In today’s rather hectic and overwhelming marketing world, we are constantly bombarded by different methods of marketing. Things we perhaps find annoying or easily overlooked. As authors, it is important we understand marketing and how to get our books before readers. When we are browsing online, one of the most readily available methods is the newsletter. They pop up on websites can be the first step in gaining followers. It's become the first line of drawing in new readers and visitors to our websites and turning the traffic into click throughs, reads, and buys. A way for those with a product or service to connect with prospective leads.
Those subscription boxes which we all have a love/hate relationship with are a valuable tool in an author's battle to attract new followers, readers, reviewers, and fans. Without an active list of followers, it becomes even harder to sell our work. Our books get lost in the ever-deepening sea of other releases and can be forgotten or overlooked far too easily. It is far easier to sell to one who is following your releases than it is to generate a new lead, though not impossible.
So how can we as an author generate these vital leads, and ultimately grow our following?
There are a lot of options out there for marketing and promoting our work, for the purpose of today, I’m covering perhaps one of the easiest to start. Newsletters.
Newsletters are among one of the quickest and most cost-effective methods an author has at their disposal to begin building a list of readers who are inclined to buy their books. With a number of options out there, an author can start one for nothing. They can build a list and expand with relative ease. Still, having the newsletter is only the first step and is not an instant return. When developing your newsletter we must keep in mind it does not bear fruit immediately, but needs to be tended and worked at to see success. Growing your list is like any other endeavor one undertakes...it takes dedication, determination, and time.
So what do you, the author, need to focus on when looking at the idea of creating a newsletter?
Well, firstly what is the purpose of your newsletter. If you do not have a clear plan in mind of what your purpose is, then you will struggle. Personal experience has shown without an idea of what I am aiming for with my newsletter, I floundered and it became a task I hated.
What if my sole purpose of having the newsletter is simply to sell my books? Then you may find yourself rather disappointed when it comes to reading the reports and seeing who you retain on your newsletter subscription list. Content is one of the key ingredients in producing a newsletter readers will open, read, and click through.
Content. What do you put into the newsletter? This is one of the hardest aspects I find, outside of actually connecting to followers. What should one put in their newsletter? This is a question with a number of answers, and the right answer varies depending on what the aim of your newsletter is. I have found pumping the newsletter full of self-promotion and pushy sales information works against me. So I took a more personal approach when it comes to putting my newsletter together. I asked myself what I would like to see in a newsletter, and the answer was simple. Yes, I want to see more about the author’s work, what’s new, what’s due to release, what’s on sale...but I also want to see more. Within the newsletter I want to be able to get a sense of being able to connect with the author. See them as a person rather than their books. So including information which is personal is important.
When I say personal information I mean, details which connect you with your followers.One thing to avoid is becoming political, your newsletter is not the place for that. This allows your readers to make a connection with you and makes you far more approachable and recognizable. It's not recommended you go into too much personal detail, allow yourself some privacy. You want to ultimately offer information which keeps your reader engaged and connected while affording you an ability to reach them and generate sales.
Being consistent is the next best advice I can offer. Regardless if you have one subscriber or a thousand, posting the newsletter on a clear schedule, creates a sense of expectancy from your followers. Perhaps, you're thinking, I haven't got that much to say for a newsletter. Even if you don't have anything pertaining to your work, there are other ways in which to fill the newsletter. You can spotlight other authors, cover artists, a publisher, even a character. You could engage the reader with other tidbits such as a recipe, seasonal information, or something about your likes or hobbies. Doing this engages the reader on a deeper level than "Buy my Book". It's a way for your reader to connect with you on a personal level, and makes them feel more important. Also you do not have to release a newsletter weekly or even monthly, you can do a quarterly newsletter when you feel you have enough information to satisfy your readers, with minor updates or announcements in between.
When you're looking at doing up a newsletter, don't be easily discouraged. You won't have thousands of followers immediately, but you can build your list using newsletter swaps, cross-promotion, and offering 'sneak peaks' on social media. It's about engagement and visibility, and focusing on informing your followers and attracting new ones. Be prepared to put out a number of newsletters with little response, or no opens or clicks. This is, while frustrating and depressing, in all honesty, normal and once you are more established you will learn what your readers want to read in your newsletter. Personally, I put out my newsletters with the mindset I've got tons of readers, even if I don't. This helps to keep the motivation to do the newsletters.
