18: The Accelerate Your List Email Summit Featuring Amanda Stores (The Systems & Workflow Magic Podcast)

Welcome back to another episode in the lead magnets series! Today I am joined by Amanda Stores, an incredible online educator who provides community and curriculum for creatives in order to help grow and serve their email list subscribers. Amanda has put together an incredible summit happening this week all about accelerating (aka growing) your email list! Listen in as we highlight the importance of an opt-in, how to curate an email sequence, and why you should be a part of this summit!

The Systems and Workflow Magic Podcast is brought to you by Dolly DeLong Education. This is a podcast for creative business owners who want to learn tangible steps to automate their business through workflows, systems, tools, and strategy in order to go from scattered to streamlined with purpose. Because even muggles can become automated wizards.

Accelerate Your List Summit

Today’s episode is brought to you by the Accelerate Your List Summit, hosted by Amanda Stores. Snag your ticket to the 2022 summit today!

Meet Amanda

Amanda Stores is an online educator providing a community and curriculum to help creatives like you grow an email list of subscribers.

Review the Show Notes:

Get To Know Amanda Stores (1:53)

Amanda’s Welcome Sequence and How It Serves (7:48)

Amanda’s Journey: The Creation of Her Lead Magnet Course (11:06)

Creating the Accelerate Your List Summit (12:48)

What to Expect at the Summit (14:58)

Teaser: What I’m Sharing at the Summit (17:15)

The Value of Planning or Attending a Summit (20:39)

More Insider Details on the Accelerate Your List Summit (22:13)

Why Rest is Such an Important Part of Your Business Systems (25:43)

Being Intentional with Your Business Goals (28:57) 

Connect with Amanda ⬇️

instagram.com/amanda.stores

amandastores.com

Grab Amanda’s Freebie

Accelerate Your List Summit

Connect with Dolly ⬇️

instagram.com/dollydelongeducation

facebook.com/DollyDeLongEducation

pinterest.com/dollydelong

Review the Transcript:

Dolly DeLong
Welcome to the systems and workflow magic podcast where I help entrepreneurs go from scattered to streamlined in their creative businesses. I’m your host dolly DeLong, a wife, a mom, and a photographer turned systems educator. Join me every week as we have conversations centered around creating tactical workflows, and automation in your business. Now, let’s make some strategic workflow magic. Hey everyone, and welcome back to the systems and workflow magic podcast. I am so excited because today, we are chatting with Amanda Storrs, who is an online educator who helps creatives understand how to grow and serve their email list. And since this is a part of our lead magnet series, I just thought I would have Amanda on because she is just a wealth of information when it comes to growing and serving your email lists. And specifically, she has an incredible summit happening this week called the accelerate your email list Summit. And I’m really, really excited just to pick Amanda’s brain and for her to share more of her email list journey. I’m gonna call it the email list journey. Amanda, how are you?

Amanda Stores
I am good. As I was telling Dolly, I have all three kiddos asleep right now. So I’m doing wonderfully. It’s like an art trying to get all the kids to sleep at the same time.

Dolly DeLong
That is an art. And I was telling Amanda earlier that I have one kid and I can’t even imagine having three kids. So I just think she deserves an award for doing that. Well, Amanda, can you share a little bit about yourself, who you are, who you serve, and just how you got started in this online space?

