Update on Mailing List Numbers Open & Click Rates

Update on Mailing List Numbers Open & Click Rates

It has been a little while since I have provided an update after my last post on my Step by Step Guide to Starting your Mailing List Author Platform. I have had a few questions recently about open and click rates and the effectiveness of several different list building techniques so I will share below.

Facebook Ads:

I used Facebook ads and their Lead Form along with giving away a free book. The end result can be seen above. I have highlighted my best result which was 256 leads with an average cost per lead of $0.68. Now, this isn’t the best, but it was a tolerable cost per email address. You can see several other attempts with much higher CPL over $1 each which is way too expensive. After 256 leads, I did decide to pause the campaign however, as costs were trending higher and it was becoming less effective. It still remains to be seen how valuable those leads are. I have not separated them (although I probably should have). I have been boosting my list through another group Instafreebie giveaway I am hosting Epic Worlds 2.0.

Remember, to avoid costs I have split up my lists between MailChimp and BenchmarkEmail:

MailChimp List Numbers:

My list grew over 2,000 so I had to export and unsubscribe many to BenchmarkEmail. Currently I have 1,629 in Mailchimp.

MailChimp Open & Click Rates:

As you can see, my MailChimp open rate fluctuates but is usually well above the industry average. As I have continued to fine tune my subjects and content, my open rate is trending above 55%. The click rate is also trending higher above 35%. Please keep in mind I have mainly been offering my first book free and promoting some other giveaways. We will see how these numbers fare in terms of pre-orders and book sales when Book 2 is available.

BenchmarkEmail:

In order to not be charged, I have exported a large number of subscribers to BenchMarkEmail. This list now has 1,714 different email addresses bringing my grand total to 3,343 and growing rapidly.

Unsubscribe Rates:

Apparently, the amount of unsubscribes during any email blast (campaign) can very widely. I do not have too much info on the average unsubscribe rates, but here is what I am seeing with some recent campaigns (reverse chronological order):

Campaign Unsubscribe %
F 2.3%
G 1%
H 0.93%
I 1.6%
J 2.4%
K 4.3%

So you can see it varies widely. I would like to think as I improve my messaging the rate will stay under 2% but as long as it is less than 5% I am happy. We will see if this holds through pre-orders and selling book 2 when available.

Using Autoresponders For Your Author Platform Mailing List

Using Autoresponders For Your Author Platform Mailing List

I’d like to thank Shane Hallshanecarlhall@gmail.com for sharing this guest post on autoresponders:


Hi folks! I’d like to thank Brian Ference for hosting this idea of mine. I saw his great post on getting started with a mailing list service, and it got me thinking about autoresponders, and the many things you can achieve with them.

If you’re not familiar with Brian’s post, go ahead and check that out first. It covers every important key point to starting and building a mailing list, and I do mean everything.

Now then: autoresponders!

If you’re an author, lots of people will tell you that the purpose of a mailing list is to build a reliable following of readers who will buy your books and assist with launches. However, you’re also gathering a collection of people who gave their email addresses and other information, and who are intrigued by your writing. They may even become hardcore fans, waiting eagerly for your next book.

Treat these people well, and you’ll have something more than a source of income or a support team. You’ll have the foundation of a happy author career, talking with readers, learning more about them, and seeing just how your work affects other people in a positive way.

That said, you’ll reach this point a lot faster if you’re sending the right emails at the right time, and that’s what an autoresponder is all about.

What is an Autoresponder?

An autoresponder is a program that automatically sends emails to specific subscribers or groups of subscribers on a mailing list. The keyword is “auto”, meaning you’re not involved in the sending process. In contrast to specific emails that you send when you want to, or when you schedule them, autoresponder emails will send in response to a condition that you set.

The most common kind of autoresponder is a welcome email, which sends as soon as someone has confirmed their subscription to a mailing list. Pretty much every mailing list service lets you customize a nice welcome email, but the true power of automation goes way, way farther!

What Can Autoresponders Do?

The truth is that there are no real limits, apart from your imagination. Let me list some of the ways I and others have used them, and you may get an idea of why they’re so effective.

1: Welcome Series

These are the bread and butter of so many businesses today. A welcome series basically expands upon the idea of a welcome email. You send the welcome email, then another email that triggers a few days, a week, etc. after the last one was sent, then another, and so on in a series. Each email provides something of value. There are all sorts of ways people use this. As an author, you’ve probably signed up to a few (or a ton in my case) free email courses that teach you how to do something relevant to your career.

