This is the real power of email 💪

(now for the good stuff...)  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Hey, Sometimes you have to flip the script. After moving house twice in three months - bouncing between successively worse Airbnbs while two property purchases fell through - we decided to play the universe at its own game. Our stuff went into storage, we reduced our lives to a bag, and we hit the road. What's our plan? No idea, but we'll figure it out along the way. In case you were wondering why my newsletters have become more sporadic lately... this is why. Stuff happens, and your subscribers will usually understand - especially if you give them your best during those moments when your life isn't a rolling clustereff. Of course, writing newsletters isn't always easy or convenient - even when your life has a little more stability. And there are times when email marketing can just be a pain in the onions. Like when something breaks, or when we have to deal with bothersome new rules from Google. The temptation is to let things slide in these moments, particularly because email is a little like... saving. In other words, it's something super boring where the benefits are real and cumulative, but accrue slowly over time - frustratingly so at the beginning. Not exactly flashbang stuff. So, let's remind ourselves why we go through all this hoo-ha. What's so good about stupid email anyway? These are just some of the things that email is uniquely good at. Creating Superfans Launching Bestsellers Getting Intimate Pushing Backlist Selling Full-Price Boosting Reviews Keeping Control Holding Attention Harvesting Data Being Flexible Moving On That's quite a list - especially when you consider that I'm not just claiming email is great at all these things, I'm claiming that email is uniquely great at all these things. In other words, while other tools and platforms and wotsits can achieve some of these goals for you, email is the best tool for the job - for all these jobs. Which is a pretty big claim, so let's back it up. Back It Up Let me begin. Creating Superfans I wrote about the process of turning strangers into superfans in my imaginatively titled book Strangers to Superfans. The originality didn't end there either as I also made the bold, decades-old claim that nothing captures attention like email. Marketers have known this since the 90s (and you could argue the principle has been proven by direct response marketers since the 50s or 60s), but it bears repeating as it has only become more and more true over time in our ad riddled, always-online existences. Email remains a space which is, miraculously, largely free of ads and pop-ups and distractions. Which means it holds reader attention better than a cute puppy, conveys intimacy like nothing else outside of OnlyFans, and converts like a sexy priest. This makes it uniquely positioned to deepen engagement with your readers and slowly turn them into fans over time - the kind of fans who do the selling for you. Yes, you can do this with social media too, or even carrier pigeons if that's how you roll, but email is just better at it. More effective, and cheaper too. It's a direct channel to your readership, one which you control completely - and can utilize any time you like, on your own schedule. Launching Bestsellers You can launch a book into the charts with Facebook Ads - I've done it many times, in a range of genres. But it's a lot easier and cheaper to do it with a large mailing list. Aside from costing money, rather annoyingly, ads also leave you at the whims of algorithms and policies and review processes. Indeed, depending on what you write (and what is depicted on your cover), you may run into difficulties regularly, and unreliability is the last thing you need during launch week. Of course, when you're aiming for the big boi bestseller lists, you normally pull out all the stops: newsletters, swaps, ads on multiple platforms, and so on. But your list will always be the foundation for any serious run at the charts. It's dependable where ad platforms can be capricious. And because you have total control over your list, it can also solve problems coming from elsewhere too. For example, if an ad campaign misfires, or something gets caught in review, or your card is declined and Facebook freezes everything, or someone drops the ball on an email swap... well then you can just re-jig your email sends and plug the gap. Much harder to do that with ads, or swaps, or social media. And when you are doing a really big launch, it's not a case of hoping nothing goes awry, it's about having a plan for when something invariably does. Selling Full-Price Ah, the Holy Grail of book marketing - at least, if my replies are anything to go by! I totally get the sentiment and it's more than fair to pose the question when I spend a lot of time talking about running discounts - sometimes multiple discounts simultaneously - as a key path to success with advertising or on Amazon generally. What about full price books? Do we have to discount everything to get anything moving. When does Daddy get paid!? I see discounts (and free) as a lure. I use price promotions to reel in readers and then grow my audience, sales, review count, and - most importantly - my list. Making a book free can be a wonderful way to boost sign-ups, especially when you dangle a cookie as a sign-up bonus. Yes, another freebie. But before your eyes roll out of your head, consider that this is probably the most effective way to grow your list. And when that list is all lovely and plump with readers, then you'll generate lots and lots of those lucrative full-price sales the next time you launch a book. Not only that, you will have repeated opportunities to push your backlist after readers subscribe. An artful automation - like a welcome sequence - can also be a continuing source of full price sales of your backlist. In short, I'd give away ten million free books if I could. Imagine how big my list would be? Imagine how much revenue it would generate? If that's devaluing literature, I'd do it every single day of the week (and twice on Sundays). Harvesting Data What genius marketer thought it was a good idea to import terminology from the world of *checks notes* illicit black market organ trading? Anywho, it's handy to know who is no longer opening your emails (or who never click on anything). Not so you can add to your collection of voodoo dolls, but so you can – perhaps - attempt to re-engage them, or - double perhaps - gently show them the door if they remain terminally disengaged. Try doing that with a Facebook ad. Haters resolutely cling to your target audiences like mercury in the body. Moving On A good few years ago, Mailchimp was the email marketing service, but it grew too big and I wrote a viral article exposing their exploitative new terms; it was a whole thing. I also moved to another company (MailerLite) and convinced loads of people to do likewise, where I was much happier. I was able to do that because I own my list. Try doing that with your Facebook likes. (Not hating on Facebook specifially here, it's my favorite ad platform and preferred social network for business purposes. But if it goes belly up, or users actually do end up deserting it, I'll have to start from scratch at Amazon or TikTok or wherever. Does anyone remember what a big wheel I was on GeoCities? Everyone's loss, believe me.) much unique, very email I could give ten more reasons why email is the bestest best but even the UFC doesn't allow more than five knockout punches. There might be other ways to create an army of superfans, to launch books into the charts, to sell full price books continually, but email gives me the best chance of doing all those things, helpfully provides the data I need to show my efforts are paying off, and isn't a greedy lover either. If something better comes along, I can pack up my list and ride off into the sunset with my new hotness. Try doing that with, oh, literally anything else. Dave P.S. Beachcombing music this week is Nick Cave with Into My Arms. Broomfield Business Park, Malahide, Co. Dublin K36 AT04 ​Unsubscribe | Update your profile​