Happy Subscribers

Episode Summary: What if the goal of your email marketing wasn't more subscribers, but the right ones — the ones who stay engaged? Your lead magnet is what attracts them, and your welcome sequence can be the filter that keeps them active (and gently clears out the ones who aren't a fit). I got to talk all of this through with Sara Ecklin of Clean Plate Mama. We first met through Kayla Burton's Food Blog Group Coaching, where I spoke about email marketing. Not long after, Sara emailed me: she'd reworked her welcome sequence and was seeing a 65% open rate and an 18% click rate, and she wanted to know if she could share it with my audience. My answer? YES. As Sara walked me through the five emails she's updated and created, I saw that not only did she make some really smart changes on her own, but I was able to give her some free coaching on a few more details to consider and embellish to make it even more strategic and more caring for her subscribers. One of the things that impressed me most about Sara was all of the mindset shifts she's gone through to really use email marketing as a proactive part of her business. Before, she was worried about bothering people (I get it. I'm also from the Midwest, and that's just something we struggle with). In this episode, you'll learn about: Why real growth is about attracting the right subscribers, not just more of them How Sara's lead magnet solves one real, specific problem for her readers What's in Sara's five-email welcome sequence, and the story arc she uses to carry readers through it How Sara wrote a whole email about herself without it being cringy The segmentation she set up so she can start sending subscribers more of what they actually want The mindset shifts that had her sending her list more emails and deleting cold subscribers (over 1,000) — and how it's only made her more confident Check out this episode's blog post Episode Resources: Free Duett Resources Join the Duett newsletter Check out Duett Services Book a FREE Discovery Call Instagram @alleagrummert Clean Plate Mama Instagram Clean Plate Mama Facebook Clean Plate Mama Pinterest Clean Plate Mama's Free Clean Eating Guide Kayla Burton's Food Blog Group Coaching

Episode Summary: I've sent a weekly email since October 2019 — which is no small feat when you're starting a business, living through a pandemic, and riding all the emotional ups and downs of running something online (plus the economy, and everything else). But it was something I always said I'd hold to, because I knew as soon as I got out of that rhythm, it'd be really hard to get back into it. And some of those early emails? Not all that strong. Fairly weak, honestly — a few paragraphs, maybe some links to resources that weren't even mine. Whenever I just needed something to fill the gap, I'd pull three of my own blog posts, find the thread between them, and hit send — sending my list back to revisit content they might find helpful at a whole new point in their email marketing journey. That consistency-first, value-first approach is exactly what my friend Chenell Basilio teaches — and she'd know. Chenell runs Growth in Reverse , where she reverse-engineers how the best newsletters online actually grow and make money (her own list is 50,000+ strong). I asked her what really makes newsletters effective — for both the reader and the creator — and I was surprised: it wasn't about list-growth hacks or the latest trends or tactics for what goes in the email. She said it comes down to one thing: insanely valuable content. "The people who have the most insanely valuable content win hands down every time. It's not the growth tactics — it's the content." — Chenell Basilio In this episode, you'll learn about: The subject-line sweet spot between descriptive and intriguing — and why "Did you hear?" worked How to start a newsletter without burning out What actually belongs in a hearty weekly email — and the surprising "fun links" section that excites readers and reveals your most engaged subscribers How to engage your readers right from your welcome sequence What's working in list growth right now (surprisingly, quizzes are back on top — plus a few others) Why "people follow you for your taste" is the one thing AI can't replicate — and Chenell's soapbox on staying huma Check out this episode's blog post Episode Resources: Free Duett Resources Join the Duett newsletter Check out Duett Services Book a FREE Discovery Call Instagram @alleagrummert Growth in Reverse — join Chenell's email list Chenell Basilio on LinkedIn Toni Okamoto — Plant Based on a Budget (her Happy Subscribers episode)

