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anitabyars · 4 years

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One Moment Please

By Amy Daws

Release Date: April 9

BOOK INFO

Title: ONE MOMENT PLEASE

Author: Amy Daws

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Release Date: April 9, 2020

Cover Designer: Amy Daws

Cover Photographer: Wander Aguiar

Cover Model: Andrew Biernat

One Moment Please by Amy Daws is LIVE!

🩺 👶 🩺 👶 🩺

Download: https://geni.us/OneMomentPlease

Add to your TBR: http://bit.ly/AmyDawsOMP

FULL BLURB

That awkward moment when an ER doctor has to inform you that you’re pregnant…with his baby.

Three things Lynsey Jones knows about the hot doctor: he’s grouchy, an arrogant jerk, and strangely obsessed with pie.

Three things Dr. Josh Richardson knows: he doesn’t talk about his past, he doesn’t do relationships, and the crazy girl in the hospital cafeteria who ate a fistful of French silk pie…is annoyingly irresistible.

After a chance meetup at a bar and a heated cab ride together, things come to a head and now instead of hating each other, they’re horizontal in a bed.

Three months later, the weird cafeteria stalker who crept out of Josh’s house like a thief in the night, winds up as his patient in the ER after her Tinder date from hell.

The doctor is prepared to keep it cool and professional. That is until her bloodwork reveals she’s pregnant.

What really throws him for a loop…is the surprise baby…is his.

Read for FREE in Kindle Unlimited

Preorder: https://geni.us/OneMomentPlease

Add to your TBR: http://bit.ly/AmyDawsOMP

COVER REVEAL GIVEAWAY LINK

Enter for a chance to win an Amazon giftcard over on Amy’s author page!

www.facebook.com/amydawsauthor

EXCERPT

Chapter 1 - Lynsey

“Hello there.” My stupid voice cracks like a thirteen-year-old boy. I clear my throat and try again. “I mean, hi.”

A grunt vibrates from the doc’s chest as he brings his sandwich to his mouth and takes an aggressive bite before finally lifting his attention to me.

His gaze connects with mine, and his smoldering deep greenish-brown eyes overwhelm me. Framed by long, dark lashes, they seem at odds with his creamy skin and sandy brown hair. His square jawline is peppered with light brown whiskers, and his lips are full but not big. Just…perfect—even if they’re stuck in a surly scowl.

Breathe normally. Just take in a slow breath and let it out at half speed.

Frankly, his whole presence overpowers me. It’s like sitting front row at an action movie and not being able to take in the entire cinematic glory because it all hits you too fast.

The hot doctor stares at me as he chews his food, and it’s…really weird. I avert my gaze to my pie and yank up the fork only to drag the prongs through the whipped topping. I need something to focus on besides watching him chew.

“How’s your day going?” I try again, my nerves skittering sideways.

His eyes have moved from me to my pie.

He takes another bite and grunts again.

Is he mute? Or is he just so polite that he refuses to talk with food in his mouth?

I lick the whipped cream off my fork and prop my elbows on the table with a bit more determination this time. “My name is Lynsey…what’s yours?”

I plaster on a super-fake smile as he tilts his head and takes another bite, eyeing me as though I’ve just murdered his entire village. My gaze casually drops to his hands.

No ring.

What the hell is going on with this guy? He’s single. He’s a doctor. He’s hot. What’s he got to be so sour about?

“You’re a doctor here, right?” I try to fill the silence. My eyes flick to the name badge hanging on a clip from the breast pocket of his scrub top. It reads “Dr. Richardson” with a whole battery of letters after his name. I don’t have a clue what any of them mean, but they’re probably important.

He continues to stare at me the same as always, though it’s more uncomfortable now because he’s so damn close.

Definitely not foreplay.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amy Daws is an Amazon Top 25 bestselling author of sexy, contemporary romance novels. She enjoys writing love stories that take place in America, as well as across the pond in England. When Amy is not writing in a tire shop waiting room, she’s watching Gilmore Girls, or singing karaoke in the living room with her daughter while Daddy smiles awkwardly from a distance.

For more of Amy's work, visit: http://www.amydawsauthor.com

STALKER LINKS:

Website/Newsletter: http://www.amydawsauthor.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/amydawsauthor

Facebook Fan Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AmyDawsLondonLovers/

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/amydawsauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/amydawsauthor

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/amy-daws

Book and Main: https://bookandmainbites.com/amydaws

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/amydawsauthor/

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/amydaws

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/amydawsauthor

My Review

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Holy-Mother Of Hotness! No one does surprise baby stories like Amy Daws and “ONE MOMENT PLEASE” showcases her mastery of storytelling at its best! This fast paced, hilarious, smart, emotional, and scorching-hot love story held me enthralled from the beginning to end, and I couldn’t get enough of Lynsey and Dr. Dick.

