Building a list is non-negotiable.
You can make money writing fiction, and do extremely well. But build a list, and you can make money just for sending an email. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, nothing will perform like an in-house list of lucrative relationships, built by your hard work and consistent effort.
The longer that readers remain on your list, the more likely they are to know, like, and trust you. This makes it more likely they’ll become buyers. A list of trusted buyers will give you the leverage you need to make the money you’re worth.
When people opt-in to your list, they are making a quiet commitment to receive your information. Because they’re interested in what you have to say, they are more likely to read your emails. Permission to enter the inbox is far more powerful than the RSS feed of your blog could ever be. Like you, your readers are busy. Having access to their inbox over a sustained period gives you a golden opportunity to develop a deeper bond. Your subscribers are special – they receive exclusive information and more attention than your general audience. If you’re a fiction writer, perhaps you give list members exclusive previews, interviews, or some other giveaway which they’ll enjoy receiving.
Emails have more power and potential than a blog post because when something lands in your inbox, it requires your attention, even if that simply means moving that email to the trash. If you make sure every email is valuable, some of your readers will look forward to everything you send. But if you abuse this privilege, and spam your readers, flood their in-boxes too often, or fail to provide value, they will unsubscribe, or worse, simply ignore you.
If you don’t have a list, it’s time to start one. Even if you don’t have a product right now, you will someday. There’s no time like the present to put that opt-in box in the upper right-hand corner of your blog. Several years from now, you will likely look back on that move as being the most significant thing you ever did online.
Build it, Don’t Buy it
When I was 10 years old, I sold a few hundred candy bars so I could pay my way into Camp Oaks, a summer camp up in the mountains of Southern California. For the first few weeks, I set up shop in front of a local grocery store. I smiled, said all the right words, and did as well as a 10 year old had any right to expect. But it wasn’t enough. With just one week to go before my deadline, I’d only sold half my candy bars.
So I changed strategies, selling only in my immediate neighborhood, and hanging around my parent’s flower shop, offering candy bars to many of the same customers who had seen me grow from toddler to lanky 10 year old. In short, I leveraged my existing relationships and sold more candy bars in three days than I had in the previous month.
You could sell to a list without a relationship, but life’s too short to work that hard.
Sell to people who want to hear what you have to say and are looking forward to your offers. If a lead has been on your list for a while, you’ve had ample opportunity to provide valuable information. Do this well and often; your subscribers will reward you by opening your emails, responding to your advice, and helping to grow your business, brand, and authority.
Existing relationships simplify the selling process. From subject lines to body copy, to the offer itself – the heavy lifting is already done. Most online marketers race for the shortcut, hammering their lists until the names are battered, before moving onto the next list, all the while wondering why they must work so hard for every conversion.
You don’t have to worry, though. You’re a smart writer who understands the value of quality communication. Building a list can be fun, especially when seen as an opportunity for dialogue between you and your readers. Much of your email communication can originate from expanded ideas you’ve explored on your blog, chapters in your books, or the daily wisdom that comes from living your day-to-day.
But you should never buy a list, as it’s only a shortcut to the long way around, and a shortcut that will likely lead you down a dead end. Take the time to build your list the right way and always put your relationships first.
Put the Relationship First
Anyone who says it’s the size of the list that matters probably doesn’t have much of a relationship with their list. A giant list means little if no one opens your emails or responds to what you’re saying.
Let’s say you have 5,000 people on a list, but they don’t know you especially well and you’ve done little, if anything, to establish trust. Without a relationship, you might make 10 sales – hardly enough to retire on. On the other hand, let’s say you have a list of just 100 people, yet they read everything you write and open most of your emails. That list might yield 20 sales.
Put the relationship first and size won’t matter. Focus on growing your list, nurturing your audience, and doing the little things that will encourage audience engagement. Consider the emotions you affect in your readers – they may forget specific things you’ve said, but they will remember how you made them feel.
