Mom Owned and Operated
Candid conversations with and for moms about the real deal of raising a family, running a business, and remembering yourself.
Tired of the fluff and just want real talk about what it takes to succeed as a mompreneur? Then you've come to the right place.
Join your host, business growth strategist Rita Suzanne, as she dives into the nitty-gritty of building a business while raising a family. With over 10 years of experience helping women entrepreneurs thrive, Rita knows what it takes to make it all work.
In each episode, Rita sits down with inspiring mom business owners to uncover the strategies, mindsets, and tactics that are actually making a difference in their lives and businesses.
Tune in and discover the secrets to building a successful business without sacrificing your family or yourself.
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Mom Owned and Operated
Transform Your Email Marketing Strategy with Amy Kuphal
In this episode of the Mom Owned and Operated podcast, Rita Suzanne and Amy Kuphal discuss raising a family, running a business and remembering yourself.
Amy Kuphal is a lead generation and email marketing specialist and the founder of The Inbox Entrepreneur, a monthly membership site that helps online business owners grow their audience, generate more leads, and nurture those leads through simple, fun, and customizable weekly newsletter templates so that when they have a product or service to sell, they have a sea of eager buyers ready to make a purchase.
Amy is a fierce advocate for “anti-hustle entrepreneurship” and a super-fan of simplicity, systems, and structures. She is on a mission to help online business owners build businesses that not only earn a great income, but that also provide ample time for family, friends, rest, and play.
You can connect with Amy on her website and Instagram.
Send a text message! Email, if you want a reply though. ;)
P.S. You can find more interviews at momownedandoperated.com and learn about working with Rita at ritasuzanne.com/apply/
Hi, this is Mom Owned and Operated. I'm Rita, suzanne, and today I have my guest, amy with me. Amy, I'm so excited to chat with you today all about email marketing and all of the things definitely appreciate it.
Amy Kuphal:So, yeah, my name is Amy Kufal. I am a lead generation as well as email marketing specialist. I am the proud single mom to a beautiful 12 year old daughter. She is the best I mean all of the moms you know listening. We know our kids are amazing. So that, and I am the owner of a monthly membership called the Inbox Entrepreneur.
Rita Suzanne:Love it, and we were talking before just a little bit about the Inbox Entrepreneur, because I think it's so brilliant and we're doing something so similar. So let's get into it a little bit deeper. Tell us a little bit more about it. What does it entail? What do you offer? All of the details, yeah.
Amy Kuphal:So I created this membership out of a need that I saw in talking to a lot of the business owners that I was working with in the one-to-one capacity.
Amy Kuphal:So people would come to me and they'd say you know, I have this idea for a business and I have this area of expertise, but then they were struggling to monetize it because they were doing all of the things. So they were attending networking events and they were making a million and one reels on social media and they were just really kind of spread all over the place. So I started talking to them. I said, okay, what is your number one need? And that was lead generation and turning leads into clients and customers. And I could see that their number one need is a really streamlining what they were doing. So out of that I created what I call my lead generation pyramid, which is a four part pyramid that really streamlines the whole process for business owners, and then also created this membership. So essentially in the membership it's a monthly membership and they get access to all of the email templates and swipe copy and video tutorials that they're going to need to convert the people on their list to paying clients and customers.
Rita Suzanne:Yeah, and I saw on your website that you mentioned that there are nine email types, so can we talk a little bit about those nine types?
Amy Kuphal:Yes. So there are, and actually what I'm doing is I'm so I won't give too much of a spoiler alert, but I'll give you a little teaser to. The first couple is right now on my own podcast, the the entrepreneurship re-imagined podcast. I'm dripping them out week over week. So what it basically comes down to there's nine essential email types that we should be sending to our list if we want to create paying customers and clients.
Amy Kuphal:So the first one that we always talk about is, of course, the welcome sequence, and I'll tell you and I bet you've probably seen the same thing the number of business owners that don't send that welcome sequence is a lot higher than I would like to see, given. This is what we teach, but really that is like the sequence that's going to set the tone for all of your future emails. It's going to introduce yourself, it's going to introduce your brand, it's going to allow people to understand your vibe and your mission, and really it's one of those ones that I think does a huge job at preventing people marking you as spam further down the line, because they're understanding what to expect. So that would be definitely number one. If you don't have that one set up, that's the first one to do. Second is your freebie or your lead magnet delivery.
