That’s what you get when you approach your marketing with an experimental mindset. Too often I see authors get discouraged when a newsletter has a low open rate or a social media post gets ignored. They start to think, maybe I’m just not cut out for this. But here’s the truth: every single result—good or bad—is a piece of data you can use to learn and get better.

Think like a scientist, not a salesperson

Marketing is not a one-and-done event. It’s a process of testing, observing, and adjusting. When you treat each effort as an experiment, you take the pressure off yourself to be “right” every time. Instead, you’re simply gathering evidence about what resonates with your readers.

• Test an idea.

• Track what happens.

• Adjust your approach.

• Repeat.

That’s the cycle.

I’ve seen this firsthand in my years working with Daniel Pink. We tried his content in dozens of different formats—short videos, long essays, quick insights, even experiments with subject lines. Some landed, others didn’t. But over time, the experiments shaped his style and brand. The voice you see from him today wasn’t an accident. It was forged in testing.

For example - you might test these two headlines:

Version A: “3 habits to build in 2025”

Version B: “Are you building these 3 habits in 2025?”

Why tracking matters

Here’s the rub: if you don’t track what you’re trying, you’ll never see the patterns. You won’t know what worked and what didn’t. Peaks and valleys will look random.

Tracking doesn’t have to be complicated. It might mean:

• Looking at open rates and click-throughs on your email newsletter.

• Noting which social posts get comments or shares.

• Paying attention to the stories readers repeat back to you.

The goal isn’t perfection. It’s discovery.

Reframe failure as data

The authors who win long term don’t see failure as failure. They see it as feedback. A flop isn’t a dead end, it’s simply pointing you toward a better path. Every piece of data tells you something about how to serve your audience more effectively.

The real question

Do you approach your marketing with an experimental mindset—willing to test, learn, and adapt? This is part of our author marketing checklist. We’d love to give it to you for free.

This is where a high-quality teleprompter comes in, and based on my personal experience, the Elgato Teleprompter is the game-changer you've been looking for. It's the one piece of gear that immediately leveled up my video production, and here’s why I wholeheartedly recommend it.

The Elgato Advantage: Seamless and Simple Setup

The Elgato Teleprompter is designed for the modern creator, offering an out-of-the-box experience that sets you up for success right away.

• Integrated Software: It comes bundled with excellent software, allowing you to easily control the scroll speed, text size, and flow of your script directly from your computer. No need to hunt for compatible third-party apps!

• The iPhone Winning Combo: One of its best features is the included mount for your iPhone. I use my iPhone for all my video recordings, and the way it sits perfectly in the mount, right behind the reflective glass, works incredibly well. It makes setup a breeze—plug and play with near-instant results.

• A Mac Creator's Dream: As a MacBook Pro and iPhone user, I've found the seamless integration between the Elgato Teleprompter and the Apple ecosystem to be a major selling point. While I haven't personally tested it with a PC, the smooth performance with my Mac devices suggests a winning combination for Apple users.

👋 Heads Up:
I have a mac set-up, and for me this thing is great. I can't speak to the experience of PC users...but the reviews are really good for this product, so it must be good for them as well.

🛠️ My Real-World Setup and Pro-Tips

Every creator's setup is unique, and a few key factors enhance the Elgato experience:

• Mounting Flexibility: I pair my Elgato Teleprompter with an extendable arm clamped to my desk. This allows for incredible flexibility in positioning the camera and teleprompter for the perfect shot, whether I'm sitting or standing.

• DSLR Compatibility (A Note on Weight): While I shoot on my iPhone and use this mount, I know creators who use the Elgato Teleprompter with their DSLRs and are very happy with the results. Just be aware: the weight of a larger camera and lens means your tripod or mounting arm will need to be sturdy and stable to handle the extra load.

🤝 The Confidence Loop: Teleprompter + Descript

Using a teleprompter gives you the confidence to look directly into the lens and deliver your script flawlessly. But what happens when you stumble? That's where your editing tool comes in.

I use Descript (👈 use this link for a discount), a transcript-based video editing tool that completely removes the need for complex, traditional editing skills. You edit the video by simply editing the text of the transcript—like working in a Google Doc! It's my favorite.

This combination creates a powerful confidence loop for content creation:

1. Confidence to Shoot: The Elgato Teleprompter lets you shoot your script with perfect eye contact.

2. Confidence to Edit: Descript lets you effortlessly edit out mistakes without needing advanced technical skills.

🚀 The Ultimate Script-to-Video Workflow

Ready to go from idea to professionally produced video? Here is the simple, powerful workflow I use for all my content:

1. Idea Generation: Come up with the core concept for your video script.

2. Talk it Out & Record: Record yourself freely talking out the main points and structure of your idea. Don't worry about being perfect.

