EMAIL LIST-BUILDING for AUTHORS

EMAIL LIST-BUILDING for AUTHORS Make Book Publishing a Profitable and Sustainable Business

Today s Agenda 1. Why email? 2. Authors without email lists make me sad :-( 3. Book marketing begins with a list 4. Smackdown: Social media vs. email 5. The one huuuuuge advantage of email 6. Book launch powered by email 7. Building relationships 8. Bonus: The Engagement Funnel

Your Presenter Joel Friedlander Direct response Book publishing Blogging E-commerce Writer/Columnist Loves email joel@thebookdesigner.com

1. WHY EMAIL? Versus social media Seeking a LTR? Beta readers Book reviewers Workshop attendees Street teams Book launches Product testers Personal ATM? Testimonial givers Charter members Focus group testing Market research Giveaways

1. WHY EMAIL? Social media = great for connections and conversation Blog or website = great for content marketing and as the hub of your online marketing efforts Email = great for one-to-one communication, for encouraging action, and for sales

Other than writing well and consistently, building your email list should be your Number One goal as an author. Tim Grahl

2. DON T MAKE ME SAD! :-( You have an author website, right? Why aren t you collecting email addresses?

2. DON T MAKE ME SAD! :-(

3. BOOK MARKETING If you construct it properly, your email list will fill with exactly the readers you re looking for. Instead of marketing to the whole world or everyone on Facebook you have a list that s targeted perfectly for you and your books. Think of the market intelligence you can get with surveys, questions from readers (remember, social media and blogs are out in the open, email is private communication) Giving away books or samples is much easier if you have an email list

4. SOCIAL MEDIA VS EMAIL Social Media what s it for? Finding communities of readers Engaging with readers and others Determining how much interest exists for your topic Building a community of fans who support your work Keeping up with current developments in your field Building buzz when you re launching your book

4. SOCIAL MEDIA VS EMAIL Email how does it stack up? It s a private, more intimate form of communication You own your email list and account You can promote directly to individuals, not groups A regular newsletter can build fans for life It s track-able with great analytics The money is in the list

4. SOCIAL MEDIA VS EMAIL Social Media & Email best when they work together! Discover and participate in communities on social media Find ways to draw people interested back to your website or blog Offer something of value in return for their email Communicate regularly with both readers and subscribers Build long-term relationships that will sustain you

5. EMAIL S ONE HUUUGE ADVANTAGE Your list makes you truly independent Ownership Portability Persistence

If there s one thing all professional platform-builders agree on, it s the importance of building your list. Michael Hyatt

6. BOOK LAUNCHES AND EMAIL There s no better asset to help you launch a book than a robust email list of people interested in what you re doing and looking forward to hearing from you:

6. BOOK LAUNCHES AND EMAIL Recruit beta readers or a street team Give away books (network effect) Request book reviews Generate excitement Amazon bestseller campaign Send people to your book sales page

6. BOOK LAUNCHES AND EMAIL

Imagine how powerful it is to have a list of 10,000 people and to send an email saying My book is available now, click here to buy. This is the basis of all Amazon bestseller campaigns. Joanna Penn

7. BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS Once people opt into your list, you have a chance to create a long-term relationship around your topic We can automate this process You can educate your audience both for their own purposes, and at the same time get them ready to be customers or book buyers By inviting responses, turn it into a real conversation. This is very powerful.

8. WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO WITH YOUR LIST?

Regular email contact with your readers creates a long string of impressions, so that your name stays at the forefront of their mind. Jane Friedman

WORKSHOP SNEAK PEEK Session'1:'Building'Your'Email'List' & The&importance&of&traffic& No:fear&Internet& plumbing & DemysBfying&AWeber&&&MailChimp& OpBons&for&non:techies& Choosing&an&email&service&provider& Live&events,&offline&and&online& CraLing&incenBves& & Focus:&CreaBng&your& Ethical&Bribe & Session'2:'Using'Your'Email'List' & What&to&mail,&when&to&mail,&and&how& olen&to&mail& NewsleNers,&follow:ups,&and&broadcasts& What s&an& auto&responder &and&why& should&i&care?& How&to&write&an&email&that&gets&a& response& Why&you&need&a&call&to&acBon& Email&campaigns&(sequences)& Email&best&pracBces& & Interac;ve:&Headline&wriBng&

Q & A FREE GUIDES TO HELP YOU PUBLISH BETTER BOOKS www.bookdesigntemplates.com/landing/book: construcbon:blueprint/& www.thebookdesigner.com/free:10:things:you: need:to:know:about:self:publishing/& &