Lynsey and Josh’s chemistry was explosive and consuming, their passion was a mix of lust and devotion, their sex was commanding and wild. Sigh inducing swooning and fanning myself sexy. And the sass, the sarcasm, the banter and the dialogue was unique, clever, and on target. Wow just wow!

I loved every minute of this completely over-the-top hilarious, thoroughly captivating, emotionally charged and Deliciously, Hot, Dirty, Sweet and Sexy Romance!

Warning...you better get your Kleenex ready.

I received an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

#amydaws #@ScorchedBooks #onemomentplease #hotdoctorsbaby #surprisepregnancy #RomCom #enemiestolovers

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damiencordle · 5 years

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I Found This Interesting. Joshua Damien Cordle

Dodging Facebook's 'Like' Trap for Small Businesses

By Peter Suciu

Despite complaints about user privacy and the sharing of personal data, Facebook remains the de facto powerhouse in the world of social media. It may have started out as a place to connect with friends, but with 2.23 billion users worldwide it isn't hard to see why it matters to marketers.

For the past decade Facebook has been a proven way for small businesses to connect with customers -- at least in theory. Although many millennials and even some older users see it as passé, it has a massive audience, offering a great way to connect with potential customers. That makes it a no-brainer for a small business, right?

Maybe not, because more users doesn't necessarily translate into more customers, and the efforts that go into promoting a brand or small business actually might be put to better use elsewhere. Ads on Facebook may be targeted accurately, but getting eyeballs isn't enough if you can't close the deal, make the sale, or see a positive return on your investment.

Simply put, Facebook advertising is the latest gimmick that promises more than it delivers in the digital age.

Before Facebook

In the 1970s and 1980s the "Yellow Pages" was the place to "let your fingers do the walking" and find businesses listed alongside competitors. The phone book listing had the advantage of offering information to customers looking for your product or service.

In the 1990s and early 2000s a Web presence became essential -- not only a Web page but the right URL. This was a still a largely passive way to tell a story about your brand, offer information, and provide a way for customers to connect with you through multiple channels including phone and email.

As a reporter who has watched the development of the World Wide Web since the 1990s, I have found it strange that in recent years some small businesses put more effort into a Facebook page than their actual website. This strikes me as an unnecessary duplication of effort, especially as many small businesses simply don't have time to update their timeline and post the sort of things that define social media. It also means that less time is available to keep the website relevant -- such as updating merchandise listings in some cases.

Worse still, Facebook creates yet another channel for communication, so in addition to responding to calls and emails, there are messages and comments that must be addressed. This is more cumbersome due to the added layer of logging into Facebook.

Typically you get an email that alerts you to a new message or comment. How is that more effective or efficient?

Facebook Efforts Don't Pay Off

Much of the above criticism of Facebook is based on my personal experience. In addition to being a freelance writer, I run a small antique business, and I'm a partner in a small independent publishing company.

At one time Facebook did strike me as a good way to promote both -- but based on my experiences, I would suggest that other small businesses reconsider before wasting too much effort.

I have used Facebook as a way to promote my offerings and build my brand as much as a small business could.

In a few short years I amassed more than 500 followers, which isn't overly impressive or significant. However, it took a great detail of effort. On average, I reach from 1,000 to 1,500 users weekly. For a small business with a very specific product line, that should be enough to keep me busy. It does -- but not with the selling of actual products so much as "working" Facebook.

To get eyeballs to my business page, I tried to do more than just show new products. I shared stories from the media that might be of interest to my followers, posted photos from various collectible shows, and offered insights on items in my own collection or items I had sold. In other words, I did my best to be social and engage with the audience.

This approach did get some attention, and in some cases stirred up a debate. I regularly "reach" hundreds of people, and the engagement seems reasonable. That should be good news, and many small business owners might be excited to engage so many people with the brand.

When I listed an actual product that I was offering, many users "liked" the item -- but a like isn't a sale.

I came to the realization that I wasn't boxing up products; I wasn't making sales. Instead, I was spending time "engaging" -- and that doesn't generate revenue or pay the bills.

Simply More Communication

The downside of engagement is that as the Facebook page gets more "likes" and more "follows," I get more comments. Facebook encourages business owners to respond quickly. This means I often find myself having to stop what I'm doing -- such as working on a paid writing assignment -- to respond to someone's comment.

For a long time I saw this as necessary "networking," but with all due respect to those new followers, few ever bought anything. Many simply like to comment.

