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At the start of this year, I decided to take a more intentional approach to growing my newsletter and email list. I wanted something that felt sustainable, inspiring to use, and simple enough that I would actually stay consistent with it.
After trying a few different platforms and trying to figure out what made the most sense for where my business is right now, I decided to switch to Flodesk and honestly, it’s been such a refreshing experience.
Email marketing was often an afterthought for me, or something that carried more stress than inspiration, but I wanted to share why Flodesk has completely shifted the way I approach emails, why it’s been such a good fit for how I work, and how I hope to use it moving forward.
If you’re an artist, freelancer, entrepreneur, or creative business owner looking for an email platform that feels approachable, thoughtful, and less overwhelming, I hope this gives you some clarity as you figure out what works best for you too.
I should also mention: I’m still early in my email marketing journey.
I’m sharing this from the perspective of someone actively learning and building as I go. My experience with the platform will naturally evolve over time, but I wanted to document what has genuinely helped me so far, especially because I know how overwhelming it can feel trying to choose the “right” platform.
Before discovering Flodesk, I tried a few different email platforms. I don’t want to single any of them out because there was nothing inherently wrong with them—many were incredibly powerful—but none of them really clicked for me personally. A lot of the platforms felt overly complicated, outdated, or designed more with large corporations in mind than small creative businesses.
As a graphic designer, I’m especially sensitive to how an interface feels and functions. If entering a platform already feels stressful or visually overwhelming, it quickly starts to feel like a chore rather than something I want to engage with. At the same time, I also felt unclear about what I even wanted my newsletter to be — what purpose it was meant to serve, how I wanted it to feel, or what I genuinely wanted to share through it.
What I was really searching for was clarity and simplicity.
When I found Flodesk, it immediately felt calm and intuitive.
The interface was a breath of fresh air: thoughtful and easy to navigate, and the whole experience felt designed to remove friction rather than add to it. I didn’t feel overwhelmed trying to figure it out, it just felt clean, intentional, and designed with care and that really stands out to me a graphic designer and brand strategist.
I was also immediately drawn to how they let you customize your audience.
I didn’t fully realize how important this was to me until I saw it in practice. It completely shifted how I think about email entirely: from sending everything to everyone, to being able to communicate more intentionally and thoughtfully based on what people actually want to receive. The ability to organize subscribers based on what they actually want to hear about brought me a huge sense of clarity.
And this was another surprising big one – how they presented their analytics and tracking.
This is usually where I tend to feel overwhelmed or disconnected from the process because metrics and reports (in these types of platforms) tend to be look and feel completed outdated or too complex, but here it finally felt more approachable. Every email includes a basic metrics to help you understand your campaigns better and it’s not overly technical but presented in a helpful way to understand what’s working without overcomplicating it. And I really appreciated that.
I should also mention another decision point for me was their beautiful templates.
I really love how simple, refined, and uncluttered the designs feel. Truthfully, as a designer, I usually don’t make decisions based solely on templates because I tend to customize and tailor things to fit my own aesthetic anyway. But I deeply appreciated how thoughtfully designed and easy to use everything felt, because it removed so much unnecessary friction and extra decision-making from the process. It actually felt like a really beautiful reminder of what good design is supposed to do — not overwhelm people with more choices, but help create clarity, ease, and momentum through visuals.
Overall, Flodesk has felt like an incredibly thoughtful, simple, and beautifully designed platform that I’m genuinely excited to continue growing into. About five months in, I can honestly say I’ve really been enjoying the experience so far. It’s brought a much more sustainable and organized feeling to email marketing for me, which has made such a difference in the way I approach it creatively and mentally.
More than anything, it’s helped me shift my focus away from the overwhelm of managing emails and toward the things that actually matter to me: building meaningful connection, sharing my work more intentionally, and creating a stronger sense of community around what I do.
Simplicity and sustainability are two values I continuously return to in both my life and business, and honestly, that alone has made making the switch feel completely worthwhile.
If you’re a creative business owner who’s been feeling overwhelmed by email marketing — or quietly avoiding it altogether — I genuinely think Flodesk is worth exploring. It’s one of the first platforms that’s made email marketing feel approachable, creatively inspiring, and sustainable for me instead of stressful, overly technical, or draining to maintain.
You can try Flodesk for free anytime, and if you decide it’s a good fit for you too, my link will also give you 25% off your subscription. As a small creative business owner, support through affiliate links like this genuinely makes a meaningful difference for my work at no extra cost to you, and I’m always incredibly grateful when someone chooses to use them.
And if you’re still figuring out your newsletter, your systems, or your rhythm with all of this — you’re definitely not alone in that. I’m still learning and evolving alongside my business too, and I’ll continue sharing more of my thoughts and experience with Flodesk as I grow into it.
I’m Sierra, the heart, hands, voice and creative behind the studio. I’m a small business owner and full-time artist based in Maryland creating stationery, paper for home & business, and illustrated goods. Thank you for being here!
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