Kris Hughes 🪓

Social Media Content Creator

Coaching ambitious freelancers to build better businesses.

Developing a strong marketing program isn't easy.
A couple of roadblocks stand in the way.
Some have to do with time, and others, resourcing.

Here's the typical scenario for many companies:
* They're doing some marketing content and storytelling now and then.
* They may occasionally fire off a cold campaign, or run some ads.
* Their marketing is 'good enough,' but they know it could be better.
* Marketing responsibilities are split between several different people.
* Who check the 'task boxes' begrudgingly.
* And the resulting work is disjointed at best, or confusing at worst.

For these companies, marketing is anything but strategic. Or the strategy is made of sticks and string when it should be concrete.

Things can be different, though.

Our work as Fractional Marketers helps these companies:
* Tell a more cohesive and powerful story
* Identify their core audience and create a marketing narrative that resonates
* Find the right channels to develop so effort isn't wasted
* Execute quickly on short-term opportunities and lay the foundation for long-term growth and sustainability 
* Install and execute on repeatable, predictable processes & strategies that continue to move the needle

We offer three options for engagement:

* It all begins with our Marketing Tune-Up. Over 30 days we'll take a 'look under the hood' of your current marketing and find 2-3 opportunities for quick wins that we can work on together. 
* Your investment for the Marketing Tune-Up is directly applied, to one of two monthly retainer options if you choose to keep working with us, the Scale plan and the Soar plan.
* Under the Scale plan we're developing warm and cold email outreach, an organic traffic engine, social media marketing, and thought leadership content to have things firing on all cylinders.
* Under the Soar plan, we become your marketing team, hiring freelancers from our network and going full-speed ahead to help you pour fuel on the fire of your marketing momentum.

You get two of us at Zanate—me and my wife Julie—who bring a combined 30+ years of experience in content, marketing, and storytelling to the table to help your portfolio companies custom-craft and execute a content strategy that's right for their unique situation and niche.

The cost?
Less than half the annualized cost of a typical full time Chief Marketing Officer, on the high end.

Interested to learn more?
It all starts with a free Marketing Strategy Call to set the table.

DM me or book 30 minutes here:
https://savvycal.com/krishughes/marketing-strategy-call

Founder --> Ghostwriter & Content Creator for Growing Coaches & Solopreneurs

Karen Grill

Strategies to Help Your Emails Land in the Inbox | Speaker | Email & Funnel Strategist for Coaches, Creators and Service Providers | Business Coach | WI Native

Helping Coaches, Consultants, and Service Providers Master Email Marketing Strategy and Deliverability

Whether you’re setting up your first email list or struggling with an existing one, the key to success is ensuring it’s built and maintained the right way.

I’m Karen, a Business Coach and Funnel Strategist with over 15 years of experience helping businesses unlock the power of email marketing. 

I specialize in setting up email lists with strategy and precision—and auditing existing lists to fix what’s not working.

If your emails are landing in spam, your open rates are down, or you’re just not sure where to start, I’ll help you build or refine a reliable email marketing system.


Here’s How I Help:
➡️ Email List Strategy & Setup:
I’ll help you build or refine your email list the right way, with a focus on audience alignment, segmentation, and proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC) to ensure your emails land in inboxes.

➡️ Email List Audit & Troubleshooting:
I’ll audit your existing list to uncover gaps in deliverability, engagement, and segmentation. From checking blocklists to fixing technical issues like authentication, I’ll make sure your email infrastructure is optimized for maximum results.

Imagine This:

Your emails consistently land in your subscribers’ inboxes, not spam.
Your open and click-through rates improve with each campaign.
Your email list is aligned with your audience, and every email you send has a purpose.
Whether you’re starting fresh or optimizing what you already have, I’ll help you turn your email list into a powerful tool for connection, engagement, and growth.

DM me today to get started.

📌 WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING
"My email list is a money maker.  I depend on it heavily to do a bunch of things.  And when the deliverability and bounce rates just climbed up I was alarmed.  I tried to fix the problem myself, which ended up making things a bit worse.  I had to shelf my list for almost a month.  Karen swooped in and was able to correctly diagnose the problem, which turned out to be a bit more complicated (Go Daddy, Gmail suite, old email ownership).  She gave me a great plans to fix, restore and get it back.  And BOOM.  I'm back online making cash with the list.  Thanks Karen!"  ~Doug Lawson

Let’s make your email list work for you.

DM me today to get started.

Founding Member

A business and social community centered around growing your brand, building your network, scaling your business, and establishing trust

I was number 13 on Friday the 13th.

