If you’ve spent the last year (or three) posting your heart out on Instagram but still haven’t sent a single email… you’re not alone. And no, it’s not too late.

You don’t need to be an “email marketing expert” to start. You don’t even need a fancy freebie. You just need a list — even a tiny one — and a plan to show up. (Psst: we’ve got you covered on both.)

13 Creative Ways to Get More Email Subscribers (Even With a Tiny Audience.

If you’ve been thinking, “I need more people on my list… but I don’t want to sound desperate or spammy,” this is for you.

You don’t need ads. You don’t need a massive following. You need smart, creative ways to invite people in — and that’s exactly what these 13 strategies are. Bonus: most of them work even if your audience is under 500.

(And if you want a ready-to-use version with post prompts, DMs, and examples? Grab the free guide to get your next 100 subscribers. It goes even deeper.)

Should Small Business Owners Still Have an Email List in 2025?

Spoiler alert: Yes. And not just because “email is still king” (yawn, we’ve heard it). But because in 2025, your email list might be the only piece of marketing real estate you actually own.

If you're a small business owner, social media manager, or creative entrepreneur who's been pouring energy into Instagram, TikTok, or threads trying to grow… this post is your friendly wake-up call — and your action plan.

If you want to grow your email list fast, you need more than just a great freebie—you need a smart, timely, and strategic approach that makes people feel like they need to sign up right now.

In the first quarter of this year, I have 12,780 new email people opt into my email list in 3 months for my business, @yoursocialteam. 🤯

That wasn’t just luck. It was a thoughtful strategy, doubling down on what has worked in the past.

In fact, this same approach helped me grow over 20,000 email subscribers last year.

So, what did I do differently? And more importantly, how can you use some of my strategies to grow your own email list?

If you’ve ever wondered:
“What’s really driving sales for small business owners like me?”
You’re in the right place.

We’re breaking down email marketing vs. social media in 2025—and which one actually helps you grow your business.

Ghosted Your Email List? Here’s How to Come Back Without the Awkwardness

So you haven’t emailed your list in a while...
Maybe a few weeks.
Maybe a few months.
Maybe you don’t even remember the last email you sent. 😬

First of all—you’re not alone.
This is one of the most common email marketing “oops” moments ever.

Whether life got busy, your offer changed, or you just couldn’t figure out what to say, the good news is this:

→ It’s never too late to restart your list.

And the best part? You don’t need to over-explain, apologize forever, or start from scratch.

Wondering If You Should Use Images in Your Emails?

Short answer?
→ Yes. But you need to do it right.

Images in email newsletters can make your message pop, reinforce your brand, and create a scroll-stopping experience—when used intentionally.

But if you overdo it?
Your email might look cluttered, take forever to load, or worse—end up in the spam folder.

Let’s break down when to use images in emails, how many is too many, and how to make them work for your business (not against it).

Struggling to Send Weekly Emails? You’re Not Alone.

You know email marketing is powerful.
You’ve probably told yourself: “I just need to send one email a week.”

But somehow… that email never gets written.

Or maybe you send a couple emails in a row, then ghost your list for a month because life and business got busy (again).

Let’s normalize this: burnout, overthinking, and blank-page paralysis are real.

And let’s fix it—because staying consistent with email marketing doesn’t have to be hard.

Want Polished, Branded Emails? It Starts With Your Header and Footer.

Let’s be real: nothing says “small biz that gets it” like a branded email that actually looks good. Your header is the first thing people see. Your footer is where they take action—or bounce.

But most email platforms don’t make it totally obvious how to set them up.

In this post, we’ll walk you through exactly how to upload and place your header and footer designs inside:

• Flodesk

• Squarespace Email Campaigns

• Kajabi

• Mailchimp

If you’ve been avoiding email marketing because your list is “too small,” let’s bust that myth right now:

💥 Small lists are often more profitable than big ones.

Yep. Even if you have under 300 subscribers, you can absolutely:

• Get new leads

• Book clients

• Sell digital products

• Build long-term loyalty

And you can do it without needing to go viral, run ads, or launch something new every other week.

📬 Email marketing is not only alive—it’s more powerful than ever in 2025.

In fact, it’s one of the few marketing channels that’s actually getting better as platforms become noisier and more unpredictable.

So if you’ve been wondering whether it’s still worth starting—or reviving—your email list, here’s what you need to know.

Your Social Media Obsession Is Killing Your Focus—Here’s How to Reclaim It (Without Quitting Instagram)

If you’ve ever opened Instagram to “just check one thing” and ended up an hour deep into Reels and carousel rabbit holes… you’re not alone.

As small business owners, creators, and service providers, we’re told that being online all the time is what it takes to grow.

But here’s the thing:
That constant context-switching? It’s wrecking your focus—and draining your time.

You Don’t Need to Go Viral to Grow a Profitable Business

We see it everywhere: viral videos, trending sounds, reels hitting a million views overnight. And while that might look like the dream, here’s the truth:

Viral doesn’t always mean profitable.

Going viral can bring visibility—but visibility doesn’t always lead to sales. And for most small business owners, service providers, and creators, waiting around for a big “viral moment” is a losing game.

There’s a much better strategy:
📧 Email marketing.

If your main content strategy lives on TikTok (or really, any social platform), you're playing on rented land. And while TikTok might be today’s headline, the truth is that algorithms, bans, and outages can affect any platform, anytime. The best creators and business owners know this—and they prepare for it.