The Creative Bodega with Em Connors | Email & Content Marketing for Solopreneurs

✨💌 DOORS ARE OPEN: The Newsletter System: my 6-week program for building a newsletter you'll actually keep writing. Doors are open this week only. Limited spots, we begin Sept 24th! Have you ever felt called to change direction in your business, but froze because you were terrified of what people would think? You are not the only one. I spent six years known for one thing, quietly sensing I was meant for another, and doing almost nothing about it. In this episode of The Creative Bodega , I walk you through the real story behind my pivot from Instagram and Canva to email marketing: the tiny signals I ignored for years, the moment two out of forty women broke my brain, and the trust recession that makes a weekly newsletter the smartest bet you can place on your business right now. If your gut has been tapping you on the shoulder, this episode is for you. Check out the full show notes for this episode CLICK HERE. Things I cover inside this episode: Why a pivot that looks sudden from the outside was six years in the making The trust recession, and why a weekly newsletter is your best answer to it What made me stop being the posting girl and go all in on email Why I shrank my list from past 25,000 down to 11,000 on purpose The five minutes I froze at the confirm button before changing my handle What owned versus rented means for your business, and why it changes everything Who The Newsletter System is built for, and who it honestly is not for Resources & Links mentioned in the episode: The Newsletter System: my 6-week program for building a newsletter you'll actually keep writing. Doors are open this week only. Start and Grow Your Email List From Scratch: my original email course, the one that came straight out of that two-hands-out-of-40 moment. Connect with me: 📲 Follow me on Instagram: @its.em.connors 💌 Join my weekly newsletter: 321 Create 🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership 💵 Snag 25% off Flodesk, or use the code: THECREATIVEBODEGA Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

✨💌 Join the Newsletter System waitlist - hop on for first access when the doors open September 14th You keep meanIng to start the newsletter. Or you started one, then quietly let it go. And every time you think about picking it back up, a little pile of excuses shows up first. No one will read it. I don't have the time. This probably isn't for a business like mine. I've had every one of those thoughts myself, so there's zero finger-pointing here. In this episode of The Creative Bodega , I pick up the five biggest excuses one at a time and hold them up to the light, because most of them fall apart the second you look at them straight. If an email list has been sitting on your someday list, this one is for you. Check out the full show notes for this episode CLICK HERE. Things I cover inside this episode: Why " no one will read it " is the wrong fear to have How the platform you send from matters way less than you think Why an email list works whether you sell a product or a service The reason a newsletter is subtraction, not another plate to spin What I'm doing right now to grow my list without relying on Instagram Why the people most likely to buy are quietly drifting away right now Resources & Links mentioned in the episode: The Newsletter System waitlist — hop on for first access when the doors open September 14th Episode 81, my pivot episode — the full story of why I went all in on email after six years of teaching Instagram and Canva Flodesk — the email platform I use and recommend (my code THECREATIVEBODEGA gets you 25% off your first year) Connect with me: 📲 Follow me on Instagram: @its.em.connors 💌 Join my weekly newsletter: 321 Create 🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership 💵 Snag 25% off Flodesk, or use the code: THECREATIVEBODEGA Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

✨💌 CLICK HERE to hop on The Newsletter System waitlist (join for first dibs on the limited spots plus a behind-the-scenes tour of my full newsletter process) You want to email your list. You know you should. Maybe you even have the list sitting right there, ready to go. But you sit down, the cursor blinks, and your brain goes completely blank. So you close the laptop and tell yourself you'll figure it out next week. And next week? Same exact thing. If that loop feels familiar, you are not broken, and you are not out of ideas. In this episode of The Creative Bodega , I break down why the blank page was never a creativity problem in the first place, and the shift that made "what do I even write?" stop being a question I dread every single week. If staring at a blank newsletter makes you want to throw your laptop out the window, this one is for you. Check out the full show notes for this episode CLICK HERE. Things I cover inside this episode: Why the blank page is a structure problem, not a lack of ideas The free assignment I give every week: subscribe to newsletters and study which ones you open Why the section that connects most is almost never the strategic one Where my 3-2-1 format came from, and why borrowing a structure is the point The reframe that ends the panic: you are your own ideal client, one problem ahead Why an unsure email that gets sent beats a perfect one stuck in your drafts Resources & Links mentioned in the episode: One of my early newsletters sent 4/7/21 via Flodesk (referenced when talking about her short, unsure first j) James Clear's 3-2-1 newsletter (the original format Em's 3-2-1 traces back to) Connect with me: 📲 Follow me on Instagram: @its.em.connors 💌 Join my weekly newsletter: 321 Create 🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership 💵 Snag 25% off Flodesk, or use the code: THECREATIVEBODEGA Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

