Episode Details

You could post the best Instagram post of your life and hardly anybody would see it. Meanwhile, I have more than 74,000 people on my email list, which is way more than whoever follows me on social media. And that’s not an accident.

When my parents died within the same year, I didn’t have the capacity to be on social media. So I went all in on my email list, and it became the life raft that kept my business afloat. In this episode, recorded from Kit Studios in NYC, I’m sharing exactly what’s growing my list right now in 2026: Meta ads, ManyChat DMs (including the freebie that brought in 205 signups in a single month), referrals, and Kit’s creator referral program. I’ll also share the four things I’d do if I started over tomorrow, and what’s NOT working with my emails (plus the fun, very lawyer-y revamp I’m making to Sam’s Sidebar).

👩🏻‍💻 Join me for my free workshop with Kit, What’s in Sam Vander Wielen’s Kit?, on Tuesday, November 10 at 3 PM ET. Can’t make it live? Sign up anyway and we’ll send you the replay, plus an exclusive Kit deal just for registrants. Save your spot here → https://partners.kit.com/samvw-workshop

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How my email list became the life raft that kept my business afloat through the hardest season of my life
• Why people who read emails are the ones who actually buy (and why your Instagram followers probably aren't)
• The four list-building strategies bringing in subscribers right now, including how one freebie brought in 205 signups in a single month through Instagram DMs alone
• The four things I'd do on day one if I started building my email list over tomorrow
• What's NOT working with my emails right now, and the fun (and very lawyer-y) revamp I'm making to Sam's Sidebar

Click here to find the full show notes and transcript for this episode.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Save your spot for my free workshop with Kit, What's in Sam Vander Wielen's Kit? (Tuesday, November 10 at 3 PM ET; replay sent to everyone who registers)
• Sign up for my free weekly email, Sam's Sidebar
• If you have a question you’d like Sam to answer on a future podcast episode, you can submit it here.
• Click here to be notified when new episodes of On Your Terms® come out

CONNECT:

• Get Sam's weekly newsletter, Sam's Sidebar
• Follow Sam on Instagram
• Follow Sam on YouTube
• Subscribe to Sam's Substack
• Take Sam's free legal workshop "5 Steps to Legally Protect & Grow Your Online Business"

DISCLAIMER