Using myself as an example, I offer the first book in my dystopian sci-fi serial, Feedback, as a gift for joining my list. That triggers my own welcome series, which sends an email every couple of days for a few weeks. Each one has some helpful information about the book series, cool offers, and even secret side stories that aren’t accessible anywhere else. It’s meant to reward people who keep up with my books by providing things that a new subscriber would appreciate.

Just be sure not to send too many emails at once, and to be clear with people. My welcome series has eight emails, with one sent every couple of days, and I also make this fact clear in the welcome email. Use it wisely, and you can get a higher percentage of people who download your free book to actually read it by providing interesting info on the characters, what inspired you to write it, and more.

2: Clicked A Link (Or Didn’t)

This is an awesome way to interact with subscribers more. Let’s say you release a blog post relevant to your list, and send a standard blast email with a link to it. You could then set up an autoresponder that sends to anyone who clicked that particular link, a certain amount of time after it was clicked.

For instance, you could have an automatic email that sends one day after someone clicked your link, asking what they thought of the post and if they have any suggestions or comments. Don’t be afraid to ask people questions or ask for their opinions, because you’ll very likely get answers from some of them. The people who respond to your emails are some of the most valuable readers you’ll ever get, so use tactics like this to show them that you care what they think.

Alternatively, you could also send emails to people who didn’t click a link. For instance, if you’re running an important campaign that you want your subscribers to support, you can send a reminder email for those who didn’t click the link, gently telling them again why it’s a great opportunity.

These strategies also work for opening and not opening emails. If someone hasn’t opened several of your previous emails, that could trigger a short email asking if they’re still interested in your work, and if not to feel free to unsubscribe. It may sound awkward, but as long as it’s honest and friendly, it’s a nice way of cleaning up your list without you having to do anything.

3: Unique Fiction Potential

This is something I’m experimenting with now, but other authors have used before. Using an autoresponder to deliver smaller amounts of fiction is a great way to let people test the waters of your writing style, so to speak.

Currently, I’m offering a fantasy story called the Tragedy of Veminox. It’s broken into 50 short entries, and it’s essentially for anyone who wants to read a little of a fantasy story at a time, such as during a lunch break. Each email has a link to the next entry, but the following email only sends one day after the link in the prior email was clicked.

Why do it like this? Well, if you simply schedule it like a welcome series, and sent one entry every day or every few days, it would be easy for people to fall behind if they stop reading for a while. But with the way I’ve designed the triggers, someone could pause with reading the stories by not clicking the next link, and they’ll never fall behind!

This is only a small taste of the options that autoresponders provide. Here are some other ideas:

1: Do you write lots of flash fiction? You could also make a series that sends one interesting flash fiction story per week for an entire year. That’s a lot of entertainment without bogging down people’s email inboxes.

2: Do you write in vastly different genres that appeal to different audiences? Track whether someone clicked the link for a free story in one of your emails. If they didn’t click, make that the trigger to send them a completely different kind of story! Let people know that you don’t just offer a single genre. You could also send a simple, short email asking if they’re interested in the other genre you write in, and if they click to confirm, move them automatically to a new autoresponder made for that type of writing.

3: Team up with other authors in your genre. Similar to how the flash fiction one works, you can make an autoresponder that recommends a different book in your group in each email, once a week, month, etc.

If you get a bit creative, you’ll likely find a way to use autoresponders that’s enjoyable and that strengthens your author platform.

Note: keep in mind that I’m speaking from experience with MailChimp, but pretty much all email sending and management services should have these capabilities. Some may even do things that MailChimp can’t!

What Does It Cost?

Automation is complex and powerful, which is why it’s often behind a paywall. For instance, MailChimp is free up to 2000 subscribers, which is great for starting authors with limited funds. However, this doesn’t apply if you’re also using automation. You’ll then be paying based on how many subscribers you have. I consider MailChimp’s automation affordable for what it offers, but everyone’s different.

This is where you might want to shop around. Other services might offer automation services at a price that works for you.

Get An Autoresponder!

