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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 2): Create a Sign Up Incentive That Knocks Their Socks Off

April 10, 2014 by Kimberley Grabas

There are two camps when it comes to what Seth Godin calls the “ethical bribe”.

Some people believe that by providing an incentive for people to sign up for your list, you attract the wrong crowd: those in it just to receive the freebie, and nothing more.

Others (the majority) believe that, if done right, your sign up incentive significantly increases the odds that a new visitor will take the tentative–but all important–first step in investing in you and your content.

Reading your posts, sharing them with their following, or leaving a comment on your blog are all small ways that your reader is confirming their interest and your relevance.

But handing over an email address is a bigger commitment to you and the work you are sharing. By allowing you direct access to their inbox, your reader is affirming that a certain level of trust has been established and that they are willing to hear more.

The “right” opt-in

removes a barrier to action (“Should I trust this person with my email address?”)

reduces the potential risk for your reader (“Wow, she’s giving this away for free?”)

and persuades people to take the next step: joining your community.

Here on YWP, I waited about a year before I created my email sign up incentive. In hindsight, that was probably about 9 months too long. 😉

Within the first three months of starting this site, I already knew what would be an ideal incentive, because every second or third email I received was from writers asking this basic question: “I know I need to build my writer platform, but where do I start?”

I had been steadily growing my list over that period, but once I finally took the time to create and make available the free ebook, The Quick Start Guide to Building Your Writer Platform, my email list sign ups have almost doubled! That’s thousands of email subscribers lost because I was dragging my feet.

Ooops!

Do you see how important it is to start now rather than waiting? [Read more…]

#1 Why Email Is Especially Valuable to Writers and Authors

Overcoming the “I Have Nothing to Share” Barrier

Authors with Platforms Sell Books.