10 Tips to Build Your Author Newsletter

Every website visitor is an opportunity to build a relationship, but only if you find a way to connect with them after they leave. So if you aren't inviting them to connect with you through an email newsletter, then you're letting that opportunity pass you by. If you're wondering what it takes to put together an excellent author newsletter, then this video is for you. Hi, I'm Julie the Book Broad, founder of Book Launchers, the fantastic self publishing services for Firm when it comes to marketing your book, nothing is more valuable or provides a higher return than an email newsletter. Seriously, social media does not even compare. Let's talk numbers for a second and I'll show you what I mean. On social media, the average engagement rate is between 1 to 5%. And that's just people looking at and reading your content that doesn't even count clicks. Can you guess the average email open rate? It's nearly 21%. And for welcome emails, you're looking at 8. 82%. Not convinced? Well, for every dollar you spend on email marketing, you can expect a return of $42. Social media does not give you anywhere near that kind of return. So if you're not building an email newsletter, then you're leaving big business potential on the table. But don't Worry, I've got 10 tips to help you create newsletters that get opened, read and get those opportunities coming back for more. Number one, give your readers a good reason to subscribe and and updates not good enough. No one wants to hand over their personal contact information unless there's a valuable reason to open up that door and allow that kind of access. What do you promise to provide in exchange for the email address? You need to give them something so valuable that they would even pay for it if they had to. We call this something a lead magnet or a reader magnet and you need to find something that will connect with your audience and connect them with your brand and the immediate value that you can provide. Great lead magnets include checklists, workbooks, video trainings, or a list of actionable tips. This is your first chance to make a stellar first impression and remember that it is a first impression. So you're better off to give them a beautifully designed one page checklist or a flowchart that's really useful than a mediocre 20 page report. A piece of content that makes it worth their while and provides value will have them coming back for more and it gives you an opportunity to continue to build your relationship with them. So invest in creating something great that makes a great first impression. 2. Improve your signup copy. I don't know how many times I've seen sign up for my free newsletter. That doesn't motivate people to sign up for your newsletter, so if you're wondering why your list isn't growing, check out your signup copy. The last thing they want is another newsletter to collect dust in their inbox. So they're not signing up for a newsletter. They're signing up for something that adds benefit to their lives. So tell them what the benefit is. Put that signup copy in your own voice and tell your ideal reader why your newsletter is worth it. Number three Decide on your frequency and stick with it. Decide how often to send your newsletter and the content you'll include. And stay consistent. Might be monthly, you might want to do weekly. Find out what works for you and what works for your audience. Remember, your content needs to provide value. If it doesn't, you'll be added to the trash folder or unsubscribe list really fast. So don't send useless emails once a week just because you think your name should be in their inbox once a week. On the other hand, sending less than an email a month runs the risk of having subscribers forget who you are completely or flagging your email as junk because they don't remember signing up. So the best option is a consistent schedule of genuinely beneficial content. That's what keeps your subscribers clicking to read. Number four Craft your subject lines to catch your subscribers attention right away. You get one shot to convince them that there's something inside that they want to make sure they read. So stay away from generic stats statements and avoid spam. Triggering words like giveaway are free. Tease the benefit of what you're offering. Again, your subscribers might get 100 emails a day. Their time is precious, so grab their attention and let them know from first glance that you're not wasting it. If you want an example of all of this so far, go to booklaunchers.com seven steps you'll find our reader magnet, which is the seven steps to write a book that will be set up to sell. You'll notice there's no updates here, but you'll also get our launch letter and you'll see the subject lines of our launch letters. And some that have performed really well recently include building blocks of a book inside Are you joining us today? An expensive marketing mistake to avoid and what makes a bad book editor? All selling a benefit or creating curiosity. Number five Keep your emails short and sweet. You don't have to write a novel and your subscribers will thank you if you don't Shorter emails are easier to read and get to the point without wasting time. 200 words or less is probably all you need to say what matters and provide the value that your reader needs for that day. The more frequently you send, the shorter your emails should probably be. Stick with a similar length and structure for every email and don't worry about hitting a certain word count your readers are going to read if it's valuable. Now you can also include links to high value content so they can get more if they want to. It doesn't have to be a big long write up. It can be a short blurb leading to a link. Number six Be direct and conversational with your subscribers. When a reader opens your email, they should feel like they're sitting across the table at a coffee shop and chatting with you. Unless your brand calls for it, you don't need to address them