3. Transcribe with Descript: Upload your raw recording to Descript and get an accurate transcript.

4. Polish with AI: Take that transcript and give it to an AI tool like ChatGPT, asking it to refine it into a polished, engaging, and structured video script.

5. Rehearse: Practice reading your final script aloud to get a feel for the pacing and flow.

6. Record with Elgato: Do your final recording, reading your script directly through the Elgato Teleprompter and into the camera.

For success, you'll need:

1. Good lighting - pick up a cheap light. I don't have recommendations for this on Amazon because I haven't used any. I bought my big ring light from Amazon a few years ago, and they don't even sell it anymore. A good guideline is the three-point lighting system. Avoid shooting in front of a window, that will irritate you to no end.

2. A good "zoom room" - you want to set-up your background for some degree of timelessness. Try to find a corner or area of the house you are ok with being in your shots for years to come.

3. Don't crowd the camera - vertical video is the format for short-form, so consider that you'll need to fit in the frame of a horizontal video, so leave plenty of room to crop.

✨ Recording Pro Tip: Embrace the Mistake

If you stumble over a word or phrase, do not stop recording!

• The Pause and Restart Method: Simply pause, take a deep breath, and start again from the beginning of the sentence or thought you messed up.

• Body Position is Key: When you trip up, remember your body's position. When you start the line again, try to make sure your head and shoulder position are the same. This small detail ensures that your edits in Descript won't look visually abrupt.

• Use Jump Cuts for Visual Breaks: If an edit still feels jarring, use a jump cut in Descript (often a quick, slightly tighter zoom on your face). Our brains are accustomed to this visual break from interviews and movies, making the cut feel intentional rather than like an error.

Disclaimer: I'm using affiliate links, because why not? I'm only recommending what I have. I do have this product and do recommend it.

Want to know exactly how to do it? If you want to dig in more to this type of content creation, check out the Content Flywheel Course in The Ultimate Author Collective. It's designed to provide the step by step for this type of thing.

How-to Guide:

Welcome to this tutorial on how to quickly and easily create an excerpt from a larger PDF and then crop that PDF to a smaller size using Mac OS and the application "Preview". Preview is a built-in application on all Macs that allows you to view and edit PDFs, images, and other types of files.

First, open the PDF that you want to create an excerpt from in Preview. Next, use the selection tool to highlight the portion of the PDF that you want to extract. Once you have made your selection, go to the "Edit" menu and choose "Copy" or use the keyboard shortcut "Command + C".

Next, create a new document in Preview by going to "File" and then "New From Clipboard". This will create a new document with only the selected text. Now you can save this excerpt as a new PDF.

Finally, if you want to crop the PDF to a smaller size, first Zoom out to that you can see all 4 corner crop marks, then select all pages by clicking on one of the pages in the page thumbnails, and click "Command + A" to select all of them. Next, open the Markup tools by clicking the Pen icon and choose the rectangular selection tool.

Target the crop marks and eyeball your selection, then you can get more granular by opening the inspector tool and adjusting your selection size. Once you're satisfied, click the Crop icon.

You'll get a warning that the newly cropped sections might be visible in other programs. Click "OK" and continue on. Once done, save your changes.

And there you have it, by following these simple steps you can easily create an excerpt from a larger PDF and then crop it to a smaller size using Mac OS and the application "Preview".

Substack: Basically a Blogging Platform with a Twist

Pros:

• Ease of Use and Growth Potential: Substack is incredibly user-friendly, making it accessible even for those with little technical expertise. It also has a unique growth advantage: since it doesn’t feel like a traditional marketing newsletter, it's easier to attract subscribers. Users already on Substack can subscribe to your content with just one click, which promotes organic growth.

• Built-in Monetization: One of Substack’s standout features is its built-in monetization. You can easily offer paid subscriptions, allowing you to create exclusive content for paying members. This built-in feature simplifies the process of generating revenue from your writing.

• Community and Collaboration: Substack fosters a sense of community similar to the early days of blogging. You can recommend other Substack newsletters, and your posts can live on a web platform that encourages readers to subscribe if they’re not already. The platform also supports collaboration, allowing for guest writers and contributing authors, which can help grow your brand.

Cons:

• Limited Customization: While Substack is easy to use, it comes with significant limitations. You can't segment your email list, add additional fields for subscribers, or even style your text beyond the basics. That includes styling the color of text, highlighting text, and adding images that text wraps around. This lack of customization can be surprisingly frustrating. And for those who want more control over the appearance and functionality of their content, are likely deal breakers.

• No Advanced Features: Substack is quite basic when it comes to features like API integrations, A/B testing, and content personalization. If you need these advanced tools to connect with your audience more strategically, Substack is probably not be the right choice. To put a fine point on this, apart from using their embed form, the only way to get people on the list is to manually import them. There is no API Integration whatsoever.

