Dear Authors,
We hope your spring is filled with blessings!
We hope you plan to join us for this year’s Roaring Lambs Writers Conference on Saturday, June 22 from 9:30 -3:30. We have a new docket of speakers giving insight into ways to connect with readers, how speaking can help your writing, and how to get the most out of your editor. This conference has built a community of writers over the years, who inspire creativity in one another and in themselves. As a Roaring Lambs author, you’re already part of this community, so we hope you will join us. You can register HERE: https://www.roaringlambs.org/writers-conference-registration/
We’ve shared with you about setting up a newsletter and why it can be invaluable to you. As I began to set up this month’s email, I learned about a special webinar on building a newsletter audience. Well, I couldn’t resist listening in on the clever ideas, and I had to share what I learned with you!
Now we’ve already gone through setting up a newsletter. This isn’t just emailing whoever you want whenever you want. (That’s spam.) Your newsletter readers have to agree to have the newsletters sent to them. And we also discussed using an Email Provider such as Mail Chimp, Mailer Lite, Mail Jet, or Constant Contact. Most of these offer a free option for small businesses that are just starting out.
Once you have your email provider account, you’ll want to set up a sign-up page. All of these email providers offer that process, and they’ll send you a URL for your page. You can send that to me, and I’ll put it up on your Roaring Lambs landing page.
That’s only the first step though. You’ll need to give people a reason to sign up for your newsletter. This is done by a “lead magnet.” A lead magnet offers readers something free for signing up for your newsletter. This freebie can be a special article, a short story, a collection of devotions, or some insight that a reader of your book will find valuable. There isn’t a specific length for this freebie, and it can be as simply done as a document saved as a PDF. The writing on it must be stellar, though, and the content must be valuable to your targeted readers.
Let me step aside for a second and discuss the term “targeted readers.” Your book might be something everyone will like, but everyone isn’t your targeted reader. For example: JK Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series for 7th grade boys. That’s a reader target. Yes, millions of people love the books, but it was 7th grade boys who became downright rabid for them. Your targeted reader needs to be fully defined in detail.
Once you have your targeted reader defined and a lead magnet that they will love, share about the lead magnet. Give little tastes of the content with promises of more on your social media or on postcards that you can send or hand out. (Be sure to share the sign-up link when you do this!) Once you take this step, let us know and send us the information for your lead magnet and a QR code for your sign-up page. If you’re planning to publish another book, adding the QR code and lead magnet information to the back of your current book can be really valuable.
Setting up your lead magnet is essential to growing your newsletter list. Not only does it give something of value to your readers, but it allows them to see what you and your book are about.
There will be a little more on this before we move on, but that will do for now.
Happy Marketing!
Marji Laine
Director
Roaring Lambs Publishing
And your Roaring Lambs Publishing Team