Amanda Stores
Well, it’s really funny because I was a wood-burning artist. And most people are like, what is the wood-burning artists? It’s basically like, you are burning onto wood and you’re making artwork out of the burdens. Okay, that was like a five-year journey. For me. I was teaching on the side. And I was doing my art on the side. And then I was just thinking I just don’t have enough time. I mean, by the time I had kids, I had no time for individual projects like that. So I had to think of my business a little differently. So my first step was, well,  I’m going to try and make my artwork digital. So I do have patterns on my website, believe it or not. And so I made my artwork, digital. And then I thought, Okay, well, that was one thing I was doing. And what ended up happening was, alongside all of this, as we all have personal goals that we want to make, like those bucket list items. One of mine was I wanted to read the Bible from cover to cover. And I mean, that’s something I thought I would do, like, a lot further down the road. But I had a child and I realized, wow, I really don’t know what I’m doing. And this child is going to have a lot of questions. And I am not going to have the right answers. So I need to look for my answers in God’s word. So I started this journey. And I said You know what, I’m going to do your New Year’s resolution. I’m going to read this Bible in one year. And I was thinking, oh, yeah, I could do this. And I got to your one. And it was not, I was only halfway through it. And I realized, wow, this is a lot bigger of a bucket list item than I ever anticipated. So it took two years. And in the middle of that, I created this huge digital document that I call a Bible journal. It basically I took the app that I was using, and I made this gigantic blank journal and it just says, Okay, you read these chapters per day with blank lines underneath. Well, I made it and I was like, I’m gonna put this to my shop. When I’m done. Like, this is my personal goal. And then the day I finished reading the Bible, I was reading the last words of the Bible. I just prayed. You know, God, I don’t know what you want me to do. My business isn’t going anywhere. Like, do you want me to just stop altogether? And the words give it away came to mind. And I just knew that God had called me to give this thing away. And I was thinking, I remember thinking like, Are you sure?

Dolly DeLong
Did it put a lot of time into this? Yeah, it’s a lot of time.

Amanda Stores
mean, it was 390 pages. Okay. So I mean, and I thought to myself, like, God, nobody’s gonna want this. I mean, there’s tons of like, Bible, everything out there, no one’s gonna want this. So I barely launched it. I did one of those like, Hail Marys of like, Hey guys, I’m somebody coming this weekend and this was like on a Tuesday. I mean, no prep whatsoever. And then all of a sudden in a week, I had over 1000 subscribers to my list. Wow. I mean, it was just one of those moments where I’m like, wow. And it was in the middle of the pandemic, everyone was looking for hope everyone was stuck at their house. They’re like, well, if I’m going to do my bucket list item of reading the bible cover

Dolly DeLong
to cover my might as well

Amanda Stores
might be when I’m stuck in my house all day. And so, I mean, it was so crazy, because I had people from all over the world that were messaging me in different languages, saying, Wow, I will journal please like, question mark. And I would have to use Google Translate. To translate, thank you for picking this up. I hope it’s a light to you. I hope you find hope through reading the Bible. And all of a sudden, within three months, I had over 6000 people on my email list just from

Dolly DeLong
the Bible journal, one lead magnet one

Amanda Stores
in it. And it’s not. I know, a lot of people are shifting from like a PDF lead magnet to like, maybe like a pop up podcast or a challenge or something like that. But I will say that if you’re just beginning this journey of creating a lead magnet, it’s not a bad thing, to create a PDF that you put a lot of heart into. Yeah. So that’s right, we can and I know that was like really long winded.

Dolly DeLong
I love it so much. And Amanda, you know, this, like, I am also a believer. And so I just love that you took something that was so personal to you and your faith. And originally, your intent was to grow in faith, so that it can directly impact your daughter’s walk, because you’re your first burn is your daughter, and everyone, she now has three kids, three amazing kids who are being impacted by her and her husband. But I just think it’s amazing that that first step was okay, I want more wisdom from you, God, please give that to me. And then at the very end of that journey, God told you, he was pressing into your heart like, Okay, now it’s time for you to share this with other people. And so that just like, I don’t know, that element of serving others and making sure others can see his hope, especially in the midst of two years ago is really hard. It’s still hard, but two years ago was really hard for the world.

Amanda Stores
And it was crazy. Because in my welcome sequence, I had this one email, that’s like a reply to me email, like, Tell me your story. And for five years, when I was a woodburning artist, I had my mom, my aunt, my grandma on my email list. And they’re like replying to me. Hey.

Dolly DeLong
And I was thinking,

Amanda Stores
very good. I love my grandma. I do but like, that reply to me was supposed to be for subscribers. Yeah. I mean, technically, she is one, right?

Dolly DeLong
Yeah. I’m just laughing because it’s so true. We all have that, like that family member who like hits respond back and you’re like, Oh, thank you.