Almost every other day, someone in my list replies to a question or request that I posed in an automatic email. The people on my list are more than just numbers, and I’m forming valuable, authentic relationships with them. In these increasingly hurried times, driven by robotic buzzwords like conversions and funnels, it’s important to remember that we’re writers, and the people on our lists are readers. We’re both people who are passionate about words and writing, and we should take every opportunity to break the ice.

An autoresponder is a great way of going the extra mile to show respect to these people and stand out from the crowd.

Got any questions? Feel free to email me at shanecarlhall@gmail.com. You can also sign up for my own list if you’d like to see an example of what a welcome series looks like.

Thanks for reading, and good luck on your author journey!

Step-by-Step Guide to Starting An Author Platform Mailing List

Step-by-Step Guide to Starting An Author Platform Mailing List

email photo

It’s really not as complicated as the picture above (although if you are new to this it can seem like it).

It wasn’t long ago when I had no email mailing list. I kept hearing about “building your author platform” and the importance of a “mailing list” but I had no real idea where to start. In the post below I will discuss some of these items and build a step-by-step guide how you too can build your mailing list and author platform.

First, what is an “author platform”? Think of it this way: It is something that you have total and absolute control over, that will allow you to reach fans of your book and sell directly to them. Part of this is your social media accounts, but direct email converts much more effectively for selling books.

With that said, here is the:

Guide to Starting a Mailing List & Author Platform:

Step 1. Signup to get a free mailing list host (up to 2,000) subscribers. Yes, you need a host for your mailing list just like for your website. The good news is it is free until you reach 2,000 subscribers. I really recommend Mailchimp because they are simple, easy, have lots of integrations, and are free until you get going.

Step 2. Signup for a free month at a Giveaway site. I really recommend Instafreebie because they are free for a month, integrate with Mailchimp and have a great community (which is what you will need for the next steps).

Step 3. Offer something for free in the form of a book or sample of your book. This is to entice people to signup for your email list. Upload it to Instafreebie and follow their guide on integrating with Mailchimp. Make sure you make subscribing to your email list required to get the free book or sample.

Step 4. Go to the Instafreebie forums or Facebook group and join a group author promotion like this one i’m hosting now: Epic Worlds Group Giveaway. In this example, 80+ authors are all promoting each-others giveaways. The best part is, group giveaways are often promoted by Instafreebie themselves to their large list and channels. It makes gaining subscribers easy!

Step 5. After a few days or a few weeks, use Mailchimp to send an email also known as a “campaign” to your subscribers. Remember not to send more than 1-3 emails a month as you don’t want to annoy them. You can offer them something else free first to warm them up, then in a following email softly recommend one of your other books or products for sale.

Step 6. Some people will naturally unsubscribe and that is GOOD. Remember your hard upper limit of 2,000 subscribers? Well you will soon hit that but not all of those email addresses will be of good quality. What do I mean by good quality? Some will be fake or from people’s “throw-away accounts”. Some people just never check their emails or open your messages. So after you have sent about 3 emails, you will want to unsubscribe those people who aren’t really available or interested in what you have to say. Look on the Mailchimp site for instructions how to do this. It is really very easy if you use the pre-configured “unresponsive” segment. Remember, quality over quantity! Eventually you will be a pro and will be making $$$ and willing to grow your list to 40,000 subscribers and paying the monthly fees will no longer matter.

My Chart of Subscriber Growth from January 16-Feb 13:

The light yellow boxes show an “audience change”. Dark yellow is the subscriber numbers. Notice from February 6-Feb 13 it went down? That was me deleting/unsubscribing almost 400 unresponsive users before i hit my 2,000 subscriber upper limit. It doesn’t show this here, but I am already back to nearly the same level and ready for another purge of unresponsive users. I want to stress this is from 0-1,400 in less than three months. If I hadn’t purged unresponsive subscribers I would easily be over 2,000 in that time period.

Step 7. Squeeze Pages. What the heck is a squeeze page? Basically a page with no other links on it except for one prompting someone to subscribe. Thus it “squeezes” you into subscribing cause there is nothing else there to do. See an example of my squeeze page. Basically this is an image on a page with no navigation. The entire image and “Send my free book” button opens up a subscription form which prompts you to subscribe. Now, Instafreebie creates a squeeze page for you and gives you a link to use. If you want your own and have a WordPress site (which I always recommend) then you can install the OptimizePress plugin for $97. Gasp paid plugin!? I know. I tried the free ones too but they either didn’t work or are way too complicated. Just bite the bullet and purchase the plugin.