Episode Summary: Nobody asked me for a travel recap. I'm giving you one anyway. 😉 I spent three weeks in July in Italy, France, and Spain — my first real vacation since 2019 — and this morning I sat down with a notebook, a pen, and my black coffee to write out what the trip actually taught me. Not the highlight reel. The stuff underneath it. Like what it feels like to check in with your team six times in three weeks and find there's nothing for you to do. Like letting yourself rest before you're full-blown sick, instead of after. Like the fact that the prettiest photo never shows you the sweat it took to stand there — which, it turns out, is exactly how our client work goes too. And because I know you're at least a little curious: I saved my favorite parts of every city for the end. The 7am Vespa ride, the 22-year-old cat named Nona, the tapas I'd honestly fly back to Spain for. Stick around for that part. In this episode, you'll learn about: What six years of building a team actually buys you (an empty Asana, and a sale my team member closed without me) Why I let myself rest before I was full-blown sick, instead of after (like before) How a three-page doc for my cat Tillie's house-sitters is the exact thing I mean by a welcome sequence The question I stopped asking people halfway through the trip, because it got weird Why the sweaty, train-delayed parts of travel are just like the parts of client work you never have to see My favorite thing in every city, start to finish — Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, Nice, and Barcelona Check out this episode's blog post Episode Resources: Free Duett Resources Join the Duett newsletter Check out Duett Services Book a FREE Discovery Call Instagram @alleagrummert

Episode Summary: Last summer, Adam Sobel came on Happy Subscribers with one of the most advanced email setups I'd ever seen from a food blogger. Then we had an impromptu catch-up call a few weeks ago — and I hit record, because what he's built since? It's a whole other level. Adam is a vegan food blogger who has made email the actual engine of his business — not a tool to send people back to his blog, but the brain informing everything his subscribers experience, from the emails they open to the pages they see when they visit his site. He walked me through the personalized offer engine he built, his vision for a Netflix-style subscriber experience, and why he thinks creators who stick with a static, one-size-fits-all approach are going to get left behind. And don't worry — he also shares what any blogger can start doing today, no developer required. In this episode, you'll learn about: Why Adam treats his email list as his primary revenue engine — not a traffic driver to his blog, but the main event How Kit's price increase led him to seriously consider Klaviyo — and what he built instead when he decided to stay The personalized offer engine he created with developer Brad Hussey: a Kit snippet that shows each subscriber a different product recommendation based on what they've purchased, browsed, and avoided How he uses RightMessage to track browse behavior and make every email and sales page feel tailored to that specific reader His vision for what's next: email subscribers getting a Netflix-style "for you" homepage and a completely different blog post experience than someone landing from Google What any blogger can do today with tags and simple liquid code to start sending more thoughtful, personalized emails Why deep personalization is, at its core, an act of care — and why readers feel it even when they can't see it Check out this episode's blog post Episode Resources: Free Duett Resources Join the Duett newsletter Check out Duett Services Book a FREE Discovery Call Instagram @alleagrummert Adam Sobel's Website Adam's first Happy Subscribers episode RightMessage Brad Hussey

Episode Summary: "To be known is to be loved." Erin Fajen knows me very, very well now — because she has listened to 89 Happy Subscribers episodes and taken notes on every single one. From her lips to your ears, you're getting Erin's rundown of the major themes of this podcast so you can really understand who I am, who the Duett brand is, what I care about, and how all of this actually applies to you and your email marketing. It's really thrilling to have someone repeat back to you the things that are important to you. For Erin to do that is such a blessing — especially because she explains it so clearly, from her takeaways on the podcast to all the ways she's implemented what she's learned through our work together at Duett. She really made her email marketing her own adventure. In this episode, Erin — client, friend, leadership advisor, and the most studious person I've ever worked with — shares the four big content themes she found across every episode, how she built her email strategy from a total blank slate, and why her pop culture DiSC emails are getting replies left and right. (She also asked me for her master's degree in email marketing. I said yes.) In this episode, you'll learn about: The four content themes Erin found across 90 episodes of Happy Subscribers — and why they matter for YOUR email strategy too Why your welcome sequence is like an Airbnb orientation (and what happens when you skip it) What "thoughtful segmenting" really looks like when you know almost every subscriber by name How Erin went from logging into Kit and immediately logging back out to having a 20-email nurture series (!!) Why selling through email is really about encouragement — not pushing (episode 50 called it) The pop culture DiSC emails that actually get replies (Bridgerton character breakdowns, anyone?) Check out this episode's blog post Episode Resources: On The Up KC (Erin's website) Dorie Clark's Recognized Expert ( how Erin found Duett) Free Duett Resources Join the Duett newsletter Check out Duett Services Book a FREE Discovery Call Instagram @alleagrummert

