The welcome.
Tells them what they just got, what happens next, and how to reach a real person. This one email prevents most of the confused replies you get today.
The email follow-up system
Write it once. It keeps working.
You already know the follow-up matters. The problem is that following up is a job, and you are the only person here. So write the six emails once and let them send themselves.
Six emails. That is the whole system.
Not a funnel, not a launch. Six messages that cover the moments where money quietly leaks out of a small business.
0
emails to write, once
0
days before the second one lands
0
day the invoice nudge goes out
1
afternoon to set all of it up
The useful one.
The answer to the question you get every single week. No pitch. This is where people decide whether you know your job.
The nudge.
Short, specific, no apology. It asks whether the price or the timing is the problem, and it wins back the ones who simply forgot.
The invoice reminder.
Friendly and factual. Written once, sent by a machine, so you never have to be the person chasing money on a Friday.
The thanks and re-book.
Sent the day of the job while they still feel it. The cheapest booking you will ever get is the one from a client you already have.
The quiet check-in.
For the regular who drifted. One paragraph, no guilt, one easy way back. Send it to twenty people and two will book.
Before the emails
You need somewhere to send them.
A list is the only audience you own. Every other place you post is rented, and the rent changes without warning. Starting one is smaller than it sounds.
1 · Pick one thing worth having. A checklist, a price guide, the page you keep sending people.
2 · Put it behind an email address. One field. Not a form with nine questions.
3 · Put the link in three places: your bio, your email signature, your voicemail greeting.
4 · Send the welcome email straight away, and the useful one three days later.
5 · After that, once a month is plenty. Consistency beats volume.
Twenty people who asked to hear from you is a better list than two thousand who did not.
What actually sends them.
Any of these work. Start at the cheapest one that removes the job from your evening.
Saved replies and a reminder.
Write the six emails in a notes file. Send them by hand off a weekly reminder. It is unglamorous and it works, right up until you get busy.
Get the free planner →An email tool that sends them for you.
When by hand starts slipping, this is the upgrade. I use Kit: the free tier covers a small list, the sign-up page takes minutes, and the welcome sequence sends itself from then on.
See Kit →Follow-up that does not wait for email.
Some follow-ups should be a text within five minutes, not an email tomorrow. That is a front desk job, not a newsletter job.
See how SynKasa handles it →Disclosure: the Kit link above is a partner link. If you sign up I may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. I only recommend what I use to run this business, and the free version above is a real option.
When the follow-up cannot wait for tomorrow
Some messages have to go out in five minutes.
Email is right for the slow follow-ups. The fast ones, the missed call and the out-of-hours enquiry, need something answering while you work.