Amanda Stores
I think so you know, and it’s kind of like you miss like, you’re like thinking, this is so pitiful, you know, but you love your grandma so much. You’re like, Okay, I’ll reply to you. But I put this in my welcome sequence. And when I had the really any people in it, like I would get one once in a while. You have 1000 people go through a welcome sequence in a week. Yeah. I mean, I was getting, like 15 emails, personal, like, in depth emails about these, like hard times that they were going through. So you know, I feel like we know this as business owners, but we forget that every address every email address as a person, and originally I, I put it as a signup form, because I was just curious of how many people would sign up for it, you know, and then what I realized is that every time I went to say, Okay, I don’t know who else to offer this to. It’s like, God repeatedly started opening other doors. I want you to put it here. I want you to put it here or you put it here. And it was just like, all of a sudden, I had an email marketing strategy for growing an email list and I hardly had any followers. You know, I feel like when you are a huge influencer, you have this mentality of like, okay, I’m gonna make a PDF, and they can put it out there. They’ve spent years building their following. So if they’ve got a PDF out there, they’re like, they have 1000 subscribers in a day. Ain’t no big deal, you know, but for me 1000 subscribers in a week was like life changing for me. And the first question everyone asked was, did you have any Christian products to sell to them? And the answer is, I still don’t. I mean, every week, I’m sending like, Bible study related emails, but I am not selling anything as of this point. This is like, two years past, and I still feel like, what it has taught me is that every single email address is a person. And we have to remember those people and look at them like people. So now, of course, they segment my list, and I have a Bible study, you know, part of my list, and I have an email marketing side of my list, and they do not cross. So yes, I’m sending two emails every single week to different segments. But you know, I just look at it like you have to have that mentality of serving and not making something tiny, but making something that actually will impact others and get them excited to share it.

Dolly DeLong
I love that, Amanda, thank you for sharing all that. Now, bring us up to speed to where you are, in your journey with your business and where God has taken you so far, because I know you’ve been doing a lot in the past two years, you’re not doing wood burning art anymore. And so I want you to bring us up to speed.

Amanda Stores
Sure. So what ended up happening was I started sharing some of these strategies inside the flow desk insiders group on Facebook. So fluid ask is my email service provider. And when I started sharing these strategies I had the founders of that company reached out and they said, Hey, can we hop on a call, we have some new features coming up, I’d love for you to, you know, check them out. So we hopped on a call. And then they asked me about this journal, tell me what you’ve done to make it grow so fast. And I was very grateful. They asked me to do some training videos for Philadelphia University. And then after that, I said, I was a teacher, I need to make a course that helps entrepreneurs not only create the lead magnet, pre-launch it, launch it, and then have this lead magnet sustainability later on after the launch. So I started making that. I also opened up my membership this past year, which just drops like bite-sized email marketing related, how to boost your open rates, and some little tricks along the way. What I started to realize was when you have a small audience, you kind of have to think creatively about how to work together with other people. So that you can build each other’s list within businesses like these partnerships in the way that I find. I found the partnerships is through posting a summit, then that’s the summit that’s coming in. It’s been a journey for me. But the accelerate your list Summit has taken a lot of heart a lot of time, and hurt. And it wasn’t one of those things that were made in a night. I’ve been working on this since September of last year before my third little one was born. So it’s a lot of work a

Dolly DeLong
lot of moving parts. I just want to share with everyone that Amanda and I were talking about summits and like everything that goes into a summit and we both are married to amazing guys, but we were trying to explain to our husbands like what a summit was, and like Amanda was sharing like her husband was getting this like, glazed look of what exactly is a summit. Yeah. And when I tried to explain it to my husband, he he thought immediately of like, world peace leaders like everybody coming in, like, like, a session. Yeah. So we were about sharing her swapping are funny husband stories like about this is not what the online Summit is, it is an email marketing Summit. And we

Amanda Stores
and I feel like when people hear the word Summit, sometimes they get a little overwhelmed, because they think, oh my word, there’s 30 speakers and 30 presentations. And they think that each presentation is going to be like an hour and a half, you know, and what I wanted to do was I had to think to myself, and this is just me, but I can barely sit still for more than 30 minutes. So I thought to myself, I’m only going to make my speakers contribute videos that are 15 to 30 minutes only. So it’s really easy to consume. I mean, it is like such such power and value because they had to squeeze it in in 15 to 30 minutes. So there’s no fluff in any of the presentations. It’s just this is the meat of everything that I’m saying which is what I love about the summit.