Talk to your readers, encourage their replies, and give them public shout outs on Twitter, Facebook, or on your blog whenever you can. Listen to your list. Use emails, social media exchanges, and blog comments to constantly ask yourself, “What can I do to help?”
By building relationships, you have an opportunity to prove that you understand your readers’ problems, can effectively answer their questions, and will help them realize their goals faster than anyone else.
The rules of your list are no different from the rules of real life – manners matter.
Have Manners
Because people want to be treated well, excellent manners will go an especially long way in your marketing. In case you forgot what you learned in kindergarten, here are a few golden rules that will make your marketing more effective.
Think before you speak. It’s amazing how many emails I’ve read from marketers that left me wondering if they proofread their copy before hitting “send.” Not because of the typos, though there were plenty, but because it seemed that they were saying things they may not have meant to say. A few minutes of thought could make a big difference in audience reception and overall conversions.
Say thank you. Appreciate your audience, and more importantly, let them know they’re appreciated. Say please, thank you, and you’re welcome, and say them often. Letting your audience know you appreciate their time will yield a long-term positive result.
Avoid using jargon or slang that will leave your audience feeling out of the loop. People long to feel included. Using language that isolates your reader will complicate the bonding process.
Show your audience respect. While you don’t want to use words your audience isn’t familiar with, you also don’t want to talk down to them. Also, take the time to evaluate whether there is anything negative, disrespectful, or degrading in what you’re trying to say. Don’t speak in ALL CAPS unless you are specifically proving a point, and be careful how often you use the exclamation point – you don’t want to appear as though you’re shouting!
Avoid swearing. Unless it’s part of your brand, steer clear, you never know how it will be received. I’ve no problem with cursing, but I know my audience. My children are nine and six, and neither have ever heard me swear. Yet, I do it all the time with friends and coworkers, both out loud and in email, because it’s part of our existing relationships. I show my readers and brand the same respect I show my children.
Above all, get permission. Never invade your readers privacy or dare go where you’ve not been invited.
Get Permission
If you’re trying to sell through the inbox without an invitation, or are mass emailing without permission, you’re a spammer. Sorry, but it’s true.
Nothing converts better than effective, intelligently composed, permission-based marketing. Subscriber acquisition is important, but you must always get consent.
Offer your subscribers the ability to unsubscribe, and make it easy for them to do so. Again, you don’t want anyone on your list who doesn’t really want to be there. The clearer and easier you make this process, the more loyal your list will be.
The best way to get permission is to ask – that’s what your lead magnets and blog posts are for. It’s why you re-purpose your content and spread it throughout the Web and why you post links on Facebook and Twitter.
Permission isn’t transferable. Just because someone gives you their email address, doesn’t mean you have permission to share it. You should never, ever, under any circumstances, rent or sell your e-mail list to a second party. Unless you’re happy being a spammer.
However, as I mentioned earlier, there may be times you want to share your email list with someone else. Sharing lists doesn’t involve you actually handing your list to someone else, though. Instead, you send an email to your list on behalf of someone else, which will include an offer (which can come in the form of an affiliate offer which you could make money from) from that person. The key here is to offer value in that email and only share your list when you believe it will benefit your readers in some way.
Be selective with list sharing because, as I said before, if your email becomes spam-like in its nature or frequency, people will unsubscribe from your list faster than a cat jumping out of a shower.
Get permission first, and always let your potential subscribers know precisely what’s in it for them. The more specific you are, the better it will be.
Be Specific
The more specific you are, the more money you’re going to make.
This may seem counter-intuitive, since the broader your topic, the wider the net, but why would you want to catch a ton of tiny minnows when you could catch a whale or two? Specificity allows you to pin a bull’s-eye on your total market. By narrowing down, you can create products with the exact solutions your market is looking for.
You don’t want to sell to parents; you want to sell to parents of potty training toddlers. Even more specific, parents who are potty training toddler boys.
Your online growth isn’t fenced in by geography as it would be with a brick-and-mortar business. Your business is based on who you are and what you sell, not where you hang your shingles. You may not be able to open a profitable business on Main Street that caters only to parents who are potty training. Online, however, you can. And you can make that business highly profitable.