This is common among small businesses that have shared their experiences. Too often many of us feel we're offering "customer service" by responding. Yet, here is the thing. These aren't actual customers. Customers buy something. These people are just commentators.

It took a while for me to see it, but those who spent the most time "liking" my posts, my photos, and the things I had to say unfortunately were the type of people who never buy anything. Even worse, because they commented so much, they sometimes tarnished the message -- at times even debating or arguing with actual potential customers.

On a website, communication is typically one-to-one, but Facebook is a public forum. That's not the best way to engage with your customers.

Paying for Promotions

The other potential "benefit" I saw with the social network was a way to target a specific audience. Much has been written about Facebook's targeted ads, which call people to action.

When it came time to promote my latest book, A Gallery of Military Headdress, which I coauthored with Stuart Bates, it seemed that boosting a post about it from my business' Facebook page would be good investment.

For around US$20 per promotion, I could reach upwards of 10,000 users with an ad targeting a narrow audience. As my book was about eclectic military hats, helmets and other forms of headgear, I was able to focus on those with an interest in military history in specific regions.

I also followed various marketing playbooks. I first promoted the preorder for the book to build up interest. Then I offered another promotion when the book was published, followed by a few more in connection with sales or other specials to keep up momentum. In total I spent nearly $200 on Facebook promotions, and had thousands of likes, hundreds of comments, and… few sales.

The momentum from Facebook was concentrated in likes and comments -- but not sales. In fact, I sold more books directly to people at the Baltimore Antique Arms Show in March, over a single weekend, than I did in 10 Facebook promotions.

Now I fully realize I have a niche title that isn't going to be a New York Timesbestseller, but it seemed that Facebook would allow me to reach a worldwide audience.

Maybe there are other factors to take into account -- such as people moving away from paper books to e-readers, but it seemed odd that so many people "liked" the book but few would pay $25 to buy it!

Going to the Groups

The promotions were just half of my marketing plan of attack. The other half was to find various interest groups on Facebook where I also promoted the book heavily. These included specific groups with esoteric interests, including one focused on "pith helmets" that had a couple of hundred members, as well as groups devoted to more general topics, such as the First World War or military history, which had thousands of members.

As part of my strategy to promote the book, I spent several hours each week finding groups and posting to them to become a part of the community. I actually enjoyed it, and I felt I was making true friends while "networking." I didn't want to "spam" these groups about my book; I wanted to highlight that I had a real interest in these topics.

When I did promote my book, I again received thousands of post "likes," and it seemed that my first print run of a modest 1,000 should sell out quickly if even a fraction of those users decided to order a copy.

Yet, as with the Facebook promotions, the sales didn't come. Instead, it seemed once again that many people just "liked" it.

That is the problem for any small business using Facebook. People like to "like" stuff. It is second nature. It is being polite -- a way to engage in a discussion. Of course Facebook encourages users to be engaged, and it made the "like" button so easy to use that it is second nature.

See a post about something and like it -- even if you don't really care.

In contrast to a "silent generation," we have created the "like era." Because I saw so many likes in my promotions during the pre-publishing phase, I actually misread the tea leaves and didn't manage expectations properly. As a result, my forecast on sales was completely off.

What's worse is that I could have directed my efforts in potentially more productive ways, such as trying to reach out to specialty book shops, and doing a more traditional PR push. I don't regret writing the book -- but I regret the decision to put so much effort into Facebook when it came to its marketing.

Alternative Ways to Target an Audience

Of course, Facebook isn't the only game in town. Major brands understand this and now utilize Instagram and more importantly "influencers" to hype products.

A small business can of course use Instagram, but let's not forget that Facebook owns the service. Millennials may follow it today, but likely will see it as passé tomorrow -- and even if they don't, Generation-Z certainly will. Social media is a moving target when it comes to what the in-crowd likes, and that makes it harder for a small business to rely on it.

Would my results have been any different with another social media service? Probably not.

Social media, especially Facebook, is a necessary evil for small business -- but this doesn't mean it should be the only means of promotion online.

A website is crucial, and I've found more customers for both my antique business and my book through the websites I've built for each. This just highlights the power of Google and search, even today.

People might not be searching for my business, but they may be searching for something I'm offering. Having a solid Web presence means they can find me via my products. That in turn has created repeat business, and customers have become clients.

Actual Forums

Although Facebook at times is little more than a "forum" for discussion, there are actual discussion forums and boards online covering a range of subjects. I have found that these are a great place for me to promote my book to a targeted audience.

