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

Split Test Your Subjects
Emotional Headline Analyzer

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.

The post 020 What Creators Need to Know About Email Marketing (Deep Dive) appeared first on Creative Funding Show.

Author Interview - Emma Flint