Category: Email MarketingCategory: Email Marketing

I recently did a Substack live with Elin Petronella, an independent artist based in Paris who’s been building a creative business on her own terms for the last ten years.

She’s got half a million followers across Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest, and she’ll be the first to tell you that’s not even the point, as she recently walked away from monetizing on Substack, dropped her bestseller badge, and has been focusing on something more sustainable ever since.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t retain ownership this whole time. All the links are always going back to my own site,” Elin Petronella

All those followers across all those social media platforms is great and all, but if you’re not pointing them to something that’s more permanent, or if you’re not giving curious fans something to explore, you’re leaving money on the table.

As Elin explains, she has 200K followers on Instagram, and a single post might still only get 3,000 views. But if you can get just 1% of 3,000 click to your website, that’s still 30 people.

“How are you doing it before you had the idea that you wanted to monetize it? What are you already doing when people are not watching? What is your natural way of creating before you start thinking about eyes watching it or monetizing it? Double down on that,” Elin Petronella

When we start paying attention to how other people are doing things and assuming that that’s the way to do it, that’s where we can get in trouble. Trust your gut. Get back to the things that you enjoyed when you started making the work that you’re making.

Michael Gilbride of the MAD Records Collective and I sat down for an hour-long conversation about what actually matters when building a music career in 2026.

• Stop chasing vanity metrics. Having 50,000 Spotify listeners means nothing if you can’t reach those people when you have something to sell.
• We dove into lots of good stuff during this chat:
• Michael’s stark data point: 50,000 monthly listeners = one non-friend at his show
• Artists with small, engaged email lists are booking venues, selling out shows, making real Bandcamp revenue
• Sturgill Simpson released his latest album vinyl/CD/tape only—no streaming
• Creating friction isn’t a sacrifice, it’s smart business—increases fan commitment
• When fans go out of their way to support you, they convert from passive listeners to real fans
• Same principle for email: people who subscribe and open are demonstrating genuine interest
• Discussion covered economics of leaving streaming, potential comeback of physical mail, embracing business skills without sacrificing creativity

The core themes are this: stop building audiences you can’t reach (the Oatmeal is pushing his email list over socials), and don’t be afraid to focus on actually selling something!

If you go by this post, “How Instagram creators are bringing their followers to Substack,” there are so many ways to get your Instagram followers to subscribe to your Substack newsletter! Video! Images! Text! Get creative!

In reality, however, your Instagram followers are likely very content to stay on Instagram.

Consider that best selling author Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat Pray Love) has 1.2M Instagram followers, but just 203,000 subscribers. Sure, 203,000 email subscribers is great, but it’s still less than 20% of her following on Instagram.

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From strategist and facilitator Caitlin Mayance,

Hey brands, why you still sending out storyless emails in 2026? You have direct access to a personal inbox – no algorithmic nonsense – and you’re leading with a promo or tiny lil ad?! Come on

When the bare minimum is copy and pasting your pre-existing marketing materials and hitting send to ALL is your strategy, expect bare minimum results.

Some of the most fascinating stories are being told on rented platforms, while email newsletters are filled with recycled social media images and [$NAME] placeholders.

I got a newsletter awhile back from a talented musician, and they casually mentioned they’ve got new music available, but if you want to hear it you need to reply to the email.

In one our Escape Pod Zoom calls someone mentioned how they leave “easter eggs” in their newsletters, usually a phrase that someone needs to include when they reply.

Parker Gates sent me this link (it’s an Instagram link, sorry!) about artist Jon Bellion and how he sent his fans to websites without linking to them (they had to type them into a browser from a screen shot), used message boards, and sent out music via WeTransfer.

Don’t just wonder who your biggest fans are – send them on adventures and see who makes it back alive.