Alright, so you’ve created your newsletter and you have a few subscribers. Now it is time to grow your list! Not everyone is interested in subscribing to newsletters, but there are plenty of folks out there who DO want to subscribe. You just have to make it easy and rewarding.
Optimize your sign-up. Make your newsletter signup one of the first things they see when they visit your website. Make the text clear, concise, and be sure to include a snippet that states briefly what you do with collected information. Transparency is important.
Add your sign-up forms to every digital interaction you make. Add it to your social media accounts via link. Add it to the caption of every post you make. Add it to your email signature. If you have enough followers to enable the feature, add it as a swipe up option on videos and stories.
Planting the seeds of interest is important. Your goal is to place your website link, leading directly to your newsletter sign-up, in the sight of every potential subscriber. Often it takes multiple viewings of a link before someone will click on it. You want to minimize the amount of time it takes for them to see it for the fourth time when they finally click on it.
Cross promote yourself and other accounts. Don’t ignore the potential opportunity that other accounts can give you. Reach out to some of your favorite accounts on various platforms. Look into authors, book accounts, review accounts, etc. See if they would be interested in doing some cross promotion with you. See if other websites would let you do some guest blogging. What about a guest appearance in a podcast? Interviews? Local events? Reach out to everyone and everything that is relevant. You can’t gain traction if you never take a step forward.
I’ve said it before, and I will keep saying it: give your subscribers something unique as a reward for their email. It could be a sneak-peek of your latest chapter, newest version of cover art, behind-the-scenes insights, an exclusive eBook, etc. Give them literally anything that isn’t going to come up in a search (or be a huge spoiler!). These are things that only you can give, author. Figure out a reward for subscribers that is specific to you and your work. And keep in mind that whatever you add in these newsletters could end up posted somewhere online. It could end up as great publicity but be mindful of what you want to keep secret.