Newsletter Platform ConvertKit Helps thousands of creators to monetize their businesses by offering more than digital newsletter delivery.
This platform is used by over 600 000 creators. This may seem mundane. It is unlikely that founder and CEO Nathan Barry, with $5,000 and a garage in a small town, could have bootstrapped a startup 11 years ago.
ConvertKit isn’t just about its financial success. Barry’s journey began as a creator who sold ebooks and ended with a creative endeavor fueled by his professional and personal experiences.
His steadfast dedication to independence, innovation and the community of creators has helped shape his digital enterprise, a platform and a company that is able to understand and address the challenges faced by today’s creators.
ConvertKit operates as a publicly traded corporation, making its financial standing public.
“I have always put the journey before the destination.” Building companies is tough, but it’s about making it rewarding — not just tolerable until an exit,” Barry told the E-Commerce Times.
Innovative Creativity is the Engine of Business
The greatest risk is not losing out on an amazing offer. Barry revealed that he turned down the offer because he was tired or lost interest.
“That’s why I’m all about optimizing for what keeps me showing up excited every day — serving creators and helping my team reach financial independence,” Barry said.
What happens after he makes his exit? Why not jump back in to do it again?
“I am not finished with ConvertKit yet. I still have many more ideas.” Plus, I made sure we lived well along the way — retiring our parents, spending time with my kids, and enjoying life on our farm. “It’s not about racing to the end, but finding balance,” he said about his approach to managing his business and life.
CovertKit’s image as a public entity is treated with care. ConvertKit is committed to teaching everything you can.
He said, “It is the fastest way to grow an audience and the shortcut to building a successful online business. It also helps others follow in your steps.”
Paying It Forward is an Essential Business Practice
Barry adopted the concept in 2016 after two authors shared their ebook sale numbers. They showed that even designers with a small audience could earn a living. It was partly what inspired him write his book, and to pay it forward by revealing all of his sales numbers.
Barry says that ConvertKit made the Baremetrics dashboard available to everyone. These numbers are public. From the company’s initial $3,000 in monthly revenue, to its current take of more than $3 million per month.
Sharing numbers helps to inspire other entrepreneurs, keep us accountable for growth, and provide public benchmarks from which other founders can benefit. “It also helps to attract attention, which can be easily converted into customers,” explained he.
Innovative Solutions to Obstacles Have Proven Effective
ConvertKit began as a web app project for a public challenge. Nathan, who was frustrated with MailChimp’s inability to engage his subscribers, decided to pivot and build an email marketing tool that would better suit his needs. This is according to Alyssa Dulin, ConvertKit’s Manager of Creator Growth.
ConvertKit, when it was launched in 2013, was one of the few SaaS businesses that could grow and work remotely. Finding the right talent that could work from home was one of the challenges. Since then, almost 80 people have been added to the team in 65 cities around the world.
“Managing cashflow and savings was also difficult for a bootstrapped startup.” Dulin told E-Commerce Times, “We had to be prudent with our expenditures to buy us the runway needed to help take us off.”
Early on, there were problems with customer support. Early versions of the product were complicated and buggy. She added that the rapid growth of the company made it difficult to provide quality and responsive support.
Making a Difference with Creativity
The staff is made up of over half creators, which means they understand the needs and challenges better than anyone else. Dulin stated that staff needs and client needs were similar.
She said that “every feature and update was designed and tailored for the creator’s experience to be better.” The platform for creatives offers concierge level support, which can be rare.
Support helps newsletter subscribers reach their full potential. The support includes free migration of email lists and accounts from other platforms, as well as strategic growth advice by the company’s creators growth team.
Dulin added that ConvertKit was more than just a tool. It is a companion in the journey of a creative. In this case, email automation allows platform users to create personalized purchasing journeys which guide customers and their likelihood to buy from creatives.
This feature allows you to automatically block new customers from getting any further emails regarding the same product. It improves user experience, and also prevents unwanted emails being sent to existing customers.
She said that “other advanced features help deliver a message to the correct people at the appropriate time. This makes a newsletter for creators more successful.”
Transforms Subscribers Into Purchasers
Dulin explained the differences between ConvertKit and other marketing platforms for e-commerce retailers. CovertKit is a tool that serves as a CRM and sales platform for creatives.
ConvertKit Commerce makes it easy for non-subscribers to become loyal subscribers. This creates opportunities for deeper customer relations and repeat business.
Creatives can monetize their email newsletters by selling products via the Commerce feature. They can also use the Ads feature to tap into the advertising base of the platform. Dulin says that many people think they’ll need a huge email list before they can start earning money from their newsletter ads. ConvertKit helps creators start making money much earlier in their career.
“If you’re just starting out, you can still monetize your list even if it is small.” She explained that if you are a well-established creator, running advertisements opens up an additional revenue stream through email.
Double Creative Purposes
Dulin cautioned that ConvertKit was not a one stop shop for business, as so many creators depend on social media platforms to expand their audience. This is where you can convert your social media subscribers into email subscribers. Through email, you can reach and grow your audience.
“This is becoming more and more crucial, especially in an age where platform algorithms may be unpredictable. Platforms like TikTok might face restrictions or banning,” she explained.
A newsletter is a reliable, stable way to stay in touch with your audience, without having to worry about algorithm updates, app restrictions, or policy modifications. Creatives can take control of the communications and stability of their business by encouraging their followers to opt in and share their email address.
Dulin said, “ConvertKit is a great tool to help you grow your audience, engage them, and monetize them no matter what the changes in the digital landscape are.”