  • As of August of 2025, Substack added A/B testing for Titles and subtitles.

Email Marketing Platforms: The Power of Customization

Pros:

• Advanced Segmentation and Testing: Email marketing platforms excel in customization. You can segment your list into different groups, allowing for more targeted communication. Additionally, A/B testing enables you to experiment with different subject lines and content to optimize engagement.

• Third-Party Integrations: Most email marketing systems offer robust API integrations, which can be a game-changer if you want to connect your email campaigns with other tools like your website, CRM, or analytics platforms.

• Rich Formatting Options: Unlike Substack, email marketing platforms give you full control over your content's layout. You can style text, add columns, float images, and create a visually appealing newsletter that aligns with your brand.

Cons:

• Cost and Complexity: These platforms often come with a steeper learning curve and additional costs. They’re powerful tools, but with that power comes complexity, which might be overkill for those looking for a simple way to send newsletters.

Which Should You Choose?

If you’re looking for a straightforward, community-driven platform where you can easily monetize your content and grow organically, Substack is a solid choice. It's ideal for writers who want a minimalistic approach to reaching their audience without needing advanced features or customization. If you're writing something more akin to a blog, it's probably perfect for your needs.

On the other hand, if you require more control over your content, need to segment your audience, or want to integrate your emails with other tools, an email marketing platform is likely the better option. These platforms give you the flexibility and functionality to run sophisticated campaigns that Substack simply can’t match.

What am I using? [Updated]

Personally, I prefer the control and versatility that traditional email marketing platforms offer, which is why I don't use Substack for my business, however I think I will use it to write for my personal stories.

For those seeking simplicity and ease of growth, Substack presents a compelling alternative since it costs nothing and can even be a place to grow a paid subscriber base. Since it's free and readily available, Substack provides a great place to start. So go get a substack.

Update May 7, 2026

As Substack gains more popularity, I’m finding it a really fun place to be. With the addition of Notes, the vibes are similar to early Twitter before it became a dumpster fire, and I’m now putting more effort into building this platform.

"I need a new website"

That's one of the most common things that gets me on the phone with new clients (let's be honest, it's zoom these days). But most of the time, a new website is only one part of the process—a single tool in the toolbox.

The goals vary from client to client, because they're vastly different. One author has a book and speaks to large audiences, another author may be an academic and wrote a book to disseminate their ideas into the world. These two authors have different goals. In 10 years, if they follow those goals, their careers will have overlap, but they will be in two different places.

So, let's talk about goals.

1. Start with the End in Mind

Shout-out to Stephen Covey for this timeless mantra.

Every author has a different vision of success. For some, it’s about gaining a following that leads to speaking engagements and media appearances. For others, it’s about establishing credibility in their academic or professional field. Before jumping into tools like websites, social media, or newsletters, it’s crucial to identify what success looks like for you.

2. Match the Tools to the Goals

Once you’ve clearly defined your goals, you can start identifying the tools that will help you achieve them. This is where many people make mistakes—they focus on the tools first, without understanding how those tools serve their larger objectives.

3. Adjust and Iterate

As you start implementing tools to reach your goals, it’s important to monitor progress and be willing to adjust your strategy. The digital landscape is constantly evolving, and what works today might not be as effective tomorrow.

The Takeaway: Focus on the Big Picture

In the end, tools like websites, social media, and newsletters are just that—tools. They’re important, but they’re only effective when used in the service of clearly defined goals. By focusing on what you want to achieve, rather than getting bogged down in the details of specific tools, you’ll be better positioned to reach your long-term objectives.

What do you want to do with the book?

You must have a plan for how you will use your book to advance your career. It is not enough to simply write a good book and hope that it will find an audience. You must take a strategic approach and develop a realistic marketing plan that includes the promotion, sales, and distribution of your work.

Even beyond the launch of the book, consider what opportunities the book will open up for you.

How can you continue to provide value to your readers after they’ve read the book?

To get the most from reader interaction, you should continue to provide value to your readers even after they’ve read the book. In the increasingly crowded world of content, you need to find a way to stay connected to your readers. This is best done by continuing the conversation the book starts with the reader. Whether your goal is to monetize the intellectual property or simply engage your fan base, building this important step into your complete marketing plan is essential.

One example of how this can be done is by including an additional section in the back of your book with a list of resources and a suggested reading list for more on the topic.

How will you get readers to your website?

One of the best ways for you to drive traffic back to your website is by encouraging subscribers to sign up for your email list. This can be accomplished by providing readers with valuable content and exclusive offers in future posts and mailings.

Do you have parts of the book that were cut? What behind-the-scenes content can you share to provide value to your readers? We call these "Lead Magnets."

What additional ways can you encourage readers to take action?