Amy Kuphal:Now, there's a lot of different ways people can come onto our list. They can just join our newsletter. They can grab our lead magnet. You know different things. I talk about doing two separate. So we have our welcome sequence and we have our lead magnet delivery sequence, because, especially if you're going to have multiple different lead magnets, you want them to all get that welcome sequence and then get their unique lead magnet delivery.
Rita Suzanne:We also have sales sequences.
Amy Kuphal:We have objection sequences I don't want to name online because, like I said, they're coming out over the next seven weeks on my show, so definitely jump in and listen to those.
Rita Suzanne:I love that one one and I don't know if you're, if you're mentioning this, but one that I love to have people add is, if they're doing local networking is to have some type of sequence for that. Specifically Like, what is the point of going to these local networking events gathering these cards and then they just sit on your desk in a pile or you send one hey thanks, it was great to meet you email, and then that's it, and so one sequence that I love to create or have my clients create is that type of sequence. So I don't know if that's something that you that's also included in there as well, but I want to throw that one in there as a bonus as well.
Amy Kuphal:Yeah, I like that and so that's one of mine. Actually, that's interesting, but I love that you have it because a lot of my clients are online business owners. So, yes, I definitely still think, even if you're an online business owner, go local, meet people at local events. I think that that's huge. Even if you're online, it's huge because then they see you're an actual human in the flesh, like you are, you know someone, just not some bot online. And I wonder with that one, what do you have a specific call to action that you lead them?
Rita Suzanne:into Okay, okay, good, good.
Amy Kuphal:Good, that's another thing too, and I know you probably talk about it. I say a lot, but we're not just emailing people to have a pen pal, right, we're business owners. So, yes, we want to develop rapport. Yes, we people to have a pen pal, right, we're business owners. So, yes, we want to develop rapport. Yes, we want to have a friendly relationship, but what is the action that we're hoping that they take as a result of being on our list?
Rita Suzanne:Yeah, like for so many years, I focused solely on just working online and, just, you know, developing my connections online. But over these last years, because I've been doing this for the last 10 years, I've seen our market change so much, and so now I've been saying, okay, you have to network locally, because our online space is just so crowded and if you're going to, especially if you need clients, you need to network locally, because one, you develop relationships so much faster, right, and so if you do develop that relationship faster, get on a call with them so that, hopefully, you can create a relationship or get a client out of it, and so that's one thing that I definitely like want to toss in there really fast. But, yeah, I think that overall, our market has changed, and so have you noticed a change in that? Because I know that your business has pivoted slightly, so is that something that maybe caused you to change as well?
Amy Kuphal:One of the big things that caused me to narrow down more was just that when I had started out, I was in the more general one-to-one business coaching space idea conception, all the way to having a business.
Rita Suzanne:That's up and running and it's right launch and it's making them money.
Amy Kuphal:So there's a lot, and I did work with those clients on a one to one basis just because it was so unique. The reason why I down, though, into lead gen and email marketing is, like you said, the online space is crowded. Email marketing is, like you said, the online space is crowded. So when I'm walking into any online space saying I'm a you know, a business coach, well, so are the 30 other people around me like great. So I was like, okay, that's not going to work. And it was a lot to really be a master of 26 plus different topics.
Amy Kuphal:So it was like for me it was going okay, what is the one thing that people really really are screaming that they need right now that I can get really, really good at, so that that one it's going to set you apart in crowded marketplaces. And it also makes it a lot easier for collaborations. Because if I'm a general business coach that covers all the things collaborations Because if I'm a general business coach that covers all the things, someone maybe who was also a business coach might not invite me to speak inside their program because I'm doing something similar. But if I'm coming in and saying I'm just teaching email marketing, they're going to say, cool, like you're not trying to take my clients, like you're just speaking on this one specific thing.
Rita Suzanne:Yeah, and it's so interesting because that is another. Yeah, and it's so interesting because that is another. Like where? Because not only are you teaching them how to set it up, you're offering the templates and you're offering them the framework right, and it's not email provider specific.