WORKSHIP SESSION 1 Building Your Email List The importance of traffic No-fear Internet plumbing Options for non-techies Choosing an email service provider Live events, offline and online 1' Crafting incentives

THE IMPORTANCE OF TRAFFIC No readers = no subscribers Authors ought to be great content marketers There are many ways to build your list, but almost all of them rely on traffic to your website or blog

THE IMPORTANCE OF TRAFFIC No list yet? Here are 5 things to get you started 1. Start marketing your blog 2. Write lots of guest posts for other bloggers 3. Run an online event like a webinar or conference 4. Create a contest with great prizes 5. Get speaking gigs and collect emails

THE IMPORTANCE OF TRAFFIC The most important metric about your list? Size Recency Responsiveness How targeted

CHOOSING AN EMAIL SERVICE PROVIDER Use an email provider right from the beginning Single opt-in vs Double opt-in (or confirmed opt-in) Anticipate future growth AWeber premium mailing service for marketers with great deliverability, recently started accepting uploaded lists (http://www.aweber.com) MailChimp easy to use with lots of automation, and free up to 2,000 subscribers (www.mailchimp.com)

CHOOSING AN EMAIL SERVICE PROVIDER

EMAIL LINGO What?' ' ' ' ' 'AWeber ' ' ' ' 'MailChimp' A&single&email & & & Broadcast & & & & & Campaign & Autoresponder & & & Follow&up & & & & Workflow & && List& & & & & & &List& & & & & & &List& Opt&in&form& CAN:SPAM&ACT & &The&2003&law&that&prohibits&sending& & & & & & && unsolicited&commercial&email &i.e.&spam&

NO-FEAR INTERNET PLUMBING 1. Create a list 2. Create a signup form 3. Place ( publish ) the form on your site (or link to it via mail or social media) 4. Create a Confirmation page (or use default) 5. Create a Thank you page (or use default)

1. CREATE A LIST

2. CREATE A SIGN-UP FORM

2. CREATE A CONFIRMATION PAGE

CREATE A THANK YOU PAGE

FULLY BRANDED SIGN UP SEQUENCE

MORE SOFTWARE TO GROW YOUR LIST

OPTIONS FOR NON-TECHIES Virtual Assistants (VAs) many can set up your email opt in forms and create templates for a newsletter, or even do your email for you ($15 30/ hour) Blog Technicians especially for WordPress installations, they can deal with almost any issue or setup on your blog ($35 50/hour) Web Developers more expensive but great for custom solutions or special features ($50-100/hour)

LIVE EVENTS, OFFLINE AND ONLINE This is where your squeeze page acts as an email collection machine from: Webinar registration and replay pages Event registration pages Ticket notification lists Advance notice and Prepub specials lists Promoting a popular event or viral content can skyrocket your list growth

LIVE EVENTS, OFFLINE AND ONLINE

CRAFTING INCENTIVES This step is crucial to your success in building your list Your incentive will prequalify people as prospects When people opt in to get your incentive, they are raising their hand Anyone who opts in is saying I m part of your market. And I give you permission to email me on this subject.

CRAFTING INCENTIVES What makes an irresistible incentive? Help for newcomers to your field Essential information they will need Training in basic tasks Something that will give them an immediate win Pain points and why they work Special report or whitepaper How well do you know your readers?

MY EPIPHANY

CRAFTING INCENTIVES What form can your incentive take? PDF ebooks are the most popular (8.5 x 11 for folks who want to print it) Mini training course via email Mini training course via video Checklist for an important task Tips & tricks on a process they need to know Tweaking can improve your conversions

CRAFTING INCENTIVES How your fashion your incentive will determine which people opt in to your list. Let s look at some incentives aimed at the same general market to see how they differ:

CRAFTING INCENTIVES

WORKSHIP SESSION 2 Using Your Email List What to mail, when to mail, how often to mail Newsletters, follow ups and broadcasts What s an autoresponder and why should I care? How to write an email that gets a response Why you need a call to action Email campaigns (sequences) 2' Book launches driven by email Email best practices

WORKSHIP SESSION 2 Using Your Email List DON T&SEND&EMAIL&TO& ANYONE&WHO&HASN T& ASKED&FOR&IT&

WHAT TO MAIL, WHEN, HOW OFTEN Newsletters Autoresponder series (we ll talk about that next) Announcements Awards Promotions Book launches Event tie-ins Cookies

WHAT TO MAIL, WHEN, HOW OFTEN The more you mail, the more people will unsubscribe, you need to learn to live with that fact How often do you have something to say, to promote, or to ask? Timing: I mail just after midnight so the mail is fresh all day, your mileage may vary and for event-driven email, timing may be important