In today’s interactive world, there are many opportunities for fans to take action to connect. Fans are no longer just passive viewers. They have the opportunity to take action and interact with their favorite authors. They can give feedback by voting for their favorite products, movies, TV shows, and more on social media. They can also voice their opinions on current events or send messages to celebrities they admire.

Knowing this, what ways can you provide your readers with further steps they can take to engage?

How will you stay in contact with interested readers?

Your objective is to build a following of readers you can stay in touch with. That means you need some way to gain the contact information of the reader to stay connected. We call this a "permission" asset, meaning the reader has given you permission to be in contact with them.

Using a webinar or an email list, you can create a way for readers to subscribe and receive updates from you. This creates a connection between the two parties and can lead to future opportunities.

Consider how you can gain permission to stay connected with your readers, and add value to their lives.

Summary:

In this video, I walk through how to use Amazon Affiliate tracking links to track sales from a campaign. We use these when working on book launch campaigns and make sure to share this link with all our partners so that we can track clicks and purchases directly connected with our marketing efforts.

Pro Tip: Keep things in one place like a Google doc or Notion document when working in a team so that everyone is using the right links.

Transcript:

[00:00:00] Hello everyone. I am Joseph Hinson, president of Outthink Group, a firm that helps authors market their books. And today we are gonna be talking about Amazon affiliate links and how to use them effectively. The Amazon affiliate program is designed so that just regular users of Amazon can create an account, start sharing things, start getting people to click on Amazon products, and they track if anyone purchases a product with that link. So what's useful though for book marketing is to know who clicked what link. Now what I'm gonna show you how to do today is um, I'm not gonna show you how to set up an Amazon affiliate account. You'll have to do that yourself. It's very simple. Just Google real quick and it doesn't take long to do.

But what I'm gonna show you how to do is how to set up your Amazon. Affiliate, um, tagging your Amazon affiliate tags. All right, so it's pretty simple, but let's get started. So here I have amazon.com up and I'm actually gonna bring this a little bit smaller, so that's not so, uh, big. So, [00:01:00] um, I have amazon.com up here and you can see the site Stripe will will be on the top of every page once you have your Amazon affiliate account, created.

And you can click here and get a text link once you've set up your store and your tracking. . Now you can see that it's going to give me store ID and tracking id. I have a bunch of tracking IDs and Ds in here, but what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna create a new tracking ID to do that. It's very easy. All I need to do is click on this Amazon Associates site, Stripe, Stripe here.

But you could also go to affiliate. Dash program.amazon.com home. So then I'm gonna hover over my account name here and I'm gonna click on manager tracking IDs. Now note, this is not gonna get you a lot of money at all, but it will help to, to, to be able to track some things. So what I'm gonna do is next is click add tracking id.

And so I'm gonna add a tracking id for this campaign that I'm working on. This one is for the web MW Web. All right. And I'm gonna click create. So now I click [00:02:00] close. I'm gonna make another one that is gonna be Mws Os, or sorry, MWS os. And that's for social. Okay, so now I have one for web, I have one for social, and then I'm gonna create another one that's gonna be, um, mw, um, email.

and that's gonna be for links. People click from the, the, the email and then they land on the page. And maybe there's a promotion that I have. One thing to note is that you have to disclose that you're using Amazon affiliate links and you're not allowed to send them directly via email. So you actually have to have them have a secondary link that they click.

So you can say," Hey, buy the book. It's really great." And then they click to the, the landing page of the book, and then you could have that email link there. But for the purposes of tracking, what we're trying to do is see how many people find it naturally on the web and how many people will share that link.

[00:03:00] So then what you're gonna go to the book, let's say The Power of Regret, which is a, uh, which is, uh, Dan Pink's book. If I wanted to do, um, a, a link with this, I would click, uh, text and then I would change my tracking ID to be, to use the one that I want to use. Um, and so what I want to do is, Choose the one I just created.

It's gonna be for web and click get link and it will create this shortened link. You can also choose full link if you wanna see what the link, like what it includes. There are a bunch of, uh, this, this really long link has a bunch of stuff that's telling Amazon, like, um, they searched and on the second page they click, they click to the third item and all this stuff.

So it's really just tracking information for Amazon. Um, so the short link is totally fine. And so, uh, what I often like to do is I will copy that. Okay, and I will put it in a document or some place, some central place so that whenever I link on the web, I use that specific link, and everyone who's who's working [00:04:00] on the campaign can use that specific link if it pertains to something on the web so that we know how our web efforts are doing versus how our social efforts are doing versus how our email efforts are doing, et cetera.

It is a very helpful. To track Now, it doesn't. It doesn't track. It only tracks Amazon. The reason I use this for Amazon is because it also tracks sales. So I can actually tell how many clicks to how many sales. It's always important if you can gather data to know what's working, what's not. Thanks for watching.

