The Email Platform I've Used Since Day One (And Still Recommend to Everyone)

I've been using Flodesk since their beta days in 2019. Before that, I was using a rotating lineup of other email platforms — for my own business and for clients — and every single one of them had the same problem.

They were clunky. They had a learning curve that never quite flattened out. And they were, to put it plainly, not pretty. You'd spend time building an email and it would land in someone's inbox looking like it was designed in 2009.

Then Flodesk came along and did something no email platform had really done before: it made beautiful emails the default, not a design project.

That was enough to get my attention. Five-plus years later, it's still the platform I use every single day.

What Made Flodesk Different From the Start

Flodesk was built to be visually stunning right out of the box. The templates are genuinely beautiful — the kind that make your emails look intentional and on-brand without spending an hour fussing with formatting. For someone who cares deeply about how things look (occupational hazard), that mattered immediately.

But the design wasn't the only thing. The usability is what made me stay.

It's one of the most intuitive platforms I've ever used. If you're new to email marketing and the idea of setting up workflows and opt-in forms sounds technical and intimidating — Flodesk is the platform I'd hand you first. The learning curve is genuinely minimal. You can get something beautiful out the door faster than you'd expect.

It also doesn't hurt that Flodesk is female-founded. That's something I've appreciated from the beginning, and it's part of why I've been a Flodesk partner since I first signed up.

How I Use It Every Week

Flodesk is part of my business almost every single day, whether I'm working on my own marketing or setting things up for a client.

The Morning Pour. My weekly newsletter goes out every Tuesday through Flodesk. It's where my email list lives, and it's the content channel I invest in most consistently. Flodesk makes it easy to keep each issue looking polished and on-brand without starting from scratch every week.

Promotional emails. When I'm promoting services or have something launching, those dedicated emails go through Flodesk too. Having beautiful, on-brand templates ready means I'm not losing time to formatting when I should be focused on the message.

Freebie delivery and opt-in forms. I use Flodesk to deliver freebies, create opt-in forms that live on my website, and trigger automated welcome sequences when someone new joins my list. Once those workflows are set up, they run on their own. Someone downloads a freebie, they're automatically added to the right sequence, and the right emails go out without me touching a thing.

Link in bio. Flodesk has a link in bio feature that I use on Instagram. Instead of sending people to a single link, you can create a simple page with multiple links plus an email opt-in — all in one place. It's a great way to grow your list directly from Instagram without needing a full website to make it work.

HoneyBook integration. Flodesk connects directly with HoneyBook, which is the client management platform I use to run every project. The two talk to each other, which keeps my systems connected and my client experience consistent from first inquiry through the end of a project.

Why Email Marketing Matters More Than Most People Think

If you're a service provider who hasn't prioritized building an email list yet, here's my honest take: it's one of the most important things you can do for your business.

Your email list is yours. Those subscribers — their names, their email addresses, the relationship you've built with them — you own all of that. Social media is rented space. Platforms go down, algorithms change, accounts get restricted. At any point, you could lose access to every follower you've worked to build. Your email list doesn't disappear when Instagram has an outage.

Building an email list means building something that belongs to your business long-term. And Flodesk makes it genuinely easy to do that in a way that looks good while you do it.

A Note for Business Owners Who Don't Have a Website Yet

This is something I tell new business owners all the time: you don't need a website to start building your email list.

Flodesk's opt-in forms and link in bio tool mean you can start collecting emails and delivering freebies before your website is even live. If you're in the early stages and want to know exactly how to set that up, I wrote a full post walking through it.

→ Read: No Website? No Problem. Here's How to Launch Your Business With Flodesk

How I Use Flodesk for Clients

Beyond my own business, Flodesk is the platform I set up for clients who are ready to get serious about email marketing.

Whether it's part of a larger web design project or a standalone setup, I'll build out their templates, create their workflows, and then walk them through exactly how to go in and make updates on their own. The goal is always the same: hand them something that looks polished, works on autopilot, and doesn't require a design degree to maintain.

If you're interested in having your Flodesk set up as part of a web project or on its own, that's a conversation worth having. Just reach out and we can figure out what makes sense for where you are right now.

What I'd Tell Someone Who's Already on Another Platform

If you're on another email tool and things are genuinely working, I'm not here to tell you to blow it all up. But if you've ever thought "this is harder than it should be" or opened your sent emails and cringed a little — those feelings are worth paying attention to.

Flodesk is easier to use and better looking than most of the platforms I've worked with over the years. That's not a small thing when you're a service provider who needs to show up consistently in people's inboxes without it becoming a production every single time.

Ready to Try Flodesk?

If you've been thinking about making the switch — or you're starting fresh and want to get it right from the beginning — you can get 25% off your first year with my partner link.

Try Flodesk — 25% Off Your First Year →

I've been recommending Flodesk since before most people had heard of it. Five-plus years in, that hasn't changed.

This post contains an affiliate link. I only share tools I personally use and genuinely stand behind — Flodesk has been part of how I run Savvy & Style since 2019.