Amy Kuphal:Right, that's right, yeah, cause there's so many to choose from and they change all the time, and that's one of the things that we had been discussing before we hit record is that what I like to teach inside the membership is the copy, the messaging, the marketing, the all of that. That's going to be universal. Whether you're sending emails from your Wix account or convert kit, whatever it might be, you can take these and implement them on all of them, which is kind of cool, you know, because it does. It just comes down to, like you said, what I was seeing is a lot of people either just weren't building their email list at all, which I was like, oh gosh, like let's change that right now, like we're going to number one, let's start building our list and reaching out to them on a consistent basis. But then I would find that I was in different.
Amy Kuphal:I don't know if you've ever participated in bundles or other list growth strategies and I was talking to the people that were really actively building their email list and they're like well, I have a list of, you know, 2,000, 2,500 people on my email list and I'm like cool, like how often are you reaching out to them? And they're like oh, when I have something to sell and I'm like like that's also something we don't want to do, right, you know. So it's really having not just building our list but having some strategy for what we're going to do, once we're building our list, to convert, to nurture and convert.
Rita Suzanne:So let's talk about frequency of emails then, because there's so many different schools of thought in as far as frequency and types of email. So first let's talk about frequency. What is your recommended frequency?
Amy Kuphal:I think you hit the nail on the head when you just said that right there. There are so many different pieces of advice when it comes to how often you should email your list, so my personal recommendation is absolutely not less than once per week. I actually had a woman join my membership about a couple of weeks ago actually might be coming up on a month for her and when she came in, her statement was I email my list once a month, a small list, but she goes I email my list once a month and I don't want to email more because I don't want to be spammy and I'm like oh. So the fact that I shared with her is I said we get an average in the U S. I'm based in the U? S, but we get an average of 120 to 140 emails in our inbox every single day. If you are one email of 140 times 30 days, they're not going to see it.
Rita Suzanne:They're not going to remember you.
Amy Kuphal:Right, and so that was the other statement that she made. It was that I don't want to get reported as spam. I don't want to be spammy, and I said the number one way that you're going to be able to be or be reported as spam is if you pop up once a month and, like you said, they go who the heck is this Like? How did I get on their email list Spam? Versus if you're showing up more consistently. They know who you are, they know why they got on your list, and so forth. So that's why I say absolutely not less than once per week. I follow a couple people that do daily emails. I don't at this point, I do twice a week, but I think as long as you're more than once a week, you're in a good spot.
Rita Suzanne:Yeah, I think, and I think just that statement alone is almost very it's. It's what I think a lot of female entrepreneurs maybe struggle with is the fear of someone seeing them too much, right, of someone judging them, and that's also a problem, right? They're like I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, you know. Like don't look at me, but also buy for me.
Amy Kuphal:Right, right, I know, and it's interesting and I think just a quick reframe that I always go to for myself because this is what I do and I still get in my own head sometimes. But if we truly believe in what we're selling and we're showing up in their inbox with the absolutely heart-centered intention of providing value and our offer is going to be that next level of value for them and we've priced it in a way that we know that the price that it is is they're going to get way more value than what they're going to invest. It's our obligation to show up more and make sure that the people that really need it know that it's there.
Rita Suzanne:Yeah, so let's rewind a little bit and talk about welcome slash nurture sequences. How many days or how many emails are included in a typical nurture sequence that you would recommend?
Amy Kuphal:So what I do is, if I go welcome sequence to start mine, I have a couple of different ones that I'll rotate through. One is three in a row, one is five. I'm leaning more towards the five in a row and I actually structure them one after another. So day one, day two, day three, and I even put that in the subject line email one of five, email two of five, so they can clearly see this is part of some sort of sequence. Even though she's emailing me every single day, I don't think this is probably going to be the case.
Amy Kuphal:After and I mentioned that in my first one as well You're going to receive these next five emails. After that You're only going to hear from me every single Tuesday, unless you reach out to me, yada, yada. So then we set that expectation and then from there, that's when we're going to implement. I sell every 60 days, so I do some sort of direct sales sequence every 60 days, but my nurture is that once a week, and that's where I weave in those nine different types of emails that we talk about.