If you found this video helpful, like it, share it with somebody that needs it, and don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter below, or send an email to insiders@sendmagnet.com for even more behind the scenes tips. Have a great day. Keep being awesome.

It is my great honor and pleasure to present to you this interview where I sat down with Hugh Howey, author of so many wonderful books, but most well-known for Wool. Hugh's story is not unlike Andy Weir from my last video, but I think you'll find the advice he provides to authors to be superb. Among these pearls of wisdom:

"Work hard and focus on what you can control. Assume nothing will get made. Be delighted when it does."

That's paraphrasing the gist of our conversation, and his thread On Adapting Novels to Screen.

Hugh's Silo book series is has been made into a TV Series and is now available on AppleTV.

In this 30 minute conversation, Hugh provides us with some incredible advice on writing and shares his perspective on all of it.

Books Hugh mentioned:

• The Storytelling Animal

• Eats, Shoots & Leaves

• On Writing, by Stephen King

• Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott

Hugh's Writing Advice:

• Writing Insights, by Hugh Howey (note the links at the bottom)

• On Adapting Novels to Screen (pdf expanded version)

Other links:

• Watch Silo on AppleTV

• Silo Book Series

• Sand Chronicles (book series)

Andy Weir always wanted to be a writer, but finding success in the publishing industry proved to be difficult. Instead, he pursued a degree in computer programming and worked as a software engineer for many years until being laid off in 1999, which led to discovering a large sum of money in stock options. This windfall enabled Weir to become a full-time novelist, but after three years of trying to break into the industry, Andy Weir decided he gave it a good attempt, and returned to software engineering.

With the rise of the internet, Andy began posting his writing online and built a following of 3000 people over 10 years. Despite not becoming a professional writer, Andy Weir continued writing as a hobby, and engaged with his readers, making changes to the manuscripts as they pointed out factual inaccuracies and weak plot points.

He then started working on the book, The Martian, and his reader feedback was very clear that they wanted him to continue working on this book. He posted the book online in installments and received feedback from readers, which helped to motivate him. When readers requested an e-reader version of the book, he figured out how to make one and used Kindle Direct Publishing to self-publish it on Amazon. He initially set the price to the minimum of 99 cents and offered the book for free on his website. However, more people bought it than downloaded it for free, and the sales were boosted by readers who had been following his writing and wanted to support his contributions along the way.

The book sales took off in Amazon’s recommendation engine, and other people outside of his own sphere of influence took a chance on the book for $1. They were happily surprised, so they reviewed it, and Amazon kept recommending it. Pretty soon, Andy was approached by Crown Publishing Group and "The Martian" was finally traditionally published. Later, the movie rights were sold, and unbelievably, the book was made into a movie.

In summary, despite being rejected by publishers, Andy Weir self-published the book online and it gained popularity among readers, leading to a print and movie deal. Andy’s story illustrates just how the publishing industry has changed in the last decade, with the emergence of platforms like Amazon and Barnes and Noble, where writers can self-publish their work and gain recognition.

From Andy’s perspective, publishing has become a pure meritocracy, where anyone can become successful with hard work and talent, and no longer relies on a network of privileged individuals. Andy ends his story by encouraging aspiring writers to take advantage of this change and pursue their dreams without the limitations of the traditional publishing industry.

And here’s my take:

Andy Weir had a lot of practice. Practice is necessary, and luck plays a role. People often use the phrase "I was at the right place at the right time". But often, the person put themselves in the right place enough times so that at the right time, they were in the place they needed to be.

Joanna Penn says, in the book, The Successful Author Mindset, "Writers Write". Andy Weir wrote and wrote and wrote. And it eventually broke through to his audience and one thing let to another and caused surging success. But Andy Weir put in deliberate practice and didn't quit.

And neither should you. We're rooting for your success.

• Traffic: How many people are seeing your offer?

• Opportunity: What is the opportunity for interacting and engaging those visitors?

• Execution: How effectively are you maximizing your opportunity?

In Bill Taylor’s case, all of these elements aligned perfectly. Here’s what happened:

Part 1: Identifying and creating Content

We began working with Bill on the launch of his book about 9 months before the release date. This gave us 3 months to identify and create content that would work well for marketing, and at 6 months from release we would start the campaign.

We began by reading Bill’s manuscript to identify opportunities the content provided for list building as we approached the book launch window. Our goal in reading the book was to think creatively about how we could use the content and generate some ideas for how to leverage the book. We identified 3 opportunities that we wanted to use throughout the preorder campaign:

1. Book excerpts

2. Case studies

3. Leadership Types Quiz

1. Book Excerpts

Through the pre-launch and launch phase of a book, you want to have valuable content to share to increase anticipation and build excitement about your upcoming project. We identified 4 excerpts to release over the course of the launch, to let subscribers get a preview for the fascinating content and build excitement for the book.