Episode Summary: Carla has been on Substack since 2021 — long before it became the platform everyone is suddenly asking about. She's been to Substack HQ. She teaches "Build Your Substack in a Day." And she is one of the most clear-eyed, non-hypey voices I've found on what Substack actually is right now (and not what it was before they got major funding in 2025). I met Chef Carla at Tastemaker in Los Angeles earlier this year, and I am so glad we got to have this conversation on the show. She's a content strategist, food creative, and podcast host who has partnered with iconic brands like Bobby Brown, Bumble Bee Tuna, and the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. And today, she's breaking down exactly what Substack has become — and what you actually need to do to get started without it becoming a whole new arm of your business. In this episode, you'll learn about: Why Substack is no longer a newsletter platform — it's a media app — and what that actually means for how you should show up there The difference between a Substack follower and a subscriber (yes, they're different) The only thing you need to actually get started — and why it's less than you think How food bloggers are using Substack to tell the full story their blog and email list can't hold — without duplicating their content The case for Flodesk if you're a design-forward creator (plus: a fresh-off-the-press Canva integration 👀) Check out this episode's blog post Connect with Chef Carla Contreras: Chef Carla's gift page Nourishing Creativity Podcast Chef Carla's Substack Episode Resources: Free Duett Resources Join the Duett newsletter Check out Duett Services Book a FREE Discovery Call Instagram @alleagrummert

Episode Summary: In my early twenties, my boss pulled me aside to tell me I wasn't a good listener. Explicitly. I cried about it for three days — not because the feedback stung, but because they were right. It was that I needed to allow space to know the other person and to hear their story. In short: I needed to ask follow-up questions (instead of making it about me). The fix was simpler than I expected. And it turned out to be the foundation of how I work now — with clients, on this podcast, and in the email strategies we build at Duett. In this solocast, I'm making the case for why "asking first" might be the most underrated skill in your business. It doesn't just show up in a few places — it informs how you'll create content, what products you build, and how your emails actually connect with the people in your audience. In this episode, you'll learn about: • My "bad listener" origin story • The compliment that I hear the most now that makes me want to tear up (in a good way!) • How audience research at Duett works — from surveys with 2,800+ replies to the specific questions that surface real pain points in your audience's own words • Why asking questions in your emails helps your deliverability and inbox placement, not just your relationships • Real questions to help you brainstorm what you might ask your audience next Read the blog post for this episode Episode Resources: Join the Duett newsletter Check out Duett Services Book a FREE Discovery Call Instagram @alleagrummert Free Duett Resources

Episode Summary: I am, at my core, a practical person. I love a framework, a checklist, a process — something simple to implement. But the idea of including stories has always felt a little forced. I know that it works because I see it in other people's emails, like Mike Pacchione's. But honestly, I've struggled to build it naturally into my own content. I'm so excited to bring on my friend Mike today — and this is a conversation that benefits both of us. He has questions about email, I have questions about speaking, and you get to hear all of it here. Mike Pacchione is a speaker and speaker coach who has presented to audiences ranging from five people to thousands, and whose clients include Olympic gold medalists, New York Times bestselling authors, and global corporations — as well as first-time speakers with big stories and small stages. He runs Speech Club, a 12-week cohort where you build your unforgettable signature talk from scratch. (One recent participant booked 46 paid speeches in a single year!!) In this episode, Mike and I do something a little different — we coach each other. He gives me honest feedback about story in email and on stage. I walk him through what his launch emails could actually look like. And somewhere in the middle, we find the thread that connects great speaking and great email marketing: the story is always the strategy. We get into: Why story-driven emails are nurture emails — and when to send a direct sales email instead The 3:1 rule for value versus sales emails, and what it actually looks like during a launch How to build a launch sequence that speaks to every type of buyer on your list Link triggers: what they are, how to use them, and why they make your launch so much smarter Conditional content in Kit — how to personalize emails for specific segments without doubling your workload How to address multiple skill levels in the room when you're on stage (the modifier concept is so good) Why packaging familiar ideas in a story makes them land — even for the most practical people among us Check out this episode's blog post Connect with Mike Pacchione: Speech Club with Mike Pacchione 7 Ways to Start a Speech (Mike's freebie) Other Resources: Join the Duett newsletter Free Duett Resources Check out Duett Services Book a FREE Discovery Call Instagram @alleagrummert

