Email Marketing & Newsletter Strategy

1. Overview

Email marketing is one of JLF's strongest direct channels — a small, high-quality list of designers, media, past clients, and industry contacts. Infrastructure is in place. The newsletter is drafted and ready. The only blocker is Jason's photos and final approval.

Current status (as of March 2026):

• Mailchimp account connected — API key active, 264 contacts imported with tags
• Newsletter draft complete (Google Doc — needs Jason photos + review before send)
• Contact database built in Airtable with 313 total records across three tables
• Segments tagged: Designer, Design Firm, Press, Friend, Maker, Retail, Gallery, Client, Vendor

This document consolidates platform research, contact database structure, newsletter strategy, and next steps into one reference.

2. Contact Database

The contact database lives in Airtable (base: Contacts / Email Lists, appQfmHfKdHbyBmw3). Three tables:

Contacts — 94 records

Main list: clients, designers, vendors, partners, community. Tagged in Mailchimp with segment labels.

Chicago Design Firms — 130 records

Tiered by size and relationship potential:

• Up and Comer (~15 firms) — growing practices, ideal PR targets
• Established Boutique (~35 firms) — primary JLF client profile
• Large Firm (~8 firms, 10+ employees)
• Junior Designer (~5 contacts)
• Inactive / Relocated (~12)

Media Contacts — 89 records

• Chicago local: gb&d Magazine (Chicago-based), Lee Bey (Sun-Times)
• Design blogs: Core77, Remodelista, Curbed, decor8
• Sustainability: Inhabitat, Treehugger
• Podcasts: Clever with Amy Devers (Amy is a furniture maker — natural fit)
• Premium: T Magazine, PIN-UP, Business of Home

High-priority designers to keep warm:

Wendy Labrum (1stDibs 50 list 2024), Kate Taylor, Jen Talbot, Madeline Gelis, Emily Mackie / Inspired Interiors, Shelley Johnstone

Mailchimp tags (264 contacts imported):

Designer (47), Design Firm (109), Press (62), Friend (14), Maker (14), Retail (8), Gallery (5), Client (3), Vendor (2)

3. Newsletter Strategy

Format and tone:

Short. Warm. Reads like a note from Jason, not a marketing email. 2-3 sections per issue. Personality-driven. No promotional language.

Recommended structure per issue:

• What's on the bench — current project or process glimpse
• Studio news — Belden Woodshop, availability, upcoming work
• One beautiful thing — standout photo with a short story

Frequency: Quarterly to start. Low-pressure, high-quality.

Audience: Primary audience is designers and design firms. Past clients secondary. Press gets its own outreach cadence — newsletter is supplemental for them.

Style reference:

The Weaving Mill (Chicago maker, Emily) produces newsletters Jason admires: "Your emails are honestly so good." What works: warm conversational tone, mix of content, cross-promotes other makers, short and scannable. Good reference for tone — not for structure (their product mix is different from JLF's).

Other strong newsletter references in the maker/furniture space: Commune Design, Workstead, Fort Standard. Common thread: brief, editorial, image-forward. Never salesy.

Newsletter draft:

Exists as a Google Doc (see Source File). Needs: Jason photos, subject line, and final review before send.

4. Platform

Mailchimp — decided Feb 12, 2026

Chosen because: industry standard, Jason's designer contacts (Kadlec Design) already use it, integrates with everything, free plan handles current list size comfortably.

Free plan: up to 500 contacts / 1,000 emails per month. Currently at 264 contacts — well within free tier.

API key location: C:/Users/mail/.claude.json under projects["C:/Users/mail"].mcpServers.airtable.env.AIRTABLE_API_KEY

Account name: jlfurniture | List ID: 3537230565 | Datacenter: us2

Platforms evaluated but not chosen:

• MailerLite — Clean interface, free up to 1,000 subscribers, good alternative if Mailchimp pricing becomes an issue at scale
• Brevo — Charges by volume (not list size), good for infrequent senders, built-in CRM
• Klaviyo — Overkill without heavy e-commerce volume
• ActiveCampaign — Too complex for this use case

5. Next Steps

Done:

• Mailchimp account connected, API key active
• 264 contacts imported with tags
• Airtable contact database complete (94 + 130 + 89 records)
• Newsletter draft written

Waiting on Jason:

• Photos for first newsletter (recent project shots, studio)
• Subject line approval
• Final review and send approval

Once Jason approves:

• Claude finalizes draft with photos dropped in
• Test send to 5-10 close contacts
• Review open rates
• Full list send

SOURCES & REFERENCES

• Mailchimp — Email marketing platform (selected)
• MailerLite — Email platform alternative
• Brevo — Email platform alternative
• Klaviyo — E-commerce email platform
• ActiveCampaign — Marketing automation platform
• Airtable — Contact database
• Business of Home — Design industry publication
• Core77 — Design publication
• Remodelista — Design publication
• 1stDibs — Luxury design marketplace