Sadly, for those of us who are introverts, the book writing process doesn’t end when you see your book on Amazon for sale. We actually have to do our own marketing and stay connected with people in our audience.

One of the tools in our marketing arsenal needs to be a way of collecting email addresses so you can send out a monthly newsletter, updates on blog posts, new releases and updates on your book, as well as workshops you hold related to your topic and anything else you can think of to tell your audience.

Sure, you could do that with Gmail or Yahoo, but you have to offer the option of easily opting out of your email list. The easiest way to do this is to select an email service provider that stores the list and sends out automated messages that appear to be from you to only one person.

I use ConvertKit (affiliate link)* to do this and so much more. Here are just a few of the cool things you can do with it to build your audience and stay connected with people.

• Collecting email addresses—When you do live events, it’s always a great idea to have a list for people to give you their name and email address so you can keep them up to date on your book and anything involving your business. But you aren’t limited to meeting potential buyers that way, so why limit yourself to collecting emails that way? With a service like ConvertKit, you can create something called an “opt-in,” which can be as simple as “Hey! Sign up for my list!” or can be a little more complicated. You can create a freebie or lead magnet to give people in exchange for their email address. Create a checklist, give away the first chapter of your book, or develop something else that relates to your book and business. Then make a landing page or put a box (like the one below this paragraph) on a page for people to sign up for the freebie. Boom, you have their email address, and they have a little sample of your expertise. (Also, you can add in any emails that you receive on an old fashioned piece of paper, so your lists can all be in one beautiful, digital place.)

• Email your peeps—That’s why you’ve been collecting all those email addresses, right? Each time you post a blog, you can send a teaser (short description of the post to hook the reader’s interest) to your list. Or, you can send a monthly newsletter updating your audience on relevant information. I also like to email my list whenever I’m doing a workshop, speaking at an event, or providing a free online training so people know what’s going on (and can actually go!)
• Sell stuff!—This has to be one of the coolest things about ConvertKit and other similar email programs. You can set up automatic emails to go out in a sequence to nurture your audience and sell things. That may be a little over-simplified, but that’s how it works. When people first join your list, you should have a sequence of emails set up that gives them some education and help them get to know, like, and trust you. Typically, a sequence like this consists of about 7 emails and lasts about a month. Don’t pitch in these emails, but do provide lots of value. You can even include a video of yourself greeting the person and thanking them for picking up your freebie. Following this sequence, you can do another sequence that gently explains what you’re selling, provides more value to the reader, and then makes them an offer that they can only get through your email marketing campaign (i.e. Limited time offer! 50% off! Free session this week only!) They would be crazy not to take advantage of that, right? That’s the point!

ConvertKit can seriously change the game for any author, especially one who hopes to sell products or services related to their book and their business. When writing the emails, however, keep these things in mind:

• Write to only one person, not “everyone out there.” You want the emails to feel super personal.
• Maintain focus. Share information or explain how the person can’t live without whatever you are selling. But don’t babble on forever and go off on tangents. People are busy, and you want them to keep opening your emails.
• Be kind. You can certainly play with emotions in the emails, but don’t belittle the person or make them feel guilty about the problem you are trying to solve with your services or product. We get enough of that everywhere else. Always keep your emails positive.

So don’t forget to connect with that audience and make each email worth their while! Provide value, guide, respond when people reply to your emails (yes, sometimes people do that), and have fun!

*Here’s the link again for ConvertKit. I love using it, and I hope you do too! If you order through this link, I may receive an affiliate fee; however, it will not affect the price that you pay for their service.