Episode Summary: I got home from Craft + Commerce late Saturday night, and by the time Jess and I sat down to record this on Monday afternoon, I had already taken two naps. (Sunday had one of its own, too.) My friend Jess Freeman of Jess Creatives somehow had a reel posted about Craft + Commerce before I'd even poured my coffee Monday morning — she has a child; I do not. 😂 Jess is a web designer, SEO expert, and host of the Ordinary Business Podcast, and she was at Craft + Commerce too. In this episode, we're sharing the five new Kit features that have us most excited for what's ahead for Kit users. In this episode, you'll learn about: What the Kit MCP is and how you can connect your Kit account to Claude or ChatGPT to ask Kit strategic questions about your list Subscriber Signals: Kit's new Pro feature that pulls subscriber industry, social platforms, and audience size so you can identify warm leads without anyone researching them by hand — and for smaller lists, it could easily save more in team time (and generate more in direct sales follow-up) than it costs The new Kit landing page editor is live now 🎉 Newsletter Sponsorships: Kit's new marketplace advertising model for connecting creators with brand sponsors GRO (formerly Grocers List) and its new native Kit integration for growing your list from social Check out this episode's blog post Connect with Jess Freeman: Jess Freeman / Jess Creatives Ordinary Business Podcast Jess's first Happy Subscribers episode Episode Resources: Free Duett Resources Join the Duett newsletter Check out Duett Services Book a FREE Discovery Call Instagram @alleagrummert Kit MCP Subscriber Signals Newsletter Sponsorships GRO Kit 2026 Releases Tasklit.ai Craft + Commerce

Episode Summary: I'm going to Europe for three weeks this July — Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, Nice, Marseille, and Barcelona — and I have a lot of feelings about it. The last six years have been a lot: a pandemic at 30, an unhealthy relationship, a year and a half estranged from my parents, and a cross-country move to Nashville I was honestly afraid would close the door on the dreams I'd had since I started Duett back in 2018. One of those dreams was living in Spain someday. I'm not moving there — but I'm going, and I bought the ticket, and it's really happening (at this very moment). In this episode, I'm sharing both sides of it: the personal story of how I actually got here, and the very real, practical ways I've set up my business to run without me for three full weeks — because that part is actually pretty fun to talk about. In this episode, you'll learn about: The original Spain dream from 2018 — and why buying a flight to Rome feels like a full-circle moment eight years in the making The fear of solo travel that almost kept me from booking (and what happened once I actually took the leap) Why July is the one month I can actually disappear without it tanking the business How Done & Delivered means revenue keeps coming in even when I'm sipping an Aperol Spritz near the Coliseum 💁🏻‍♀️ The team I'm trusting with my clients, my podcast, my inbox, and my cat (Tillie is in very good hands) Check out this episode's blog post Episode Resources: Join the Duett newsletter Check out Duett Services Book a FREE Discovery Call Instagram @alleagrummert Free Duett Resources

Episode Summary: What if building a loyal audience isn't about sending more emails… or optimizing click rates… or trying the latest marketing tactic? In this episode of Happy Subscribers, I'm joined by my real-life friend Steve Kamb — founder of Nerd Fitness, author of How to Try Again, and longtime newsletter writer — to talk about what it really takes to build an audience that sticks. It helps to share that Steve has spent over 17 years writing to his email list. He doesn't chase every platform. He keeps email as his marketing home base. He's built relationships over years. He cares more about depth than scale. Just showing up. Writing emails. Testing ideas. Reading replies. And trying again. And when he launched his book, his audience jumped at the chance to buy! Not because of sheer hype or fancy marketing tactics, but because they trust Steve. Then, we discussed Steve's new book, How to Try Again, and talked honestly about what happens when you ghost your list, feel behind, or question whether your email strategy is actually working. 😬 The answer actually isn't to burn it all down and start over. It's simply to try again. Check out this episode's blog post Connect with Steve Kamb: How To Try Again stevekamb.com https://nerdfitness.com/ Steve's Instagram Episode Resources: Free Duett Resources Other Resources: Join the Duett newsletter Check out Duett Services Book a FREE Discovery Call Instagram @alleagrummert

