It’s been one heck of a year. So let’s just dive right into it.
Email and ethical marketing world
It could be simply the bubble of marketers that I surround myself with, but this year I’ve seen a bigger pull into ethical marketing (which some may also call impact marketing, conscious marketing, etc.).
I’m seeing a lot more nuance in marketing in general, and at the same time, marketers loosening their stiff upper lips and not taking themselves as seriously as before. That shift has been way overdue, and I’m glad to have witnessed that in 2024.
This year also presented a couple of expertise tipping points.
I lost a lot of respect toward marketers and mentors whom I looked up to up - sometimes from the very beginning of my business. The reason is that they are waving a certain flag of morals, but not all of their actions are fully aligned with the values they’re so passionate and outspoken about. I also noticed that in terms of my own knowledge and email expertise, I’ve surpassed some people who I considered way ahead of me this year.
At the same time, throughout the year, I kept meeting marketers and deepening my relationships with ones I already knew were the real damn deal. People with years of experience who look at email and marketing from a much wider lens of business, and refuse to cave for “best practices” like sharing screenshots of how much revenue a single email had made them (a terrible tactic that I hope will get discredited even more in the years to come). Or others who know that they still have much to learn but are crystal clear about what they stand for and are true upcoming leaders of their communities.
I’m proud to call a lot of those people my friends and refer people to them.
And, funnily enough, even though no thought is original, I did start seeing more people acknowledging that I have a lot of great points and ideas, so I did see some people borrowing things I know they’ve seen me sharing - from the “read time suggestion” at the top of my emails to the idea of my second fold of my website, which looks like an email (and I think is cool as hell, and as far as I know, I’m the only email consultant with such a thing on her website).
They say that imitation is the best form of flattery, and I’m grateful to be recognized in that sense. That being said, I’m constantly in the process of getting comfortable with the idea of being known for something, after years of trying to stay as anonymous and invisible as possible. I haven’t broken into that pair of shoes just yet, but I know I’ll get there.
Predictions
I don’t want to call these trends, because I’ve been talking about these for way longer than I can even remember, but here’s what I think will be even bigger in 2025:
Personalization that goes way beyond the first name merge tag
Building relationships with subscribers and referring to email as a long-term nurturing tool
Most of the common lead magnets/freebies will become even more insignificant, especially for brands who want to make a difference in the world
The unreliability of social media and the potential ROI of this particular channel will put even more emphasis on email
And still, lots of companies will continue using notorious and outdated “best practices”, there will still be (an unfortunate) demand for bro marketing, and nonsensical email myths will keep doing rounds online.
Offers
Much like the changes in the world this year, I shifted my entire offer suite.
I went from an incohesive mix of done-with-you (DWY) and done-for-you (DFY) exclusively to consulting, and organized my new ones in tiers of support - starting from a one-off consultation, through a VIP email strategy day, all the way to my email program.
The latter was built upon the foundations and my learnings of running 4 cohorts of my (now benched) beloved program, Email Muscles, in the last two years.
There are many things I love about those new offers:
They’re both simple and easy to understand.
They’re built on top of each other, and each presents a deeper layer and longer period of my support. But they can also stand by themselves and be just as helpful. In other words, not all clients want or need to go through my email program. A VIP Email Strategy Day can be more than enough for them if they feel confident enough about implementing and testing by themselves. And if they need more, they can upgrade to the email program.
They’re three, the magic number and joy of joys.
They all bring out the best out of me for my clients because I’m so aligned with these offers. They feel like my business and the impact I aspire to create in the world.
And lastly, each one of those paid offers gives my clients a shit ton of value.
Here’s just a recent example from a consultation call I gave last month - this eCommerce company wanted to make sure that their email strategy for the holiday season is solid. In one hour, I helped them see at least 5 unused opportunities to generate more revenue and impact with their pre-promotion and promotion itself, to a somewhat dormant list of a couple thousands.
As of writing this blog post, I still don’t have the final stats, but I know that almost every email that went out, if not all of them, made sales. You can expect to see a broader case study on this soon.
In 2025, my “good” goal is to help at least 5 B Corps/1% for the Planet brands/other good doers with the longer version of the email program (6 months).
If you want your email marketing to generate the revenue and impact you wish for in 2025, book a disco call with me here.
Values
This is the year when my business took a hard turn and got political - not that it had any other chances anyways from the very beginning.
Put the word “ethical” in front of anything and snap, you’re immediately associated with certain groups.
What my business stands for, what I stand for, and where I came from is political, whether I like that fact or not. Because everything is political.
Going all in on values and even speaking about values became more prominent with my clients this year.
I also felt a major shift even in the way prospective clients moved from talking about “what’s legal or compliant” to “we want to do better”.
Believe it or not, I think we’re all just scratching the surface. I sure feel like my business hasn’t done enough about this topic.
That’s why this holiday break, one of my “offline projects” include zeroing in on my values and writing a whole dedicated page of my website on it, which will be a sub-page in the “about” menu.
