I can’t speak highly enough about an email marketing book I just finished, Newsletter Ninja.
I first learned about it in one of David Gaughran’s newsletters. (Seriously, you need to subscribe to it.)
David said that it was the best book he read in 2018. Well, he wrote the forward to it and had taken her course so it makes sense he’d be plugging it.
But, honestly, I think he would have promoted it anyway.
Here’s the review I wrote on Amazon after reading this book:
When new authors write their first book, they rush to social media. What they should be doing is rushing to establish an email marketing program. But before doing so, they need to read this book. It is the bible for email marketing for writers. BTW Authors also need social !media but they should never neglect the importance of email marketing. This book is lively, engaging, full of great tips, and includes resources. It covers everything.
The best way to persuade you to grab a copy of this book NOW is to share some excerpts. But I don’t want to do that to the author.
Book Filled with Email Marketing Gems
And if I were to include excerpts, I would do a disservice to the book. It’s filled with gems from start to finish. But I will include this quote:
“First, you are not selling what you think you are. Second, if all you’re using your list for is selling, you’re doing everything wrong.”
There’s so much more to this book.
Note: The author does not recommend one email marketing service over another. I do: MailerLite.
Tammi Labrecque is a genius at email marketing.
Now get the book!
Some Email Marketing Advice from Yours Truly
I included these tips in a post two years ago (actually I edited them a bit). a
This is how you collect list for your email marketing program:
- Sign up for an email marketing application such as MailerLite (love it!), Constant Contact (I don’t like it, but plenty of people do), or AWeber (many people love this application).
- Establish a newsletter schedule and stick to it. If you don’t want to send newsletters – and I don’t blame you for deciding this – then collect email addresses for your blog subscription. Don’t use an RSS feed subscription program that doesn’t allow you to identify who’s subscribing to your blog because that would be pointless, and a huge waste of an opportunity. So avoid apps such as Feedly.
- Use your email list to send quality content to your readers on a regular basis. The content you select will depend on your genre and niche.
- Offer the best giveaway you can create. You’ll notice that on this website, anyone who signs up for my email-based social media course (1st freebie) receives a 65-page ebook on Twitter (second freebie). Yes, I offer two giveaways. You’re worth it! 😎
- Don’t ask people for more than their first name and email address. The more information you request, the less likely they will leave an email address for you. This fact has been true forever!
- Never use the word subscribe. You’ll notice that for my free email course my opt-in language is I Want In! (You might notice that I use the dreaded word “subscribe” for my blog updates. That’s only because a reader contacted me and asked me to be more specific. So I did that for her because every reader is special, right?)
Yes, use both.
Number of People Using Social Media Keeps Growing
Yes, despite the negative comments you’ll receive from the email marketing naysayers, email marketing is hot.
The above graph is from Statista and demonstrates how social media is expected to grow. The numbers are in the billions.
The company states:
“Social network penetration worldwide is ever-increasing. In 2017, 71 percent of internet users were social network users and these figures are expected to grow. Social networking is one of the most popular online activities with high user engagement rates and expanding mobile possibilities. North America ranks first among regions where social media is highly popular, with a social media penetration rate of 66 percent. In 2016, more than 81 percent of the United States population had a social media profile. As of the second quarter of 2016, U.S. users spend more than 215 weekly minutes on social media via smartphone, 61 weekly minutes via PC, and 47 minutes per week on social networks via tablet devices.”
Back in 2014, Pew Research Center noted that Facebook was somewhat of a “home base” for online adults using social media. At the time, it was the most popular site and often overlapped with the use of other social media platforms.
Nothing has changed since 2016.
Brand new Instagram ebook for authors. Learn how to set up your account, and create hashtags and Instagram stories.
Frances Caballo is an author and social media consultant. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online and building their platform. Her clients have included authors of every genre and writers’ conferences.
Online Book Marketing Strategies for Writers
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