Dolly DeLong
So talk about like what topic topics are going to be covered. I know I teased out, it’s this week, do you mind sharing the exact dates like, give us all the juicy details about the summit?

Amanda Stores
Okay, so there are 30 speakers, and I am being a little creative with some of them, because some of them grow their email list through like a YouTube channel. So most of the videos are within one platform. But there are a few that if their thing is outside of the platform, then their video is linked within there. So it’s growing their list in the way that they need it to grow. So some of the topics I have covered is I have like, what is the legal way of growing an email list? Because there’s a lot of people that try to buy email lists, which would discredit any email service provider. And then there’s like, how do I create goals? And how do I get the emails prepared for those goals? So launching, not only do I have someone talking about launching physical products, but launching digital products, which is totally different, I feel like in the way that you want one of them. I feel like I was thinking like, well, what can I talk about? What can I talk about? And I said everyone wants to know, what do you put an email? So once people get on your email list, so yeah, yeah. So there’s like content creation, for emails, I go through a lot of different platforms, like how do you grow your list with YouTube? How do you grow your list with Pinterest? How can you use Instagram reels to grow your email list? I’m basically taking all the same avenues that we’re already on. As business owners, we’re already on Instagram, we’re already on Pinterest, we just have to have this mentality of how can I grow my list while I’m doing all the things that I’m already doing. So it’s almost like teaching yourself to let growing your list come alongside your business and everything that you’re doing, versus it being like some distant goal that you’ll do one day, I have pop-up podcasting, I have like how to create in a kick-butt form. Like all these really cool topics. Everything’s email marketing-related, but I feel like it’s covered through so many different avenues.

Dolly DeLong
I’m just going to tease out like, what I’ll be talking about, this is something that was when you and I were talking about, okay, what can my topic beyond? Because for those of you who follow along my journey, you all know, I love systems and workflows. And yes, I’ve been talking a lot about lead magnets as a way to grow your email list. But if you really know me also know I love speaking and teaching on dubsado for family photographers. And so Amanda presented this idea to me like, What if you spoke about elevating your canned emails or personalizing your canned emails in a way that didn’t sound so robotic, and it still invited people to your email list in a creative way to grow your list. And so I was sharing with Amanda, it took me a while to like wrap my head around that because like, again, dubsado HoneyBook, those are not email marketing platforms. Those are CRM platforms, client relationship, management platforms. So I was thinking, Okay, how, how do I use dubsado to grow my email list? Because actually do I realize I don’t really talk about it that much. But it is a part of my workflow, it is in my canned emails. And so I created a five part presentation on five ways you can personalize and optimize your canned emails in dubsado. And one of them is how to insert your lead magnet and one of your canned emails. So I am really excited about this topic. I can’t believe I’ve never really talked about it not because I’m trying to hide anything. I just like, it’s just like literally in my brain. And I never really thought to integrate dubsado and building out your email list at the same time. Just never thought about that is

Amanda Stores
funny because yeah. Um, so it’s taking by Chris right now. And I was describing Zapier and how it can be integrated with your, your email service provider. So whatever platforms we’re using can be zapped together, basically making both platforms talk to one another. Yeah. And I said, Well, do you use Deb Sato? Do you use honey book? She’s like, Oh, yeah, I use that. I’m like, do you could put zap with that? You can totally put us up with that. So I was kind of describing that. But I feel like the platforms you’re already using, can we utilize to grow your list? Yeah. So if you’re

Dolly DeLong
just like lead people closer to your lead magnets, exactly,

Amanda Stores
like, put it in front of them. If they’re going to come to your website anyway and inquire about your services. You might as well help them in the journey of getting to know you. Mm-hmm. By having these canned emails.

Dolly DeLong
Exactly. And that’s something that I’m really excited about the summit especially there’s going to be like you shared 30 different speakers, and they’re going to have So many diverse ideas and ways on how to grow your email list. So I know everyone I’ve been sharing for the past several weeks just like ways to grow your email list or a lead magnet. But just I want you to start thinking bigger now, like, there are so many different ways to grow your email list more than just a PDF lead magnet, like Amanda was sharing like a pop up podcast, or a summit, for example, or through Pinterest. I’m like losing my train of thought. But there are so many different ways to grow your email list.

