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Email marketing falls under the content marketing umbrella. It’s permission based content along with ‘some’ (minimal) promotion that you send through emails to your subscribers’ inboxes. But, in order to create and build a list, and market to it, you need an email marketing service provider.
There are lots and lots of these providers online, such as:
MailChimp
GetResponse
Constant Contact
Only lenders make a profit from loaning out any product. Most of the time, the product is money. As we know, borrowers have to pay a loan back, with interest.
Oddly, within the writing biz, that rule doesn’t apply. Each day thousands of writers borrow from each other, with permission. The lender, many times, gains only satisfaction from knowing that something they have learned has gone on to someone else. The process is a kind of benevolent Round Robin.
It works something like this:
I learn about a new market opening up to submission that had previously been agented manuscripts only. (Where did I learn it? The publisher will have sent out a notification to various media sources.) I send out the word to all of those writers I personally deal with on a regular basis. Those writers post the info for all of their followers to use or not. And so on down the line.
Writers use blogs, Twitter, Google +, Facebook, She Writes Network, BlogHer Network, Jacketflap Network, Branch Out Network, LinkedIn Network, and several others to form our circles. We talk to each other, giving and receiving information daily. Anyone who wants such info can download it, save it, use it, and/or pass it on. It wouldn’t be presumptuous to expect it to blanket the globe in a matter of hours.
Writers are an info-hungry group of people and we’re everywhere.
Providing Information for Free
The reason we perform this service for each other is simple. We know how difficult this business is to establish a career. At the same time the work can get frenzied to maintain such a career. No one outside the writing circle can really help any of us, unless that help comes in the form of a commission of some kind or additional information.
By communicating with one another, writers pass information around like bon bons. Little markets today can springboard a career next year. We remember those who’ve kindly passed on publishing info, and we reciprocate.
We promote each other with contests and giveaways, all in an effort to help another writer to broaden the audience pool for a new book or blog. We share information to ensure that everyone is on the same playing field. I’ve met very few greedy or selfish writers, but I can’t begin to count those who’ll share their last market with someone who’s run into a seemingly insurmountable genre wall.
Also, we’re an eager bunch concerning solicited and unsolicited assistance or advice about regarding the craft or marketing. We feel one another’s rejection pangs and celebrate successful submissions. We care about how others’ writing lives are going.
Borrowing and Lending
With tens of thousands of us out there, one would think that we’d overload the consumer ability to read the volumes written on any given subject. After all, we roam freely in the world, passing around all of this information. That’s the beauty of this business.
Communications research has shown that regardless of how strenuously a person tries to pass on a bit of information, misinterpretation and impaired hearing will change that info from one person to the next. The same holds true for writers but with a twist. Writers are individuals wh
Unless you’re brand new to book marketing, you are aware that creating visibility is the foundation of any marketing plan that’s purpose is to sell. And, there are a number of ways to achieve your visibility objective.
Assuming you already have a book or other product to offer, the very first aspect of promotion is to create a website and offer valuable content regularly. This will create an information funnel leading traffic back to your site and product. While this is good, you need to know what you want this traffic to do and clearly convey it to the visitor.
You might be thinking that your purpose is to sell the book you just published. While selling your book is a good place to start, it should not be the end-all or your marketing efforts or expectations.
And, it’s important to know that most visitors will not instantly buy your book or product.
It takes time to develop a relationship with your visitors, and it’s the time invested in establishing a trusting relationship that stimulates the conversion of a visitor into a buyer. To accomplish this, you want to be able to keep in touch with your visitors on a regular basis through ongoing informational emails.
The ongoing connection and steady stream of valuable information is what will motivate a visitor to become a subscriber to your mailing list, motivate your subscriber to trust you, and motivate that individual to be more willing to purchase what you're offering now and in the future.
One of the most effective marketing strategies to create visibility and develop the desired relationship needed to sell your products/services is informational emails.
The informational email offers you an open line of communication with the potential buyer. But, be careful not to abuse this tool. Be sure to offer at least 75 percent valuable content to 25 percent promotion, In fact, to be extra careful, boost the valuable content percentage and lower the promotion percentage. And, be sure to provide content pertinent to the target market you’re aiming at.
Initiating an Email CampaignThe first step to initiate a successful email campaign is to offer the reader something of value, a free offering. This valuable gift can be an e-book, a podcast, a video, a workshop, a teleseminar, or other form of information that the reader wants or needs. This is your ‘ethical bribe’ that will motivate the reader to click on your CALL to ACTION, in this case subscribing to your informational emails.
The ‘ethical bribe’ or free gift is crucial to garnering subscribers. If you're not offering anything, there would be no reason for a reader/visitor to sign up to your mailing list. And, according to a number of marketing experts, including Jack Canfield, Jim Edwards, Brian Judd, and Daniel Hall, it's the mailing list that is the key component to selling what you're offering.
