Have an email list but don't know what to do with it?

Maybe it's a stack of sign-up sheets from events. Maybe it's years of customer emails sitting in your inbox, or a spreadsheet you exported once and never touched again. You know an email list is valuable. You're just not sure where to start.

The good news: email is one of the most affordable ways to stay in front of your customers. Unlike social media, you own your list, and your message lands right in their inbox. The trick is getting the setup right so those messages actually arrive.

1. Pick a platform (and don't overthink it)

Brevo, Constant Contact, and Mailchimp are all solid choices for small businesses. They each let you store contacts, design emails, schedule sends, and see who opened what. The best one is usually the one that fits your budget and that you'll actually log into. If you already have an account somewhere, that's often the right place to start.

2. Send from your business domain

This is the step most people skip, and it's the one that matters most. To send email as you@yourbusiness.com, your platform needs permission from your domain. That permission lives in your domain's DNS records, the behind-the-scenes settings that tell the internet how your domain works.

Each platform will ask you to add a few records:

• SPF lists which services are allowed to send email for your domain.
• DKIM adds a digital signature that proves the email really came from you.
• DMARC tells inboxes what to do with messages that fail those checks.

Gmail and Yahoo now expect bulk senders to have these in place. Without them, your carefully written newsletter is much more likely to land in spam, or not arrive at all. It's also why sending a campaign from a free @gmail.com address through these platforms tends to go badly.

3. Bring in your contacts the right way

Most platforms let you import a spreadsheet (a CSV file) of names and email addresses. Before you upload:

• Only include people who said yes. Customers who signed up or asked to hear from you, not every address you've ever come across. Sending to people who didn't opt in is the fastest way to get flagged as spam.
• Clean it up. Remove duplicates, obvious typos, and old addresses that bounce.
• Keep the useful details. Columns like first name, city, or customer type make it easy to personalize and sort later.

Switching platforms? Export your contacts from the old one first, including anyone who unsubscribed, so you don't accidentally email them again.

4. Organize your lists

One giant list works, but a little organization goes a long way. Most platforms let you use separate lists, tags, or segments, so you can send the right message to the right people: past customers vs. new leads, residential vs. commercial, or one location vs. another.

5. Build a template that looks like your brand

A clean, branded template makes every email look professional and saves you time. Include your logo and colors, keep it easy to read on a phone (that's where most people open email), and make the main button obvious. Every marketing email also needs your business's mailing address and an unsubscribe link. Most platforms add those for you.

6. Start simple

You don't need a complicated strategy on day one. A few easy ideas to get going:

• A welcome email that goes out automatically when someone signs up
• A monthly update with news, tips, or seasonal reminders
• Specials and announcements: new services, holiday hours, or limited-time offers

Consistency matters more than frequency. One good email a month beats five rushed ones and then silence.

Let's get it set up the right way

Whether you're starting your first email campaign or already have a list that needs some organization, I can help with all of it:

• DNS record setup so emails send from your business domain
• Navigating Brevo, Constant Contact, Mailchimp, and other platforms
• Exporting and importing your contacts
• Setting up and organizing your email lists
• Designing and building professional email templates
• Troubleshooting email delivery and setup issues

You don't have to figure it all out on your own.