target audience

Why I Cut My List in Half

March 17, 2013 by CJ Lyons

You have heard me say time and again how important it is to build a mailing list of people who WANT to hear from you.

You need to cultivate this list like tending orchids: treating them to the right amount of sunshine, watering at just the right intervals, giving them extra special food you don’t give any other plants.

So why did I trim my list in half?

I’ve been building my list since 2004 and over those years had more than 14,000 people sign up for it. Note: this is all permission based subscribers—I never add anyone on my own (and neither should you!)

Sounds great, doesn’t it? 14,000+ folks just waiting to hear what’s going on with me every month…except they weren’t.

Nine years is a long time. Email addresses get changed or hacked. People subscribe at work using a company email—and then move on or get new spam filters. Readers move onto other authors and might not be interested in hearing from me anymore (painful to admit, but it happens)

Last year I realized that my open rates had plummeted from over 40% to a mere 10%. Experts will tell you that’s good—in fact, 10% is industry average, but when you’re paying for each email and trying to connect and engage people not just convince them to open your email, it’s not good enough.

And honestly, I missed the interaction and involvement that I’d get after every email. After all, my fans put me on the New York Times list in response to a newsletter I sent, I didn’t want to lose that special connection.

First, I revamped my content, making it less about me and more rewarding for my readers. I began to include interviews, videos, and bonus offers from other authors my readers might enjoy in addition to sharing behind the scene glimpses into my own life and writing.

That led to about 2,000 more subscribers and increased my open rate to 20%

Then I began the long, slow process of clearing out any “dead wood” from the emails. I deleted bounced emails. I also began to monitor open rates and if someone didn’t open one of my newsletters more than four to five times in a row, the equivalent of about six months, I deleted them.

Which cut my list almost in half.

The results? The last three emails I sent had a 55-60% open rate and a 35-40% click-thru rate, with most people clicking on several links as well as sharing with their friends.

Not to mention cutting my costs by 40%

Trimming my email list tripled my opens and click-thrus as well as increasing my readers’ response and saving me money. All in all, a win/win for everyone: myself and my readers.

Sometimes less is more. Where can you get more by cutting back on something in your workflow?

Filed Under: career novelist, CJ Lyons, target audience

Do You Have a Niche?

February 24, 2012 by CJ Lyons

credit: JD Hancock

I’ll bet you a basket of Peeps that you do! One where you’ll find your “peeps” (aka people or tribe or target audience).

Find this sweet spot that lies somewhere between 7 billion folks on the planet and your cat who nods attentively when you read pages of your novel aloud (oh, is that just me?) and you’ll have it made.

Why? Because instead of trying to please 7 billion readers, you only have to ask yourself: is XYZ what *my* people want? Is this latest social networking fad where they’ll be hanging out? Should I buy them pink fuzzy pencils for a reader appreciation gift or instead give them ribbons made of crimescene tape?

(hint: if you’re one of my peeps, it’s the crimescene tape–can not tell you how popular that was at the first TFest! Folks wore it on their nametags like it was a badge of honor)

But how to narrow down your tribe from a prospect pool of 7 billion? Abby Kerr has a free e-course that could help.

I stumbled upon Abby’s website by accident, but who could resist her tagline of: brand editor. calling you to rule your realm.

Yeah, she had me at hello, lol! Sign up for her Inklings newsletter HERE to receive your free e-course on how to Create a Truly Irresistible Niche

Happy peep herding!

Filed Under: freestuff, marketing, resources, target audience Tagged With: abby kerr, niche

You Don’t Need Honey to Find Readers, You Just Need a Librarian

October 28, 2011 by CJ Lyons

Since I talked on Monday about the lessons learned at the Frankfurt Book Fair about the importance of finding your readers, I thought it might be nice to let you guys know about another free publication from Sisters in Crime.

(seriously, if you’re writing any kind of crime fiction, their resources are invaluable, so just join already!)

Their summer summit report from the American Library Association, How Readers Find Books, is available now as a pdf from the Sisters in Crime website, just scroll down the front page to the “recent news” box.

Tons of info there–and what I love is that there’s something for every style of writer from happy hermit to social butterfly!

Enjoy!

Filed Under: freestuff, marketing, resources, target audience Tagged With: american library association, sisters in crime

You Aren’t Asking the Right Question

October 10, 2011 by CJ Lyons

Since BLIND FAITH hit #2 on the New York Times bestseller list, suddenly folks think I’m some kind of marketing guru.

I’ve had writers who are total strangers email me asking to tell them what my secret was.

(Silly Rabbits! They obviously didn’t bother to come over here and read the blog or the Resource pages, because I share everything with you guys!)

Writer friends who I admire for their own success, suddenly calling me, wanting to know “What did you do to make this happen?”

Marketing pros and even a few reporters asking: What social media tools/marketing strategy/advertising/promotion/fill in the blank did I use?

They’re all asking the wrong question. They want to know “what” and when I try to answer that they shake their head in disbelief because my answer is so very simple and basic.

Because “what” I did was put my readers first. By giving them a chance for free books. By risking putting my bestseller on sale. By sharing my hopes and dreams through my Lyons’ Tales newsletter.

(Interested in reading it? You can sign up HERE)

Then I saw this guest post by Danielle LaPorte on Productive Flourishing and I finally realized the question everyone should have been asking: WHY.

WHY have I been using the majority of my promotional budget to give away my books to readers for the past three years? To build a readership and give them what they want: a new author to enjoy and follow.

WHY do I not spend a lot of time tweeting or facebooking or blogging or fill in the blank of the current trendy promo tool? Because I need my time and energy to write and I feel my books are my best promotional tools. If I use my time to get more books out there, I’m keeping my readers happy and increasing my chances to find new ones.

WHY did I take that huge leap of faith and lower BLIND FAITH to a special sale price?

First, as an appreciation gift to my readers. Second, because I thought it would be fun joining with them in achieving a common goal. So the only promotion I did for BLIND FAITH was to send a newsletter to my readers with the subject heading of: Help Me Make a Dream Come True.

In it, I explained that I hoped to reach Amazon’s Top 20. Within two weeks BLIND FAITH was #4 on the USA TODAY bestseller list and then debuted at #2 on the New York Times list.

But every decision that led to that focused on one thing. What would make my readers happy.

Not make every reader happy. That’s beyond my power. I focused on my readers. The people who respond to my Thrillers with Heart.

How can you do the same? Play to your strengths: does blogging or tweeting, etc energize you and make you a better writer and engage your readers? Then go for it!

(One author who is brilliant at Facebook is David Morrell–but of course, he’s brilliant at just about everything!)

Does hosting a community on a forum keep you excited and inspired about your work in progress while helping you understand your readers better?

Or maybe you’re like me, a hermit at heart, and need to focus on writing the next book your readers are clamoring for.

(which is how I ended up currently writing two books at once, but that’s another story)

Whatever you spend your time on, ask yourself WHY? Why is doing this going to make me a better writer? Why is it going to please my readers? Why should my readers spend their time and energy responding to it?

Once you ask the right question, you’ll know the direction that is right for you….and you can stop asking others what they did. Why? Because you’ll be in control of your own path.