You started an email list. You were proud of it. And then...you never emailed it. 😅 Now every time you think about sitting down to write, the cursor blinks, your brain goes blank, and you tell yourself you'll do it later. Later never comes, and the guilt just keeps stacking. If that's the loop you're stuck in, you're not lazy, and you're not flaky. You're missing one thing. In this episode of The Creative Bodega , I break down why consistency with your email list was never a discipline problem, why a small list of people who trust you beats a huge silent following, and the one small move that breaks the blank-page spell. If your list has been collecting dust, this one is for you. Check out the full show notes for this episode CLICK HERE. Things I cover inside this episode: Why creators with huge accounts and silent lists are quietly losing money How a list of 100 people who trust you out-launches 50,000 followers The real reason the weekly blank page keeps beating you (it's not you) Why Instagram is a slot machine, and what owning your list changes The two-creator test that shows exactly why the inbox wins the sale The reframe: consistency is a system problem, never a willpower problem Your one small move this week to break the blank-page spell for good Resources & Links mentioned in the episode: 💌 The Newsletter System waitlist . My 6-week program doors opening September 14th, built to take the blank page out of your weekly email for good. Getting on the list means first word when doors open: join the waitlist. 🎙️ Listen to last week's episode (81) on why every solopreneur needs an email list, not just a personal brand. It sets up everything in this post, so start there if you missed it! Connect with me: 📲 Follow me on Instagram: @its.em.connors 💌 Join my weekly newsletter: 321 Create 🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership 💵 Snag 25% off Flodesk, or use the code: THECREATIVEBODEGA Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

💌 Join The Newsletter System September Waitlist — first access when doors open September 14th, limited spots available! Have you ever been genuinely good at something, even known for it, and still felt a quiet pull that it is not the thing you want to keep doing forever? For years, I couldn't name that feeling. I just felt scattered and a little off, pouring most of my energy into the platform that gave me the least back. It took three weeks completely off Instagram to finally see it clearly. In this episode of The Creative Bodega , I share the biggest pivot I have made in nine years, why I am going all in on email, and what my two fiddle leaf fig trees have to do with all of it. If you have felt scattered too, this one is for you. Check out the full show notes for this episode CLICK HERE. Things I cover inside this episode: Why I am walking away from teaching Instagram after nine years of posting What three weeks off the app made impossible to unsee The difference between rented attention and an audience you truly own Why Instagram tactics keep expiring while email stays a durable skill The moment in Nashville that quietly cracked this whole decision open What is changing, what is staying, and what it means for you Resources & Links mentioned in the episode: The Newsletter System September Waitlist — first access when doors open September 14th, limited spots available! Flodesk — the email platform I use and swear by. Grab 50% off your first year with code THECREATIVEBODEGA Click here to see what a fiddle leaf fig is! Connect with me: 📲 Follow me on Instagram: @its.em.connors 💌 Join my weekly newsletter: 321 Create 🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership 💵 Snag 25% off Flodesk, or use the code: THECREATIVEBODEGA Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