Amanda Stores
And the thing about this summit is like, that could be like a way down the road kind of list or bucket, bucket list item, you know, but a summit is a great way to not only bring together your business partners that you’re already you already have a relationship with them. Yeah, by getting them to come together and put their knowledge together in a way like this. It’s a beautiful thing. And it also helps grow their list and helps grow yours too. It’s like a mutual agreement. Basically, you’re exposing their audiences to your audience. And vice versa.

Dolly DeLong
Exactly. I love that so much collaboration. And also it y’all like for those of you who don’t know, Amanda, after this episode, or right now go and follow her, please. Because she really leans into the community over competition, I know that that phrase is overused, abused, in my viewpoint, not a lot of people truly lean into it, but she leans into it. So Amanda, like, I just want to applaud you for that.

Amanda Stores
Oh, thank you. It’s, it’s not one of those things that I feel like comes naturally in the business world. Like he’ll, you must have to train yourself to look at people as them having their own families that they’re supporting, and them having their own stories, then you can’t look at it all with like dollar signs, you know, you have to look at every single person as a person. And I feel like that’s why I absolutely love email marketing, because it’s not really marketing as much as just building relationships with people.

Dolly DeLong
So besides the accelerate your email list Summit, which is happening this week, everyone and I will have links for you in the show notes to go and check it out. Can you also share with everyone like what else is on the horizon? For you and how else people can work with you this year? Cuz I know you have a lot going on this year.

Amanda Stores
Hi to the good thing is I am done having the babies hopefully. So that’s not

Dolly DeLong
man, it’s like I pregnant I’m like, No, she’s not. I’m just being silly. No.

Amanda Stores
Um, so this is my secret insider scoop. So in the summit, it’s totally free for anyone who comes and they can watch it on this three days, so like, but it will expire after 24 hours. So like the first day, they come in, they can watch the 10, and then they’ll expire 24 hours later. And then the next day, start settling. Because you don’t want to go into the summit, and then see 20 presentations, you want to see the 10 that you need to focus on for that one day. So they do expire after 24 hours, well, there will be an all-access pass. And it basically gives you instant access to the presentations, which sounds pretty cool for people who you know, just I don’t want to wait for it. But this year, we’re kind of adding a lot to the odds this past. So I mean, when someone goes in and gets the office pass, they’re going to get access to bonuses from a lot of the speakers, which I was so blown away because these bonuses are like originally 500 rounds or all these really amazing like courses and memberships and all these things. They’re giving them away as part of the ox has passed for four days after the summit. So you can still maintain on focusing on the day of the summit on those presentations and then after they’ll be able to pick up these bonuses but I’m saying all this to say my secret insider scoop is I’m also anyone who goes in purchase the all-access pass will have the option to be part of the gather membership, which is those bite-sized lessons that are dropped every week for my membership. So they’ll We have monthly q&a sessions we have that community there that will be an option in the cart also. And then right after this summit, all the people who weren’t part of the summit will be able to join gather. A month later is the market your freebie course which is gather is more of like the manual. Like once you get people on your list, what do you do with them then Okay, and then the market your freebie course is basically how to get people on your list. So they’re kind of going together. So I feel like a lot of people that get to these summits are like really pumped, and they’re like, What do I do now? So, those two items are though, what do I knew now, you know. So that’s what my goal is, is to really just help people meet them where they are, and show them the importance of growing your community through your list. Because let’s just say the Instagram algorithm is not in our favor right now.

Dolly DeLong
I don’t think it’s an error has ever been in anyone’s face. So it’s all it’s all good, guys. It’s all good. Well, what

Amanda Stores
about you? Totally? What do you have going on?

