Guest Post: Tips for Building Your Author Newsletter

“There is money in the list,” as the popular saying goes.

As an author, an email list is so important! It drastically changes the sale of books because with allows you to build a relationship with your audience who are your potential readers. Just last month, I started my email list and I’ve finally got my first 100 subscribers. Building an email list isn’t easy so I thought I should share with you tips to make it easier and the mistakes I made which you can avoid!

Hi everyone, my name is Neveah and I am ecstatic to be able to guest post on Kayla’s blog. Well, let’s get started.

#1 Get Attention

Getting attention from people in your niche is essential. By drawing more attention to you, the more likely they discover you and become your email subscriber. How should you get attention? It’s something like being in a party. Many people are dancing in the middle of the room and you need to get noticed because there is great competition for attention. What you need to do is to join the people in the centre of the room because few people are going to reach out or notice you. Similarly, posting on social media and notifying your subscribers and followers will let them know that you have just started an email list. This is simple if you already have a great social media presence. However, if you’re still trying to grow your social media presence, fret not because more tips are awaiting for you to read them. You can also borrow attention. By this, I mean working with others and asking politely if they could mention you or let you contribute content for you to get discovered. For example, if you find a podcast in your niche, reach out to the podcaster and request if you could collaborate with them.

Now that you have some attention, you need to be attractive and that brings us to the next point.

#2 Be Attractive

Being attractive in a party will cause more people to socialise with you. For example, if you wear fancy clothes, generally more people will be attracted to you. Similarly, offering an enticing offer to your potential subscribers is important. Tell them what you’re going to offer them and avoid putting “Sign up to receive updates from me” because don’t forget people want to benefit from signing up. There are two ways to be more attractive.

Number 1, your landing page. A landing page is a page which only focuses on your sign up form. It should be aesthetically pleasing and the fonts of words should be easy to read. Make it as easy as possible for them to enter their email address so that even the laziest people on Earth will bother to type their email address!

Number 2, have a lead magnet. A lead magnet which is also known as a freebie is something you offer to your potential subscribers in exchange for their email address. Ah, the difficult part comes in—how do you know what to create? How do you get them to sign up for that freebie? From my experience, I’ve made many mistakes when creating a freebie. Number 1, I wasted my time creating freebies which are not useful for my audience. Number 2, my titles were not enticing, and number 3, I waited for people to discover that freebie. So how do you create a freebie which will drive them kick-ass crazy and sign up for it? Ask yourself these questions.

> Who is my audience?

> What are their biggest problems?

> How can you solve it?

An extra step to take to make sure your freebie is worth working on would be to survey people in your niche about their biggest problems.

Many people would go crazy for free:

> Cheetsheats

> Blueprints

>Ultimate guides

> Ebook

> Worksheet

>Checklist

Freebies can come in the form of documents, videos and even hard copy books.

Naming your freebie:

There are three ways to name your freebie.

The Ultimate Guide to ______
From ____ to _____ (eg. From a blank paper to a full manuscript)
10 Ways To _____

Designing Your Freebie

An aesthetically pleasing freebie is an icing to the cake! Use Canva to design your freebie. It’s fast, easy and free (unless you want Canva Pro)

#3 Promote, Promote and Promote

Promote your freebie. This is slightly easier. Now, pick one social media platform, and focus on it. (You should typically choose the platform with most followers). Post about your freebie and you will see results. Of course, not all your followers will sign up but at least 30 percent will. An extra mile you can go is to reach out to others. Know your audience well. For example, if you’re offering a freebie about how to write better protagonists, then perhaps reach out to emerging and aspiring writers. When you’re free, post about your freebie on other social media platforms.

#4 Host A Giveaway

By Hosting a giveaway, you’re driving traffic to your list. The giveaway should be enticing and the point is not just to say “Hey, grab a copy of this by signing up”. What I recommend is that you should maximise the use of the giveaway. For example, when you list out the instructions on how to participate in the giveaway, include things the audience must do. Perhaps the more number of things they do, the higher the chance they win the prize. Of course, the list of things you give them to do should include a step to lead them to sign up for your newsletter. This is such a great easy way to get subscribers!

#5 Create A Pinterest Group Board

What you can do is that you create your Pinterest collaboration board and then you invite your followers or people you’re following. Make sure the board is neat and something in your niche. Once the board has enough collaborators, lock the board up and only allow people who signed up and followed you on Pinterest to join the board! Again, there must be something enticing about the board so make sure the board is something that will benefit them.

Thought Bubble

Have you made similar mistakes as me before? What are other tips you have? Drop your comments below!

Well, that’s all I have for you! Once again, a huge thank you to Kayla for allowing me to work with her! Have a great bookish day ahead!

Neveah

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