With your market narrowed, you can develop your USP, or Unique Selling Proposition, the one thing that tells your target market exactly why you’re the perfect person to solve their problems. To really nail it, you must know what it is your audience needs most. There are two ways to find out.
The first is so obvious, that it’s easy to overlook. Just ask. Your blog, social media, or list – all are great ways to ask simple questions that will get you the answers you need to turn your words into profit. Try Survey Monkey, a free and easy way to send a survey to your readers.
The second method to finding out what your audience wants is to experiment with different messaging, measuring what gets you the best response, and ditch whatever doesn’t work. Do this repeatedly to consistently improve your conversions, customer satisfaction, and the lifetime value of each customer.
You can get more specific as you go along, but it all starts with your first lead magnet, attention getter, or as I like to call it, your “promise.”
The Promise
I’ve heard it referred to as a lead magnet, money magnet, cookie, and free prize. I’m sure it’s been called a whole lot more, too. I like to call it your “promise.”
Readers opt-in to your list based on a promise you make. Nobody gives you their email address accidentally. Whether you’re offering a free report, case study, a how-to, or a what-not-to-do, you’re always exchanging your promise for their in-boxes. Break your covenant and they’ll be sorry they gave it to you.
The better your promise, the better your relationships will be from the beginning. It’s easy to give away garbage. Many marketers will tell you that’s okay, but it’s a shortsighted way to build a business and a perfect example of what not to do. Though I would disagree under any circumstances, I understand why a non-writer would do this. You, however, have no excuse. Put out the best copy you can, every time.
Your readers’ in-boxes are crowded. Keep your promises and subject lines strong. Your e-mails will get opened and read because your readers believe in you. That makes you a pleasant habit.
This makes it easy when it comes time for self-promotion. Make quality promises and always over-deliver on your word. Your conversions will be high when you do sell because you’ve earned the confidence of your audience. They know if your free stuff is good or even great, then your paid stuff will be great, if not phenomenal.
Give away lots of free stuff to your list, as often as your schedule allows. Always make it great. Remember, it all starts with that first promise, so get it on your site as soon as you can and make it easy for your reader to see.
Prominent Placement of Opt-in Form
First, a bit about sales funnels.
A sales funnel is a systematic approach to selling a product or service. A well-designed funnel serves as a map for the sales process. This map can detail anything from an individual sale, going from first interaction to closing the deal, to an entire relationship going from first sale to preferred buyer.
You want as many leads in your funnel as possible. The goal isn’t to make your opt-in box attractive, it’s to increase conversions. Position your “promise” and opt-in box in a prominent spot on your blog that follows the natural eye line. Remember, it must be attention-getting enough to grab reader attention and hold it.
Anything, no matter how small, that increases the difficulty for your reader to subscribe, will reduce overall conversions. Make it easy to opt in, and don’t ask for anything more than you need. I usually ask for a first name and email address only. You can ask for more, but you better be giving away something extra special.
Make sure the headline above your “promise” is strong, compelling, and, if possible, just a few short, yet powerful words. Be confident, don’t beg or be mealy mouthed. Tell your readers exactly how they will benefit by surrendering their email address.
Keep your copy short – a few bullet points to highlight the main advantages, along with some testimonials for social proof, or a couple of short sentences in your own words about the product. Always add a privacy statement as part of your promise. You should never, under any circumstances, share your subscribers’ email addresses with a third-party.
With a promise in place and privacy assured, it’s time to get personal.
Be Personal
People want to connect with you as a human, they don’t care what you ate for lunch.
You see a lot of this misinterpretation online, people mistaking personality for minutia. Reveal who you are, don’t bore your audience with the irrelevant details of your daily life.
Paint in broad strokes. My wife and children are a large part of my life. That makes them a significant part of my writing. But I speak of them only in generalities and always to illustrate a point or make it easier for me to tell my story because, like you, I write faster and better when I don’t have to think too hard about what I’m saying.
