The Power Of An Email List For Authors
The Power Of An Email List For Authors
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “The money is in the list”.
To have an email list would have to be the most important asset any author could have. It would have to lie at the heart of any author’s marketing campaign.
The idea is to have an email list of people with whom you can communicate. The people on your list is your audience with whom you can build relationships and trust.
They want to hear from you and learn from you and they are happy to receive your emails. Their permission has been given to you to connect with them.
If they don’t want to hear from you they will unsubscribe. As your email list grows you are building a following that is pleased to read the content of your email.
The old names list
Prior to the advent of the internet and the concept of email marketing we talked about the Names List. If you were in sales and marketing you’d be asked, “How big is your Names List?.”
The old concept of your Names List has evolved in the online space to the email list. It’s this list that you can ultimately sell to.
As an author presumably you want to be able to sell your book. You’ve put so much love, sweat and tears into it that it would be wonderful to be renumerated for the effort that you’ve made.
So don’t put off building your mailing list!
Let’s look at some of the reasons for building an email list.
Benefits of having an email list
You need a list of people who could be interested in buying and reading your book. If these people have given you permission to contact them then when you release a new book you’ve got a list of raving fans to promote to.
With an email list, you can develop relationships with members of your list and they become your followers. As this author-audience relationship evolves it eventually becomes a relationship of trust.
The email list is about building your own audience. Over time this audience gets to know you and they decide if they like you they will start to trust you.
If you build a large audience, for instance, let’s say you build a list of 5,000 or 10,000 people there is every chance that you will sell many copies of your book. Think of the difference if someone is trying to sell their book but they have no email list; they will be struggling, but if you have a large email list that you’ve been nurturing you will inevitably be successful.
Even if you build large lists in social media you still need to build your own email list. The problem with having large lists on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest you don’t own those lists.
So often I’ve heard that accounts have been blocked or suspended and you find that you have no access to your followers because you did not abide by their rules – you did not play their game and you’ve been relying on these platforms for your success. As a priority, you need to direct your contacts to your email list the list that you own.
With an email list, you can build a list of reviewers. These become your review team. Whenever you release a new book you can tell the review team about your latest book.
You can source people who would be interested in joining your ARC (Advance Review Copy) team. These are readers who would like to receive an advanced copy of your book prior to its publication. Then when the book is published on Amazon they post a customer review.
Once you set up your autoresponder, that is, the software for handling your email list, you can send out automated emails on a regular basis. This way you keep your audience up-to-date with your latest book, or that book you are currently working on, or share fresh ideas or anything else that is relevant or of value to your people.
You as the author are in control of your marketing. You are not dependent on a Publisher’s distribution system, or on anyone else to do your marketing for you.
How to build an email list in 8 steps?
To successfully build your email list you will need to invest in a few tools:
Step 1. Build an author website so that you can host a lead magnet
Step 2. domain name
Step 3. autoresponder
Step 4. lead magnet, that is, to have something that will give people an incentive to provide you with their email address.
Brainstorm what could be useful to your target market. Think of something that could be really useful in the form of a:
- free chapter
- free ebook
- report
- article
- checklist
- free online class
- webinar
- page in your book inviting readers to join your list
- video
Step 5. Start an email campaign, and do this on a regular basis, to provide your subscribers with valuable content
Step 6. Educate your audience and then promote whatever it is you are selling
Step 7. Have a Call To Action at the end of the email
Step 8. Analyse the results
When should you start building your list? Start now. If possible start even before you’ve written your book.
What is your biggest takeaway from this?
- Find an autoresponder that is right for you. When starting out the most popular one is Mailchimp. It’s a good place to start. And its FREE. Aweber is low cost, there’s Get Response, ConvertKit and Active Campaign. I use Keap which is part of Infusionsoft.
- Set up a website or landing page
- Offer a great incentive with your Lead magnet
Remember, the idea is to build a list and communicate with your people on a regular basis. These are people who have given you their permission to do so.
Give them valuable content because if you don’t they will unsubscribe.
Don’t put off building your mailing list! It has proven to be one of the best assets authors can have when implementing a marketing strategy.
Fast Self-Publishing Online is designed for those who want to create a book, self-publish it on Amazon, and market it to the world.
In my Facebook community, I’m taking people to the next level so I serve you with more free tools, information, tips and inspiration to help you play a bigger game.
If you haven’t already done so, Click here to become a member of the Facebook group.
Marji Hill
Author and Coach
JOIN FACEBOOK GROUP