While the free gift may be the lure that gets the reader to subscribe, it's the ongoing connection, additional free offers, and providing valuable information that will make your subscriber trust you and be more willing to purchase what you're offering, whether it’s your book, your services, or an affiliate product.
A word of caution: Choose how often you send out your informational email or newsletter wisely. While you may run the risk of annoying some subscribers if you send them out too frequently, if the email provides great content the risk should diminish. But, even so, be careful. There are some subscribers who get overwhelme
If you haven’t had the chance to check out the Fancy Nancy website, you must head over there now and take a look! First, sign up for the Fancy Nancy: Bonjour! E-newsletter:
You can also see adorable photos of fancy families and read the Fancy Nancy blog.
Hosting a Fancy Nancy soiree in your library? Download the event kit.
Prepping for a poetry unit? Take a look at our ideas to use FANCY NANCY: POET EXTRAORDINAIRE! in the classroom.
Use this template to help kids explore their family tree!
The possibilities are endless, mes amis! How have you shared Fancy Nancy in your libraries or classrooms?
Freelance writing jobs abound for talented writers who are willing to seek them out on the Internet. Writers can sell their talent on the Web instead of just sitting back and waiting for book sales! Some freelance writers use job market websites to earn additional income. However, these websites typically use a bidding system for writing projects, so the pay is typically low because of intense competition between writers. Let's take a look at some good Internet-based, part-time freelance writing job arenas:
Women's Magazines with an Internet PresenceOne handy website, Freelance Writing, provides a
list of women's magazines that accept submissions from freelancers. The list includes a short description of each magazine, including their websites, as well as submission guidelines.
CopywritingThe success of many online businesses depends on creative advertising. Because of this, a talented copywriter can make a decent income. Companies seek talented writers to develop scripts for advertisements, promotional materials, landing pages, and public relations materials. They are also called upon to write short, informative articles. Some Internet copywriters develop original scripts for audio or video advertising campaigns.
Greeting CardsSome greeting card companies accept submissions from freelancers. Blue Mountain Arts, for example, pays freelancers as much as $300 for a short verse. The greeting cards sector is a good niche for poets and for writers with good senses of humor. Freelancers may improve their chances by offering ideas for a specific audience, such as novelty cards for kids.
Here are links to the submissions guidelines for some of the greeting card companies that accept submissions from freelancers:
Electronic NewslettersA variety of companies and organizations send newsletters via email. Basically, these jobs involve writing articles, providing relevant information about the organization or it's industry, and perhaps conducting interviews. Depending on factors such as the importance and size of the organization as well as the frequency of the newsletter, you can make anywhere from $1,500 to $6,000 per newsletter.
BloggingFreelance writers can blog part-time to add to their income. To help make it easier to find these opportunities, there are numerous websites that post blogging jobs. Visit
Problogger's jobs web page and
the Freelance Writing Jobs Network. Both of these useful websites post a wide variety of blogging jobs.
Some blog-based websites hire bloggers onto their staffs.
b5media, based in Toronto, operates a wide variety of blogs. Their bloggers get paid from $100 to $250 per month based on the quality of their blog posts as well as their experience. However, they also can get bon
After you start publishing work, after you begin building a following of readers, you realize you need to stay connected so you can inform readers of what you're working on or offer writing advice or promote your latest book.
Now, you may be wondering what the best method of communication may be. You've got a website, you promote your work on Twitter and Facebook. Maybe your blog allows for an RSS feed. Do you also need a newsletter?
Before you starting penning a periodical, several questions need to be addressed. What reasons drive your desire to begin a newsletter? Who will read your newsletter? And perhaps the most important question of all: Why should readers peruse your publication?
Why Start a Newsletter?
Obviously, an e-mail newsletter can help you stay in touch with readers and grow a larger circulation base. Do newsletters give all writers and genres a boost?
- Non-Fiction writers - experts on the topic they write about - benefit from this type of promotion. By offering articles, breaking news, and links to other information regarding your area of expertise, readership will increase. In many cases, cross-links with other websites draw additional readers.
- Fiction writers use a newsletter to update fans about the latest news: book or article updates, blog posts, book tours, speaking engagements. Some authors offer book excerpts or links to video or podcasts.
Who Will Read Your Work?
Determining your intended audience will help you decide what type of content to include in the newsletter. Plus, defining your readership helps you focus on places to find potential readers.
Once you've defined who your audience will be, you need to ask why this audience will want to read your updates. Are they looking for specific advice on the topic? Do they want general information about books, articles, blog posts? Are they interested in personal information?
Sometimes, a writer may try to cover all bases. Trust me, as an avid reader of newsletters from several of my favorite writers, their publications don't always contain the information I'm most interested in. But that may be okay, too, since it forces me to check out their websites.