Rita Suzanne:Yeah, and so I love that, because, and then so during that process where they're in the welcome sequence, do you then pause any additional emails?
Amy Kuphal:right, I do.
Rita Suzanne:Yes, so anytime they're in the welcome sequence or sales sequence, they're not receiving my two minute Tuesday newsletter yes, I think and that's I think that's something that people need to understand too is that when you send out the welcome sequence, you're pausing. Anything else You're not getting, you're not confusing them with other emails, because it's confusing.
Amy Kuphal:Right, right, and especially like during, like a welcome sequence or a sales sequence, there should be one clear call to action and, like you said, we don't want this one clear call to action that you're trying to, you know, help them to, to move forward towards. And then we're like, oh, by the way, some other random thing that's going to distract you, like no, let's not do that.
Rita Suzanne:So there are several different kind of layouts and so a lot of emails, especially in our entrepreneur space, specifically to coaches or from coaches, are kind of long form copy, start with the story and they end up with the selling. So that's one way right. And then we have these other type of newsletter type emails where it's kind of like informative, click the link and read more. Which type do you think are more effective?
Amy Kuphal:I actually use neither of those. Oh yes, so I use neither because for me, my mindset is this it's that there's a time and a place, like people say. You know, oh, people's attention's less nowadays. I don't know if I believe that wholeheartedly. I don't think that we have this lack of attention span If you give someone a Netflix series that they absolutely can't get enough of. I just watched Baby Reindeer, which is like the most I don't know for people that watch it. It's an interesting one. You could sit and binge that for hours. Ok, so our attention is there.
Amy Kuphal:However, I think when we're in the inbox, our attention is different. Especially the people that I work with are business owners, so a lot of times they're in their inbox, they want the information that they want and then they're getting out. So what I do, as opposed to more of a long form, it's typically 250 to 350 words or less. You know very simple format, not a ton of images, and you're getting in there, you're getting that tip or trick, You're getting the story. I do like to even story a lot but a couple sentences and then, if they want to learn more, then you can refer them to like your podcast or a blog that you have, but my best advice is keeping things short and sweet in the inbox, if that's what your ideal audience is used to.
Rita Suzanne:Yeah, so for someone who isn't a great writer, I know you give them templates, but what is your thought on, like AI?
Amy Kuphal:So yes, I do. My membership is designed for people that are not skilled writers and I actually have that in a lot of my copy that I write. You know this inbox entrepreneur you can get this without being a skilled writer, because that's a big roadblock that people have when they think about writing these big newsletters like not much of a writer. My high school English teacher pretty much almost failed me like totally fine, like you'll be fine in this membership because you don't have to be a skilled writer. I'm sorry, can you repeat the last little piece?
Rita Suzanne:So the last part I was saying is, even though you give the templates, then you don't want them, just copying, pasting the templates in there, because they have to be on point with their messaging Right. So what do you? What are your thoughts about them utilizing your templates with AI?
Amy Kuphal:So I have pieces in there that they can plug into ChatGPT. I will say 100% don't just take what ChatGPT gave you and put it into your email. You will sound like a robot. We talked about at the middle of this episode what a big struggle for online entrepreneurs is how do we differentiate ourselves from other people? And that's by using our own voice. That's our own tone, that's our own words. What I like to use chat, gpt or other AI for is, again, if you're not a skilled writer to begin with, for me, looking at a blank page and just being like, oh, I have to write an email, that is so incredibly daunting. But if you can take the template and say, can you spit me out three facts about, for example, if you were a relationship coach, can you spit me out a couple of facts about the things that maybe lead to struggles in relationships, you can use those facts in your email, but make sure that it has your voice.
Rita Suzanne:Right, yeah, I definitely feel. I feel the same way. I feel like you. A lot of people will just use it, copy paste and put it in there, and it definitely you need to tweak it. You need to reread it, at least you know 15, 20 times. Read it out loud, make sure that it sounds like you and sometimes some of the even suggested additives that it uses. I'm like, wait a minute, I would never say this.
