“The days of renting or buying email lists are over. Email exchanges with aligned partners is the quickest, easiest, and cheapest way to grow your audience.”
In less than two years since its launch in January 2021, Food Gardening Network now reaches more than 300,000 unique active subscribers with daily email newsletters. While compelling content is key to the success, quick scalability has come from robust audience development efforts built upon a successful Email Exchange program.
“Our team has built relationships with hundreds of publishers for more than two decades,” says Mequoda founder and Food Gardening Network Executive Publisher Don Nicholas, “and now, we’re working with those same publishing professionals to build our audience and theirs.”
Mequoda’s Email Exchange program—which includes Food Gardening Network and Mequoda Publishing Network’s four other brands—is the essence of simplicity, where publishers with similar audiences agree to reciprocal marketing efforts. “We send an email extra newsletter promoting our partner’s offer, and they send a reciprocal effort promoting our freebies to their list—and that drives our audience development program,” says Christy Page, Mequoda’s Sponsorship and Operations Director.
And the benefits of Mequoda’s Email Exchange program are compelling:
- Email exchanges are quick email list-builders.
- Email exchanges are inexpensive.
- Email exchanges are low risk—a great way to reach like-minded demographic audience segments.
- Email exchanges are easy to execute.
- Email exchanges are powerful “endorsements”—with aligned partners sending offers to their email lists, the implied endorsement helps boost response.
Successful Email Exchange partners for Mequoda’s brands include the obvious gardening, cooking, and crafting lists with similar demographics and do-it-yourself lifestyles. Mequoda has likewise been successful with a wide variety of travel, health, and spirituality brands that also have similar demographics.
Mequoda has now become an industry leader in promoting and executing Email Exchanges with like-minded partners.
“Building a new media brand like Food Gardening Network from scratch is a heavy lift,” says Nicholas. “We are following all of our best practices around search engine optimization, social media optimization, and paid media campaigns. At the end of the day, our Email Exchange program is far and away our biggest source of new audience members.”
About Food Gardening Network, a brand of Mequoda Publishing Network: Food Gardening Network was founded by home food gardeners and for home food gardeners—the mission is to serve gardeners with tips, tools, advice, and recipes for growing and enjoying good food at home. During the Covid-19 pandemic that began in 2020, it became apparent that home food gardening would grow beyond a hobby for many home gardeners. Food Gardening Network launched in January of 2021 as an all-encompassing resource for gardeners of all skill levels, with in-depth articles on planning, planting, maintaining, and harvesting home garden crops. Food Gardening Network also includes easy-to-prepare recipes so home gardeners can enjoy the fruits of their labors in delicious, creative ways.
About Mequoda Publishing Network: Mequoda provides actionable ideas, inspiration, and advice for gardeners, cooks, and crafting enthusiasts—with the goal of improving their lives and increasing personal enrichment and enjoyment. We operate five multiplatform consumer brands, including six magazines, 28 email newsletters, and more than 100 digital books. We partner with dozens of sponsors to help them market their products to our audiences. For nearly two decades, Mequoda has explored and expanded the evolving art and science of multiplatform publishing and marketing. With in-depth research, aggressive testing, and cutting-edge strategy, Mequoda has developed a reputation as an industry leader for building and operating multiplatform communities that serve, engage, and delight consumers, sponsors, partners, and affiliates.
Contact: To sign up or to get more information about Mequoda’s Email Exchange program—or to speak with any member of our team—please contact Christy Page at Christy@Mequoda.com or 781-556-1006.