Formulate a strong mental picture about the type of newsletter you want. Play with several different design ideas. Make a list of potential articles. These strategies provide focus for you and the kind of information you plan to impart to readers. I scoured my favorite writer newsletters and found the following items:
- Top-# lists
- Features
- Reviews
- Q & A
- Guest Writers
- Classified
What Elements Haven't I Considered?
Think you've thought of everything? Think again. Here are a few other considerations:
- How often will I publish a newsletter? Weekly? Monthly? Only you know for sure how much information you'll have to make a newsletter a worthwhile reading experience.
- Will I write every article? Depending on the scope of your publication, a newsletter can be a time-consuming project. Can you afford to pay others to write for the newsletter?
- Should I offer a premium subscription or should my newsletter be free of fees? Once again, the size of the project may point you toward the best answer for you situation.
- Does the publication need a copyright
I’ve been looking at ways school libraries share news with their “customers.” Some have formal newspapers and staff in the schools. Some write just an article for the school newspaper. This summer as I traveled, I gathered Coffee News papers that were placed in “restaurants coffee shops, hotels, hospitals, etc. — anywhere people go to eat or where they have to wait.”
Some libraries take photos of students and run them through digital picture frames. See PC mag’s reviews for Digital photo frames and CNET reviews. Do you wonder who has time to run around snapping photos and checking permission slips? Sometimes I wonder.
Some libraries have video programs and morning shows that run throughout the school. Our principal purchased two huge flat screen tv’s that are stationed for parents (one in the office and one in the main hallway outside the cafeteria). We can run movies created with MovieMaker and located on USB drops using a device called WebHD. I’m still waiting for all of our parent permission slips to come in before we can use any photos. In the meantime I create powerpoint slides at night and load these in the morning.
Some libraries are using twitter to send brief messages out. I surveyed two-thirds* of my students this first week of school to see how many owned cell phones, how many visited YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, nings, wikispaces, blogs, etc. A huge percentage had a cell phone with unlimited text messaging. Nearly all had been to YouTube. A large percentage had facebook accounts. A smaller number still used their MySpace accounts. A handful of girls and 1-2 boys per class used Twitter. All of them agreed that they would prefer having a library Facebook Fan Page where they could subscribe to SMS text messages to stay “in the know.”
Some libraries send out email messages to parents and to staff members that includes links. These work only IF you have the names and email addresses of everyone and IF everyone will read them. Do you ever send out email messages with read receipts? Watch who doesn’t ever open or read the email, but simply discards it.
Nearly all libraries manage their own web pages, wikis, and blogs. These work as long as people are going to them to visit or subscribing to updates. The same thing goes for bulletin boards and signs in the library. As long as people are coming in and pausing to read them, they’ll know what’s going on. What about the faculty members who seldom visit the library?
I would love to hear your ideas for communicating. What am I leaving off this list? Go ahead and share your ideas with me by emailing [email protected] and I’ll update you in September.
* I would have surveyed the entire school, but the first two days of school the guidance counselors took over the library so I could only see 2/3rds of our 950 students the first week during their rapid checkout and library introduction.
If you sign up or subscribe to a site's newsletter, whether for a free ebook or for the free monthly newsletter, watch out for the confirmation email!
A Little Insight into Subscribing to Sites:
I review my autoresponder service periodically and most recently I noticed there were eight subscribers to my blog who either never responded to the confirmation email or their email service bounced the confirmation.This has happened on my website subscriber box also.
I would think if you go to the trouble of subscribing to a site, there's a reason. Unless, you subscribe to so many that you cannot keep track. But, then we go back to the aspect of taking the time to sign up - you must have wanted something.
When I find a site that I find valuable and especially if they are offering an free useful ebook, I will subscribe to the newsletter. I do pay attention for the confirmation email to make sure I receive what I signed up for.
So, if you've signed up for a site's newsletter, be sure to look out for the confirmation email because the autoresponder service cannot send any emails to you without it. If you're not sure why you aren't receiving the newsletter or the free gift, contact the site owner. Most sites should have an email address or contact page to make this convenient. Or, if you can't find any contact information (which all sites should have this available) you can leave a comment on the most recent blog post mentioning you've signed up and seem to be haven't a problem. All savvy bloggers (site owners) check their readers/visitors' comments.
Another way to subscribe to sites is through their RSS or Atom feed. I do this with my yahoo account and I love it. I get the updated blogs of the sites I subscribe right on My Yahoo page. This is just a convenient method for me because I'm in and out of my Yahoo mail throughout each day. I scroll down my LONG list and, time allowing, visit the sites and comment. What's great is if I don't have the time for a visit, I am still able to read the new post right from my Yahoo subscriber list.
While this is an easy way to get updates of blog postings, you do miss out on the information and special offers that may only be available through the site's newsletter or by signing up for it. I know I try to add links, tips and more in my newsletter that I don't post about.