You've poured hours into a post, hit publish, and watched it land with a thud. Just crickets. And in that moment, the question creeps in: is something wrong with me? Should I just pivot to something else? If you've ever wondered why you're still showing up when the growth is slow and the engagement is low, you're not the only one. In this final episode of my Nobody Told Me series on The Creative Bodega , I'm sharing the one thing nobody told me would end up being my superpower: consistency. I'm getting honest about the numbers, the near-burnout seasons, and the two things that actually keep me going when motivation is nowhere to be found. If you're building something online and quietly questioning it all, this one is for you. Check out the full show notes for this episode CLICK HERE. Things I cover inside this episode: The real numbers behind 80 episodes, 290+ newsletters, and nearly 2,000 Instagram posts Why I took my first-ever three-week break from Instagram, and what I was scared of The reason it always comes back to the women I serve, not the metrics Why most people quietly disappear online, and how the gap compounds Systems first: how to stop relying on motivation that runs out Purpose second: finding the why that carries you through the low-everything days The full-circle truth about reps that I opened this whole series with Resources & Links mentioned in the episode: The Messaging Edit won't be taking place in the fall as planned! I've switched gears, totally pivoted, and am building a brand new program called The Newsletter System. You can hop on the Sept 2026 waitlist HERE! Connect with me: 📲 Follow me on Instagram: @its.em.connors 💌 Join my weekly newsletter: 321 Create 🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership 💵 Snag 25% off Flodesk, or use the code: THECREATIVEBODEGA Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

Episode 79: Why You Think Everyone's Watching You (And Why They're Not) You've got that post sitting in your drafts. The one that feels a little too loud, too niche, too much you. You keep telling yourself everyone's going to see it and judge it, so you don't hit publish. I've been there more times than I can count, and this episode is for you. In this episode of The Creative Bodega , I'm telling you about the first time I learned this lesson (a CrossFit gym in 2008, terrified everyone was watching my every move) and the second time it showed up years later, running a business people can actually see. Both taught me the same thing from two completely different angles. Check out the full show notes for this episode CLICK HERE. Things I cover inside this episode: The CrossFit gym story that taught me nobody was watching me as closely as I thought Why the fear of judgment never fully goes away, even at 125,000 followers What happened when I called talking head reels "effing stupid" online The real reason visibility attracts people who want to knock you down Why the algorithm isn't showing your post to everyone who follows you What I want you to do with the post you've been sitting on A quick preview of next week's episode on messaging Connect with me: 📲 Follow me on Instagram: @its.em.connors 💌 Join my weekly newsletter: 321 Create 🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership 💵 Snag 25% off Flodesk, or use the code: THECREATIVEBODEGA Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

Do you ever feel like you're doing everything "right" online, posting, following the tips, showing up consistently, and still getting completely ignored? It's not your strategy. It's not the algorithm. It's a handful of small, sneaky habits quietly keeping you invisible, and once you spot them, they're easier to shift than you'd think. In this episode of The Creative Bodega , I'm walking through exactly what those habits look like, why personality gets remembered while generic content gets ignored, and the small moves that actually change things. If you've ever wondered why people aren't opening their wallets for you yet, this episode is for you. Check out the full show notes for this episode CLICK HERE. Things I cover inside this episode: Why generic content gets ignored while personality is what actually gets remembered The real reason people need to trust you before they'll ever buy from you The one habit to notice first: which accounts quiet your brain versus fuel it Why muting or unfollowing the noisy accounts is the first small shift to make Closing the app and making something instead of scrolling past someone else's The habit of sitting on your ideas instead of posting them, and why that stops now Why asking for help and joining a community moves you faster than doing it alone Connect with me: 📲 Follow me on Instagram: @its.em.connors 💌 Join my weekly newsletter: 321 Create 🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership 💵 Snag 25% off Flodesk, or use the code: THECREATIVEBODEGA Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

You know you're supposed to share parts of your life online. But what, exactly? You're private. Your kids don't want to be content. And you have zero interest in crying on camera for engagement. I hear some version of this from the women I work with every single week, so if that's you, you're not alone. In this episode of The Creative Bodega , I'm introducing you to a concept I call your core story bank: the 4 to 5 stories and personal themes that make you relatable without making you an open book. If you're the private one, the introvert, the one who cringes at performed vulnerability, this episode is especially for you. Check out the full show notes for this episode CLICK HERE. Things I cover inside this episode: Why "be authentic online" has spiraled into performing pain for views The "share your scars, not your wounds" rule and how I apply it What a core story bank is and why 4 to 5 stories is plenty My own core stories and themes (the CrossFit gym era, NYC, Blitzy the pit bull) How to find the bridges between your life and your ideal client's Why I pulled back from showing my kids online, even though those views spike The private-person path to a personal brand (dog walks and morning coffee count) Resources & Links mentioned in the episode: EP 13 - The past episode where I tell my NYC-to-meeting-Rob story (referenced when discussing core stories) Connect with me: 📲 Follow me on Instagram: @its.em.connors 💌 Join my weekly newsletter: 321 Create 🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership 💵 Snag 25% off Flodesk, or use the code: THECREATIVEBODEGA Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

