The Mindful Marketing Podcast

Episode: How I'm Prioritizing Email Marketing With Colie James [Business-First Creatives Podcast]

Host: Andréa Jones
Guest Host: Colie James (host of Business-First Creatives Podcast)
Date: December 9, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Andréa Jones dives into her intentional pivot from a social media-first marketing approach to prioritizing email marketing as her primary channel. Joined by Colie James, they discuss social media burnout, practical email strategies, the evolving role of AI in content creation, and how to develop a sustainable, holistic marketing ecosystem suited for real life—especially for business owners with many demands on their time.

Their candid, relatable conversation is peppered with high-impact stories and actionable insights, speaking to marketers, creatives, and small business owners exhausted by the constant hustle of social media.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Move Away from Social Media as the Centerpiece?

• Social media fatigue is widespread post-pandemic; content creation feels exhausting for many business owners.
  • Andréa: "The very idea of creating content to post on social media, just even thinking about it, we're like, ugh, do we have to?" [05:24]
• Both hosts have experienced burnout and found that an email-centered strategy is more sustainable, effective, and under their control.

2. Building a Holistic & Mindful Marketing Ecosystem

• Marketing should be integrated and flexible. Social media is no longer the star—it's a supporting channel for repurposing content and making connections.
  • Andréa: "My new tagline is simpler, smarter marketing for busy people ... we don't have time to follow the traditional advice of post three times a day and live in your stories. That doesn't work for us." [03:03]
• Importance of tailoring your marketing approach to life realities (kids, caregiving, chronic illness, etc.).

3. The Hard Data That Prompted the Shift

• Analyzing analytics revealed the truth: email lists drive more conversions and engagement than individual social platforms.
  • "I have more email subscribers on my list ... than any individual social media channel. My largest community, let's call it, is my email list." — Andréa [08:00]
• Recommends all business owners regularly review their own data and use tools like Metricool for deeper insights.
  • Colie: “Looking at your numbers is essential to figure out where people are coming from ... that’s just data you can’t ignore.” [09:03]

4. Email as the "Turkey" of Your Marketing Table

• Email is the main course; social media and other platforms are side dishes. Focus your efforts accordingly.
  • "It’s not about social media. It’s about what social media can do for my email list." — Andréa [08:00]
  • "Email is the only place you are in control of who sees your content." — Colie [11:26]

5. Embracing AI as Your Strategic Assistant

• Both hosts are enthusiastic users of AI and ChatGPT, using it to draft, organize, and synthesize emails and leverage personal stories.
  • Andréa: "I use AI as my assistant, not my brain ... I will tell it this story, like, this is the point that I want to make ... and then away we go." [19:22]
• The difference between “AI tells” and genuine voice is misunderstood—quality input and personal context ensure output feels authentic.
  • Colie: "What changes it is when each of us gives it our context, gives it our words, gives it our personal storytelling." [21:59]

6. Writing & Repurposing: The Email-First Approach

• Start with your email or podcast—the rest of your content can be repurposed, tweaked for each platform.
  • Andréa: "My primary platforms ... are my podcast and my email. They’re not even social media." [35:34]
  • Use AI for organization—helps batch, segment, and customize messaging for different audience groups.

7. The Power of Segmentation and Storytelling

• Use email segmentation for tailored, higher-conversion messaging.
  • Craft variations of the same email for different segments for big impact.
• AI and ChatGPT help generate multiple variations and extract storytelling gold from rambly voice notes or long transcripts.
  • Andréa: "When I’m writing, a lot of times now I’m like, okay, ChatGPT, tell me how many emails I have with these stories because I’ll just start talking ..." [28:24]

8. Using Analysis & Synthesis for Smarter Strategy

• Feeding past data and content to AI to uncover trends and inform future strategies—massive time-saver and perspective-shifter.
  • Andréa: “I can take a screenshot of, you know, my ConvertKit and say ... ‘What similarities do you see in these subject lines and open rates?’ ... This sort of analysis would have taken me hours to do manually and it’s minutes in Chatty." [32:36]

9. Giving Yourself Permission to Market Mindfully

• Play to your strengths: If you love email or podcasting, do that first. Repurpose elsewhere as energy allows.
  • "There are millions of ways to do everything and we're not telling you that you have to be podcast email first. We just happen to be twinsies and I love that. But if you are different, that is okay." — Colie [37:24]
• Understand your “ensemble cast” (tertiary platforms) will get repurposed content—not every platform needs original effort.

