Dear Diary, I did the least fun thing.

I've been working nonstop lately trying to get the website back up and running. It seems like there's been an endless to-do list, and I'm grateful. Thinking about Freyja's Market keeps me inspired and energized. 

But there are a few things on the list I have been dreading. The primary offender is email marketing.

Marketing is my day job, so it's not like I'm not used to email. But if there's one thing that bottlenecks me, it's decision fatigue. Shopify has been a new experience for me. My day job uses HubSpot (which I love), and everything is native to the platform. Shopify is a bit of a patchwork. You get your basic site and a few other tools, but past that, you have to rely on third-party apps to do most things (similar to WordPress). I've been procrastinating my research into which app I should use for email marketing (like the 10% welcome discount) because it meant learning another tool.

Luckily, the universe brought Tina into my life. Tina is the owner of XXL Scrunchie & Co., and I have been following her on YouTube for a while. She posts behind-the-scenes content of running her small Canadian business, plus order-packing vlogs, which is the cream of the crop content for me. Just recently, she posted a video on email marketing and the app she uses for email marketing with her Shopify store. She is basically an angel.

I watched this video TWICE, and then I got to work. Okay, admittedly, there was some nudging from my husband. I told him this was the least fun thing I could do for the shop, to which he rightfully replied, "Don't be a whiner." 

To be honest, I did struggle a bit figuring out the app. It turns out there are actually two apps you need to download to get the workflow I was looking for with Seguno. But about two hours later I had everything set up, tested, and automated. 

Now, when you visit the market, you will see a pop-up offering 10% off your first order. After submitting the form, an email is sent to you with a unique coupon code. You can click the link in the email to shop the store with the discount auto applied to your cart. I also have the sign-up form in the footer of the website.

Setting up email marketing was a huge roadblock for me even though I am experienced in marketing because of the decision fatigue in choosing an application. So thanks, Tina, for posting that video. You are a foundational part of getting this market off the ground.

Maybe we need some scrunchies in the market...