Your Canva templates are perfectly on-brand. Your color palette is locked. So why does your content still feel a little cold when you hit record? You're not imagining it, and you're definitely not alone in wondering why the visuals aren't translating to connection. In this episode of The Creative Bodega , I'm getting into the part of visual branding nobody talks about: the energy you bring to camera, and why it might matter more than any font pairing you've ever agonized over. If your branding feels done on paper but flat on video, this episode is for you. Check out the full show notes for this episode CLICK HERE. Things I cover inside this episode: Why my own visual branding started with a color I borrowed from another creator How my palette evolved from muted and safe to bold as my confidence grew The 2017 video I almost couldn't watch back, and the one shift that changed it Why smiling before you hit record changes how your content actually feels What "done" really means for your visual brand, and why it doesn't exist Why your energy on camera matters more than your font choices right now Connect with me: 📲 Follow me on Instagram: @its.em.connors 💌 Join my weekly newsletter: 321 Create 🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership 💵 Snag 25% off Flodesk, or use the code: THECREATIVEBODEGA Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

Do you ever wonder if the discomfort of putting yourself out there is ever going to go away? You post, you wait, you check the numbers, and some days it still feels like nobody's out there. In this episode of The Creative Bodega , I'm kicking off a new series called Nobody Told Me, six honest truths about what it actually takes to build a personal brand. We're starting with the one nobody warns you about: how long everything really takes. If you're deep in the reps and wondering when it starts feeling easier, this episode is for you. Check out the full show notes for this episode CLICK HERE. Things I cover inside this episode: Why I still cringe when someone tells me they watch my Instagram stories, even five years in What building an audience from zero at my CrossFit gym in 2017 actually taught me Why posting into a void with 12 story views is where everyone starts, no exceptions The 3 non-negotiables for showing up consistently without burning out or overcomplicating it Why sporadic brilliance always loses to small, sustainable systems repeated for 90 days Why I talked a close friend out of chasing $1,000 a month as an influencer What's changing with The Content Coven, and why now is the time to join Connect with me: 📲 Follow me on Instagram: @its.em.connors 💌 Join my weekly newsletter: 321 Create 🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership 💵 Snag 25% off Flodesk, or use the code: THECREATIVEBODEGA Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

If your Canva account is a complete disaster — designs floating in space, uploads you've had since 2017, and templates you used once and can never find again — you are not alone. Most solopreneurs are working inside a cluttered Canva account without realizing how much time and mental energy it's costing them. The good news? Getting organized doesn't have to be a full weekend project. In this episode of The Creative Bodega , I'm joined by fellow Canva Verified Expert Brenda Cadman, whose entire expertise is Canva organization. She breaks down where to start, what to delete, how to structure your folders, and the one navigation trick most people don't know about. If you've ever re-uploaded the same brand photo six times because it was faster than finding it, this episode is for you. Check out the full show notes for this episode CLICK HERE. Things I cover inside this episode: Why your uploads folder is probably a dumping ground, and how to fix it The purge-first approach: why creating folders before deleting is the wrong order How to use Canva's "Your Projects" view to actually see what still needs to be filed The star folder trick for projects you're accessing constantly The difference between designs and templates, and why mixing them up is costing you time Why naming your files matters more than you think (and what to name them) How to make progress in small chunks without overhauling everything at once Resources & Links mentioned in the episode: Brenda Cadman's website (where to find her and learn more) Brenda's Canva organization course, evergreen and updated when Canva changes Connect with me: 📲 Follow me on Instagram: @its.em.connors 💌 Join my weekly newsletter: 321 Create 🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership 💵 Snag 25% off Flodesk, or use the code: THECREATIVEBODEGA Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

