Today we are going to talk about email.

But first, I would like to say we are not going to have an episode next week. I will be at the New Media Summit all week and won’t have a chance to record an episode.

Why Email is So Important for Creators

  • Platform Independent, if YouTube or Facebook keeps you from contacting your subscribers you need a way to tell them you’ve moved to a new platform.
  • While your fans may not see every Facebook post or YouTube notification they will get every email if you follow the advice I will give you in this episode.
  • Email is often the primary driver of new Patrons and Backers. For my Kickstarter campaigns, it is not uncommon for 60-80% of the backers to come from email

Before we talk about email, let’s talk about how to have an excellent email newsletter, but first let’s talk a bit about respect.

Respect:

  • Spam is in the eye of the beholder.
  • Creepy / Charming (thin line in between)
  • Permission

Tip 1 Give People A Good Reason to Subscribe

  • The initial incentive you give someone to subscriber to your email list is called a “lead magnet.”
  • If you are a band, give a free mp3 of one of your songs.
  • If you are an artist, give a free wallpaper.
  • If you are an author, give a free short story.
  • If you are a guru, give a tip sheet or a resource guide.
  • How to Create a Lead Magnet

Tip 2 Create an Onboarding Campaign

  • The emails that automatically drip out to your subscribers is sometimes called a drip campaign.
  • These emails are great for introducing new subscribers to you and your work.
  • It allows you to focus on true fans in your periodic emails.  
  • We having an example of this for authors at the Novel Marketing podcast.

Tip 3 Provide Consistent Value.

  • Only send out emails that your fans want to read.
  • New Book Announcements
  • Concert in Your Area (MailChimp makes this easy)
  • Fan Art for Your Book
  • New Video on Youtube (if you don’t post often)

Tip 4 Use MailChimp at First

  • It’s Free
  • Everyone uses it so tutorials are easy to find
  • Integrates with everything
  • Has decent onboarding features
  • I am an affiliate and have used MailChimp for over five years. If you want to support this show, use my affiliate link.
  • Once you have over 10,000 subscribers, there may be reasons to move to something more powerful like Drip or Convert Kit.

Tip 5 Be Consistent

  • Don’t Boost Your Frequency Without a Good Reason
  • Don’t go dark for too long or you will hit spam traps.

Tip 6 Experiment

Tip 7 Measure Your Results

  • Read your email campaign reports
  • Poll Your Readers.
  • Ask them what they want. www.SurveyMonkey.com.

Tip 8 Keep it Short and Simple.

  • Beautiful emails are more likely to go to gmails “Promotions” tab
  • Beautiful emails get fewer clicks
  • Beautiful emails sell fewer products.
  • Beautiful emails are more work to make.

Use Novel Marketing’s Patreon Affiliate Link to make an extra $50 for your first 30 backers.

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