Recently I sent out a survey to writers in our BookCamp community and asked them, “When it comes to the whole process of writing, building an audience, and getting published, what’s the biggest challenge, frustration, or obstacle you are struggling with?”

The top response by far: building an audience.

Here’s what I posted in our Facebook group, which lists direct quotes from respondents:

My strong hunch is that BookCampers are representative of most writers.

How to Succeed as a Writer

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know I talk a lot about the 3 C’s of publishing success: Concept, Craft, and Crowd.

Concept refers to the need for a sticky book idea. A compelling concept meets a real need real people really have.

Craft relates to the quality of your writing. Essentially, how good is it? Is it clear and compelling? Does your writing pull me forward?

And the third C, Crowd, is about building an audience—a “platform” you can leverage to promote your book.

While concept development and writing well can certainly be issues for writers, the biggest struggle by far is attracting an audience.

If you’re pursuing a traditional book contract, the number 1 reason publishers turn books down is because of too small a platform/audience.

If you’re self-publishing and do not have an audience, you’re likely to be very disappointed with your sales. Who wants to invest all the time and energy it takes to write and self-publish a book only to hear crickets on the other end?

What’s a writer to do?

In this post I want to share how writers can grow their email list to 250 subscribers and beyond.

The Absolute Necessity of an Email List

Why focus on an email list? In short, because your email list is an asset you own. Social media followings are great and important, but they exist on platforms you “rent,” as it were, which is to say you don’t make the rules there.

To a large extent, Facebook decides who does and does not see your posts, for example. Twitter can change its algorithm whenever it wants and charge you to reach your followers.

Plus, email is simply more effective as a marketing tool. According to this article, the engagement rate of social media is a little over half a percent. Email, on the other hand, reaches about 85 percent of recipients with an open rate of about 23 percent.

When you think audience and platform, think email subscribers.

So how do you grow your email list? Keep reading!

1. Start with the “Eager Sneezer” Tactic

I first heard about this method from Growth Tools founder Bryan Harris. He took the stage at a conference and told attendees to pull out their phones.

Then he instructed, “Text the following to the last person you texted:

“‘Hi [Name], I’m starting this new project where I publish regularly about __________ [fill in the blank with your topic]. Want in?’”

Bryan wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Just do this,” he told the audience, “I want to show you something.”

Many followed his instruction, and guess what?

Responses started rolling in to the participants’ phones.

“You bet I want in!”

“Yes! Why haven’t you done this sooner?”

“Sure.”

“Sounds cool. Yes!”

Bryan said, “OK, now ask them for their best email address.”

That, in a nutshell, is the “eager sneezer” method. You can do it via text, email, Facebook Messenger, LinkedIn direct messages, and the list goes on.

That it’s simple and requires actual work is why it is often overlooked. It is also one of the best ways I know of to begin building an audience.

The reality is you know people who would be happy to support your work in the world. They’ll gladly sign up for your email newsletter and even share your content with others.

These are your friends, family, and acquaintances. They’re your “eager sneezers” because they are the folks who will be eager to share (sneeze) your content with others.

I recommend this method for getting your first 100 to 250 subscribers.

2. Develop a Freebie (a Lead Magnet)

Once you have exhausted your eager sneezer contacts, it’s time to develop a freebie, a lead magnet.

Ideally, a lead magnet is a free resource that is irresistible to the kinds of people you want to serve with your book.

Sadly, a lot of people rush into this process and spend a lot of time working on a resource not many people want.

My advice: don’t rush this. Spend some time thinking and researching the kind of resource your target audience will find compelling.

How do you do this?

First, think about the problems your ideal reader has. What are the most pressing struggles not you but she herself would identify with?