Have you ever posted something, checked back an hour later, and felt your stomach drop? You poured real energy into it. And the response was...crickets. If you've been using your follower count, your likes, or your email list growth as proof that you're good at this, I want you to know you are so not alone. In this episode of The Creative Bodega , I get more vulnerable than usual. I share what happened when I finally got on a call with my business coach and therapist, Ash McDonald, what she said that stopped me cold, and why I'd been white-knuckling the completely wrong numbers for months while ignoring the one that actually tells you the truth about your business. Check out the full show notes for this episode CLICK HERE. Things I cover inside this episode: Why follower count and likes are the easiest numbers to track, not the most important ones The question Ash McDonald asked me that I couldn't answer (and why that was the real wake-up call) How I'd been avoiding my revenue check-ins and what that avoidance was actually costing me Why someone else's massive launch triggered a spiral, and what was really going on underneath it The difference between vanity metrics and the numbers that tell you if your business is actually healthy Why leadership isn't about having it all together, it's about being relatable What I'm doing differently now, including restarting monthly check-ins with my husband Rob Resources & Links mentioned in the episode: Ash McDonald, therapist and business strategist (therpist/biz coach referenced throughout the episode that I love & have worked with a number of times). Ash McDonald's podcast (how Em originally found her and built trust before hiring her). EP 13: Em's episode with her husband Rob (referenced as one of her most-listened episodes). Connect with me: 📲 Follow me on Instagram: @its.em.connors 💌 Join my weekly newsletter: 321 Create 🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership 💵 Snag 25% off Flodesk, or use the code: THECREATIVEBODEGA Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

If the thought of writing a newsletter every week makes you want to close your laptop and never come back, this one's for you. I get it. I've felt that exact dread, staring at a blank screen, deleting what I wrote, and deciding I just wasn't a "newsletter person." In this episode of The Creative Bodega , I'm sharing how I went from avoiding my newsletter completely to sending my 285th consecutive issue, and the simple format that made it possible. If you've started a list and let it go quiet, or you haven't started one yet because the whole thing feels too big, this episode is for you. Check out the full show notes for this episode CLICK HERE Things I cover inside this episode: Why I avoided writing a newsletter for so long, even knowing I needed one The exact 3-2-1 Create format that takes me 20 to 30 minutes every week What goes in each of the three sections, including my favorite one Why a smaller, engaged email list beats a big unengaged one How I track open rates and clicks with a simple spreadsheet Why and how I regularly delete inactive subscribers What to do if you're starting your list completely from scratch Resources & Links mentioned in the episode: 25% OFF Flodesk : my email platform of choice, and what I use for both sending the newsletter and cleaning out inactive subscribers Start & Grow Your Email List from Scratch my self-paced course for anyone starting completely from zero. We cover building a freebie people actually want, getting set up on Flodesk without wanting to throw your laptop, writing a newsletter you don't dread, and using your list to actually make sales! Connect with me: 📲 Follow me on Instagram: @its.em.connors 💌 Join my weekly newsletter: 321 Create 🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership 💵 Snag 25% off Flodesk, or use the code: THECREATIVEBODEGA Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

Have you been showing up consistently, posting tips, sharing your face, doing all the things, and still wondering why your offer isn't getting signups? You're not doing it wrong. You're just not showing it. There's a real difference between posting about your niche and showing people what it's actually like inside your world. And that gap is exactly where signups disappear. I know because I found myself in it, weeks into a stretch of almost zero new Coven signups, before I realized I hadn't shared a single piece of content about what was happening inside the membership. In this episode of The Creative Bodega , I'm walking you through the 5-post rotation I built to fix that, complete with reusable Canva templates, a simple Google Form for collecting member stories, and a weekly cadence that makes showing your offer feel way less like selling. Check out the full show notes for this episode HERE: [link placeholder] Things I cover inside this episode: Why consistent posting doesn't equal visible offer, and what to do instead The exact moment I realized I was making the same mistake I coach others on A 5-post weekly rotation that makes showing your membership feel sustainable , not salesy How a simple Google Form solved the hardest part of sharing member wins Why monthly challenge results make more compelling content than anything you could write yourself The "make it with me" post type that shows your offer delivering in real time How to apply this system even if you don't have a membership Connect with me: 📲 Follow me on Instagram: @its.em.connors 💌 Join my weekly newsletter: 321 Create 🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership 💵 Snag 25% off Flodesk, or use the code: THECREATIVEBODEGA Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