Middle school.
Piano competition.

Big concert hall. Bright stage lights. Judges in the front row.

We had to:
Take a written theory test
Play three memorized pieces
Play scales and arpeggios on command

They assigned us numbers.

Mine was 13.
On Friday the 13th.

People joked about it.
“Ooo, bad sign.”
“Unlucky number.”

The number didn't bother me too much.

I was much more worried about something else.

There was a Chopin piece I was playing.
And there were a few measures with a 3 against 2 rhythm.

Technically, I could play it.

But when I focused too hard on playing it technically correct,
the music would tighten up.
Instead of flowing.

Sometimes when I practiced it from memory,
I would hit that section…
Freeze.
Restart.

That afternoon, under the lights,
I reached that measure.

And I kept going.

No stall.
No restart.

Not perfect.

But musical.

And the rest of the piece flowed.

I did well in the competition.

It was Friday the 13th.
I was number 13.
Nothing bad happened.

In fact, it was a memorable competition for me.

From then on, Friday the 13th never felt unlucky to me.
Neither did the number 13.

Because on that Friday the 13th, as number 13,
I played well.

The Emperor thought he was wearing magnificent new clothes.

The fabric was “exclusive.”
The tailoring was “advanced.”
Only the intelligent could see it.

Everyone around him nodded.

Beautiful. Stunning.

Until a child said what no one else would.

“He’s not wearing anything.”

I think about that story when I look at email marketing.

Open rates look fine.
Subscriber count looks healthy.
Emails are sending.
Nothing appears broken.

But underneath?

No proper authentication.
Old subscribers who haven’t engaged in years.
DMARC set to monitor and never reviewed.
Trust signals weaker than they should be.

It looks dressed.
It isn’t.

Email problems are often invisible until they aren’t.

Inbox systems don’t shout.
They quietly adjust.

And because nothing collapses overnight, people assume everything is fine.

Until reach drops.
Until something feels off and no one knows why.

AI isn’t changing this dynamic.
It’s exposing it faster.

Strong foundations aren’t flashy.
They aren’t exciting.
But they’re real.

And unlike the Emperor’s clothes, they actually exist.

The question isn’t whether your email looks fine.

It’s whether it actually is.

“I dread writing emails to my list.”

I hear this from people who did everything right.

They built the list.
Bought the course.
Set everything up properly.
They’ve even been consistent for months.

And still, every send feels like bracing for a verdict.

Low opens. Barely any clicks. Mostly silence.

So they wait.

For a day that feels safer.

And the list goes quiet.

But most of the time, it’s not about writing.

It’s about sending into a void and not knowing if anyone on the other end actually trusts you yet.

That’s not a motivation issue.

It’s what happens when there’s no clear feedback.

When you have no idea whether it’s landing, every send feels like a gamble instead of a conversation.

The fix isn’t confidence.

It’s knowing what’s actually happening.

Are your emails making the right people feel understood?

When that’s happening, hitting send gets lighter.

Not because doubt disappears, but because you have signals it’s connecting.

If emailing your list feels heavy right now, what part feels uncertain?

“I just bought a list of 5,000 contacts.

Now I can finally sell and scale.”

That’s not how email works.

Buying a list doesn’t give you reach.

It gives inbox providers a reason to distrust you.

I’ve seen this play out more times than I can count.

Someone buys a “targeted” list.

They send one email.

Everything looks fine on their side.

But inbox providers see something else.

High bounce rates.
No engagement history.
Signals that these emails weren’t expected.

Nothing explodes immediately.

Emails still send.
But trust drops fast.
That’s why people who buy lists are often confused.
They don’t see an error.
They just see their emails quietly stop performing.

Email list is permission-based.

If someone didn’t ask to hear from you, inbox providers assume your emails aren’t welcome either.

A small list of real, engaged subscribers will always outperform a large list of strangers.

Not just because it’s more ethical.

Because inbox providers are built to detect it.

Shortcuts feel faster.

They almost always make recovery slower.

Three people asked me this week if Gmail’s AI updates are going to “kill email.”

One asked if AI will decide who sees their messages. Another wondered if summaries will replace subject lines. Someone else asked if this is the end of email marketing.

Take a breath.

AI does not replace fundamentals. It reinforces them.

If inboxes are getting smarter about what they show, that does not mean you need tricks. It means the basics matter more.

Authentication matters.

Sending the right message to the right people at the right time. 

Segmenting with intention instead of sending one email to everyone. 

Cleaning your list instead of hoarding subscribers.

Actually reviewing your analytics. 

