stuff you're putting out, it all starts to add up and it takes time.

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Don't forget that it does take a long time to really start making money.

[00:09:53] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not there yet.

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_00]: But any bucket that I can start to fill, I'm stoked to do.

[00:09:57] [SPEAKER_00]: That's why I switched to Beehive because of all these things that I saw.

[00:10:00] [SPEAKER_00]: And there's still other stuff that I haven't tried on the growth and monetization side.

[00:10:06] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a couple other features that Beehive provides.

[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_00]: And I plan to talk about those on a future episode.

[00:10:13] [SPEAKER_00]: But MailChimp doesn't have any of these features.

[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_00]: If it does and I'm wrong, hit me up in the comments and let me know.

[00:10:18] [SPEAKER_00]: I just think as a creator, you're going to need this.

[00:10:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And anytime you can get involved with software and services that are going to help you, that's a win.

[00:10:24] [SPEAKER_00]: And I follow the CEO of Beehive on LinkedIn.

[00:10:27] [SPEAKER_00]: I like what they're doing and they're constantly updating and iterating and adding stuff.

[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_00]: And I didn't really see that with MailChimp.

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_00]: So really, I just wanted to shed some light and tell you why I chose Beehive and why I switched.

[00:10:38] [SPEAKER_00]: And hopefully this was insightful.

[00:10:40] [SPEAKER_00]: And if you're thinking about switching providers, definitely check out Beehive.

[00:10:44] [SPEAKER_00]: I'll put a link below.

[00:10:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever platform you choose to start on, you've got to start.

[00:10:48] [SPEAKER_00]: You've got to start getting that direct relationship with your audience, with your listeners, with your fans, whatever you want to call it, whatever lane you're in.

[00:10:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Social media is going to limit your growth.

[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_00]: You're not going to have that direct access to people that want to be a part of what you're doing.

[00:11:03] [SPEAKER_00]: And so if you don't gain anything else from this, start your newsletter today.

[00:11:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, chances are you can get a few dozen subscribers off the bat within your sphere of influence, family, friends, people that are already fans.

[00:11:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Let them know.

[00:11:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Tell them.

[00:11:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Send them a link.

[00:11:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Put it in your social.

[00:11:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Put it on your blog.

[00:11:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Tell people in your podcast, on your channel, whatever it is.

[00:11:22] [SPEAKER_00]: But you've got to get an email list.

[00:11:23] [SPEAKER_00]: That way you don't always have to be grinding away on social.

[00:11:26] [SPEAKER_00]: You'll have another avenue to reach people.

[00:11:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Until next time, keep listening, keep engaging, keep creating.

[00:11:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm out.