Dolly DeLong
Oh, that’s so sweet. You are so sweet for asking. Look at you like turning it back to me. Kind of like the big things that are coming up to my mind. Amanda, our I am trying to be more intentional with, like my time off this year. And so I really like one of my goals is to take the whole month of December off in the whole month of August off, that would be awesome. And so I’m just trying to make sure like everything lines up accordingly. So I can truly find rest this year and enjoy my time with my family and the holidays and not be scrambling by the end of last year. I felt done. Yeah. And so I don’t want to go into next year, Lord willing, like feeling that way. And so I’m trying to be as intentional as possible with my year this year. And I’m learning a lot along the way.

Amanda Stores
Well, I think rest is something that people underestimate. But there’s so much power in it. I feel like yeah, much better person. I’m a much better wife much better mama much better entrepreneur, if you’re stressed. So I feel like that is an amazing goal.

Dolly DeLong
Well, I just want you to know, and everybody who’s listening know, like, I’m terrified of it. Because I love working like I am a self proclaimed workaholic. I just love doing all the things creating all the systems and strategies. I love it. But I’m also scared. I’m like, Okay, God, how am I going to earn an income for those two months? Please let me know. So it’s like a huge thing of for me, it’s just like leaning in to God and trusting him submitting my time over to him and just trusting that he’s gonna provide in some way, some mysterious way

Amanda Stores
that reminds me that verse like, faith is the reality of things hoped for. Improve in the unseen. Like that is so hard to really keep in your mind. But that faith, I mean, it comes down to that, you know, so I’m really I’m really excited for you. I feel like that investing thing. It’s really hard.

Dolly DeLong
It’s really hard. It’s so hard. And I’m very much of the like, I have to know everything that’s happening. You all know, I love systems. I love workflows, like that means I’m super organized. I’m juggling so many things, and I enjoy it and I’m enjoying like putting all the puzzle pieces together. But like, I just really my personality. I know I need to like submit and rest and I can still find joy, like in the rest. So you guys didn’t know that you’re gonna come to like a little devotional. Jolly like, on today’s podcasts. I’m sure somebody is like, Is there gonna be a Bible verse a call to action like call to the altar?

Amanda Stores
Do we need to start singing hymns here to

Dolly DeLong
Oh, man, no confessionals on today’s podcast. But I just want I just thank you for asking that question. Like that’s just like a good reminder of why I’m doing this. I’m trying to be as intentional this year. And so I kind of like wrapping it up. And like going back to the original context of like, just like why you’re doing the accelerate your email list Summit is because you want to be intentional. You want to teach other people how to be intentional with how to grow their email list, and not feel so lost in the process because there are so many different facets of it. And you don’t have to have it all figured out. Now, that’s great.

Amanda Stores
You don’t it’s just important to start. So whatever your goal may be, if it’s in email marketing, if it’s in making more revenue for the year, my word if it’s going to go scuba diving, whatever you need to do, like whatever goals you have, you just have to be intentional about doing it. So if your goal is to grow your email list this is the summit to be a part of

Dolly DeLong
I love it and you all I will have all of this information in the show notes so that when you click over to check out the accelerate your email list Summit, you’ll get all that information. in there, and Amanda before we leave, can you share with people how they can work with you how they can find you how they can see your beautiful family.

Amanda Stores
Oh, I have lots of cute like Instagram story like babies on there. So if you’re just coming just to look at cute babies like gotcha covered. My son was like literally in a helmet making blueberry muffins with me on my Instagram Stories yesterday. That’s very adorable. But you could find me at Amanda dot stores on Instagram. And the way that I’m working with people at this point is through the gather membership and also through the market your freebie course. So I’m just so happy that you had me on Dolly. It was so fantastic for us to have our kumbaya session.

Dolly DeLong
Our world peace summit session.

Amanda Stores
Anyway, thank you so much, Dolly. I appreciate you.

Dolly DeLong
Thank you so much. And everyone go check out the show notes for all the links and you will find it there. Have a wonderful day. Thank you so much for listening to the systems and workflow magic podcast. You can find full show notes from today’s episode at dolly DeLong photography.com forward slash podcast. If you’re loving the podcast, I’d be so honored if you’d subscribe and leave a review on your favorite podcast player. Be sure to screenshot this episode, share it to your stories and tag me at dolly DeLong education over on Instagram. Until next time, go make some strategic workflow magic.