Step 8. Drive traffic to your squeeze page via facebook ads or social media, join a group giveaway, etc etc. That’s really all there is to it.

Step 9. PRO TIP: Approaching your 2,000 subscriber ceiling? Here’s what I did: After sending three messages to main list, I exported the low quality “unresponsive” ones, Unsubscribed them, then imported them to this other email list provider which also gives you 2,000 Free subscribers. Now i have 4,000 Free subscribers.

Please leave me your questions and I will update this post with more detailed information and the answers you seek.

Update*** Below is a screenshot of some numbers at Mailchimp, and I have exported about 260 to the other provider as well as unsubscribing about 600.

My Newly Refined Super-Secret Book Marketing Plan

My Newly Refined Super-Secret Book Marketing Plan

I have what I would describe as a very refined marketing plan. This is a result of lessons learned from the international book launch of my first book and extensive research in several areas. It will be ever refining so please feel free to comment.

The below promotion plan includes a budget of about $900-$2,200 and requires about  3-6 months of concurrent efforts.

Here is an overview of the marketing plan:

1. Print of Advanced Read Copies to send to all of the major editorial review sources.  This requires approximately 3 months and a budget of $80

2. Three (yes three) different sources for reliable and independent book reviewers which will receive an eBook copy of the book in exchange for their impartial and professional review on Amazon and GoodReads. This includes a $400-$600 budget and requires approximately 3-6 months.

3. Midwest book review and Red City Book Review  Amazon and GoodReads Giveaways of the PRINTED book. The idea here is to generate readership and also reviews. The contests typically run for 30 days and then require a book and mailing cost. This can play very well on Twitter particularly if a tweet of the contest is part of the entry requirements. Budget approximately $400-$600 for 40-60 books and requires approximately 2 months.

4. Paid inclusion in Publishers Weekly approximately 3 months and $150 budget

5. This isn’t really a step but the above steps will serve to create an engaged community of readers prior to the book launch. Anything else to create an engaged community.

6. Budget for Facebook ads and Amazon targeted ads (To be determined) this should be super targeted for example to people who like “Stephen King Books” then in the ad say “Do you like Stephen King? Then you’ll love this book on sale for $0.99”

7. International distribution of ebook and printed book through several channels  such as Ingram, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, iTunes Bookstore, Amazon, etc, etc

8. ISBN Number listed in Books in Print and Nielsen BookData

9. Launch Party, Book Signings, Book Readings

10. Press Release through PRWeb budget $400

11. Initial free eBook offering through Amazon and several Facebook Groups, sites, and twitter to get the word out about Giveaway and other sites to create a readership community that is engaged

12. Now offer the eBook for $0.99 and promote to those sites (again this is to build some momentum, get reviews, build a community etc) BookBub, Buck Books, ManyBooks $75

13. Continue to build my growing email list

14. Social Media: I am very active with my blog, 4,000+ Twitter followers, Facebook page, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, etc.

15. Advertising promo with FreeBooksy, ENT, AskDavid.com, Book Barbarian, Robin Reads and Choosy Bookworm

16. That’s just the tip of the iceberg

List of Sites to Promote Free eBook or Giveaway

List of Sites to Promote Free eBook or Giveaway

One hundred percent credit to Derek Murphy for this list, I just couldn’t risk the link changing or losing it 😉

  1. promotion photoAddicted to Ebooks
  2. Books on the Knob
  3. Ebook Deal of the Day
  4. Ebook Deal of the Day UK
  5. Ebooks ‘n’ Bytes
  6. Ebook Directory
  7. Ebooks Habit
  8. Ebook Jungle
  9. Ebook Palace
  10. Ebooks Portal
  11. Free Kingle Ebooks
  12. Free Kindle Fiction
  13. Idea Marketers
  14. Indie Book of the Day
  15. Kindle Daily Nation
  16. Kindle Finds
  17. Kindle Hook
  18. Kindle Spice.com
  19. TheFrugalReader
  20. Addicted to Ebooks
  21. Amazon Forum
  22. Author Marketing Club (1)
  23. Author Marketing Club (2)
  24. Bargaine book hunter
  25. Booktalk
  26. Centsibleereads
  27. Daily free ebooks
  28. Digital book today
  29. Ebooklister
  30. Ebooks free daily
  31. Ereader news today
  32. Fkbooks and tips
  33. Flurries of words
  34. Free book dude
  35. Free books hub
  36. Free books hub.co.uk
  37. Free booksy.com
  38. Free ebooks daily
  39. Get free ebooks.com
  40. Gospel ebooks
  41. Indies unlimited
  42. Kindle boards
  43. Pixel of ink
  44. Published.com
  45. Snickslist
  46. Story finds
  47. That book place
  48. The cheap
  49. The kindle book review
  50. The kindle daily deal
  51. Virtual Ebooks
  52. Wisdom Ebooks
  53. Many Books
  54. Checkout this list also
  55. Thrifty Thursday

