Whether you are looking to cut costs and move from an expensive email service provider or you’ve outgrown a free email marketing tool, you might be wondering, “Is Flodesk Worth It?”.
What is Flodesk?
Flodesk is a very popular email service provider. While I’m not a lawyer and this blog post should not be considered a substitute for proper legal advice, I do think it’s important to mention that there are rules that need to be followed as you market using an email list. As a small business owner you can’t send marketing emails from your Gmail account – that’s a big legal no-no.
It’s so tempting to move quickly when you are running a business but you need to get a proper email service provider in place and get explicit consent from every person who joins that email marketing list. There needs to be a clear way for subscribers to leave the list as well. Take the time to learn about all of the current laws surrounding email marketing just like you did when you launched your website with proper legal pages.
When it’s time to research the best email service provider for teacher businesses, you’ll likely find that Flodesk and Kit (formerly Convertkit) are the two popular finalists. I have used them both and you can read the reasons that I chose Flodesk in this post comparing Kit and Flodesk if you want more information about the side by side comparison.
To make that long story short, just because an esp (email service provider) has more bells and whistles doesn’t mean your business needs all of those features. Sometimes keeping things simple is actually the best way to support the teachers on our email marketing lists.
How Flodesk saves money
Small business owners have to be very mindful of how they spend every penny – especially when it comes to recurring, ongoing expenses.
List building is an important goal for any email marketer. While I do understand the logistics of costs and storage, in my heart I cannot align with a company that plans to charge me more money as a way to celebrate the growth of my email list.
I’ll still be cleaning cold subscribers off of my email list periodically to keep it healthy, but I won’t be doing it for the sole reason of keeping my email marketing bill cost effective. Flodesk allows unlimited subscribers for the low flat fee.
I sleep much better at night knowing how much Flodesk will cost and I’m grateful that the cost does not change as the size of my list grows.
Poll 5-10 friends who are using Kit and ask them to share how much they are currently paying – the cost difference between Flodesk and Kit might cause you to pause and reflect.
But wouldn’t a free email marketing tool be even better?
If you are feeling tempted by a free email marketing tool, look closely at how they count subscribers to determine how long this tool will be a good fit for your business needs. If I grab one freebie from you verses sign up for all of the freebies, will I be counted as one person or multiple people?
Does that free plan feel like a good user experience for those leads that you worked hard to bring to your email list? Does it offer all of the features to truly allow you to test out the paid plan or is it a limited solution that might be hard to find tutorials for without upgrading?
And then remember that your time has value. I spent so much time learning about Kit only to have to start all over when I realized Flodesk was a better fit for my small business. I also had to pay for support to rebuild and move all of those assets. In my case, Flodesk was not an option when I started email marketing but please learn from my experience and try to setup an email service provider that will meet your needs for the long haul.
How Flodesk saves time
The clean and simple layout of Flodesk keeps me focused on the actions that truly matter most. You will be using this tool weekly so you want to make sure it is user-friendly.
If I’m sitting down to write an email I’m either looking at the main screen with the most recent emails or (my go-to strategy) I’m navigating to a folder where similar emails of that type are currently organized.
If it’s time to promote a lead magnet in a new place or add a new opt-in to the mix, you’ll find me in the forms tab.
If it’s time to work on a funnel, I’m off to the workflows tab.
If I want to learn more about my segments or do the monthly back up of my email list, the audience tab has what I need.
And Flodesk analytics have come a lot way since their first beta launch (shout out to the OGs that have been with Flodesk since they launched). If you haven’t taken a look at the analytics recently you’ll find lots of information to use for your next strategic content planning session.
My Personal Favorite Part Of Flodesk
It’s visually appealing!
Flodesk has a library of email templates that help teacher resources shine. You have the option to stick with plain text if you prefer that route but I truly believe in my heart that tired teachers know the solution they need for their classroom when they see it.
Over time you’ll be able to test your favorite email layouts to see which ones perform best with your audience. If the standard Flodesk layouts don’t feel aligned to your brand, you can make a small investment for some fresh Flodesk templates like these ones from Laugh Eat Learn. Installation is simple and it might be just the refresh you need to get excited about writing to your email list again.
6 Flodesk Customer Support Tips
#realtalk Customer support is an area that I hope to see grow at Flodesk. I could love to see an option for live chat within the platform one day, but at this time there are 3 ways to access customer support while using Flodesk.
1. Join the Facebook Group
If your question is related to email strategy, the Flodesk Insiders Facebook group has over 19,000 members and is very active. Use the search bar to see what other conversations might have already taken place on that topic and then create your own post if you still need more specific, targeted support to feel confident what the right next step forwards is.
2. Email Customer Support
If your question is related to your specific account, you’ll need to contact the customer support team directly by sending an email to support@flodesk.com. For the best possible experience, remember to include any screenshots or screen recordings that can help the team fully understand and solve your problem. And don’t forget to mention the email address you use to log into Flodesk when you open that customer support ticket – it can be easy to forget when we are stressed about an email marketing problem.
I’ll also add 4 bonus tips to help you get unstuck on your Flodesk journey.
3. Ask A Flodesk Friend
You likely have a network of teacher business friends who also use Flodesk – ask them for help!
4. Hire A Pro
If you feel like you might need the help of an expert to solve the problem, you might consider reaching out to a trusted paid service provider. Branda at The Relevant Collective is an amazing support for copywriting, welcome sequences, and email marketing tech. Alexis at Laugh Eat Learn can help with landing pages and getting your lead magnet in all the right places on your website. She also sells stunning Flodesk templates to help you get out of the gates with those first few Flodesk emails. I have personally worked with both of them and trust them behind the scenes in my own brand – tell them Janice sent you!
5. Ask On A Q&A Call
And if your business budget can support another $9/month expense, Liz Wilcox’s email marketing membership community might be the next step of support to help you feel confident on this email marketing journey. Learn more about email marketing overall and have access to a monthly Q&A session with an email marketing expert who I love learning from. I’m a proud affiliate of Email Marketing Membership.
6. Visit Flodesk University
Did you know about Flodesk university? It’s a great place to get some professional development from Flodesk that I find a lot of people don’t take the time to dive into.
Ready To Try Flodesk?
I’m a proud affiliate of Flodesk. If you sign up using this discount link you will get 50% off the first year of your paid membership making it $19/month or $209/year.
Not many people know that you have the option to pay annually for Flodesk. Fun fact: I signed up at the monthly rate and then emailed customer support to ask to be moved to the annual plan once I heard it was an option.
Email marketing is a long game so it made sense to me to take advantage of the cost savings and go all in to make the most of my investment for a year.
If you like to measure data and ROI you can challenge yourself by tracking metrics to see how long it takes you to earn back the investment. Sometimes a little accountability and gamification is all we need to start writing to our list consistently.
So Is Flodesk Worth It?
For me, Flodesk feels like home. When the annual expense renews, I can clearly look back to see that I took full advantage of it. The data shows me that Flodesk emails get opened, get clicked on, and convert to sales. So Flodesk is worth it for me and I hope this post helped you gain clarity on if it’s the right tool for your needs.
If you’re ready to
✅ save money
✅ save time
✅ let your products and offers shine
without worrying about
❌ rising costs as your list grows
❌ complex funnels and tags that make you want to run and hide
❌ boring looking emails that no one wants to open