The benefit of promoting on these forums is that they also show up in Web searches, something I haven't found to be the case with Facebook promotions.

Some forums do charge membership, and some may be private, but in many cases selling a product on a forum can be free. Of course this isn't something that applies to all products. An automotive repair shop, for example, probably can't sell a product easily via an online discussion forum -- but it could advertise its services on a local classic car forum.

Moreover, for new authors especially, forums can be an invaluable tool for connecting to and building an audience. This isn't to say that this should be in lieu of a Facebook page or Facebook groups, but if you're going to devote time promoting something online, consider alternatives to social media.

The Ad Networks

Another consideration for any small business -- and one I've explored only in a limited way -- is to consider the opportunities in targeted ads on Pinterest, Snapchat, YouTube and Instagram. These can be just as targeted as Facebook, but the costs can vary.

Instagram has seen massive growth and has more than a billion active users, but much likes its parent company, this can be hit or miss. A lot depends on the product or service you are offering.

If you're not seeing a lot of similar businesses, that could mean you'll stand out -- but it also could suggest there isn't an audience. The days of pioneering on social media are long in the past.

The same holds true for Snapchat and Pinterest. Don't expect to be a marketing pioneer.

Influencer Marketing

Effectively promoting a business or service could come down to getting an online influencer to spread the word. Most small businesses are unlikely to be able to afford a mainstream celebrity; there are still micro-influencers that have a reach between 5,000 and 50,000 followers.

Finding the right person who can spread the gospel may not come easily -- and it may not be cheaper, either -- but it could have a big impact.

Then there is taking it in another direction. If you already have the followers on social media and have a brand, the old-school blog and podcast can be a way to spread the word as a subject matter expert. This can be more easily said than done -- but the effort could pay off far more than just posting on Facebook and hoping the page will attract actual paying customers!

