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I’m seriously considering creating an email list and I needed y’all’s sage advice. What are some ways to attract people to sign up? A free ebook is a good incentive, but right now I haven’t any books to offer. 😉 I was debating about having free short stories like Josiah, but I also thought about offering a free downloadable card (if that’s possible?) or wallpaper. I also thought about offering a chance to win a free portrait or an illustration for your book for the first two weeks of my email launch. What do you think? Any other ideas for things I could offer to first-time subscribers?
Here are some of my email list questions (you don’t have to answer them all if you don’t want to 😉).
What initially attracts you to subscribe to an email list?
What kind of things should I write about?
How long should the email be? How often should I send it out?
What is your favorite email list and why?
Are there any rules or regulations regarding email lists I’d need to know about?Any thoughts on email lists are greatly welcomed. 🙂 If any of y’all have any email list questions yourself, feel free to use this thread to ask them.
@aratrea @daeus @lifeofkatie @ethryndal @kate-flournoy @jenwriter17 @dragon-snapper @LIVGIORDANO @emily-d @graciegirl @anyone-else@mariposa this is perfect timing, because I’m basically at the same spot as you trying to set up an email list! I’m probably going to give a free collection of poems, or a short story to my subscribers. Neither is written, so I should get working on that. 😉
What I would recommend for you…since I know you’re an artist…and I would LOVE to get if you use this idea, is either a collection of artwork exclusive to your subscribers, OR a short story that you illustrated.
For your questions:
I’m attracted if I know the person who has the email list, and I like their writing. If I know what I’m signing up for (ie writing updates once a month) that also makes me more inclined to join. And freebies, of course.
What do you usually write about? Give an update what is happening in your life every week or month or so. Or if you get published anywhere big, put that in. Or if you just finished a draft of your story, just started planning a new story, etc.
Not super long. I mean…if you have a lot to write about, then go for it! If it’s barely anything, that’s fine too, but I would recommend AT LEAST a few paragraphs. I would say send it out once a month. That seems like a good balance to me. But if you like going more often, you could do weekly or biweekly.
My favorite email list is KE Stanton’s. I just love her writing style, and she is very fun and engaging. http://eepurl.com/c-R1vn Here’s the link if you’re interested in hers.
I would not know about any rules, but I’m thinking not? I’m pretty sure there wouldn’t be.
Hope that helps!
www.livforhim.wordpress.com
What initially attracts you to subscribe to an email list?
I either know the person or am really interested in the free resource they’re giving out. Or they have a cool giveaway.
What kind of things should I write about?
I’d say it all depends on what kind of audience you’re trying to cultivate. Think about what your ideal audience would like to hear about, and write on that. I’d also recommend that you subscribe to a bunch of different author mailing lists (if you aren’t already) to see what sort of things people use them for and what sort of things you personally like to see in mailing lists. Daeus also did a pretty good survey about this and discussed the results here: https://kingdompen.org/reader-psychology-revealed-how-authors-can-connect-better-with-bookworms/
How long should the email be? How often should I send it out?
Depends on your goal. If you want people to go read something you wrote, the email should be short OR have the link early on so people don’t need to read a lot to go where you want them to go. If the email’s just informational and you don’t want them to go someplace else, then it’s really up to you. More important than how long the email is, is how valuable the content in the email is IMO. A long email that has tons of valuable information is better than a short email filled with fluff.
What is your favorite email list and why?
I have favorite business-related mailing lists, but I’m not sure I have a favorite author mailing list. K.A. Emmons, Brennan McPherson, and Kim Vandel all do a good job with their mailing lists, though. They tend to be short, to-the-point, and interesting. Nadine Brandes is also good.
Are there any rules or regulations regarding email lists I’d need to know about?
Not really besides the obvious: don’t subscribe people to the mailing list without asking them. 😛
Editor-in-Chief Emeritus. Guiding authors at Story Embers.
@Mariposa I started up an email list last year, and I can confirm that the biggest incentive that got people signing up was having a cool giveaway. They had to sign up to enter the giveaway.
As for content, make sure there’s pictures. Aesthetic photos/photos of life/random pictures you’ve taken. They don’t have to be good quality, because something is better than nothing. If there’s no pictures, people are a lot more likely to just scroll through and not actually read it.
I have shamelessly borrowed ideas from Nadine Brandes and it’s worked really well for me. Nadine’s newsletter is basically email-goals because it’s so open, friendly, funny, yet not boring.
My biggest advice in general is probably: be genuine. Ultimately, people will subscribe because they want to hear from you so don’t give them a you that’s not real. Give them yourself, and yet at the same time, turn the focus on them. Don’t use your list to get something from your subscribers, instead you should use it to give to them. They’re your friends, let them know that they are by the way you talk/write to them.
Writing Heroes ♦ Writing Hope // janemareeauthor.com.au
@mariposa I think offering a short story if you sign up for the email is a good idea. Nadine Brandes offers you to enter a $10 dollar Amazon giveaway if you sign up for her emails, which is a good idea too, since sooooo many people use Amazon. And since you’re so good at drawing, I think offering something related to that is good too. Downloadable wallpapers sounds cool, that’s something I’d definitely like. Maybe at the end of a certain time period for your email launch, you could hold a contest or giveaway for those that signed up.