10. Mindset: Marketing That Fits Real Life

• Marketing advice is often too one-size-fits-all. Tailor channels and workflows to your life, your audience, your content style.
  • Andréa: "A lot of marketers don't acknowledge [preferences] ... We have to acknowledge the human behind the marketing first." [39:21]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Social Media Burnout:
  "We're not excited about it anymore because we've just all been here for so long." — Andréa [05:24]

• On Data-Driven Decisions:
  "When I have hard data of how much money I made off of someone saying, I heard you say this off the podcast and this is why I bought ... that's just data you can't ignore." — Colie [09:03]

• On Strategic Content Repurposing:
  “My custom channels: email, podcast. Those are my original thoughts. Everywhere else is repurposed. My ensemble cast—just be lucky if I just like straight up repurpose.” — Andréa [36:40]

• The Thanksgiving Analogy:
  “If you're planning out Thanksgiving dinner, to me email is like the turkey. You gotta have the turkey. But you can't not have side dishes. Social media to me is a Mac and cheese ... you can't not have it.” — Andréa [10:16]

• On Optimizing with AI:
  “I use AI as my assistant, not my brain.” — Andréa [19:22]
  “If everybody can just wrap their brain around ... you give it a task with your context, your words ... the rough draft that it gives you is going to be ... 90% of the way there.” — Colie [23:49]

• On Relatability and Human Stories:
  “There’s still a premium on human stories and human experiences.” — Andréa [19:22]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:03] Andréa describes her shift from social media strategist to “mindful marketing strategist” for holistic workflows.
• [05:24] Both discuss the collective fatigue around social media and why many are making the transition.
• [08:00] The “aha” moment: why tracking analytics made email the standout marketing channel.
• [10:16] The Thanksgiving analogy for weighting your channels.
• [11:26] Colie explains why email offers control over reach and delivery.
• [14:14] Andréa’s personal journey through her identity as a marketer and thought leader.
• [17:11] The importance of segmentation and direct communication via email and SMS.
• [18:08] Introduction to AI’s role in writing and marketing.
• [19:22] ChatGPT as assistant, not replacement.
• [23:49] How to leverage AI properly for speed and authenticity.
• [32:36] Using AI for analysis and synthesis of past content and data.
• [35:34] Structuring your marketing channels in primary, secondary, and tertiary tiers.
• [39:21] Addressing the mindset and emotional side of shifting your marketing focus.
• [42:06] Andréa previews her Big Inbox Energy training, including a custom ChatGPT workflow.
• [43:49] Lighthearted banter on Disney FastPass and personalized marketing journeys.

Resources Mentioned

• Metricool: Social media and analytics dashboard.
• Big Inbox Energy: Andréa’s three-part email writing framework (includes access to a custom ChatGPT).
  • Find it: bie.onlinedrea.com
• ChatGPT / AI tools: Used for drafting, story integration, segmentation, and analysis.

Final Takeaways

• Marketing shouldn’t feel like a second job you never applied for.
• Real connections and sustainable impact come from email and story-driven content, not endless social posts.
• AI is here to support your process—not replace your unique voice.
• Leverage your strengths; don’t force yourself into someone else’s marketing mold.
• Review and act on your data, make incremental shifts, and give yourself the grace to market mindfully.

For more, check out Andréa’s resources, join the Mindful Marketing Lab, or revisit this episode for encouragement to break the "shoulds" in your marketing routine.