Next when you’re ready to put out your first newsletter, it's vital to find the right program for you. There are a lot of newsletter programs out which range from free to expensive. In this post, I'll touch on the ones I've used in the past and continue to do so. Let's start with the easiest and cheapest.
Email: If you have a sign-up sheet or something similar you've amassed, you can do a basic email newsletter with ease. It is in my experience a basic, clean look with only the limitations of your provider to act as a guide. Google is an ok option to do this, you can create your sign up form, database, and newsletter all in one place. It's as simple as opening a new page, and is directly connected to your email. This also allows you to plan and track your newsletter through scheduling to release because there’s a handy calendar feature available to you. Highly recommend this one if you’re looking for a simple, clean looking newsletter without getting too technical.
However, Gmail does have some limitations which can result in frustration for yourself as well as your readers. Because of the way it is set up, there is a cap on the number of emails one can send out in mass in a day. This does not mean you can send out the max amount of emailed newsletters and then continue to use your gmail. No, once you hit your cap, then the account is unable to send out another email for a full 24 hours. This means if your list is larger than 500 you’re going to run into problems.
As well, you may find the newsletter is not going to the inbox of the subscribers but rather to the spam folder. This can lead to another set of problems with regards to your gmail account. Under their guidelines, Google can and will suspend your account if you violate the deliverability standards. I’ll include a link in the description box for you to follow up on.
Gmail can be useful in a sense if you’re just starting out with only a few email subscribers, or if you want to use Google Docs as a means of collecting the data you need, but in the long term, it is perhaps not the most viable option.
Third Party Newsletter Platforms: Depending on what you use for a website there are built-ins features that can create a beautiful email campaign. Free, quick, easy. and readily accessible. There is no coding required. I know with several of the hosts they do have the bonus of having newsletter platforms attached to them you can use if you are a member of their hosting clients. It's always best to check with your hosting platform to see.
If you feel the need to expand your search and want to get started with easy to use software which is readily available to you, I have compiled a list of a few for you.
Mailchimp. It offers me the development I want/need and has various levels of service ranging from free to full service depending on the number of subscribers you have. The free one has some limits and you can have up to 2000 subscribers, but if you're just starting it is an excellent program to use. It offers a wide variety of options, from landing pages, to segmentation of your newsletter followers, to integration with your wordpress website. It is also incredibly easy to use and while the limits on the free program are there, you are able to adjust and grow your list. There are a number of options as well for linking to your social media and direct posting. The sign up and pop up options are easy to design and post to a website.
Constant Contact is one of the highest ranking newsletter platforms. It offers a variety of options including free images, segmentation of your lists, tracking and data regarding clicks and opens. It does, however, have a fee, but it may be worth it to get it set up and organized. There are also social media options where you can use these to generate posts for social media and thus gain further exposure and possible leads . It is a key factor in today’s search for leads and new subscribers.
Another excellent factor in Constant Contact’s favor is it is Wordpress friendly. If you use Wordpress for your website or blog then it’s important to have a newsletter provider which works with your platform.
If you’re looking for a free option to help your budget then one of the platforms I researched which had some good feedback and reviews would be SendinBlue. There are some limitations, but having upto 300 Emails a day can be a good thing if you’re looking to send out in bulk. For those who are interested, I’ll have the links to these platforms in the description box.
ConvertIn is another option, which looks good. It offers a wide variety of options even under the free plan. There is a paid plan, which is based on the number of your subscribers. However, if you’re looking to just get started on building then this will work for you.
Regardless of how you do a newsletter, the value is putting one out. The return on investment for your time and energy is ultimately going to be invaluable when you have readers who wait for the next book to come out to snap it up...and thus tell others who can potentially become followers and fans.
If you haven’t already thought about it, I would suggest thinking about a newsletter. Their relevance in today’s industry is understated but necessary. The hard work put into them will pay off in time and if you create a consistent, streamlined newsletter platform you will find it doesn’t take as much time as you think and provides a return on investment which is well worth the effort.
I hope you’ve found this helpful. Thank you for joining me today, if you haven’t already done so, please click on the follow or subscribe button so you never miss an upcoming episode.
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