If your have grown your reader mailing list to over 1,000, then chances are you’re probably feeling pretty smug. A lot of authors would give their left arm to be in your position to have succesfully built a platform that size and the potential for earning from ongoing book sales is great. It’s taken work and dedication but you did it – and you deserve to give yourself a pat on the back.
But just having a mailing list is not enough. This is only a small part of the puzzle. What’s actually more important is to keep your subscribers engaged. That means making sure they keep reading, it means making sure that they are keen to find out more about what you’re selling and it means having them primed to convert and buy your books when the time comes. Let’s look at how you can go about doing that…
Post Regularly
If you have a mailing list and you message your members once every month, then you can’t expect them to be that interested in what you have to say. There is a momentum here, so you need to keep up that relationship and ensure that you stay in the forefront of their minds. Avoid a situation where they see your name in their inbox and think: ‘who is that?’.
But Not Too Regularly
On the other hand though, don’t message four times a week to the point where they’re sick of hearing from you. Leave them wanting more, not feeling desensitized to your message and anything you possibly could have to say…
Provide Value
This is the most important point of all. Make sure that your e-mails provide value in some form or other by being entertaining, informative or useful. Try to give something valuable or entertaining in every single message, this way they will end up looking forward to what’s coming next.
Master the Cliff-hanger
Tell your readers what is coming up next and try to build some anticipation at the end of each message. Think of this like a serial novel being published in a magazine – end every chapter on a cliff-hanger!
Ask Questions
Another useful strategy is to ask questions or even to ask your readers for favors. This is a very personal way to communicate with an audience, so take advantage of that by actually interacting with them. If they feel they’re contributing, then they’ll be more likely to want to stick around and help.
