Grow your ecommerce store · Email marketing · 3 min read
How to Land Your First Email Marketing Client
Short answer
Pick a niche, build two or three sample flows or a spec project to show your skills, then reach out personally to businesses with obvious email gaps, offering a short, specific audit of what they're missing. Your first client usually comes from your network or a targeted, personalized pitch, not from mass cold email.
The first client is the hardest. You have skills but no testimonials, and prospects want proof you can't yet provide. The way through is to make your offer specific, show competence in advance and reach out like a person, not a spam machine.
1. Choose a niche
"Email marketing for businesses" is forgettable. "Klaviyo flows for skincare brands on Shopify" is memorable and makes everything else easier:
- You learn the niche's customer journey and seasonality.
- Your samples speak directly to prospects.
- Referrals flow within tight-knit industries.
You can broaden later. Start narrow.
2. Build proof before you have clients
Spec flows. Create a demo account and build a welcome series, abandoned cart flow and post-purchase sequence for a fictional brand in your niche. Screenshot the flows and emails.
Teardowns. Sign up for 10 brands' emails in your niche and write short breakdowns of what they do well and what's missing. Post them on LinkedIn or a simple website.
Certifications. Platforms like Klaviyo offer free training and certifications. They won't win clients alone but add credibility.
Never present spec work as client work, and don't use other brands' names as if they hired you.
3. Package a clear first offer
Make it easy to say yes:
- A fixed-price flow build: welcome series plus abandoned cart, delivered in two weeks.
- An email audit: a recorded walkthrough of a store's current setup with a prioritized fix list.
Clear scope, clear price, clear outcome. See how much to charge for email marketing for pricing models.
4. Find prospects with obvious gaps
Look for stores that:
- Have decent traffic signals (active ads, reviews, social following)
- Show no email signup form or an unbranded default pop-up
- Don't send a welcome email after you subscribe
- Don't send cart reminders when you abandon a cart
Subscribe and test. If you add something to the cart, enter your email at checkout and never hear back, that's a concrete gap you can point to.
5. Reach out personally
A good first message is short and specific:
"Hi [name], I subscribed to [brand] last week and noticed I didn't receive a welcome email, and there wasn't a reminder after I left a [product] in my cart. Those two flows usually bring in sales on autopilot for Shopify brands. I put together a 3-minute video showing what I'd set up. Want me to send it?"
Then send a short Loom-style video if they say yes. Personalized outreach takes longer per message but converts far better than templates. Keep it compliant with anti-spam laws in your region and stop if someone isn't interested.
6. Use your network
Tell people what you do. Former colleagues, friends with side businesses, designers and Shopify developers who need an email partner. Many first clients come from someone who knew you before you launched.
7. Partner with adjacent freelancers
Shopify developers, web designers, photographers and ad specialists all work with stores that need email. Offer a referral arrangement or bundle services.
8. Show up in communities
Answer email questions in founder communities, Facebook groups for store owners and Reddit threads. Be helpful without pitching. People DM the person who keeps giving good answers.
9. Overdeliver on client one
Your first client is your case study, testimonial and referral source. Communicate clearly, deliver on time, report results honestly and ask for a testimonial and referrals once you've earned them.
Common mistakes
- Pitching "email marketing" generally instead of a specific outcome
- Mass cold emailing scraped lists
- Underpricing so much you can't afford to do good work
- Promising specific revenue numbers
Once you've landed a few clients, read how to grow a digital marketing agency fast and how to start a marketing agency from scratch.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a portfolio to get my first client?
It helps, but you can create one with spec work: redesign a real brand's welcome email (without claiming they're a client) or build a demo account with sample flows.
Should I work for free to get started?
A paid starter project at a reduced rate is usually better than free work. It sets expectations and attracts clients who value the service.
Where do email marketing clients come from?
Personal network, referrals, communities where store owners gather, partnerships with designers or developers, LinkedIn and targeted outreach.
Sources and further reading
Platform features, prices and policies change. Check the official help pages linked above before you act on a detail that matters to your store.