Checking your DMARC reports. 

Making sure your email trust setup is healthy.

None of that is flashy. But it is what inbox systems reward.

You do not win by trying to outsmart AI. You win by building trust signals consistently over time.

AI does not change the game. It exposes weak foundations faster.

Email has always been about relevance and reputation. That has not changed.

The enforcement just gets smarter.

If you have been building on clean foundations, you are not behind.

You are prepared.

Most Gmail inbox tests are misleading.

Here’s what usually happens:

Someone creates a fresh Gmail account.
They send their campaign to it.
They never open anything.
They check back later.

Promotions tab.

Panic.

“That must be what everyone sees.”

Not exactly.

Gmail does not have one universal inbox.
Each inbox is trained by behavior.

What you open.
What you ignore.
What you delete.
What you move between tabs.
What you reply to.

So when you send emails to a test Gmail inbox and never touch them, you’re teaching Gmail one thing:

“This sender isn’t important.”

Gmail listens.

Then people change subject lines.
Rewrite emails.
Assume their entire list is seeing their emails in the Promotions tab.

All based on an inbox they trained to ignore them.

The Promotions tab isn’t proof of a sender problem.

It’s proof the test inbox worked exactly as designed.

That test can still be useful:
	•	To confirm the email is delivered
	•	To check formatting and links
	•	To catch obvious technical issues

But it’s not a reliable way to judge real-world inbox placement.

One ignored inbox does not represent your entire list.

Your test inbox isn’t a verdict.
It’s a tool.

Use it wrong, and it will confirm exactly what you trained it to believe.

You can pour your soul into an email.

The story.
The rhythm.
The words that feel true.

And still have it disappear.

Not because the writing is bad.
Not because people do not want it.

But because inboxes never trusted the sender.

A copywriter said this to me last week.

“I do not care about the technical side.
I do not want to think about setup or segmentation.
I just want to write.”

I understand that.

But here is the part most writers never see.

If the technical foundation is not right,
your work does not get read.

It is not skimmed.
It is not ignored.

It simply does not arrive.

That means people cannot connect with what you wrote.
They cannot reply to it.
They cannot reflect on it.

And they cannot take the next step.

That includes buying or booking a call.

Not because the writing did not land.
Because it never had the chance to.

You do not need to become technical.
You do not need to enjoy setup.
You do not need to think about inbox rules every day.

But someone does.

Because writing only works
when it reaches a human.

Otherwise all that care and effort
gets filtered out before it matters.

And that is the quiet loss
most writers never notice
until someone finally points it out.

Most email advice focuses on the visible.

Copy and subject lines. 

The parts people see.

And yes, that matters.

But it’s not the whole thing.

Email doesn’t just live in what people see. It runs underneath it.

There’s the strategy.
There’s the way you optimize and adjust.

And then there’s something most people barely think about - whether your emails are actually trusted.

Not “sent.”
Trusted.

Because inbox providers make a decision before your clever subject line ever gets read.

They look at your domain, your sending history and whether your identity checks out.

If that foundation is shaky, everything else feels unstable.

You’ll blame the copy.
Or the timing.

Meanwhile, the real issue is structural.

I’ve seen campaigns that should have worked fall flat.

Open rates that drifted for no obvious reason.

It wasn’t creativity. It wasn’t positioning.

It was trust.

Email isn’t just messaging.

It’s infrastructure.

And infrastructure decides whether your messaging even gets a shot.

Before you rewrite another sequence or test another angle, pause for a second.

Is the system underneath your emails actually solid?

Or are you polishing the paint on a house with a cracked foundation?

It’s been brutally cold lately, and I’ve been talking with friends in Europe about the weather.

They’ll ask how cold it is, and when I answer in Fahrenheit, I usually get silence.

They have no idea what that number means.

So I shared the cheat sheet I made when I lived abroad:

0°C = 32°F
10°C is about 50°F
20°C is about 70°F
30°C is about 90°F

And the odd one, -40 is the same in both.

I could never convert Celsius to Fahrenheit perfectly in my head, so I stopped trying.

I don’t need exact numbers.
I just need a quick sense of what the temperature feels like.

Once I let go of doing the math every time, it got a lot easier.

I think about a lot of things this way now.

You don’t need precision to move forward.

You need a framework that’s good enough to orient you.

If you’ve ever struggled with Celsius vs Fahrenheit, hope this little cheat sheet helps.

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The Battle

Kris Hughes 🪓

Karen Grill

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The Battle

Kris Hughes 🪓

Karen Grill

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Karen Grill's LinkedIn Performance

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