The next issue I've noticed is that readers who subscribe to a newsletter often don't even open to give it a quick glance to see if there is any valuable information. Now, I know time is an issue with all of us and some marketers have 90-95% of promotion and offers involving money rather than useful content, but you get to know fairly quickly which newsletters or promotional emails this pertains to. All you have to do is unsubscribe to those sites.
Related Articles:
Marketers - Are They Wasting Our Time?
http://www.dkvwriting4u.com/2009/12/marketers-are-they-wasting-our-time/
Blogging Commenting Etiquette
http://karenandrobyn.blogspot.com/2010/02/what-is-blogging-commenting-etiquette.html
Until next time,
Karen Cioffi
http://karencioffi.com
http://dkvwriting4u.com
Learn to Write for Children in Just Six Weeks With Tricks of The Trade!
http://tinyurl.com/yfaz9oy
With funds being limited for some beginners in the writing field, they sometimes need to make choices on what they buy. Writer’s Digest has a solid reputation of providing lots of great resources. Here is one of the tips found in their newsletter I subscribe to. To subscribe to the newsletter, click on http://writersdigest.com/TipOfTheDay/?m_nTip=16150. In the upper left-hand corner is a place to type in your email address to subscribe. Tip of the Day
Why this is a mistake: It is possible to get so overwhelmed with feedback on your writing that you stall out. Everyone has an opinion. The question is whether that opinion is of any value. You may desire others’ opinions because you don’t trust or value your own. But remember that while others can often point out problem areas, they rarely can give you good solutions.
Another problem for book writers is that few readers will want—or even be able—to offer feedback on the entire book. If someone isn’t there from the beginning, it’s hard for him to give accurate feedback. Go to the bookstore, pick up a book, read chapter fourteen, and try to critique it without reading the previous thirteen chapters. Kind of hard, isn’t it?
The solution: Find at most three (optimally one or two) readers whose opinions you value and trust. Find readers who will stick with you through the entire manuscript, not readers who will chew up a random chapter and spit it back to you.
And when you do get feedback on your project, evaluate it carefully. Some early critique readers are pretty brutal, others sugarcoat their opinions, and some just aren’t honest. Keep an open mind. As the writer, you have a role to play: You have to be willing to listen to the feedback without reacting negatively. And this is very difficult to do.
More Tips for Writers
Today I thought I would share some worthwhile websites, blogs, and newsletters with you. If you haven't been to Chatel Village you are missing a great adventure. Take a look around, you'll find recipes, crafts, news and all sorts of goodies.For tons of ideas for going beyond reading take a look at Going Beyond Reading.A new newsletter to check out Click to get Literacy Lava .Take a look at The Book Chook .
My husband is an editor/reporter, and his paper, like many around the country, is in poor financial shape (possibly filing for bankruptcy). Paycuts are being discussed.
I've been trying to tighten the belt on my writing expenses. I do believe that you have to spend money (on supplies, conferences, education, promotion, etc.) to have a writing career. But I want to spend my money wisely. I recently decided not to renew a couple of paid newsletters I get. They offer some great info, but there's not enough for me on a regular basis to make it worth the money anymore.
Luckily, there are some terrific free resources available for writers, and I wanted to share three useful ones I use:
Kid Magazine Writers is a fantastic monthly ezine. Editor Jan Fields does a wonderful job with the mix of articles on craft, inspiration, and the business side of things. And the Magazine Market Guide (see the menu along the bottom of the home page) is an invaluable resource.
The Children's Writing Update is a free monthly ezine put out by the folks at write4kids.com (Jon Bard and Laura Backes). It contains lots of teasers to info in the paid newsletter they offer, there's good info in the free ezine as well: interesting resources from it and always one full-length article on the craft of writing for kids.
The FundsForWriters e-newsletter isn't specifically for children's writers. So why include it? It has great articles by editor C. Hope Clark and others. Many of the articles apply as much to children's writing as any other kind. For instance, a recent article about negotiating payment struck home with me. In addition to articles, there are always listings of paying markets and grants and contests.
If you subscribe to a paying newsletter and are using the info from it, that's terrific! Keep doing it. But if your budget doesn't permit any more subscriptions, consider any or all of these useful free resources.
A small sketch inspired by our recent weather.
Also I just launched a new blog. Have a look here:
http://www.benschlitter.com/blog/
Thanks-benben
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By communicating with one another, writers pass information around like bon bons. Little markets today can springboard a career next year. We remember those who’ve kindly passed on publishing info, and we reciprocate.
I really like this powerful bit, Clauds. Good work. Blessings to you!
Thanks, Hannah. I know no writers who aren’t willing to share a source, a market, or a fact with other writers. Most will even share an opinion or two. I believe, in part, that’s what makes us writers.
I’m glad you liked it.
Claudsy
Your welcome, you’re a generous writing soul!