UPDATE: MailChimp now allows automation with free accounts. So I do now recommend it for authors starting out.
There are some very specific reasons I don’t recommend a free MailChimp account. I will share these reasons with you in this post.
Marketing does not have to be stressful and you do not need to be sitting behind your computer all the time consumed with posting new content or sending emails. Let me share with you tips on how to do your marketing in a fun and easy way.
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Why Not a Free Mailchimp Account?
Before I go further, I will have to explain first why I don’t recommend a free Mailchimp account.
One thing that I love to do is to teach you how to work smarter not harder.
I mostly look for service providers that I can make the most of. Mailchimp is a good email service provider but it is very limiting. For one, it’s free account does not have an automation system for emails.
As we go further, you will see what I mean about this.
Here area few factors to consider to make your marketing more effective, easy and fun.
Use Automation System
When you are using a free Mailchimp account, it does not have an automation system.
This is a tool that you should have when setting up email marketing for your books and products.
Autoresponders (MailChimp calls it automation) are email auto-responses that you set up to work 24/7, on autopilot, even when you’re sick or on vacation.
All you have to do is schedule how your email is sent out.
I recommend you start with seven emails that you schedule to be sent once per week.
Now, you have to keep in mind that the emails you send should not always be promotional. The purpose of some of these emails should be to build rapport and a connection to your audience.
This way, they can always remember who you are and what you are promoting, without you being so pushy about it.
Set Up Evergreen Emails
Evergreen emails might just be another unfamiliar term for you.
These are emails that never grow old. It’s going to be informationt that’s not going to go out of style. It’s not going to be based on certain current events.
It could even be stories that you tell.
One of the auto-responders I use is a story of when I was seven years old.
When I was seven years old, we learned baton twirling. We went to a parade and I was performing perfectly – except this one time where I dropped my baton. That ONE time however was the ONE time that the photographer from the newspaper took my picture.
The one mistake that I made was publicized to the entire town. And I was mortified. It was a moment that drove me to perform and be perfect so that others wouldn’t see my failures.
That is an evergreen story.
I tie it in with authors and how so many times we get this feeling and get stuck in perfectionism. This is a reminder that it’s about progress, not perfectionism.
Determine Your Target Audience
All of that setting up automation and making evergreen stories will be done easier if you know who you are talking to.
So before starting this service, I suggest that you first determine who your target audience is.
As part of the Author Platform Challenge, I did an entire training on really zoning in and knowing your target audience.
It is actually fun to brainstorm and sort out your target audience. People loved it, it was amazing. There were so many ah-ha’s and breakthroughs. Somebody even commented that “this exercise is so fun!”
So I tell you, marketing can be fun, it really can.
As soon as you know your audience, what they like and what you think will fit their style, it would be so much easier to write your automated emails.
Another Recommendation for Free Email Marketing
Now you know why I don’t recommend the use of Mailchimp in your email marketing. Yes, you got it for free but it limits you so much in the power of what you can do.
If you really want to have free access on an email service provider, you can use BenchMarkEmail.com. I haven’t used it yet, but I’ve heard about it. You can start for free and it includes autoresponders.
Email marketing is the number one way I have sold books. Some authors say that it does not work for them but that is because they are most likely not doing it the right way.
We have to learn how to market our book, and introduce it to people in a personal way.
I would love for you to join me in this platform challenge where I share with you how to sell more books without being pushy, self-promotional, and many times even without selling.
You can sign up at ShelleyHitz.com/PlatformChallenge to get free access on my Platform Challenge lectures.
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