THREE TYPES OF EMAIL Personal You write an email to a friend or acquaintance Commercial An email sent with the intent to do business with the recipient Corporate A communication from a large company to an individual

WHY I DON T USE FANCY HTML EMAIL The best kind of email for an author to send is one that s Commercial but looks Personal. This helps you remember that you are writing to one person at a time It also reminds recipients that you are not a big company, that you want to engage with people on a personal level Using story elements will help to make this point Consider including a hit reply and let me know call to action in your emails

plain'text'email'

Fancy '' HTML'email'

HTML'text'email'

NEWSLETTERS, FOLLOW-UPS, AND BROADCASTS For newsletters, establish a frequency and stick to it consistently. Follow ups = autoresponder Broadcasts = one-off bulk mail

WHAT S AN AUTORESPONDER? An autoresponder (like a vacation message ) is an email that s sent automatically whenever an email is received at the address. An autoresponder series continues to send prewritten emails at specified intervals until the subscriber drops from the list or the sequence is completed. This allows you to begin a relationship, to educate potential readers/buyers and to stay in touch with a minimum of effort.

WHAT S AN AUTORESPONDER?

EMAIL THAT GETS A RESPONSE All marketing, include email marketing, depends on the answer to one question: How well does your offer (your book, your product, your service and the way it s presented) align with the wants and needs of the audience to which you are presenting it? If the offer in your email meets this criteria, many people will respond.

EMAIL THAT GETS A RESPONSE You ll also get more responses if you: Keep emails short. If you have to make a more complex statement, put it on a web page and link to it from your email. Keep emails conversational Remember everyone has too much email already Write from the point of view of WIIFM?

EMAIL THAT GETS A RESPONSE From Dean Jackson: experiment with SPEAR emails: S P EAR Short Personal Expecting a reply Example: A 15-word email: I m running a mastermind for authors in San Francisco next month, want to join me?

WHY YOU NEED A CALL TO ACTION If you re an authority, you have a duty to your readers to let them know of news that may affect them, or products and services that can help them reach their goals Anything you promote will likely only appeal to a segment of your list. By asking for an action, you can find out who is in which segment. You can always use something like, Hit reply and let me know you re ready to get started

WHY YOU NEED A CALL TO ACTION

CAMPAIGNS AND SEQUENCES Once you have a series of emails that functions with predictability, you ve created a real asset that can be deployed over and over again Because you most recent signups will be the most responsive, you can market your books with the same emails to new subscribers who have never seen them before

CAMPAIGNS AND SEQUENCES In content marketing we learn to prepare people for the offer, in most cases your book. Give readers the education they need to be avid consumers of what you have to offer This implies a sequence of communications, all written with the end result in mind That end result will be a call to action of some kind a purchase, a like, a donation, a letter to your congressperson, or just to raise their hands

CAMPAIGNS AND SEQUENCES

BOOK LAUNCHES Think of your book launch as an event that starts quietly, months before the book arrives (a sequence ) Use your list to help decide on the idea behind your book: does it appeal to your readers? Keep people interested by noting your progress, but remember, WIIFM? Run a survey to help pick your final cover Line up beta readers and later, reviewers

BOOK LAUNCHES And use your list to give away books, too. That s how you ll get to the critical mass of reviews that will trigger marketing algorithms and network effects. In my last book launch (The Self-Publisher s Ultimate Resource Guide) I gave away over 500 books to people on my list The result was over 100 reviews on Amazon alone, pushing the book to #1 bestseller on pub date

BOOK LAUNCHES

EMAIL BEST PRACTICES From address Use your name, not a company name Use an email provider right from the start for deliverability, analytics, security Write in a conversational style, remember you are writing to one person no matter how many are on your list Give people multiple opportunities to sign up

SUBJECT LINE BEST PRACTICES Avoid Stale or Overused Words Nobody will click Don t bee 2 clever Include Localization City, County, State, etc Use Different Subject Lines especially for newsletters Keep Subject Lines Short less than 50 words Tone Down Promotional Emails avoid SUPER SALESY SALES WORDS!!!

FREE GUIDES TO HELP YOU PUBLISH BETTER BOOKS www.bookdesigntemplates.com/landing/book: construcbon:blueprint/& www.thebookdesigner.com/free:10:things:you: need:to:know:about:self:publishing/& &

I consider your email opt-in to be the most important element of your website, if you intend to make writing and publishing into a sustainable business. Joel Friedlander