2. Case Studies

In his book, Bill included case studies of organizations that were doing ordinary things in extraordinary ways. They are fascinating and capture the message of the book in a great way. Pulled from the book, each case study was about 10 pages,  so we started by editing them to about 1/3 the length. We then pulled out interesting statistics, numbers, and facts to create visual elements like icons, charts or numbers. The last page of each of the case studies contained information about the book, with links to preorder from online retailers.

3. Personality Quiz (Leadership Quiz)

This was the most successful item we created, because it was truly interactive. We distilled 4 leadership profiles from the book and created a 16 question assessment that would match assessment takers with their leadership style². Quiz-takers provided their email address to view the results, and then received an email with a summary of their leadership type, and a follow-up with a free excerpt from the book.

Part 2: Content + Outreach

Creating content is the first part of this process, but sadly, it’s often where most people stop. If we had created the content and stopped there, we would have been able to do some effective inbound content marketing, but the list growth would have been directly correlated to how many people were passively visiting the site. Here’s where outreach comes in.

Enter Harvard Business Review and a well crafted offer

Obviously, the co-founder of Fast Company is a pretty brilliant guy. When I talked to Bill about how we needed to get these tools in front of people, he came up with the idea to write a post for Harvard Business Review¹ about the 4 leadership types he’d identified, and provide a link back to the website so readers could take the quiz. He disclaimed that an email was required to take the quiz.

Part 3: Content + Outreach + Permission

The purpose of the quiz was to build his permission asset (email list), so our goal was to get as many quiz takers as possible. We were not disappointed.

In the first 2 days, we had 3,000 quiz takers. There was such a huge response to the quiz that it became one of the most popular HBR posts in the next few days, which meant it was listed on their home page and emailed out to their subscriber list as a popular post.

By the end of the week, Bill’s list had grown by 7,000 subscribers.

But that wasn’t all

Two weeks later, Bill wrote a post on HBR about one of the companies featured in the book and provided a call to action for readers to download the case study summary we had created for that company. We used our Membergate plugin (which puts resources behind an email subscription gate) for this opportunity and the list grew even more.

When we created the content, we set up a “Resources” page on Bill’s website where we would continue to add interesting and compelling content around Simply Brilliant. The case studies and other resources continued to convert visitors into subscribers.

Later, the quiz was picked up by a few other blogs, and we saw that reflected in our referrers as well. The additional value here was that not only did Bill’s list grow, his traffic in this time frame was also surging. Because of this traffic, this made inbound list building tools much more effective–the resources section, which required the email of new visitors to access most of the resources, effectively converting interested visitors into new subscribers. These resources (including the quiz) are still working to build Bill's list and grow his following.

Why is list building so important?

Building an email list is one of the best ways to build following and build a relationship with your followers. Social networks are very difficult to penetrate in any significant way with an offer. When you have a time-sensitive offer (pre-ording a book for example), it’s important to have an audience that already knows you and is interested in your work. By building this list ahead of time, we were able to start our pre-order campaign and share our offer with a far larger group of subscribers.

Keep in mind that when it comes to outreach, results vary. However, this is a good example of how connecting the right offer with the right audience and maximizing your opportunity for growth can make a tremendous impact.

We know that identifying the right opportunities and executing on them well can be challenging – if you'd like to talk about how we can help you maximize your opportunities, just get in touch.

¹ Bill's Article for Harvard Business Review ² The Simply Brilliant Leadership Quiz

There are many ways to do this and none of them are too time consuming or difficult, you just have to be willing to put yourself out there and feel confident in self promotion. Your audience wants to know the person behind the product you're marketing.

Guidelines

Write Good Content

The first way to get people interested in you is straightforward. You have a passion for writing and a desire to share your words and knowledge with as many people as possible. Start writing!

If you have the knowledge and ideas but not the writing skills, find someone to help you with writing and editing. Get off to a great start, and you won't have to go back and change things later.

Use Your Content For Outreach

You may have a fantastic book published and be an expert in your field, but without a dedicated base of followers, it's hard to sell your books. Your fans are great allies in helping you get your message out to the world. If they love what you share, they will spread the word and multiply your reach.

Share Broadly and Freely

Don't be afraid to share! It can be hard to self promote and you may feel as if you are being pushy. However, you have to remember that if you don't share it, no one will see it.

Convert Visitors to Email Subscribers

When you share content on your website, it's okay to give a preview and then offer the full piece to viewers who subscribe to your list.

For example, if you've written a book on dog breeds, you might create a short e-book on "The 5 Best Dog Breeds for Anything." You then write a blog post on "The 5 Best Dog Breeds for Families" and at the end of the post, let people know they can get the full e-book (which also includes the 5 best breeds for apartment dwellers, for people with active lifestyles, etc.), if they subscribe to your list.