A few do’s and don’ts here:

• Don’t think big and comprehensive. Do think really specific.
• Don’t think about what people need. Do think about what they want.
• Don’t think “I need to get them to see this really important thing.” Think “They want this. I’ll give it to them and help them see that really important thing later.”
• Don’t think “solve all of their problems.” Think “solve one small but pressing problem.”
• Don’t think “I should spend weeks on this.” Think “I should spend no more than a day on this.”
• Don’t think, “The title of this thing doesn’t matter. What matters is the content.” Think “The title alone determines whether they even see the content.”

Below I’ll share some examples of lead magnets that I think hit the mark:

Michael Hyatt serves leaders and business people. He created a lead magnet titled Recipe for a Productive Day.

Laura Dennis serves women who are about to have an empty nest. She created Planning for College Checklists.

Ray Edwards serves writers whose business depends on their marketing copy. He created the Email Subject Line Starter Kit.

Jessica Turner serves moms. She created the Coronavirus Time Capsule.

Eugene Scott serves thoughtful Christians. His lead magnet is 5 Unusual Strategies to Help You Manage Your Fear.

Hopefully these examples illustrate the do’s and don’ts in a helpful way.

For coming up with a great title, I recommend using CoSchedule’s free Headline Analyzer tool.

My advice is to come up with a handful of ideas and then poll your email list as well as your social media followers. Ask them something like, “Which of these free resources would you like me to create for you and/or someone you care about?” (Pro tip: Be sure to number the options, so it’s easy for people to tell you their favorite.)

Once you’ve landed on a great idea, create the lead magnet and hire a freelancer on Fiverr to design it for you. It shouldn’t cost you much more than $25 to get a really professional-looking design.

3. Send People to a Landing Page for Your Lead Magnet

Ok, you’ve got your lead magnet. Congratulations!

Now, how do you make it discoverable?

Start by saving your new lead magnet to a shareable online location. Google Drive and Dropbox are good (free) options for this.

Then create a landing page using a free tool like Welcome.ly.

Now create social media posts that send people to your landing page to sign up. You may want to consider a modest ad spend so that more people see your post.

You should also include a prompt on your own website, of course, if not multiple such prompts.

And don’t miss the crucial step of simply asking your friends and family if they’d be willing to share your landing page via their own social media channels.

Fair warning. Results will vary with your landing page, but it’s a good idea to have one. Keep tweaking and reposting it in social media. But the very best way for people to discover your lead magnet takes us to the last step.

4. Do a Lead Magnet Swap with a Friend

Imagine you’re a writer who’s also a public speaker. You’re on my email list and you get the following note from me:

Hey there,

Quick share for you today, particularly if you need to give an author talk or presentation of any kind.

Public speaking stresses most people out, and a key part of bringing down your nervousness is knowing that you’re fully prepared for your talk.

My friend and speaking pro Lauren Sergy recently created The Speaker’s Ultimate Day-Before Checklist. This checklist helps you go through everything you could possibly need to prepare for your talk. You can literally check off the boxes and sleep soundly knowing you’re ready to go.

Click here to grab Lauren’s Ultimate Day-Before Checklist and her other awesome emails about public speaking and communication.

Take care,

Chad

Would you sign up? When I sent this email, Lauren increased her email list by hundreds in one fell swoop.

Now imagine a friend of yours with her own email list sends a similar email about your lead magnet! Depending on the size of their list, you too would see a significant increase in subscribers.

If you decide to try this method, be sure to use GetOneClick to enable one-click subscriptions. That way all someone has to do is click the link in your friend’s email. They’ll immediately go to the freebie and the system captures their email address. Slick!

Recap

Do you want to build your platform and attract an audience for your writing? Here are the steps:

1. Start with the “Eager Sneezer” Tactic
2. Develop a Freebie (a Lead Magnet)
3. Send People to a Landing Page for Your Lead Magnet
4. Do a Lead Magnet Swap with a Friend

You’ll see your biggest subscriber surges with 1 and 4, and you can keep doing 4 over and over again.

You can do this, and your story or message deserves an audience.

Question: What’s your biggest challenge with growing an audience? You can leave a comment by clicking here.