Small details from your life add color to your copy. If your communication with your audience is composed of only facts, no one will be excited to open your emails. Who would you rather read, a stranger who can help you build a better business, or a recently-married 34-year-old mother of infant twin boys, juggling her thriving career and a busy home life who can also help you with your business?
The more personal you are, the easier it will be to communicate with your list because they will have some of the same touchstones as you.
Consistent, Quality Communication
So, you’ve built a list, made your promises, and you’re winning people over with your personality. How do you turn list subscribers into buyers?
You must first earn the right to send promotional emails. You do this by delivering value to their in-boxes. Every time one of your subscribers opens an email from you, they should receive a smile, encouragement, inspiration, or some sort of free tool, tip, or resource that will improve their life in some small way.
It isn’t enough to make connections, you must also maintain them. You probably have friends you haven’t spoken to in years. How do you think they would respond if you called them out of the blue and asked them to help you move this weekend?
You’ll maximize your open rates and multiply your level of response if you’re able to deliver quality content during the times when you have no launch, product, or service to sell. Your readers will appreciate that the only reason you’re sending them an email is to let them know you care. If you only send your readers content when you have something to sell, they’ll come to think of you as that friend who never invites them out on the boat or to a party but always calls them when there’s work to be done and they need help. Send your readers content whenever you think it will benefit them, and they’ll be a lot more likely to help you when you need to move something.
Be Remarkable
Consistency and quality are everything. Be regular and remarkable, but if you only have time for one, ALWAYS be remarkable. The fight for attention is fierce; if you’re not special, you’re barely there.
Give your readers reasons to anticipate your email. Your readers downloaded your original promise because they were looking for solutions, answers, or quick tips to improve their lives. You did it once, now do it on repeat.
Use your best voice. Don’t be dry, and don’t sound like every other email they already read that day. Be a friend who knows what they’re going through and is there to help.
Establish a steady rhythm that your readers can subconsciously count on. It’s okay to send “bonus” emails, but you should aim for a delivery schedule your readers can count on. If you’re consistent, it will be easier to pull off the single most powerful e-mail marketing strategy I’ve ever seen, used, or personally know of. The strategy is simple, plays to your natural instincts as a writer, and is a ton of fun to do. Best of all, it’s probably why you got into the writing game to begin with – tell your audience stories.
Tell Your Audience Stories and Use Open Loops
You love stories, right? So does everyone you know, even if they’re a curmudgeon who would never admit it. People’s love of stories starts before preschool and dies with their final breath. Well-told stories are the magic key to getting your emails opened, anticipated, and shared.
Find the intersections between your life and business, then turn that into your story. Your reader has similar intersections in his life. By engaging with your audience on a deeper level, you make your relationship with them matter more.
Short sentences, powerful openings, and open loops are the three secret weapons of highly effective email. Save the prose for your bestseller. In email, people are looking for short. Punchy. Powerful. Compelling.
People want stories, not page turners. Short sentences help you hold reader attention. Once a reader is one-third down the page, they’re likely to make it to the bottom, especially if your email isn’t too long. Always end your email with a post script. This may seem silly, but if you learn to use the “P.S.” well, you’ll realize it’s the one sentence in your email that matters most. It’s in the post script where you will embed your open loops and storytelling angles.
Have you ever watch serialized television – Lost, 24, The Sopranos? It’s those open loops that kept you coming back. Sure, you probably loved the character development, pace, setting, and dialogue, but what had you talking to your friends and sitting on the edge of your seat were the open loops that left you wondering what in the world was going to happen next week?
This is easy for you to do with your list if you think of your emails as a series rather than as individual broadcasts. Don’t write your emails one at a time, write them in batches, as if you were serializing a story. Leave open loops for your readers that will have them anticipating your next email, then opening it as soon as they see it.
Storytelling this way takes time to master, but it’s worth putting open loops in your email as often as you can. They work, both for bonding with your readers, and training them to open your email. And the only thing better than training your readers to open your email is training them to click on your links.
