Most writers know the importance of building a platform—an audience of people who are interested in your work and will buy your book when it releases.
What writers may not know is the best way to do this is by growing an email list.
Why? Have a look at the graphic below:
This graphic from OptinMonster makes the point pretty clear.
If you want engagement from your readers, email’s a much better bet than social media.
This doesn’t mean you should ditch social media, of course. It just means growing your audience by building an email list should be a higher priority.
Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash
A Free and Simple Method to Grow Your Audience
With all this in mind, I challenge you to try something with me that I guarantee will grow your email list.
Ready?
- Take out your phone.
- Open your text messages.
- Find one person who’s not currently on your email list but who knows and likes you.
- Send that person some version of this message: “Hey [NAME]!”
- Then send some version of this message: “I wanted to let you know I’m starting a group of folks to keep them updated about my forthcoming book! Want in?”
- Nine times out of ten the person will write back and say some version of “Yes!”
- When they do, write back, “Great! What’s your best email address?”
- When they send it, add their email to your list, and let them know you’ll keep them posted!
Simple, right? Having helped writers with this tactic many times over the years, I’m accustomed to hearing questions like . . .
Q: What if they don’t write back?
A: You can try following up, but if that fails, try someone else!
Q: Isn’t this duping my friends into joining my email list? I mean, have they really given their permission?
A: I don’t think it’s duping them, but if you’re worried about this, feel free to let them know that you’ll be emailing them every so often with content that you think they’d find helpful. Each of your emails will include an unsubscribe link; they can unsubscribe anytime.
Q: What if they write back and ask what it means to be in this group?
A: Simply let them know you’re putting together a list of emails to keep the group informed, and you’d like to add their email to the list.
Q: I hate self-promoting. I don’t think I can do this.
A: This isn’t about self-promotion. It’s about getting your message or story into the world.
Q: Won’t I just be annoying people? I don’t like to be annoying.
A: Nobody does! But I can tell you from having worked with thousands of writers that in the vast majority of cases, what you’re going to hear back will actually be really affirming of you and what you’re doing. If not, you don’t want them on your list anyway!
Q: This is a lot of work. I mean, sure I can add this one person, but are you really telling me . . .
A: What I’m really telling you is that the people who join your list with this tactic are some of the most important people you can add. Your friends, family, coworkers, former coworkers, etc. are people who are likely to share your content with others, which will help you continue growing your audience. Even if these folks are not in the audience for your book, they can be really helpful allies in helping you find and grow your audience. My advice: start with this tactic, then move on to other tactics.
Q: How many people can I add to my list with this tactic?
Results vary, but I’ve seen writers grow their list well into the hundreds of subscribers with this method.
Q: Can I do this not only via text messages but FB Messenger, LinkedIn, Twitter direct messages, etc?
A: Absolutely! And I encourage you to do so!
I’ll close with this: I dare you to try texting just one person. What have you got to lose?!
And I’d love to hear about your results.
Question: What’s something you’ve done to grow your audience? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Short and to the point, 💯 %. Thanks for this advice. I got literally nothing to lose and therefore am going to try it.
That’s the spirit! I’d love to know how it goes! And thanks for commenting.