Growing business in a pandemic

Andy Rogers is a musician, who is based in Ireland and plays acoustic pop guitar for live events and gigs. Andy also monetizes his business by selling CDs and merchandise. Prior to the pandemic, Andy traveled a lot internationally to Canada, US, New Zealand, and across Europe. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic, live events were almost stopped.

So, in the early phase of the first lockdown, more than a year ago, Andy decided to use GetResponse to even greater extent than before. He runs online marketing campaigns, nurtures his list, and monetizes his business online.

Having GetResponse on board is kind of like having a partner. I recommend it because you have a good track record for the last 15 years. Every time a new shiny object comes along, I’ll check it out but it’s never better than what I have with you!

Andy Rogers

Considering cost

Andy was initially drawn to GetResponse for its competitive and transparent pricing. GetResponse offered him a vast set of tools and features at an affordable price, without any hidden costs.

Typically, when I’m researching something, the cost is definitely a factor, especially since I am a solopreneur... I looked at you and some of your competitors and the reason I went with GetResponse was that you were certainly competitive in cost. And you were competitive in the features to increase the mailing list. Also, it was the automation features.

Andy Rogers

Andy has been with GetResponse for more than 15 years, and has stayed with GetResponse for more than just its pricing. He found that the GetResponse platform was more comprehensive, more intuitive, and far superior to its competitors.

Since the last 15 years, a lot has changed and many new features have been added. But even back then, I was very keen to develop a system, where it was on autopilot as much as possible.

Andy Rogers

GetResponse gave Andy the ability to automate his business, save time, make money, and grow his audience and his reach.

Bloodline of business

This ability to make a living and run a business as an independent artist kind of only exists because of GetResponse, and what you do. It gives the ability to have direct access to your audience and monetize that, as well as create an environment where they are happy to support. It also gives you the extra time to do the actual thing you need to do like write songs, create music, and go on tours!

Andy Rogers

Andy uses GetResponse mainly for email marketing. As a musician who travels and networks internationally, Andy needs an online platform to communicate and engage with his audience and to promote his music.

Growing my audience was from live events but also from various forms of online marketing, over the years – social media; but the core of that has always been my mailing list. It has been the primary, at the center of it all.

Andy Rogers

Andy runs regular campaigns to nurture his list and to market attractive packages, where his audience feels they are receiving something of value. Andy also uses lead magnets to gain new subscribers and followers. He encourages potential customers to join his list by offering an album for free in exchange for their email data. He then uses autoresponders to send the album in a series of emails over a period of 10 days.  

Because I have nurtured my audience by email mostly, that’s where most of my sales come from.

Andy Rogers

By using autoresponders, Andy can schedule emails for specific times, in a predetermined sequence to be sent out. He does not need to manually send each email every time or worry that the emails have reached his subscribers’ inboxes. GetResponse autoresponders guarantee deliverability. It makes it easy to nurture and integrate lists – and save time.

The autoresponder sequences for me are incredible. I need to pay the least attention to them once they’re working!

Andy Rogers

Andy employs list management tools to maintain separate lists, depending on location and other criteria, that ensure he is only sending out content that is relevant to his list. This has helped him build real connections with his audience and even convert some into customers.

For me, one of the real highlights is nurturing my list and developing a connection with my subscribers, where they would love me to come to their place!

Andy Rogers

To create an email, Andy chooses from a collection of predesigned templates, and then easily customizes it with a few drags and clicks. The email creator saves him time by storing his preferences and designs for reuse in the future. GetResponse’s code-free email editor is also extremely useful. It lets Andy drop the URL to a video, and it adds the produced video into the email. This gets a lot of clicks on his email and drives traffic directly to his videos. As he says:

anything that removes the friction of communication between me and my audience is really helpful.

Andy Rogers

and this tool does just that.

Andy believes that GetResponse assists him throughout the entire online marketing process where he can grow his audience, without him needing to do anything.

You have a track record and are a leader in the market. In terms of the features, you continue to add to your service and you’ve proven to be remarkably reliable for me. I don’t remember any issues and I’ve never had to connect support because something was broken!

Andy Rogers