Email List Building: 9 Clever Ways to Seriously Grow Your List (for Authors)

March 8, 2018 by Kimberley Grabas

You get it. You’ve heard list building is important because it will help grow your connection with your readers, boost your visibility and reach, and help to grow your book sales.

But what do you do when you KNOW you need an email list, but you just CAN’T figure out how to get subscribers?

Well, I’ve created a video to solve this problem, outlining actionable ways to grow your email list, fast – and without spinning your wheels.

I outline a simple list building formula, and break down each component to show you that it’s not just list growth, but list performance that is the key to powerful tribe building.

Only by creating an experience for your audience and fans that consistently meets or exceeds their expectations, can you establish the foundation for an impassioned and supportive community to develop around your work.

We’ll take a look at 9 practical techniques that both fiction AND nonfiction authors can implement today: [Read more…]

Email List Building Series (Part 5): Strategies to Grow Your List, Your Reach and Your Sales

September 7, 2014 by Kimberley Grabas

We’ve come to the final post in the Email List Building Series, where we’ll up our game and delve into some of the more advanced list building techniques.

But before we do, let’s take a look at what we’ve accomplished so far:

In Part 1, The Power of an Email List (And Why It’s a Must), we discussed why building a targeted and invested email list of subscribers is hands down one of THE most important things you can do to ensure the long term growth of your writing career.

We pitted email vs. social media (email with the win!), and outlined the huge advantage of building your email list early.

And we discovered how creating meaningful relationships and sharing valued content with your subscribers builds trust and increases your influence – allowing you to create an army of book buyers and promoters.

In Part 2, Create a Sign Up Incentive That Knocks Their Socks Off, we looked at the psychology behind the right freebie, and if “bribing” people to sign up affected the quality of subscribers.

We recognized the need to know and understand as much as possible about the people we are trying to reach in order to design an opt-in that delivers.

And to get the creative juices flowing, I shared a monster list of incentive ideas for writers, as well as the tools needed to create and promote your shiny new opt-in incentive.

In Part 3, The Set Up, Start to Finish, I walked you step-by-step through the entire email list creation process using Aweber (an email marketing service).

I included a free PDF download of the flow from sign up to follow up message, as well as cautioned you about the importance of being legally compliant when obtaining email addresses from your subscribers. [Read more…]

Email List Building Series (Part 4): Finally! Ideas and Tips on What to Send to Your Subscribers

July 1, 2014 by Kimberley Grabas

If you’ve been following the Email List Building Series, you have learned why building your email list is so important, how to create a stellar opt-in “bribe” and how to set the whole thing up using an email marketing service like Aweber.

But here’s the question EVERYBODY is asking:

“What do I actually email my subscribers?”

Technology hurdles aside, this has got to be one of the biggest stumbling blocks preventing writers from creating an email list and developing their email marketing campaign.

And if you’re just starting out, write fiction or haven’t yet published, ‘what to email’ is an even bigger obstacle.

Overcoming the “I Have Nothing to Share” Barrier

What many writers struggling with this assume is that they have nothing relevant or meaningful to offer their readers.

There is no book to promote, no events or speaking engagements to flog, and–in the case of fiction writers–no central, non-fiction topic to teach.

But the root of the problem isn’t really having nothing important to share.

The real problem is not knowing who you are trying to share it with.

I’ve discussed how important it is to know whose attention you are trying to get earlier in this series, as well as wrote about it here and here.

But because it’s a critical concept to understand in order to answer the question, “What do I send to my subscribers?”, I am reinforcing the point yet again:

It is extremely difficult to determine what to communicate when you haven’t first taken the time to fully identify who you are trying to communicate with. (Click to Tweet this idea) [Read more…]

Email List Building Series (Part 3): The Set Up, Start to Finish

May 16, 2014 by Kimberley Grabas

To quote best-selling American author, web TV host, and personal development trainer, Marie Forleo:

“Insight without action is useless.”

Understanding the need and the benefits of developing a targeted and responsive email list is important, but taking the steps to actually implement what you’ve learned, is essential.

And this is where most people get tripped up.

Because between theory and application, there is often a chasm of indecision, fear and even plain old procrastination.

So to eliminate this gap, this post will hammer out the exact steps you need to take to set up your email list and start collecting email addresses on your website.

You’ll not only know how to create–and where to place–your web forms, but have a collection of tools that will help make the task much easier.

Oh, and I’ll also be giving one of these tools away for free… 🙂

So please don’t just read this post. Take action! This is your “no-fluff” cheat sheet for getting your email list set up TODAY.

Ready? Let’s go.

(If you’ve missed them, make sure you check out Part 1 and Part 2 of the Email List Building Series.)

Getting Started

There can be a lot of moving parts to creating your first email list, so it’s important to get a clear understanding of both the behind-the-scenes process, as well as the experience from your new subscriber’s perspective. [Read more…]

#1 Why Email Is Especially Valuable to Writers and Authors

Overcoming the “I Have Nothing to Share” Barrier

Getting Started

Authors with Platforms Sell Books.