like you're giving your dissertation. Tell them a funny story that relates to your overall message. Ask them at the end of your newsletter to hit reply and share a bit about themselves. Ask what they'd like to see next. Add responses from your readers in your newsletters to build responses, interactions and open rates. Number seven Always include a call to action, but only one A call to action is an ask for your reader to do something big or small. You want to make sure that you include a call to action in every email. Without that call to action, you're wasting an opportunity. You got them to sign up. Open the email and read it. If you don't include a direct ask to continue building that relationship, what's the point? So here are some great examples of call to Actions. Click here for more. Follow me on Instagram, subscribe to my YouTube channel, or watch this video, Reply and tell me which tip helped you the most. Sign up for my free webinar. Grab a copy of my book. You're asking them to offer their time, effort, attention, or maybe even their money. So you don't want to ask for a whole bunch of things, but it's a good practice to include one call to action in every email. The more asks you include, the more underwhelming of a response you'll receive. Which is why I recommend one Call to Action. Focus on the most important action you want your readers to take. Number eight make your subscribers feel like privileged insiders. Your subscribers deserve to feel special. They are the ones who want to hear what you have to say, who stick around, and who are probably your biggest fans and supporters. So make sure to make them feel that way. By the way, my subscribers are very special to me, so I recommend you hit subscribe and turn those notifications on so you never miss a video. There's a video next week that you're definitely going to want to catch. Now, I won't tell you what that is yet, but give your email readers the inside scoop they won't get anywhere else. Let them be the first to know about any big news or upcoming sales, freebies and giveaways. Provide them expertise that they won't find on your social media channels. Maybe even provide it in a special way such as through a video or a behind the scenes look that no one else gets to see. Number nine Include an Easy to find unsubscribe Button I know you're probably wondering why would I want people to unsubscribe? It's counterintuitive, but I promise it's worth it. When a reader can't find the option to unsubscribe from a newsletter, they may find it annoying and unprofessional. You know what does not build trust? Being annoying and unprofessional. That's just going to get you marked as spam and cause a potentially bigger problem than someone just unsubscribing from your email. So make sure to put the unsubscribe button at the very bottom of your email in small letters. You don't have to show it off with neon flashing lights, but people need to be able to see it and find it quickly should they decide that they would like to unsubscribe. 10 Even if it feels like no one is there, keep showing up. I shared this story in the launch letter recently, but it's one of my favorite stories I've ever heard about this, so I'm going to share it here too. Imagine you're a singer. Your popularity is growing. You're not famous, but people are starting to know who you are. You're scheduled to perform a free concert for about 500 people in an armed forces community. You've traveled quite a distance for this concert and you're excited to have such a great audience. A few hours before the show, a massive snowstorm rolls through and the snow piles up so fast that most people can't get out of their house, let alone drive anywhere. Instead of 500 people, there are 10 people in the audience. Your opening act goes on stage, but puts on a half hearted performance because they probably feel like it's a waste to expend a lot of energy playing for free for just a few people, what would you do? It would be so easy to say, forget it. Why go on? What's the point of playing for 10 people? But that's not what the performer did. This is a true story and here's what happened. He stepped on stage and he said to the audience, well, I'm disappointed there's so few of you here, but I want to thank you for being here. I have a new song I want to play for you. I hope you like it. He proceeded to belt out what's New Pussycat? Like there were a thousand people watching. That singer was, of course, Tom Jones. I heard that story more than 10 years ago when we interviewed Jim Randall, author of Confessions of a Real Estate Entrepreneur. Jim was in that audience of 10. I think about that story all the time, especially when new authors get hung up on the fact that they only have 100 people reading their newsletter or 20 people at their book launch. To me, it doesn't matter if there's one person or hundreds of thousands of people reading what you write or hearing what you have to say. It is a privilege to have an audience and everyone. Even Tom Jones and Tony Robbins started with small audiences and worked their way into bigger ones. A question I hear a lot is I have an email newsletter, but what if no one is reading it? Well, your success can start simply with one single person, so if you don't show up for them, then you're not going to build any trust that gives you the chance to show up for more people. Stay consistent, create valuable content, and show up no matter who is on the other end of that email. Do that and you will continue building your subscriber list and benefiting your brand in the long run. If you're showing up but your subscriber list isn't growing, maybe it's your lead magnet. Check out this video right here to help you create an effective opt in invitation. Need some more marketing insights beyond email? Well, this video is all about book marketing magic or tips that are magical. Either way, it's going to be a great thing for you to watch. So click on over to the next video because I am waiting for you.