SPA Girls Podcast – EP145 – Newsletter Ninja Tammi Labrecque
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
This week we’re joined by the Newsletter Ninja, Tammi Labrecque, who talks to us about creating an amazing author newsletter that will help amp up your writing career.
She talks about why every author needs a newsletter, and how to turn the people who sign up for your list into super-fans who will buy every book you write.
Tammi also gives us a whole heap of tips on what kind of content to put into your newsletter, how to find the perfect subscribers for your books, and when to cut subscribers from your list.
It’s another tip-packed episode that you’ll want to listen to carefully. I know Shar took heaps of notes (She even broke out the shorthand…) and you will too!
It’s never too early to start your newsletter. Even if you only have a mailing list of friends and no book to promote, you can play around with whichever program you chose and find out how to make and send a newsletter long before you need to.
Before you jump in, give some thought about the person who might represent your main subscriber. This is called an avatar. What do they like to read? What is their demographic – age, location etc?
Now, decide on a program – mailer lite, MailChimp, and active campaign have free usage to a certain level. (There are loads more.)
Consider the look of your newsletter and how often you will send it. There will be templates to help on each platform. Pay attention to the welcome sequence and auto-responders to make your life easier!
Once you have a few subscribers, it’s a good idea to split them into lists and send the newsletter out over a period of a few days, especially around a release. This ensures that you have a steadier stream of sales which we know Amazon looks more favorably on.
Organic growth is still the best from links in the back of your books and from your website/Facebook etc. However, sites like Ryan Zee’s, or Melissa Storm’s Litring, can help to build your list faster. Just be careful and choose sites that have integrity and don’t overuse them otherwise you will be targeting the same people.
What should I put in my newsletter?
- Make sure when you do send them that you have a Give to Ask ratio. Meaning – don’t only ask your subscribers to buy your book, but what you can give them.
- Giveaways should be relevant and aimed at your loyal subscribers.
- A free book.
- A sample of your work.
- A short story.
- A snippet of your life.
- Animal pictures
- A cover reveal
- A sale on your or another author’s book.
- A competition
- Recommend other authors in the same genre you like to read.
Cross-promote with other like-minded authors paying attention to genre, heat level and style of writing. You can do this with authors you know or find some on Bookfunnel or from groups you can join on Facebook.
Try sending your newsletter once a month for sales and then you could send another mid-way in the month with the freebies or giveaways.
The time to ramp up the selling should be when you have a new release.
Links
Tammi’s upcoming course comes highly recommended by many in the industry: Mailing List Expert
Her book Newsletter Ninja: How To Become An Author Mailing List Expert is out August 12, 2018
Find Tammi at www.indiepubintensive.com
Episodes 100 – 200 List
200 What we’ve learned so far…
199 Interview with Adam Croft – Mindset and Marketing
198 Find Your Sparkle – with Julie Schooler
197 Hack Your Muse – with Kelly McClymer
196 Public Speaking For Authors – with Alena Van Arendonk
195 The Magic Pill – with Laura Van Arendonk-Baugh
194 A Day In The Life Of A Writer
193 Keep It Simple
192 Interview with Skye Warren: Money Mindset and Facebook Ads
For Authors (Part Two)
191 Interview with Skye Warren: Time Management & Advertising
For Authors (Part One)