If you've been staring down July thinking you have two choices: keep the exact same pace you've been keeping all year, or go completely dark and hope your audience forgives you in September, this episode is for you. You don't have to choose between burning out and disappearing. There's a middle ground, and I call it maintenance mode. It's where you stay visible, keep nurturing your people, and maintain some momentum without pretending you have the same capacity in July as in October. Because you don't. And honestly, neither do I. In this episode of The Creative Bodega , I'm walking you through my actual summer content rhythm: what I keep, what I simplify, and how I use one podcast episode as my content anchor to feed everything else without starting from scratch every week. Check out the full show notes for this episode HERE. Things I cover inside this episode: Why "maintenance mode" is a real strategy, not a cop-out, and what it actually looks like in practice My summer content rhythm: podcast, newsletter, Instagram, and one blog post, all from one core piece of content How I use my podcast as a content anchor to feed everything else without reinventing the wheel each week Why summer is the perfect time to lean on content that already worked, and how to find it fast The backend cleanup I do in slower seasons: website, funnels, bios, and automations that have been sitting in the junk drawer How I'm using this summer to prepare for round two of The Messaging Edit in September without running hot all summer What I've learned about taking real time off, including why my Coven members basically threatened to boycott my calls if I tried to host them from vacation Resources & Links mentioned in the episode: Em's Content Trifecta podcast episode 16 (referenced as the full system breakdown for repurposing) Em's Analytics Tracker ($9, mentioned as the tool for identifying top-performing content to repurpose) The Messaging Edit Fall '26 waitlist (round two, September, limited to 30 women) Connect with me: 📲 Follow me on Instagram: @its.em.connors 💌 Join my weekly newsletter: 321 Create 🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership 💵 Snag 25% off Flodesk, or use the code: THECREATIVEBODEGA Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

If you've ever sat down to plan your content and realized you genuinely don't know what to post, your pillars might be the problem. Not because you picked the wrong topics, but because most of us were taught content pillars the wrong way. Educate, entertain, inspire? Those are content values , not pillars. Your offer as a pillar? That turns every post into a pitch. In this episode of The Creative Bodega , we're rebuilding the way you think about content pillars from the ground up: verb-led, offer-connected, specific enough that you always know exactly what belongs there and what doesn't. If your content has been feeling scattered or like it's just not converting, this one is for you. Check out the full show notes for this episode CLICK HERE. Things I cover inside this episode: Why "educate, entertain, inspire" are values , not content pillars, and what to do instead The common mistake of making your offer a pillar (and why it makes every post feel like a pitch) How personal themes work in your content without becoming a dedicated pillar slot Why every pillar should start with a verb and what that looks like in practice The line-of-sight test: how to tell if each pillar connects back to an actual offer Why three to four pillars is the sweet spot and how to combine overlapping ones How and when to revisit and refine your pillars as your business grows Resources & Links mentioned in the episode: Join The Content Coven June Pillar Challenge (monthly challenge for members, revisiting and rebuilding content pillars with full training starts June 1st) The Visual Edit Waitlist (live program in Jan '27) The Messaging Edit Waitlist (live program in Sept '26) Connect with me: 📲 Follow me on Instagram: @its.em.connors 💌 Join my weekly newsletter: 321 Create 🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership 💵 Snag 25% off Flodesk, or use the code: THECREATIVEBODEGA Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

