BookBaby says your
number one marketing goal is to build your email list.
If you’re an
author, and not just an indie one, you know the mantra about the need to have a
mail list. This is a tidy way to contact your followers, and most of us don’t
spam readers with multiple e-mails in a month. And we NEVER sell or share our
lists. Readers have an expectation of our professionalism when handling private
information and taking their valuable time. We honor that.
In fact, quite the
opposite of too many emails, lots of authors start a monthly newsletter and
after a while it ends up being “periodic”. There’s just so darn much to do as
an author and we have the same 24 hours the rest of the world has. But somehow
it seems we’re supposed to fill all 26 of them.
Being able to get
in touch quickly and easily with a large number of people is important to
authors. So, I buy books on social media presence and attend workshop sessions
in an effort to learn how to build a list organically. I might be able to buy
email addresses, but really??? I want fans and followers, not bots.
So, one very
important tip I’ve picked up is to have sign-up buttons everywhere. Now, have I
done that, yet? Umm. No. But I’m working on it. Give me a break. I’m still
figuring out MailChimp!
So on MailChimp, I
can get a url that I can attach to social media sites I have (website,
Facebook, Twitter, et al.) so that folks just click and they are added to my
email subscribers list. So, I’ll figure that out and do it.
The other
important piece, however, and this is the hard part, is how do folks know you
exist with this amazing content?
One of the most
interesting ways I’ve found is from Jeff Goins (whom I subscribe to for
marketing tips. Contact him at jeffATjeffgoinswriterDOTcom) and an interview
with a guy who went from 0 subscribers to tens of thousands. In a short time.
With almost no effort.
Did that get my
attention? Oh, yeah!
His guest
interviewee, Benjamin Hardy took blog posts that had lots of hits and posted
them on medium.com. He was discovered there. And with the url button available
he got thousands and thousands and thousands of people following him on his
website and blog.
Let me repeat. He
took content he already produced and re-posted it. And sometimes, he tweaked it
a bit and re-posted it again. He has a huge following on medium.com now.
Of course, I did
it, too. I have not been discovered. Yet. By the same token, Ben said he wasn’t
discovered immediately. He kept posting. Once one post hit big, he grew
incrementally. And, I have only put up a few posts. My new marketing plan
includes posting once a week at medium.com. Easy peasy since the posts are
done. A past post that has 500 to 1000 page views should attract attention on
medium.com, too.
What are some
other tips on building an e-mail list that I’ve garnered?
1)
Put a
link at the back of your book for readers to follow and click to be subscribed.
2)
Good
content in a newsletter gets shared and your name gets out.
Keep
your content relevant, not overselling your books, and keep it interesting.
Word will spread. In fact, ask people to share your newsletter with others.
3)
Offer
something of value when someone subscribes and require e-mail to get it.
(I
am creating a PDF of recipes for one mail list. Another blog post is coming on
this one.)
4)
An
informative blog is the most common way to grow an e-mail list since people
liking your content will often subscribe and tell others about you.
5)
Put an
e-mail opt-in form on your website.
6)
Seek
guest blogging opportunities and let people know they can be on your list.
7)
Encourage
people to forward your newsletter so others will read it and subscribe.
8)
Vlog
and give your address for e-mail opt-in to get more content.
9)
Create
a closed section on your site that can only be accessed by members who gave an
e-mail address.
10) Collect e-mail addresses at events like book
signings.
Facebook: Need tips on building your e-mail list? Here are ten ideas Sharon
Arthur Moore culled to share. http://bit.ly/2BCJrkz
Twitter: 10 tips for #writers for building an e-mail list from @Good2Tweat http://bit.ly/2BCJrkz
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