Train Your Readers to Click
You must train your readers to click. If this seems unkind, I’m sorry. In no way am I implying your readers are dogs, children, or anything else which might need training.
We all get trained by life. Any behavior, done with repetition, becomes habit. I have more habits than I can count – good, bad, and a million or so right in the middle. So do you.
Every habit affects your life in some way, and each started small and was repeated until it became automatic. You want your readers clicking on your links without stopping to think. Send them somewhere that’s in their best interests every time they click, and it’s an easy habit to form.
If your emails consistently deliver quality information that’s in alignment with your original promise, your readers will continue to benefit. However, if you send them to irrelevant or self-serving links that offer little or no value, then you will train your readers that your links aren’t worth clicking.
This is relatively straightforward, yet many marketers miss it, and end up suffering abysmal open rates and even lousier click-through rates as a result. Make your emails worth your readers’ time and they’ll make it worth yours.
Of course, you want to train your readers to buy, but sometimes the best things come to those who wait.
Sell Later
Develop a solid foundation with your readers before asking them for money, at least if you’re looking for long-term buyer relationships.
Intimacy takes time. Think of your first sale as intimacy you want to establish with your reader. Rush it, and you might damage the relationship forever.
This philosophy holds true, even if you’re in a hurry. Let’s say you have a product to promote – your own or an affiliate’s. Let’s say you’re in a tight spot and need money within 30 days. Your mortgage is due, your car is going to be repossessed, or your credit cards are all one charge away from being maxed out. You need to sell something within a month, but you have no relationships with your list.
You can do it.
If you have a month, spend the first three weeks being as kind, helpful, and as unbelievably awesome as you know you can be. Answer every email, and reply to every Tweet, post on Facebook, or comment on your blog. Always go above and beyond.
Then, when it’s time to promote, you’ve earned the right.
Here’s the thing – that’s what you should do anyway. Even if you don’t have to make a sale in 30 days, spend the next three weeks being ridiculously awesome. Make it a habit and don’t send another email unless it fits your new standard.
Put the relationship first and the sale second. It may take longer to get there, but you’ll have a list with legs once you arrive.
Segmenting Your List
Building your first list is hard. It feels awkward. Who am I talking to? What are they thinking? Is this really going to work?
Until it starts working and what was once hard is suddenly easy. Opportunities fall in your lap, amazing partners exchange emails with you every day, and your ideas flow like water from a broken faucet. You’re able to do things you never imagined you could do and potential realized seems as easy as waking up. That’s the magic of being a writer, touching the infinite possibility of your life’s true potential.
My daughter sits beside me at my desk as I type this sentence. There’s permanence in the moment as I look up from my keyboard, remind her that anything is possible, then return to the keyboard and write this moment into forever. There is no other job in the world like it.
Not every writer will make all their dreams come true, but those writers who know how to build, manage and segment their lists will certainly have the ability. Steadily build your assets, and the lists that accompany them, and do so with quality and consistency – you will have made it further than 98% of the people who set out to do what you’re trying to do.
You’ve avoided the shortcuts and have built lucrative relationships with an adoring audience. Now it’s time to maximize what you have built and an audience who is eager to buy. I must warn you, though, this next part is extremely technical.
List segmentation and cross-pollination is one of the most powerful skills you will ever learn, but it isn’t easy. There are many moving parts, and they must turn in harmony. You need the right email marketing software and the skill set to use it. You can find more information on the Ghostwriter Dad Resource Page.
Even if you outsource this part of your business, you must understand the basics enough to make sure you’re giving proper instructions to whoever is handling your accounts.
Set up your lists so buyers are automatically unsubscribed from one list and moved to another. That way you’re not hammering the same people with the same offer repeatedly. If you gracefully move your buyers through your funnel and across your lists, you will be maximizing the value delivered while keeping your communication relevant.
Some internet marketers would argue that the most essential online skills are traffic and conversion skills. I disagree. I believe that building, growing, and segmenting your lists is the most efficient path to online wealth.