Facebook

  1. http://www.facebook.com/allthingskindle
  2. https://www.facebook.com/AontheC (Authors on the Cheap)
  3. http://www.facebook.com/authormarketingclub
  4. http://www.facebook.com/bookgoodies
  5. http://www.facebook.com/earthsbooknook
  6. https://www.facebook.com/ebooksfreefreefree
  7. https://www.facebook.com/ebooksofhorror
  8. https://www.facebook.com/effectiveteachingsolutions (YA/ MG educational fiction only)
  9. http://www.facebook.com/eReader1
  10. http://www.facebook.com/freeebookdeal
  11. https://www.facebook.com/groups/FreeTodayOnAmazon/
  12. http://www.facebook.com/fkbooksandtips
  13. https://www.facebook.com/galleycat
  14. http://www.facebook.com/iauthor
  15. https://www.facebook.com/indiebookslist
  16. http://www.facebook.com/IndieBookLounge
  17. http://www.facebook.com/IndieKindleWLC
  18. http://www.facebook.com/kindle
  19. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kindle-Finds/217115528350246
  20. https://www.facebook.com/KindleFreebies
  21. http://www.facebook.com/KindleKorner
  22. https://www.facebook.com/kindledailydeal
  23. https://www.facebook.com/mobileread
  24. https://www.facebook.com/onlyromance
  25. http://www.facebook.com/readingkindle
  26. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Share-FREE-eBooks/146399952110055
  27. http://www.facebook.com/TheKindleObsessed
  28. http://www.facebook.com/weloveebooks
  29. http://www.facebook.com/#!/StoryFinds

Facebook Groups:  

  1. https://www.facebook.com/groups/393191694044036/
  2. https://www.facebook.com/groups/431062386914229/
  3. https://www.facebook.com/groups/341840249197060
  4. http:// www.facebook.com/ groups/UK.Kindle.Reading

Twitter

  1. http://www.twitter.com/4FreeKindleBook
  2. http://www.twitter.com/
  3. http://www.twitter.com/Booksontheknob
  4. http://www.twitter.com/Bookyrnextread
  5. http://www.twitter.com/DigitalBkToday
  6. http://www.twitter.com/DigitalInkToday
  7. http://www.twitter.com/fkbt
  8. http://www.twitter.com/
  9. http://www.twitter.com/Free_kinde
  10. http://www.twitter.com/Freebookdeal
  11. http://www.twitter.com/Freebookdude
  12. http://www.twitter.com/Freebookpromos
  13. http:// www.twitter.com/FreeKindleDude
  14. http:// www.twitter.com/FreeKindleBooks
  15. http:// www.twitter.com/FreeKindleStuff
  16. http:// www.twitter.com/FreeReadFeed
  17. http:// www.twitter.com/Ilovefreebooks
  18. http:// www.twitter.com/KindleBookKing
  19. http://www/twitter.com/KindleBookPromo
  20. http://www.twitter.com/KindleDaily
  21. http://www.twitter.com/kindleebooks
  22. http://www.twitter.com/KindleEbooksUK
  23. http://www.twitter.com/Kindlefantasies
  24. http://www.twitter.com/KindleFreeBook
  25. http://www.twitter.com/KindleFreeBookz
  26. http://www.twitter.com/Kindlenews
  27. http://www.twitter.com/Kindle_promo
  28. http://www.twitter.com/Kindle_releases
  29. http://www.twitter.com/Kindlestuff
  30. http://www.twitter.com/KindleUpdates
  31. http://www.twitter.com/PixelofInk
  32. http://twitter.com/theluvofbooksya