Episode Summary: I'll be honest with you — this conversation was a long time coming. A year ago at a conference, my friend Justin Moore shared more of his thoughts on sponsorships with me, and I just let it sit. Now here we are, a whole year later, and I'm still debating whether to actually do anything about it — because every time I think about adding sponsorships to my plate, it feels like more work. More process, more coordination, more things. I'm so excited to have Justin on the show today, and he has made a very compelling case for why the workload and the process and the coordination of it all is truly worth it. If you haven't met Justin yet — Justin Moore is a sponsorship coach, author, and the founder of Creator Wizard, a school and community that teaches creators how to find and negotiate their dream brand partnerships. His book, Sponsor Magnet, is the distillation of 15 years of experience, close to $6 million in personal sponsorships, 600+ brand deals, and seven years running an influencer ad agency. In this episode, you'll learn about: Why niche creators and subject matter experts are actually more attractive to certain brands than lifestyle influencers with massive followings The PSA framework — Products, Sponsors, and Alliances — and how to think about brand partnerships as an extension of serving your audience, not a distraction from it Why programmatic newsletter ads are mostly a waste of time, and what to pursue instead What bloggers losing Google traffic to AI search need to know about diversifying revenue through sponsorships How to find the right brands to pitch that actually support what your audience needs Why you have to be the one to reach out to brands Tillie makes not one, but two appearances. You are very welcome for getting to see my cute cat. Check out this episode's blog post Connect with Justin Moore: Sponsor Magnet by Justin Moore The Sponsor Magnet Podcast Creator Wizard Listen + subscribe Episode Resources: Join the Duett newsletter Check out Duett Services Book a FREE Discovery Call Instagram @alleagrummert Free Duett Resources

Episode Summary: I did not expect to spend this episode nerding out about Taylor Swift as a brand strategist — but here we are. And honestly? It's the best possible way to explain what my guest Katie Trant means when she says "your niche is not your brand." Taylor went from country music to pop to indie folk to synth pop. Her audience (including Katie and me 😂) followed every single pivot. Because the niche changed. The brand didn't. Katie Trant is an OG food blogger, a former brand consultancy pro who's worked with Fortune 500 companies, and the founder of Foodie Brand Lab. She joined me to unpack what a brand really is — beyond the visuals, beyond the niche — and what needs to be in place before the channels you use, the content you create, and the emails you send actually click into place. In this episode, you'll learn about: Why "your niche is not your brand" — and what could happen once you unconfuse them What brand positioning actually is, and how to plant your flag within your niche The terms we throw around all the time — position, voice, personality, experience — and how they actually connect under the umbrella of brand The difference between being personal and being personable — and how to define your "strategic self" Why email might be the one channel where your brand voice can be most true to itself Check out this episode's blog post Connect with Katie Trant: Foodie Brand Lab Katie on Instagram : Brand Bites Newsletter Other Resources: Join the Duett newsletter Check out Duett Services Book a FREE Discovery Call Instagram @alleagrummert Free Duett Resources If you enjoyed this episode, you can show your support by leaving a review, subscribing, or sharing your biggest takeaways on your Instagram story! Just remember to tag me @alleagrummert so I can see it.

Episode Summary: You're already on Instagram, TikTok, Amazon storefronts — maybe more. You're posting constantly, showing up everywhere, and working haaaarrd. But if email isn't part of your strategy? You're not getting your full return on all of that time-consuming (and team-consuming) effort. Without email, money, relationships, and long-term security are being left on the table — and we don't love that. In this solocast, I'm making the case for why influencers — yes, even those without a blog — need email marketing. (My cat Tillie also made an appearance. She fell out of her cat bed. She's fine. She's embarrassed.) If you haven't considered email marketing yet for your influencer business, boy do I have some thoughts for you. Things like: Why reaching ~5% of your followers with an IG Story is selling your content short (!!) How email marketing can make you more money without creating new content What could go really, really wrong if you over-rely on social media platforms How email doesn't throttle your content like algorithms do 😡 What to watch out for with Flodesk's email editor if aesthetics matter to you (and they probably do) Check out this episode's blog post Episode Resources: Join the Duett newsletter Check out Duett Services Book a FREE Discovery Call Instagram @alleagrummert Free Duett Resources Kit