Ways to Share Content

Your content can be reimagined and repurposed in a lot of different ways. Experiment with different options and see what resonates best with your readers, and what works well for you.

Blog Posts

Creating blog posts on a consistent basis means you're building a growing repository of free, accessible content. Someone who has just discovered you can read through old posts to get a feel for your work.

Your blog shouldn't be only about your book. You can branch out and give your readers a better idea of who you are; the person behind the product. You can also pull topics from your writing and expand on them through your blog or break topics down into easy to consume list type articles.

Newsletters

Newsletters are a great way to keep your audiences attention, and gain fans. It can be as simple as sending a monthly roundup newsletter with links to your latest posts and activity, or you you can send an email every time you publish something new.

Social Media

The most important thing to remember is to be yourself. Don't hide behind your book; if your audience gets to know you as a person, they'll be more interested in your work. One of my favorite authors shares a lot of her personal life as it relates to the topics in her book, and those stories not only illustrate the book well, they build a feeling of personal connection.

*Watch for a more in depth article coming soon which will break down the different avenues of social media.

Podcasts and Webinars

Many readers enjoy listening to authors talk and expand on topics they've written about, and a webinar with a live Q&A session can be a great way to open up personal interaction with your fans. If you're comfortable speaking and being in front of a camera, podcasts or webinars may be a way for you to promote your book and make personal connections with your audience.

Start sharing your content now. With so many options, there is no reason to wait. Your audience is out there and ready to hear from you!

Recommended Reading

For more information about providing your audience with great content, check out the book Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, and Webinars by Ann Handley.

We send a lot of email, for a lot of clients. It can be intimidating sending to hundreds, or thousands of people, especially considering that it is a representation of you and your work. So I wanted to put together this quick checklist for you to follow. It includes some tips and tricks we use in sending email campaigns. It's not an exhaustive list, but it does include some pretty huge points. Let's get started.

Use logical "alt" text for images.

When someone opens your email, the images aren't displayed automatically, most of the time, they have to click "Display Images". Until they click that, there is an "alt" text that is used. That text is shown if the image isn't shown. So take advantage of that, and use the opportunity to communicate to the reader what they can do to see the images. Add Alt Text that says Click "Display Images" - you can do that with most email marketing programs just by changing the settings of the image. This does 2 things:

1. It communicates to people that there's an image there...and that if they click, they can see it.

2. When they click "Display Images Below", the email tracking works more effectively and gives you a more accurate open number.

Check the headers of your emails for default content

If you’re using an email marketing servce, sometimes they will have placeholder text that sneaks through.

I did a quick search of the phrase "Use this area to offer a short preview of your email's content." in my personal email (not my work email that I often use to approve emails before they get sent out) and it returned a few dozen results.

So, don't feel bad if you do make this mistake, because you're not alone, and if this example does anything I hope it helps you to understand that mistakes are a normal part of the process, and everyone makes them, but now you know. So make sure you check it before it goes out.

Thoroughly check your email for typos

By the time you've written, edited, and re-written your email, you begin to only scan the content. This leads to missing typos. Especially when your content is long, it's hard to find the needle in the haystack that is a typo. Yet somehow, the second the email goes out you see it and begin the full-fledged freak out. Don't let that be you, confidently click the send button because you caught the typo.

Pro Tip: Read the email out loud. You start to look more closely at the text when you have to read it aloud.

Confirm all links work and get reader to the right place

This may seem like a no-brainer, but sometimes, especially in cases when you're in a hurry to get the email out the door, you can make the simple mistake of a broken link. Make sure that the link not only works, but gets the user to the RIGHT place. Don't be that guy who sends out the second email that says, "Correction: In the last email, we meant to link here, and linked there instead." I'm not making fun of that guy by the way, I've been him before, and it sucks. I want to keep you from making this mistake.

Make sure links stand out and are noticeable.

When you're providing a call to action, make sure it stands out. I've received a few emails where the link color was the same as the text, only underlined. Don't do this. Make sure your it's crystal clear that your links are clickable. Make them prominently stand out. Make your calls to action noticeable. Isn't this link much more clickable?

Enable Google Analytics tracking to all email links

You should have google analytics setup on your website. It only takes a few minutes, it's free, and should be easy to do with any web service you have. Even if you don't read the data, you should still gather the data. When sending emails, make sure your Google Analytics link tracking is enabled.

Use logical personalization.

If you are using personalization (like inserting someone's first name into the email), make sure you have a logical fallback. I'm sure you've seen this before:

Dear , I regret to inform you that I didn't use logical fallbacks when I tried to personalize this email to you, so instead of calling you by your first name, I skipped to terms of endearment like "Dear". Yours Truly, Joseph

Here's an example of what that looks like in Mailchimp:

*|IF:FNAME|*Hello *|FNAME|*,

*|END:IF|*

This code checks to see if the FNAME merge field exists, if it does, it adds "Hello Joseph," and adds two returns, but if it doesn't, just starts into the email. Whatever is between the IF and END:IF merge fields will only be displayed if the merge field exists.

