Client questions and my answers

Every month, from several sources, I field questions about ConvertKit. Some are new and never asked (of me) before – and others are regulars that pop up quite often.

I thought it would be helpful to share some of these with you so you can benefit from the questions asked, and from the answer I give for each one.

Question #1:
Do I need a domain to use ConvertKit?

The short answer is “yes“.

Before February 2024, the answer would’ve been different, but since ‘Yahoogle’s’ arrival, things have changed.

And just before I get into the answer, if you’re unsure what a ‘domain‘ is – essentially it’s the web address (normally) for the website you own; e.g. my domain is provenflows.com. It’s also used for email addresses, such as john@provenflows.com.

‘Yahoogle‘ is the portmanteau that was created when Yahoo and Google collectively (or at least, simultaneously) announced a crack-down on the amount of spam email that was being sent and received.

To help combat the problem, they announced that email marketers would now need to have their email domains authenticated and they’d not be of the Hotmail/Gmail ilk – they’d need to be a properly registered domain that’s associated with your emailing account.

Before Yahoogle, you could create an account with ConvertKit using your Hotmail or Gmail account (or any other provider) and you’d be up and running in no time – that time has gone!

But don’t fret – getting a domain is simple and affordable, starting from just a few £s or $s per year. You don’t really ever ‘own’ a domain, but instead pay for the annual use of it – prices are normally about £10-£30 per year.

To buy a domain, you can shop at any of the many providers; sites like GoDaddy, Hostinger, and Ionos.

Once you have your domain secured, you need to connect it to your ConvertKit account, however, ConvertKit makes this easy with their automated connection tool.

If you want more information, check out this article I created to show you the end-to-end process… 👇

Watch the video

Question #2:
Is ConvertKit a CRM too?

No, and yes.

ConvertKit is an email marketing platform you can add CRM capabilities to using 3rd party apps.

In Spring 2024, founder and CEO Nathan Barry announced that ConvertKit was launching an ‘App Store‘ that would allow developers from around the world to develop apps to complement the native functions of the platform.

One of the first 5 apps to be listed is called ‘KitBoard‘. It’s a lightweight CRM interface designed to deliver basic CRM functionality to the platform.

Despite it not being a full-blown standalone CRM platform, it brings the main CRM-type functions you’d want – things like…

• Add notes to a profile
• Set reminders
• Check email conversations
• Activity log

The layout is in a Kanban-type layout where subscribers make their way from column to column until they either become a client or decide they don’t want to.

If you’re looking for a feature-rich, enterprise-level CRM system, this is not it – but it does the job for most people who fit into the ‘creator’ space (which is where ConvertKit is targeted).

There is an additional cost for the KitBoard plugin, which is about £140/y ($180/y).

Question #3:
Is the Creator Network worth joining?

Yes, providing you have your system properly configured to use it effectively.

Firstly, if you’re unaware of the ‘Creator Network‘, it’s (as the name suggests) a network of creators (i.e. solopreneurs, freelancers, coaches, consultants etc.) who have a profile (their Creator Profile’) listed on the platform, meaning others can recommend each other to their subscribers if they believe them to be a good fit.

It’s also possible to pay for recommendations where you set a monthly amount you’re willing to pay to have other creators recommend you. Equally, you can be paid to recommend your audience to others.

One thing I recommend when joining the Creator Network is to take steps to ensure all new subscribers joining your list via the channel are monitored closely to check for engagement.

In my ConvertKit process setup, I check for engagement in the first 21 days and if subscribers haven’t opened any of my emails, I automatically unsubscribe them to maintain a clean email list of engaged subscribers, and a high deliverability rate on my account.

The Creator Network is free to join on all ConvertKit plans.

Question #4:
Can I create landing pages in ConvertKit?

Yes, creating landing pages in ConvertKit is one of its core features. With a range of templates to choose from, you can select something that looks and feels right and edit it to make it match your needs.

If you’re unsure what a landing page is, essentially, it’s a web page hosted by ConvertKit where interested leads can subscribe to your email list, normally in exchange for something of value you’re offering them.

We’ve all seen them before, and probably submitted our details via one of them – below is an example of one of mine;

You can see that a landing page typically has a single desired outcome – to have people subscribe to your list.

Whenever I create a landing page, I also create a sequence of emails that are drip-fed to each subscriber after they join the list. Each email is designed to support the ‘lead magnet’ that was given away on the landing page (the lead magnet above was free training).

Question #5:
Can I create groups in ConvertKit?

No, ConvertKit is not a community platform.

It does allow you to have an integrated platform where you can host your community and share information between both systems.

It has a native integration with Mighty Networks (MN), meaning you can refer to and include in your emails, those assets in MN, e.g. planned calls, shared documents, member details etc. – this kind of functionality would be much more difficult to do with another community platform via a 3rd party connector like ‘Zapier‘ or ‘Integrately‘.

ConvertKit always maintains that it wants to remain a platform that’s really good at being an email marketing platform, and to leave other specialist features to businesses who do those as a speciality (Mighty Networks being a case in point).

Of course, as many other ConvertKit users do, you can host your communities using free social platforms where your subscribers can gather at will, e.g. Facebook Groups or LinkedIn Groups – the major downside to this approach is the lack of synchronisation with your ConvertKit system.

Question #6:
Do I need a website with ConvertKit?

No, you certainly do not NEED a website, however, I always advocate having one as it’s such a useful resource to have in your business.

ConvertKit provides a feature called ‘creator Profile’ that allows you to craft your very own mini-website (up to 7 pages), so that can be useful if you don’t have a website.

A website is such an integral part of any small business, especially a service-based one that sells and delivers services either online or digitally.

