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Last month we hosted a session with Contra's CEO Ben Huffman and Stripo's CEO Dmytro Kudrenko on how freelancers can earn more with email marketing. If you haven't had a chance to watch it yet, here are the main takeaways.
1. The opportunity is real. Email returns $36-$42 for every $1 spent. Over 70% of businesses need outside help to execute their email marketing. And on Contra, email marketing projects average $2,000+ per engagement.
2. One project can become a retainer. The path: one-off design from a brief, then original creative, then A/B variants, then a full email design system (modules, brand kit, reusable templates). Once you build the system, maintaining it is the retainer.
3. Stop selling emails. Sell systems. When a client's brand kit, module library, and templates are all built by you, switching means rebuilding from scratch. That's not lock-in. That's value.
4. Speed is capacity. Faster production means more clients, more campaigns, same hours. holito went from slow, generic email production to 10x faster with a reusable design system built in Stripo.
5. Interactive content is a differentiator. Quizzes, scratch cards, polls inside emails. When a client's subscribers start expecting that from every campaign, and only you can deliver it, you stop being a vendor and become infrastructure.
@Omotayo A, one of our Stripo experts on Contra, is a good example of this approach in practice. He builds reusable module libraries that carry across client projects, connects each client's ESP directly to his Stripo account, and tests everything independently before handoff. One system, multiple clients.
Full session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrxwB43ML5g
What's your approach to turning one-off email projects into recurring work?
The network for creativity
Join 1.25M professional creatives like you
Connect with clients, get discovered, and run your business 100% commission-free
Creatives on Contra have earned over $150M and we are just getting started
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A client came to me with 2,000 subscribers and $0 in email revenue.
90 days later? Their abandoned cart flow alone was recovering 18% of lost sales every week.
No paid ads. No fancy tricks.
Just the right flows, the right segments, and emails people actually want to open.
This is what I do as an Email Marketing Specialist. I build Klaviyo systems that turn your list into your most profitable sales channel.
Services I offer:
→ Klaviyo & Mailchimp setup
→ Automated flows (welcome, cart, win-back)
→ Newsletter campaigns
→ Email audit & strategy
→ Zapier/n8n automation
Working with eCommerce, SaaS & service brands.
Let's build yours → DM me 🚀
Looks stunning
I made a post comparing @Contra HQ freelancers with the average freelancer.
As you may know, freelancers on other platforms compete against hundreds of others for the same job, and most of those gigs barely pay anything.
So I put this together to paint a clear picture of what sets the two apart.
TRUE 💯
Project: Email System Build — Multi-Niche Ecom
Scope: Full Klaviyo email programme built from zero across multiple Shopify brands.
The brief: take a brand with an email list and no real system, and build everything correctly in the right order — technical foundation first, flows second, campaigns third.
What was built:
Technical foundation:
SPF, DKIM, DMARC authentication. Dedicated sending subdomain. Shopify integration with full historical data sync. Added to Cart metric installation. UTM capture JavaScript for avatar tracking. Hidden fields on all opt-in forms. Deliverability baseline verified at 9+/10 on mail-tester.com.
Opt-in system:
Form copy, design brief, and success page. Two-list system for offer testing. Preferences page with reduced-frequency option (reduces unsubscribes by giving subscribers a middle path). Primary Tab Footer block to ensure Gmail Primary inbox placement.
Flows (11 total):
Welcome Series (standard + avatar-specific per UTM tag), Abandoned Checkout, Abandoned Cart, Browse Abandonment, Site Abandonment, First Time Buyers Series, Customer Winback, Repeat Buyers Series, VIP Flow, Sunset Unengaged.
Segmentation:
12 core Klaviyo segments with correct OR logic. Avatar UTM segments auto-populated by ad traffic. Organic catch-all segment. In Welcome Series property to exclude active welcome subscribers from all campaign sends.
Campaigns:
Monthly calendar built on a 5-type campaign rotation. 80% design, 10% plain text, 10% hybrid format ratio. Every campaign tracked by Revenue Per Recipient.
Outcome: Email contributing 35–50% of total store revenue within 90 days of full deployment.
Niches: supplements, B2B industrial, kratom, skincare, fashion.
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