I previously thought that my values were sprinkled across multiple pages and were clear enough, also in my social media, but you can never be clear enough about your values. And in the current climate, this is something that my business must be even clearer about.
Another thing that has become clearer to me in the last quarter is that Ethical Emails must do even more to be a part of the solution. Moving forward, all my offers will include a donation part to organizations and charities of my clients’ choice.
With that plan in mind, I plan on getting Ethical Emails 1% for the Planet-certified in 2025.
Fun
2024 was the year when I finally took a dose of my own medicine and incorporated more fun into my business.
I introduced Email & Pastacast, a free masterclass where I share a recipe of a pasta dish that I just cooked (and eat, or at least try to without choking, during the livestream), and connect it to an ethical email strategy that brands must have if they want to generate more revenue and impact with their email marketing.
I was a guest in podcasts I put an eye on for a long time, including EcoSend’s podcast, The Nomad Solopreneur Show with Gabe Marusca, and Dennis Geelen’s “The Accidental Solopreneur”.
You can hear those episodes and many more in this playlist of my podcast appearances:
I also had my first in-person talk and experts panel at the Lounge by the Sea 2024 in the UK in May. I was honored to be invited, and had so much fun presenting and taking questions from the audience.
Aside from that, I had the pleasure of being a guest speaker inside The Hive community, having an AMA session with The Colibrily Crew, and guest on the Feminist Founders newsletter.
I plan to talk on even bigger stages in the upcoming year, and have a bunch of online workshops for 2025 in the works already.
If you’d like to book me for an upcoming workshop or a conference - visit my speaking page to find more details on how you can do so.
My priorities shifted from my business being my top priority (oops) to being priority number 3 (before it you can find my health and happiness, and my family and friends). I still work daily on keeping those priorities in check, because business has been my top priority for way too long.
In retrospect, I did less than in previous years (even though my calendar won’t necessarily agree with that claim) but everything I’ve done was more intentional, deeper, and more meaningful.
I’ve been working less and had fewer clients, but had loads more fun working with one of them.
Following the fun is the golden ticket to making my business more sustainable, profitable, impactful, and successful.
In 2025, having fun in my business will continue to be both a goal and a way for me to run the show. You can’t pour from an empty cup, and I don’t intend on getting back to burnout city anytime soon.
People
They say that business is all about your relationships, and I can tell you that it’s absolutely true.
This year I reached out to more people, went to more in-person events, initiated more meetings, joined more communities than ever before, and expanded my professional network with thousands of people.
As an ambivert, all that “people-ing” was both energizing but sometimes also exhausting. Alongside shifting all of my offers and business model, I went all-in and decided to focus on working with B Corps and 1% for the Planet eCommerce brands (and other good doing ones).
I had to overcome my social anxiety and awkwardness on a daily basis (AKA get over myself), and start new relationships that, at least initially, felt very far and out of reach.
In the past week, I made a list of clients, friends, colleagues, and as many people as I could put my finger on who had a lasting impression and impact on me. People I met along the way in the past year who made my heart expand a little wider.
Each person on that list got a personalized thank you email or message from me, and I haven’t even gotten to the bottom of that list yet - I keep remembering people that I’d like to share my gratitude with.
All in all, and when I’m finally done, I believe there’d be around 150 people who’ll get such messages. Next year, I suspect that this list will be twice this size, and that I’ll have to start writing those personal thank yous way earlier.
The people I met this year were amongst the kindest, most inspiring, most energizing people I’ve ever met. I’m honored just being in their orbits and witnessing all the great things they’re working on.
They showed me that even in the darkest of times, there’s hope, humanity, and light. I’m thrilled to see where those new and older relationships lead us together.
Our planet
I visited 9 countries this year: Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, the UK, Spain, the Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, and Israel. I lived in 4 of those for a longer period, but still haven’t found a place to call home.
This upcoming February, I’ll celebrate 2 whole years of nomading.
I never intended to do this for so long. I genuinely hoped that the first place I had checked out (which was Valencia, Spain) would be “it”, but it wasn’t.
So I keep on going.
Honestly, I’m both grateful for being able to do this and work from anywhere, and totally exhausted from doing this whole traveling thing full-time. I really wish to find a place where I’ll feel like I want to stay long-term in 2025, and build my life and community there.
Not to mention that I’m worried about the negative impact my travels have on our planet.
I hate flights. And even though I am just one person, and bigger corporations are the ones making the worst impact, I’d still like to slash my carbon footprint in 2025.
At the same time, the past 2-ish years have also shown me how incredible our world is. How magical so many places are. How incredible nature is.
… And that global warning is already here and its effects are heartbreaking.
Our time is running out.
There are a lot of wise, passionate, skilled people out there who are fighting this good fight.
So while I keep on searching for my little piece of heaven on this earth, all I can do is support them with my skillset, help them spread the word about their important work, and help them get louder.
Because many things are replaceable, but we don’t have another planet.
Thank you for reading.
Have a wonderful holiday break, and a joyous and impactful 2025.
See you next year!