What attracts me to sign up for someone’s email list is #1 the person. I usually check out their website, read their ‘about me’ page, and just get the feel of them. That pretty much decides if I further consider signing up. I don’t always look for something in return for signing up, but a little something is always nice.
I haven’t signed up for many, but my favorite one is the one @jane-maree does, because I just really like her personality and getting a peak into her life outside of writing. I think sending out an email once a month is a good start, you can adjust based off how much you have to say. You can give updates on life, writing and your WIPs, art, and anything else you’re passionate about. And people love to laugh, and I personally love a good meme or GIF. In my opinion, you can make the email as long or short as you want.
Maybe you can pass something out (something small; bookmark or business card maybe) telling people a bit about yourself, option to sign up for emails and what they’d get in return. Canva.com is awesome for designing stuff. Don’t push too hard though ’cause a lot of people don’t want their inbox cluttered up even more. If they refuse, act like you understand (even if maybe you don’t) to keep good relations so that person may still hang out on your website.
yourwriterplatform.com has info on creating an email list. One more thing: never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth. After asking friends to sign up, ask them to tell other people and so on.
Wow, sorry this was so long. Hope it helps!
I'm a Kapeefer 'TIL WE'RE OLD AND GREY!
www.jennaterese.com@livgiordano I like the idea of exclusive artwork. I post about 4 pictures per month on my blog, but I could always reduce that to 2 a month and have the other 2 be for my subscribers. I’m planning on writing an ongoing series of short stories featuring the same characters which I might include in my email list also (probably with illustrations).
I hope your email list goes well and thank you for your advice! 🙂
@aratrea Actually, my email list subcribing is rather…rare (I only subscribe to 2 right now). I usually prefer to pop into someone’s blog once a week rather than subscribe to an email list. 😜 I don’t even “follow” blogs in the normal sense by clicking the follow button; I just save their blogs to my favorites list and regularly check them. I guess I’m just old-fashioned that way. But I might subscribe to a few to get the feel of things (and, who knows, I might actually like it).
Thanks for your advice! 🙂
@jane-maree Cool! I’d probably do a giveaway then, like a chance to win an illustration for their book or perhaps a free portrait of themselves.
I rarely take photos so do you think artwork would suffice in place of that? And perhaps Aberdeen comics?
Thank you so much for your advice, Jane! 🙂
@jenwriter17 No need to apologize! Long is good, especially when it’s packed with helpful information. Thank you for your input and advice! 🙂 It’s really helping me to formulate my ideas and strategies.
@mariposa-aristeo
I’m usually attracted to an email list if I know the person and have previously read some of their work. I only have about half a dozen people I signed up for an email from. A few are friends of church that have small designing businesses, and the others are writers.
What you want to write about depends on what you’re trying to do with the email. Just tell people about your everyday life and goals, or more focused on writing and art? Giving Aberdeen comics is a great idea, BTW.
Personally, I love long emails, but other people could have shorter attention spans depending on what you’re discussing. What Josiah said about having the link early is a good idea, so people don’t have to read it all if they don’t want to. Once a month is a great schedule, often enough so people stay interested, but not too often to make you scramble to find things to put in it. Some people I know do it less often, only putting it out when they have something to announce, *nudges @aratrea* (BTW, Josiah, why is your name Aratrea?)
My favorite email list is Josiah’s because I love his stories, and I love his snark and sarcasm.
Here are a few incentives to get people to sign up for your email list that I know of…
– Offer a free short story when you sign up.
– Offer an exclusive piece of artwork once a month for those who are on your list (An amazing artist I know gives you a free background artwork for each month)
– When you sign up you can sign in to a giveaway. An Amazon card is a good idea, an custom piece of art, bookmarks, etc.
Whenever you get this up and running, please let me know! I’d love to sign up!
ENFP - "One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane."
Oops. @mariposa.
And I will say that you should try to make the emails visually attractive. Put color in, with photos, maybe a logo for your blog, artwork, etc. Everyone likes to read something more than a page of black lines.
ENFP - "One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane."
@anne-of-lothlorien @mariposa Actually, statistics show that people are far more likely to read an email that has just text. People say they like pictures, but when it actually comes down to it, they distrust emails with pictures in them. Of course, it depends on your niche, but I think it’s most likely your audience will pay more attention to you if you use plain text emails.
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@Mariposa artwork would probably fit the bill too. Remember that you don’t have to stick with the one option forever. You can play around with every email you send out. 😛
@Daeus I’m curious that you say that. When I sent out my first newsletter I had no pictures or anything and the biggest lot of feedback I got was for “more photos and pictures” so…Writing Heroes ♦ Writing Hope // janemareeauthor.com.au
@jane-maree Yes, well, certainly there can be exceptions, but that’s the general trend. With KP, I know that our emails were read more when we removed all images from them except the picture prompts. That’s with people telling us they liked the pictures in the emails.
I’d recommend split testing it if you’re unsure. Just send out some with images and some without and monitor which emails get more opens and clicks.
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@anne-of-lothlorien I actually thought about doing Aberdeen comics for subscribers, but I hadn’t decided for sure.
Oh, I will definitely let you know when my email list is up and running. 🙂 I’m hoping sometime in March or April.
Thanks for your advice, Anne!!! 🙂
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