Amy Kuphal:And you know what I found too is interesting, especially specifically with chat GPT, when I'll put something in and say, because again, it's for me, it's always just like a jumping off point to get my wheel spinning about what I might write. But when I put it in and they spit me back, what they do a lot of it is really really really long sentences.
Amy Kuphal:Again like fine for like maybe a blog, but these are not. It's not the type of writing you want to do in the inbox. It's short. It's, I always suggest, between fourth and fifth grade writing level, not because our readers are fourth and fifth grade reading level, but because when you're in the inbox you want it to be quick and digestible. So I've taken that chat GPT prompt, put it into a reading level analyzer and a lot of times it's at post-grad level. There's a lot of work that needs to be done between what it gives you and what it should look like in the inbox.
Rita Suzanne:Yeah, and you can. I don't use chat GTP specifically, I prefer Gemini, but I think that you can tell it like to adjust its tone and all of those things to so that it is more relatable. So, anyhow, let's, let's bounce away from a whole different tangent. I know this isn't this isn't a topic about that, but I wanted to talk really quickly about why you are not going into the specific email providers, because one thing that I was going to mention before the call started is that I have been with ActiveCampaign for about nine years. Super love ActiveCampaign. I have been working with clients who have literally used every single platform imaginable Entreport, keep I have even signed up and tried what's the new one that's super popular. Now that everybody's using that's like an all-in-one go high level. I've tried that one MailerLite. I've tried ConvertKit, like I mean, I have tried all of the things, and I love, though, that your program is not specific to any particular platforms, but is there one that you love and recommend?
Amy Kuphal:Yeah, I, you know what. So I started out very basic when I first started. I would say don't stress about the platform at the start, especially if you're brand new. When you're building your list, use what you have right. Obviously, don't use your personal email address Like, if we hear anything today, like don't use that, because there's certain regulations that you need to comply by when you're sending emails and your personal email address is not going to do that. So we want to make sure you're on actually an email platform. But I started out with ConvertKit just for the sole reason of a lot of people were using it. They seem to be really happy with it, so that's what I chose and ran with.
Rita Suzanne:So I don't.
Amy Kuphal:Yeah, so that's been working really well for me. I love it, but I haven't played with the rest of them, honestly because I've been satisfied.
Rita Suzanne:Right, and so if you find one that works for you, then I say stick with it.
Rita Suzanne:Just like I've stuck with ActiveCampaign, I've tried these other ones, just based on my clients using them and me feeling like I don't like them just because there were restrictions in place that I wasn't used to in the other ways. What I would say is one that I would suggest that you probably stick away from is MailChimp. Even though it is low cost, it is very restrictive and I would say go with MailerLite or ConvertKit, if you were looking at like budget, although ActiveCampaign has a lower cost option as well.
Amy Kuphal:The range of what they cost is vastly different. So budget I mean that could be a differentiating factor for a lot of people no-transcript.
Amy Kuphal:Keep it simple, like I don't even have to think about that piece of advice. My advice is keep it simple because the more you get into it, the more you're going to realize how much time and energy and effort it takes to build one offer properly, market one offer. It's it's a full-time job with one offer. So when we start going I'm going to create this and then I'm going to do this and I'm gonna do this, you're going to spread yourself too thin. Unless you have a team like you can easily take one offer to multiple six. I've seen people take one offer to seven figures. It can be done. You don't need 15 different things.
Rita Suzanne:Yes, and I think that's smart too, because they're focusing in on this one, this one offer, and they're marketing it in so many different ways that they can do that and and I do think, like people get in there, they're like, oh, I have to have at least 10 different things that I need to sell and I got to have a course. I have to have all these products I have to. Let me let me actually rewind and talk to you really quickly about freebies, actually rewind and talk to you really quickly about freebies, because I want to know what you think about the different types of freebies and should your freebie be associated with your offer?
Amy Kuphal:100% yes. So what I would say about freebies is that when I'm coaching people to design their freebie, what I like to say is think about your ideal client. Where are they when they first come to you? So what is that struggle that they have? What is the pain point that they have? What is the transformation that they're trying to achieve? So think about that full thing.
