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The Value Of An E-mail List

In my Publishing4Profit seminars I always urge self-publishers to maintain an e-mail list of their friends, customers, stores that carry their books, websites that carry their books, and anyone else who is a potential buyer. Contacting this list should be your first step in marketing a new title. These people know you, know your work, and have already demonstrated an interest in what you produce.

I'll give you an example of how important this contact list can be. Last year we published a new book titled RVers' Dashboard Companion, which is a list of all WalMart and Sam's Club stores in the country, along with turn by turn driving directions from the nearest Interstate, U.S. or state highway, GPS coordinates and information on whether or not the store allows overnight RV parking. The book also lists all Camping World stores and Flying J truck stops, since RVers use both businesses often.

 

The afternoon I received e-mail confirmation from our printer, Lightning Source, that the first order of books had been shipped, I sent out an announcement e-mail to my contact list. Within three hours I have received eight PayPal orders at $28.45 each ($24.95 cover price plus $3.50 shipping. Over the next 48 hours another fifteen orders arrived by e-mail. All of these orders  were from regular buyers who have purchased one or more of my earlier books.23 sales just by sending out a simple bulk e-mail to a list of established customers!

Assembling an e-mail marketing list is easy. Everybody you do business with, everybody you correspond with, everybody who sends you all of those silly internet jokes on a regular basis. Send out an e-mail to all of them asking for their permission to include them in announcements of new publishing projects you are working on. Add those who respond favorably to your e-mail marketing list. Assure them that the list will be used in-house only and their e-mail addresses will not sold or rented to anyone else.  Whenever someone purchases one of your products, add them to the list also. To avoid being accused of spamming, insert a simple reply message at the bottom of every e-mail to give contacts the option of being removed from your list. Work religiously to maintain and enlarge your e-mail marketing list with new contacts.

Folks, develop that e-mail list and market to it! It will make you money!