190 Dragon Wrangling with Scott Baker: secrets for
Successful dictation
189 Interview with Patricia McLinn: Writing by the seat of
Your pants
188 Interview with Morgana Best: Writing & Marketing
Cozy Mysteries
187 Interview with Geoff Symon: Wounds & Crime Scenes
186 Interview with Natasha Bajema, WMD for Authors
185 The Writer’s Detective with Adam Richardson
183 Facebook Advertising with Maria Luis ~ Part Two
182 Facebook Advertising with Maria Luis ~ Part One
181 Learn dictation with Kilby Blades
180 Interview with Brian Meeks, Mastering Book Descriptions
179 Interview with Tara Cremin, Kobo Writing Life
178 Interview with Larissa Reynolds – Newsletters Part Two
177 Interview with Larissa Reynolds – Newsletters Part One
175 Wrangling Facebook: How To Make It Work For You
174 How To Write A Regency Romance
173 How Do You Identify Your Writing Weaknesses?
172 Interview With Dan Wood, D2D
171 Interview With Serenity Woods
169 5 Goals You Need To Make In 2019
168 Jumpstart Your 2019 Marketing with 31 Quick To Dos for Jan.
167 Scheduling For Writing Success
166 Our 2018 Roundup
165 He Said, She Said: Creating Dazzling Dialogue
164 Interview with Steffanie Holmes: Reverse Harem
163 Interview with YA author Kelly St Clare
160 Amazon Excl v Wide – things to consider and how to market
159 Interview With Kathryn LeVeque
158 Some Like It Hot – Or Not. Heat Levels In Romance
157 Interview With Louisa George
156 The Kindness Factor: Helping You Achieve More and Stress Less
155 Editing
153 Characters: From Cookie Cutter to Kapow
152 Interview with Tina Dietz: Audiobooks
151 Interview with Grace Burrowes
150 Should You Prune Your Mailing List?
149 RWNZ18 Interview with Damon Suede & Geoff Symon
148 Interview with indie superstar, Bella Andre
147 Top Ten Traits for Success
146 Write Better Faster with Becca Syme
145 Newsletter Ninja Tammi LaBrecque
144 Looking After Your Creative Health
143 Interview with Carlyn Robertson from Bookbub
142 Personal Branding For Authors with Lauren Clemett
141 Ten Free Online Tools For Authors
140 Tempting Taglines & Heartstopping Hooks
139 Findaway Voices with Kelly Lytle
138 Get Your Writing Mojo Back
137 Interview with Toni Kenyon: facebook live & serials
136 Dealing with misinformation and change in Sp-ing
134 Interview with Kevin Tumlinson, Draft2Digital
133 Interview with Sara Rosett
132 Organization For Authors – how to keep track of your
research and book details without losing your mind
131 Interview with Ricardo Fayet of Reedsy
130 Critical Care: Leveraging feedback for success
129 Brand You
128 SAS Special: Interview with Johnny B. Truant & Sean Platt
127 Industry Insiders with Damon J. Courtney of Bookfunnel
& Christine Monroe of Kobo
126 SAS Debrief with Jami Albright
125 SAS Special: Interview with Michelle Spiva
124 SAS Special : Interview With Michael Anderle
123 Sports Psychology for Authors – Interview With Nate Vella
122 Using Sub Plots To Amp Up Your Writing
121 Interview with Scott King: Outlining Your Novel
120 Pen-names Pros, Cons and Possibilities
119 Reader Engagement with Nalini Singh
118 Writing the Small Town Setting
117 Handling Negativity and Naysayers
116 Tough Mindset Questions For 2018
115 Interview With Nicola Davidson: Sex and Sensibility
114 Tropealicious
112 Interview With Honoree Corder & Ben Hale: Write Like A Boss
111 Ten Health Hacks For Writers
110 Interview with Kathryn Burnett: Your Writing Audit For Future Success
109 Interview with Melissa Storm: What Readers Want
108 Interview With Zoe Dawson: Writing Across Genres
107 Interview With Dave Chesson, The Keyword King
106 Pros and Cons of Kindle Unlimited
105 Why YOU should do Nanowrimo
104 Ten Truths For New Self Publishers
103 Find 30 Minutes A Day EXTRA!
102 Your Christmas Presence: Maximizing the Holiday Season for Authors
101 The Writing Life: Interview with Katie Cross
100 100 Episodes! Retrospective with funny moments; changing AO title
SPA Girls Podcast – EP378 – Be A Newsletter Ninja with Tammi Labrecque
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Tammi Labrecque is an indie author, a mailing list whiz-kid, and the author of the best-selling non-fiction books for authors – Newsletter Ninja, and Newsletter Ninja 2. Tammi lives in Central Maine with three spoiled cats, two neurotic dogs, and dozens of fictional characters that keep her awake nights.
When she’s not penning awesome books on how you can become a Newsletter Ninja too, she writes under a variety of pen names across several genres, including urban fantasy, thriller, and LitRPG.
Our favourite line from the blurb of Newsletter Ninja is this – “Imagine having a large list of happy readers who devoured every email you sent. Or launching a book and activating an army of fans who did the selling for you. You could be that person, with the help of Newsletter Ninja.”
Listen up and learn how you can up your newsletter game!
Tammi has also created THE FIRST-EVER EMAIL CONTENT MEMBERSHIP JUST FOR AUTHORS – LISTEN UP FOR A BONUS DISCOUNT FOR AN EXCLUSIVE SPA GIRLS LISTENERS DISCOUNT www.newsletterninja.net/spagirls
Resources mentioned:
Tammi’s previous appearance on SPA Girls Podcast https://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep145-newsletter-ninja-tammi-labrecque/
Bookfunnel https://bookfunnel.com/
Booksweeps https://www.booksweeps.com/
Story Origin https://storyoriginapp.com/
Email Tool Tester https://www.emailtooltester.com/en/
💗 The SPA Girls podcast is sponsored by everyone who supports us on Patreon. Thank you so much, we love our listeners and our patrons!
⭐ Join us at the $10 tier, and you’ll be invited to our private Self-Publishing Mastermind group for authors, where we discuss all things self-publishing, marketing and writing PLUS answer all your questions. Come on in and join us, we’d love to see you there!
www.patreon.com/spagirlspodcast
✍️ Visit www.SelfPublishingAuthorsPodcast.com for our FREE self-publishing resources, podcast episodes and info
SPA Girls Podcast – EP273 – The One Right Way to Sell Books
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Isn’t that what we’re all after? The ONE RIGHT answer to everything – the BEST newsletter strategy, the RIGHT way to sell books, the ONE secret to making ads work? Well, listen up folks because in this episode we’ve got the Magic Wand!
Resources mentioned:
Bella Andre with the SPA Girls
https://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep148-interview-with-indie-superstar-bella-andre/
Becca Syme’s Strengths For Writers Course
https://betterfasteracademy.com/
Larissa Reynolds talks Newsletters with the SPA Girls
https://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep177-successful-newsletter-strategies-with-larissa-reynolds/
Tammi Labrecque the Newsletter Ninja
https://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep145-newsletter-ninja-tammi-labrecque/
SPA Girls Podcast – EP255 – Newsletter Strategies
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
This episode we discuss our (very!) different newsletter strategies: what provider we use and why, how we build our lists, our content, how frequently we email subscribers and what tips have worked for us.
We also cover where to start for newbies – ie, keep it simple and doable!
Resources mentioned:
Our interview with Larissa Reynolds (two parts): https://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep177-successful-newsletter-strategies-with-larissa-reynolds/
Our interview with Maria Luis (two parts): https://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep182-facebook-ads-with-maria-luis/
Our interview with David Gaughran: https://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep225-amazon-decoded/
Our interview with Tammi Labrecque : https://www.selfpublishingauthorspodcast.com/spa-girls-podcast-ep145-newsletter-ninja-tammi-labrecque/
Tammi’s book: Newsletter Ninja: How to Become an Author Mailing List Expert
Tammi L. Labrecque https://amzn.to/2Q9wZD5