Amy Kuphal:If that was A, when they're coming to you, what do they want to look like from A to Z? Okay, so that's going to be your signature offer from A to Z? Okay, so that's going to be your signature offer. When we're thinking about our lead magnet or freebie, we want to think about what are the milestones along the way from A to Z and how can we create a free offer that's going to fully solve one of those milestones, or give them one quick win? Yes, because then that's going to be a natural segue. They're going to feel like you know what? I worked with this person and I achieved something that I hadn't before, and it's going to open up the doors of saying, yes, you achieve this, but you've still got B through Z to achieve your transformation. And here's how we can continue to work together.
Rita Suzanne:Yeah, I think a lot of people struggle creating freebies because they're not really sure what to create, but, and that's why, oftentimes, though, people will download your freebie and then or just sit in their inbox, and so that's why it's important to. I love the, the sequence where it'll follow back up and say, hey, did you, but did you download?
Amy Kuphal:Yes, yes, and I would a hundred percent second that with your freebie delivery sequence we're calling it a sequence because it's more than one email. You're going to have the initial freebie delivery, but you're also going to have a couple emails afterwards just checking in to make sure that they went through that freebie. Because, yes, they're on your list. But if that freebie was designed well, its job is to nurture them to further want your signature offer, so they don't consume it. It's not able to do its job.
Rita Suzanne:Yeah, and there's certain email platforms where you would actually be able to tell if they downloaded it just based on them clicking, and some that you couldn't. But you know, it just really depends on what platform you're using. So one of the reasons why I started this whole podcast was to talk about, you know, not only connecting with other business moms, but to talk about how you're able to take care of yourself while you're raising your family and your business. So I would love to know what you are doing for yourself, Amy. What are you doing for self-care?
Amy Kuphal:One of the biggest things and this seems like such a silly, like some people think self-care and they're like a bubble bath and a vacation. This is my very simple and silly self-care thing that I do that works for me is that I am, by nature, someone that could work all the time and do that until the point that suddenly I can't. You know, we work ourselves right until we hit a wall. That's me.
Amy Kuphal:So one of the things that I've done for my own self-care and routine is I have a set start time and end time for my day. 15 minutes prior to my day ending, I always have an alarm go off on my phone which is like hey, it's time to wrap up. I close out what I'm doing and I have always right on my desk it's just a three item checklist. So I finished up my day and I write the top three items that I'm going to do the next day so that I can't get the idea of well, let me just put another thing on. If it doesn't fit in my three items, it has to go on another day. And that's been one of the biggest game changers for me, and not feeling overwhelmed by a massive to-do list and being able to end every single day feeling like you know, I accomplished everything I set out to do today.
Rita Suzanne:Yeah, I love that. That's actually wonderful, and that's the first time I've ever heard anybody say something like that. And so I like to kind of keep you know tabs of the things that people say, because initially when I started this, it was the I get my nails done and get my hair done, and you know, and I get that. And a lot of people say that they go to the gym when and I go to the gym for my self-care, that's that's the thing. And then we talk about, you know, some simpler things. Like I go, I'll sit in the car for an extra five minutes. You know I'll do these things, especially when you have littles running around or, like me, have a lot of kids who can you know be bickering and whatnot. So, yeah, you're, you're just like I just need that, that space for for for some alone time.
Rita Suzanne:But I love that, the the hard stop on the day and then just making that note of you know, this is the three things that I'll pick up when I start my next day, because then it keeps you you know where to start when you, when you pick that up, yeah, and I love that too, because you're not scrambling the next day of like, okay, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? You already know what you're starting with, so I think that's wonderful. So where can we find you online? Where are you?
Amy Kuphal:at yeah. So there's three different places. So number one if you're on social media, my number one social media hangout is Instagram. So that's just at Amy Kouf A-M-Y-K-U-P-H. On Instagram. I don't, because I'm big into email marketing. I don't post all the time on my Instagram. However, I'm in my DMs daily, so people send me a DM. They will get a reply back there. I also have my own podcast. It's called the Entrepreneurship Reimagined Podcast. That's on Apple and Spotify and if they want to learn more about the membership, it's amycoufaultcom. Forward slash inbox.
Rita Suzanne:Perfect. Thank you so much, it's been such a pleasure.
Amy Kuphal:Thank you so much. I definitely appreciate it.