Episode Summary: Five years is a long time to work with someone, and what I love most about my relationship with Jason Norris is how much he trusts me to do what I do — and how much I've learned from watching him do what he does. Because Jason has a way of thinking about his email list that I don't hear from a lot of bloggers: He doesn't call it content. He calls it correspondence. Jason runs RecipeTeacher.com, and his audience is devoted in a way that's genuinely rare. His readers are largely older home cooks who don't just open his emails — they write back! And, not only that, Jason reads and responds to them (sometimes from his kayak). In this final episode of this year's Foodie Email Series, we talk about what it actually looks like to show up for your audience with that kind of care, consistently — not because you have a content calendar forcing you to, but because you've built a habit that feels good and relationships that are worth maintaining. In this episode, we cover: The morning ritual that anchors Jason's email habit (and why it works so much better than trying to batch everything at once) How he built a segmentation system around appliances — Instant Pot, Air Fryer — so his readers only get content that's actually relevant to them Why "best damn" has become a signature naming convention his audience genuinely loves What authenticity looks like in practice when AI is making everything sound the same The growth behind RecipeTeacher: what happens when you pair a deeply loyal audience with an email strategy that's built for the long game Jason is one of my favorite examples of a creator who stays true to who he is — and who is genuinely willing to try new things, test what works, and never stop investing in quality. His audience has rewarded him for it every single time. Check out this episode's blog post Episode Resources: RecipeTeacher.com Read the RecipeTeacher case study Listen + subscribe Instagram @alleagrummert

Episode Summary: When I started email marketing as a personal finance blogger, I didn't know what I was getting into. Then strangers — on the other side of the world — started writing back. Not just clicking. Writing back, with their own money stories, their own fears, their own wins. That's when I understood: the inbox is one of the most human places on the internet. Toni Okamoto understood this too. She's been sending a personal Friday email every week for three years — no AI, just her words — and her audience now replies with 52-year-old wedding photos, asks if she's okay when she misses a week, and buys her cookbooks during a full-send launch week because they genuinely want her to hit her goals. She's the founder of Plant Based on a Budget, the bestselling author of multiple cookbooks (including the Publishers Weekly bestseller Plant Based on a Budget Quick and Easy), and the co-host of the Plant Powered People Podcast. And in this episode of the Foodie Email Series, she's pulling back the curtain on the email strategy that's quietly one of the most sophisticated — and most human — in the food creator space. In this episode, you'll learn about: Why Toni sends emails every single day — and the segmentation system that means most subscribers only ever see four of them The Friday newsletter that's been running for three years, why she never uses AI for it, and the separate inbox she had to create just to manage the replies How she launches cookbooks via email without apology — and the mindset shift that made her uninhibited about selling What the $5 meal plan taught her about niching down, building trust, and creating products an audience actually wants to buy The link trigger setup that tells her exactly who to email and who to skip Check out this episode's blog post Connect with Toni Okamoto: Toni's Instagram Plant Based on a Budget Plant Powered People Podcast Episode Resources: Book a FREE Discovery Call Free Duett Resources Join the Duett newsletter Instagram @alleagrummert

Episode Summary: 100% email traffic growth. In one year. That's what happened for Liz Della Croce of The Lemon Bowl after 15 years of sending nothing but RSS emails — and it's exactly why I wanted her on the podcast. I just started personal training — and I went from finding out about the gym to having my first session on the calendar in under a week. There's something about committing to the right kind of help — and actually getting it scheduled — that makes all the difference between "I should do this" and actually doing it. I think this happens in business too: we know something needs to change, but we stall on the whole plan before taking the first step. My guest today, Liz Della Croce of The Lemon Bowl, knew her email marketing needed an overhaul — and just like me at that gym, she committed to getting the right help before she had everything figured out. Liz has been building The Lemon Bowl since 2010 — a healthy food and travel blog with a loyal community of readers drawn to seasonal, globally-inspired recipes, including the Syrian and Jewish dishes from her childhood. She also hosts Fresh Air Retreat, intimate brand-and-blogger events she's now run 15 times. In this episode — week 2 of the Foodie Email Series — she's walking us through exactly how she got here. In this episode, you'll learn about: Why Liz sent RSS-only emails for 15 years — and the SEO pivot that made them not-so-useful overnight The email calendar system behind sending 4 to 5 emails a week — and why giving your email person clear direction changes the quality of everything (including your peace of mind) Why she got the Email Strategy Playbook BEFORE hiring an email assistant — and how having a roadmap first changed the way she now delegates What she stopped creating for her email list, why she made those calls, and how she figured out what actually got more engagement The result: 100% email traffic growth in one year Check out this episode's blog post Connect with Liz Della Cruce: The Lemon Bowl Fresh Air Retreat Episode Resources: Kit Book a FREE Discovery Call Free Duett Resources Join the Duett newsletter Instagram @alleagrummert