If your freebie has been sitting out there and barely anyone is downloading it, you're not imagining it. And it's probably not your offer, your niche, or your audience. It might just be how your freebie is built. In this episode of The Creative Bodega , I'm sharing real download numbers from my own freebies, including one that flopped hard, and walking you through the four questions I now use to evaluate any freebie, mine or my students'. If growing your email list has felt harder than it should, this one is for you. Check out the full show notes for this episode HERE . Things I cover inside this episode: Why elaborate freebies almost always underperform simple ones, with real numbers The clear over cute rule for freebie titles and why it matters more than you think What my two top-performing freebies (6,930 and 6,474 downloads) have in common Why the five-day challenge format felt like more value but actually created more friction The four gut-check questions to audit your current freebie or evaluate a new one Why instant usability is the most underrated quality a freebie can have What to put on the last page of your freebie (most people completely skip this) Resources & Links mentioned in the episode: Episode 60: Why Your Email List Isn't Growing + My 4-Step Fix (referenced as the companion episode on promoting your freebie) 11 Canva Templates for Instagram freebi e (her top-performing opt-in, 6,930 downloads) 60 Post Captions, Prompts, and Headlines freebie (6,474 downloads) 5-Day Social Refresh Challenge freebie (referenced as the underperformer) Canva Carousel Workshop Replay freebie (referenced as underperforming vs. simpler freebies) Connect with me: 📲 Follow me on Instagram: @its.em.connors 💌 Join my weekly newsletter: 321 Create 🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership 💵 Snag 25% off Flodesk, or use the code: THECREATIVEBODEGA Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

Someone lands on your Instagram profile. You have two or three seconds before they decide to follow, look around, or leave. If your pinned posts are random, outdated, or nonexistent, you are handing a new potential client a business card with the wrong number on it. In this episode of *The Creative Bodega*, Em breaks down the exact three pinned posts every service-based solopreneur needs at the top of their grid, what job each one has to do, and why she brought this framework inside The Content Coven as an April challenge with results that genuinely surprised her. Check out the full show notes for this episode HERE. *Things I cover inside this episode: - Why going viral is *not* a good reason to pin something (and what to pin instead) - The About Me post: what it must communicate in 30 seconds or less - The Work With Me post: why an outdated offers list is actively costing you clients - The List Builder post: why this is actually the most important of the three - How I structured the April pinned post challenge inside The Content Coven (including what surprised her most) - Why your pinned posts should be treated as a living, rotating strategy, not a one-and-done task Connect with me: 📲 Follow me on Instagram: @its.em.connors 💌 Join my weekly newsletter: 321 Create 🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership 💵 Snag 25% off Flodesk, or use the code: THECREATIVEBODEGA Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!

If you've been grinding through carousel after carousel, reel after reel, wondering why your results still feel flat, you're about to get a reality check that's also a relief. In this episode of *The Creative Bodega*, I'm sharing the accidental experiment that brought me back to the simplest format on Instagram: a single static quote graphic, made in under two minutes in Canva. No trending audio. No B-roll. No face-to-camera. And it outperformed almost every other post I've put out in two weeks, with the numbers to prove it. Check out the full show notes for this episode HERE. Things I cover inside this episode: Why simple, bold quote graphics are outperforming heavily produced content right now—and the psychology behind the pattern interrupt The difference between generic quotes that flop and thought leadership statements that make people stop scrolling and engage How to pull punchy, relatable quotes directly from your podcast transcripts, client calls, or high-performing captions using AI My exact design rules for quote graphics that work: bold fonts, short sentences, on-brand colors, and instant comprehension Real metrics from two quote posts (43,161 views & 9,369 views) and what made the first one absolutely blow up Resources & Links mentioned in the episode: Quote Post 1 on Instagram (55k views as of 5/1/26) Quote Post 2 on Instagram (14k Views as of 5/1/26) My Instagram Analytics Tracker —how I track metrics monthly to understand what's actually working (available free inside The Content Coven) Connect with me: 📲 Follow me on Instagram: @its.em.connors 💌 Join my weekly newsletter: 321 Create 🫶🏼 Check out The Content Coven Membership 💵 Snag 25% off Flodesk, or use the code: THECREATIVEBODEGA Be sure to hit "Subscribe" or "Follow" so you never miss an episode!