Note: You'll want to test this a little bit to make sure the spacing doesn't get knocked out of alignment. I can't go into detail on that in this lesson, but will soon

Write helpful content that provides value to readers

If you're only telling people about you and how great you are, that's going to get old, and fast. Remember that you're connecting with readers. Tell them what you've been up to, and fascinating stuff you've read that you'd like to share with them. To make this easier and more concrete, think of who you're writing to, and put a picture of them on your monitor. Look at the picture, would you tell them what you're about to send your list? Would it be useful to them? If so, then send it, if not, go back to editing. Think of the emails you open the minute you see them -- why do you open them? Is it because they're full of salesy content and you can't wait to buy some product, or is it because there's meaningful content being provided?

This is most important, and here's why: You want your content to be useful, helpful, and compelling, because people are exhausted of being sold things. I know I am. I will liberally unsubscribe from emails that clearly only see me as a consumer instead of a person. This builds credibility with your audience, increases engagement, and makes future emails far more likely to be opened and shared.

Lastly, if you can avoid it, don't fly solo.

Many years ago I worked at a sign shop. We spent all day crafting huge banners and signage. Our boss's wife was a fantastic proofreader and found many mistakes that we overlooked because we were looking so closely at the design, we failed to pay attention to the text. Many times she found mistakes that clients didn't catch. Having a second set of eyes on your emails will help to avoid making simple mistakes. At Out:think we have a policy, "Two sets of eyes on anything that ships".

Ask someone to help you, and provide them this list so they know what to look for. That's all for now. I hope you found this helpful.

In this post, I’ll share 5 ways that you can use your email list even if you don’t have a website. Getting a site up and running can be a daunting and expensive prospect (though it doesn’t have to be), and you might feel like you can’t do anything until you have a website up. There is still a lot you can do right now to start building your list and creating relationships with your followers.

1. Add a signature sign up

Add a link to signup in your email signature. For example, my signature could say:

“Thanks, Joseph Hinson, Out:think Group

PS: Are you interested in what makes a platform great? Sign up for my weekly updates to find out just that.” The language that I used there is compelling – it piques curiosity, lets them know why the newsletter would be valuable to them, and gives an idea of how often it will be sent and what the subject matter will be.

2. Build anticipation

Post an update on your social media just before you send out an email. Tell your followers, "Hey guys, I’m going to send an email out tomorrow, where I talk about the importance of  –––––– ,” or, "I'm going to tell you the story of how I ––––––––.”

Let people know you're going to send the newsletter to build anticipation, and include in the post a call to action to sign up for the newsletter. People who follow you on Twitter/Facebook/etc., may not be subscribed to your email list yet.

3. Share the email content across channels

After the email goes out, post a link to the email archive on your social channels. Once you have a website, you’ll want to post the email content on your blog, but this is a good option in the meantime.

Copy the email archive link from your email system (the link you get when you click "view email in your browser”), and you’ll be able to re-share your content by posting the link across your social channels. The benefit here is two-fold:

1. You've already put in the work of creating that content so it's an easy win to post as social media content, and,

2. Keep in mind that not everyone follows you on every channel – your Facebook/Twitter/etc. followers might not be on your email list and wouldn't see that content otherwise.

4. Ask Questions

Make use of your social networks, friends, fans, colleagues, and anybody you have a connection with by asking questions to get them involved.

Post or email and say, "I'm going to be answering questions about this subject," or "next week's email is going to be about this specific topic," or, "I'm writing a research project on this topic and I'm looking for people who have had this experience."

A good example of this is podcasters – many do this when they're covering a new topic. They'll post on social media to say, for example, "We're talking about people who have been ripped off, and we'd love your stories. Submit your stores." Those submitted stories are shared on the next episode, and they might even call and interview people who submitted stories.

This can be a great source for of varied, colorful content that you wouldn't have had otherwise, and it’s a great way to create conversations and interactions with your followers.

5. Pin the post

Remember that you’re always meeting new people, so followers who are unfamiliar with ways to stay in touch might not know you have a publication or share any other type of content than the channel they’re on. Take advantage of the “Pin” feature on whatever social network you’re using. Pin a post about yourself and who you are, then Pin a post about your newsletter. If you can only pin one, pin the newsletter.

Conclusion

I hope you found these ideas useful. The takeaway to all of this is simple: Start now. Don't think think that you have to wait until every piece is in place, because there is a lot you can be doing to get traction and build a relationship with your followers.

Substack is a fantastic way to get started with a newsletter or publication. It’s especially useful because it allows people to recommend you like the olden days of yore when we still used Blogrolls.