Episode Summary: The most valuable audience isn't your biggest one — it's your most connected one. Welcome to the first episode in our Foodie Email Series — where we're diving into how food creators are turning attention into something more meaningful… and more sustainable. Because, yes — You can have a growing audience. You can have viral posts. You can have a lot of eyeballs on your content… …and still feel unsure how that actually turns into revenue beyond ad traffic. That's exactly why I wanted to bring my friend Melissa from Design Eat Repeat onto the podcast. Melissa creates food content that does convert — and she's spent a lot of time and investment in her audience in order to get sales on her cookbook and membership. Not overnight, but with time and consistency on social platforms and monthly baking challenges. Her content leads to connection, which leads to sales — because her list had learned to trust her. In this conversation, we talk about how she's used email to: Build relationships with her readers long before asking for the sale Turn engaged followers into subscribers (and subscribers into customers) Test ideas with her audience before fully committing to them Support multiple offers — like her memberships and self-published cookbook — without overwhelming her list Check out this episode's blog post Connect with Melissa: www.designeatrepeat.com One Crafty Pan Cookbook Crafty Baker's Club Instagram Episode Resources: Free Duett Resources Other Resources: Join the Duett newsletter Check out Duett Services Book a FREE Discovery Call Instagram @alleagrummert

Episode Summary: You're getting Pinterest traffic. People are clicking, landing on your blog, and then bouncing — no email opt-in, no capture, just visits that disappear. Eep, that's a wasted opportunity!! In this episode, I'm joined by Kayla Watkins, Pinterest strategist and agency owner. Kayla and her team help bloggers grow their revenue by repurposing their content on Pinterest — and today she's walking us through the data-driven side of Pinterest most bloggers never touch. In this episode: Why Pinterest is a search engine, not social media — and what that one mindset shift changes about everything How to see what your audience is searching before peak content-search seasons How to find what Pinterest already knows you're an expert on — and use that data to build lead magnets that are practically pre-approved Why your most-visited blog posts are basically free lead magnet ideas staring you in the face What organic Pinterest strategy actually looks like when you're paying attention to momentum instead of just posting and hoping Check out this episode's blog post Connect with Kayla Watkins: KaylaWatkins.com Connect with Kayla on Instagram & TikTok Pinterest Trends Duett Resources: Join the Duett newsletter Check out Duett Services Book a FREE Discovery Call Free Duett Resources Instagram @alleagrummert

Episode Summary: Yeah, I hear it. Me wrapping up work most days by 3pm might sound a little braggy. Maybe it is. A little. But I'm telling you about why I'm able to do this because how I got here has everything to do with where YOUR best energy needs to be going too — and I'd be doing you a disservice if I didn't explain. I just know that if you're the one doing everything, all day, your best brain hours are going to tasks that don't actually need your particular voice, taste, or expertise. And eventually, your best self isn't showing up anywhere — not in your emails, not in your content, maybe not even in your life outside of work hours. 😬 In this episode, I'm telling you how I got to shortened work days, including: What had to change about who did what work in my business (aka, it couldn't all be ME forever) The lessons I had to learn the hard way about training and trusting a new hire (including one night on my bathroom floor) My realization of my own limitations — even as an extrovert — and my need for rest and support How prioritizing certain parts of my work allow me to work less (though just as hard) What actually changes about your emails — and your creativity — when you protect the parts of your work that are purely yours Why all of this matters for creators and service providers who want to be in business for a very long time Check out this episode's blog post Episode Resources: Free Duett Resources Join the Duett newsletter Check out Duett Services Book a FREE Discovery Call Instagram @alleagrummert duett.co/hire (job boards, what's worked, + fractional COO referral) Clariti If you enjoyed this episode, you can show your support by leaving a review, subscribing, or sharing your biggest takeaways on your Instagram story! Just remember to tag me @alleagrummert so I can see it.