One of ConvertKit’s tools that comes with your subscription is their WordPress plugin. Once installed and configured to behave just as you need it to, it opens up a raft of opportunities you can’t get elsewhere without investing in more software.

Here is a list of things you can do when you have a WordPress website and ConvertKit’s plugin installed;

• Automatically create a blog post on your website from a broadcast email you sent from ConvertKit.
• Automatically create and send an email in ConvertKit from a blog post you created on your WordPress website.
• Protect web pages from public consumption, and ask visitors to subscribe to your email list to read certain content, e.g. premium tutorials.
• Create member-only content that only those who have purchased a product or service from you can access (e.g. a digital course).
• Collect new subscribers from every web page using default opt-in forms.
• Personalise web page content for visiting subscribers; e.g. one subscriber who is interested in ’email marketing’ could be shown blogs on that topic, whereas another subscriber visiting the same page may be interested in ‘content marketing’, and would be shown blogs about that topic.

Aside from the benefits of integrating ConvertKit with your website, I also believe that in today’s competitive market, a website is more of a basic requirement than a nice-to-have extra.

Question #7:
Can I sell via ConvertKit?

Yes, and easily too.

ConvertKit has a feature built-in called ‘Commerce‘. From here, you can create and sell your products and services.

Internally, the things you sell are called ‘Products‘, however, this is semantics as you can pretty much sell whatever you like using the platform (physical products, aside – it’s not well suited to that type of business, IMO).

When first setting up your Commerce Products, you’ll be taken through a click-along process to connect Stripe (ConvertKit’s chosen payment merchant) to your bank account – once it’s connected, you’re good to go!

When it comes to what you sell via ConvertKit, you’re limited only by your imagination – here are some examples to give context;

• Downloadable digital products (PDFs, templates etc.)
• Coaching or consulting services
• Done-for-you services (e.g. design, copy, development etc.)
• Courses
• Webinars
• Newsletters
• Memberships (with recurring fees)

When configuring each Product, you can select various payment plans, including single-payment, split-payments, and recurring payments.

When you sell via ConvertKit’s Commerce platform, you have the bonus of being able to natively integrate your products and services into your emails – meaning it looks great and super-convenient for your subscribers.

Question #8:
Can I run two businesses with one ConvertKit account?

The short answer is “yes”, you can.

It does save you money, having just one subscription instead of two (if you’re using premium features that is), but also comes with minor inconveniences like having to decide on which email domain is the ‘default’ for each campaign you create and run.

That said, it does work well and is not difficult to manage.

The guy who asked this question has two businesses that he runs, one is a service-based consultancy and the second is an online digital course website.

With separate branding and email domains, there was a need to authenticate two domains, however, it works perfectly for his needs.

He does need to be conscious of which business he’s focused on when crafting content, but with that mindset applied when he’s working, it’s all good.

There are features of ConvertKit that do not lend themselves to having multiple profiles, specifically the Creator Profile which is limited to a single instance (which kinda makes sense when you think about it, right?).

So, my answer to the question is “yes”, you can – but only you can decide if the operational downsides outweigh the financial upside.

Question #9:
Is ConvertKit easy to use?

Well, that’s a relative question, isn’t it?

What makes something “easy” to use?

Answering the context I believe it was asked, I guess it’s easy to use compared to some other email marketing platforms (I could mention a few, but will resist!).

When using any tech platform, there are several contributing factors at play when it comes to ease of use;

• How technically proficient is the user?
• How complex a process is it to set up and use?
• Does the user have previous experience with similar platforms?
• How intuitive is the layout?
• What’s the help/support system like?
• Are there any follow-along tutorials?

I’ve used many email marketing platforms over the last few decades, and based on my experience, ConvertKit is up there with the most straightforward of platforms to get your head around.

There’s also a raft of help articles available via the online help library, so figuring out how to do certain things is mostly a click or two away.

I guess if I was to score ConvertKit on a scale of 0-10 (0 = impossible to understand and 10 = could not be easier), I’d rate it around the 7.5 mark (and yes, I appreciate that I’ve been using it for quite a while and probably more familiar with it than most).

My recommendation is to get yourself a free account at the ConvertKit website and give it a go yourself – it’s the best way to find out.

Question #10:
Can I bring my subscriber list with me if I move to ConvertKit?

Absolutely.

In fact, if you subscribe to a premium plan (either the Creator or Creator Pro plans) then the team at ConvertKit will do the subscriber transfer for you.

That comes with the proviso that you sought the permission of your subscribers to add them to your list.

One of the many benefits of owning your subscriber list is that you are the custodian and able to move it to whichever platform you wish.

When people subscribe to your list, they aren’t subscribing to your email marketing platform provider (e.g. Mailchimp, ConvertKit, Mailerlite etc.) – they’re subscribing to your email list.

When moving from one email marketing platform to another, it’s important to make sure you do so in a controlled and planned manner, otherwise, you could see a negative impact on your deliverability.

My recommendation for anyone thinking about moving from one platform to another is to only do so if you have a good reason to do so.

I see people jumping from one platform to another to chase the best deals or to try the latest trend, but in reality, that practice can cause problems with your email deliverability rates.

When you transfer, you need to reconfigure your DNS settings (these are tech settings for your domain that direct traffic to the relevant pages and mailboxes etc.).

The best thing to do, if you are considering transferring, is to talk to ConvertKit’s support team who will guide you through the process.

⚡️ Summary

This article is a list of 10 questions that I’ve been asked recently, a few of which you might be asking yourself, so hopefully, my answers will help you too.

ConvertKit, as you’ve undoubtedly gathered by now, is my preferred email marketing platform and the one I recommend other service-based small businesses use too.

If you’re considering using ConvertKit and want some pointers, let me know and I’ll give you some pointers.