The 3 simplest ways to clean up your email list this week 

If opening your email account gives you the heebie-jeebies, like walking into a cottage mid-renovation with no ceiling and a leak dripping in the corner, you’re not alone. That is my literal home set-up right now! 

Whether you’re emailing regularly or haven’t peeked under the dust sheets in months, I’m sorry to say there’s a high chance things are messier than you remember. That’s normal. Most solopreneurs and small business owners I meet are juggling client work, business admin, finance, other marketing efforts, home, life and more, so not cleaning email lists and analysing automations will not be high up on their list. 

There is good news. Your email system doesn’t need a complete overhaul, it just needs a tidy-up.  

Here are three simple tasks that can make your MailerLite setup (or any email set-up) feel calmer, cleaner and way less chaotic. Plus I’m pretty sure you can tackle them this week. Unless it’s Sunday, then that might be a bit of a stretch… 

Why your email system feels messy and what you can do about it 

Email tech stacks tend to accumulate clutter like that drawer in your kitchen, the one with the batteries, dog poo bags, Christmas stamps from 3 years ago and 17 pens, all of which leak. 

You’ve probably tested forms, played with automations, or uploaded a group of contacts at some point, but didn’t quite come back to tidy it up. The result? Duplicated groups, outdated automation steps, forms that don’t quite flow and a low-key fear that if someone actually signs up, they’ll get stuck in the wrong sequence or worse…hear nothing at all. 

This post is here to stop the spiral without the overwhelm - three tidy-up tasks that make everything easier going forward. 

 1. Archive or rename the chaos 

Old forms. Random groups. Automations you’re not even sure are active anymore. You don’t have to delete everything, especially if you’re unsure what’s still connected, but archiving or clearly renaming things makes a huge difference. In MailerLite you can create folders for forms, landing pages and automations to help you distinguish between what does what. Clear labelling helps too! 

Why this matters more than you think 

• You’ll stop accidentally picking the wrong group when creating a campaign. 

• You’ll avoid duplicating efforts “Wait, didn’t I already have a freebie group?” 

• You’ll be able to spot what’s working and what needs to be binned. 

Action: 

Go into your “Groups,” “Forms,” “Sites” and “Automations” tabs - anything you don’t need right now, either: 

• Add to an archive folder, or 

• Rename it with something like “OLD – [name]” 

You could even do both! 

2. Reconnect automations to real goals

Automations should feel like helpful behind-the-scenes elves, not clunky tech experiments from 4 year ago. Most accounts I audit have at least one automation that starts strong and then fizzles out. 

Question: What’s the one journey you want your new subscriber to go on this month? 

Focus on your welcome flow first - you don’t need a 12-part, multi-pathway funnel to make it inviting. Start with: 

• A hello and welcome to the list email 

• Follow-up introducing you, your vibe, or a useful tip/blog 

• Add one more email linking letting them know what’s in it for them, you could also link to your best content or services 

Action: 

Go to your automation tab and pick one automation to either: 

• Review and clean up, or 

• If it doesn’t align with what you do, how you work or what you offer, turn it off. 

IF, big IF, you are emailing regularly, you may not want to go beyond one welcome email and that’s ok, but if you’re a monthly/bi-monthly emailer you may want to consider 2 or 3 emails nicely spaced apart so it fits more with your regular rhythm. There’s no sense in sending out 5 emails day after day if you have no intention of emailing again for 2 months.  

3. Check your forms, links and thank you pages 

Broken form? Outdated thank-you page? Mislabelled group? It happens. But these tiny errors can kill your whole vibe  and they’re often the first thing a subscriber sees. 

Start where your subscribers start, visit your: 

• Website, social links - wherever your signup forms live 

• Embedded forms on sales or landing pages 

• Success (thank-you) page or confirmation message 

Does the form still work? Are they added to the right group? After they’ve clicked the submit button do they get a wee success message? 

Action: 

Test each form like a new subscriber. Fill it out and check what happens next. If something’s broken or jarring, make a note to fix or update it. Even better, fix it right there and then! 

 What happens next? 

After these three simple actions, you’ll: 

• Feel more confident sending an email (because your list isn’t a mess) 

• Know your welcome emails are flowing (and saying the right thing) 

• Be able to plan ahead without the mental clutter 

Bonus tip: Start a “To-Fix” notes list  

Not everything needs to be fixed today. As you go, jot down things you notice. Maybe it’s a wonky link, a form that needs rewording, or a segment you want to create. 

Use your notes app, a sticky note, Google doc, task management app (hard recommend Asana) or physical notebook (old skool) to help you stay in motion without being bamboozled. 

Email is allowed to be simple 

You don’t need to burn down your system or build a mega funnel. You just need a clean(ish) space to work with, one that supports your business instead of stressing you out. 

MailerLite is flexible enough to grow with you, but you’ve got to give it a solid foundation to start with. These small clean-ups? They are the foundation.