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topicprinter · 6 years

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Hey - Pat from StarterStory.com here with another interview.Today's interview is with Colin McIntosh of Sheets & Giggles, a brand that sells eucalyptus bedding.Some stats:Product: Eucalyptus bedding.Revenue/mo: $76,000Started: May 2018Location: Denver, COFounders: 1Employees: 4Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?I’m Colin McIntosh, Founder & CEO of Sheets & Giggles, a pun-based, eco-friendly bedding brand that launched in May 2018 on Indiegogo with our first product: lyocell bed sheets made from eucalyptus trees.Our bedding is softer than cotton, more breathable, and more moisture-wicking, and it also uses up to 95% less water than cotton sheets to make. (Major trade-off: it’s generally more expensive than cotton, and you have to take better care of it [no bleach, cold wash, low heat, etc.].)In our first 6 months in business, we received over 6,000 orders and nearly half a million dollars in revenue, and in September we won first place at Denver Startup Week 2018. In October, we began shipping preorders and got about 4,500 out the door, and we’re still catching up with demand! Nearly ⅘ of our customers are women, and more than half are in their 20s and 30s.What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?From 2015 - 2017 I ran biz dev at a Techstars-backed wearable tech startup in Denver. We raised a $3M seed round, grew to a full-time team of 25, and were in most major retailers in the US… and then it all abruptly ended in September 2017. It was pretty devastating, and I can’t really go into the reasons why it ended, but leaving retail partners at the altar without holiday inventory was particularly upsetting for me as the partner lead.After that experience, I decided that the timing was about as good as it was going to get for me to found a company: I had a great CO network, had just been through Techstars, was on the founding team of a company that launched two crowdfunded physical products at nationwide retail, and had built a skill set in marketing and distributing physical products. That said, I didn’t have much money in my bank account (working at startups will do that to you), and I didn’t want to raise VC right off the bat, so I knew I had to do a crowdfunding campaign.My criteria for a new businessI decided that I needed my own physical product brand to sell, and I started by listing the criteria for my new company. I wanted:A large commodities market (so I didn’t have to build a category out of thin air), but one that I could differentiate meaningfully in.A highly fragmented market with no clear leaderA market with no brand loyalty or affinityA market with little brand differentiationA product that was traditionally physical retail that I could help bring online with a DTC modelA product with a low-complexity supply chain (i.e., no electronics or software components)The domainI really believe that a good brand name and .com can make or break a company, so I looked through all the domains I owned to see if anything matched. I owned SheetsGiggles.com, and I thought “Does bed sheets fit?” and it did, almost perfectly.(Side note – I owned the domain because in the summer of 2017 I was watching War Dogs, and Miles Teller’s character tries to sell bed sheets to retirement homes that all reject his product. I couldn’t believe that his character didn’t do market research and validation before buying all that inventory, so I told my girlfriend to pause the movie so I could write a full business plan for a bed sheets company named Sheets & Giggles, and I bought the domain that night. She and I have since broken up because, well, yeah… who does that.)In short, I built a business model I felt very passionately about, and then designed a product that I thought plugged nicely into that model.Validating the productIn February, I then validated that people would actually pay a profitable price by initially running a few hundred bucks worth of Facebook ads to a landing page I built with Kickoff Labs and Shopify. (Link is to an old page that’s still the same, though the CTA changed after April to funnel traffic to the Indiegogo vs email capture.)With the help of a crowdfunding agency I trusted, I targeted crowdfunding lookalike audiences, told people the expected price and launch date on Indiegogo, explained the product with some punny copy, laid out a few fun pictures we had taken at a photoshoot that cost us $500, and asked for their email.To this day I’m still a little shocked, but 46% of people gave us their emails during this time, and we collected over 11,000 emails from interested buyers in just 8 weeks.We also used this prep time ahead of the crowdfund to lock down a manufacturer and send them initial designs and order quantities, and on May 1 we launched on Indiegogo with nearly 500 customers on day 1 and $45,000 in day 1 funding (on a $25k goal).Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing the product.Because I didn’t have any textile experience, I had to hire outside consultants to help me design, develop, and test our products.I gave them my high-level criteria (lyocell for sustainability, has to be super soft, has to be premium, must be durable, must be made by a socially conscious manufacturer, etc.), and they created my tech packs and other designs for me.We sourced our manufacturer at market week in NYC in March 2018, and we left with a handshake agreement with an Indian company who hit all our criteria more so than anyone else. I had a blast visiting them to inspect production in June (fun fact: India is hot in June). We had massive fabric rejections due to poor quality in our first production runs, which lowered our overall sales potential for the year and set our ship date back, but we had to make sure our product was perfect.The unboxing experienceI also had a particular vision for our packaging centered around one goal: because we were a DTC company and wouldn’t do physical retail in year 1, we needed to focus entirely on an incredible unboxing experience that made the product feel as premium as possible.Outside: a white box, nice wax coating, logo front and center with no other copy, easy to open, nice and sturdy.Inside: make people smile from the get-go, have a social call-to-action, include free extra surprises (a knapsack that wraps the sheets and an eye mask), put funny copy all over the place, and add a donation bag that people could use to donate their now-defunct cotton sheets (sheets & blankets are the #2-most-requested item at shelters behind socks).Describe the process of launching the business.We founded S&G in October 2017, but we started work in earnest on January 2, 2018. I actually have a longer blog post on our site from Week 2 about what we did from October - January.We spent our first 3-4 months building a brand identity map, getting the bare bones website set up, getting a logo finalized, refining our messaging, and setting goals for “what success looks like.”I also hired a part-time intern and a marketing agency that would help with our crowdfunding campaign (that’s now my agency of record), and I hired a PR agent in Denver that I knew through the grapevine.I brought on a small 2-person product team to design the products I had envisioned, and in March we found and signed our manufacturer in NYC at Market Week (met with a bunch of manufacturers for interviews, described what we needed, got to know people, sampled different fabrics, and left with a handshake deal).In February, we did our first photo shoots, and in March we did a video shoot in preparation of our 30-day Indiegogo that was planned for May 1. Luckily I knew people locally in Denver that I could ask for photography and videography help, and all in all we spent about $3,000 making our initial collateral for the Indiegogo.We had a single set of white sheets that we used for all our lifestyle and product shots, and because I’m an idiot I didn’t even wash them or iron them, so we’ve got visible creases in all the pictures that we use to this day :pPrepping for crowdfunding campaignWe budgeted 10 weeks to get ready for our Indiegogo (that’s a must), and we spent that time running Facebook ads to landing pages that were set up for email capture.Working backwards from a $100K goal and an estimated $100 average backer value, we knew we needed 1,000 backers, and we knew that we had to get about 30% of those (300) in the first 24 hours to be successful.Assuming a 3% conversion on our email list, that meant we had to get 10,000 emails to ensure 300 day 1 customers. I budgeted $1 - $2 per email lead, and I hoped to convert at a high enough rate to come in under that (ended up being $0.89 per lead).Building our email listsDuring this prep time, we used Kickoff Labs for our landing page software, and we ran a social sharing competition so people would share our landing pages organically as well (we got about 15% of our leads organically).We ran about 50 different ad variants to about 12 different landing pages to find out what converted the best (different images, headers, subheaders, text, value props, calls-to-action, layouts, etc.), and then we picked the best combo of 4 ads and 2 landing pages that converted best.We ended up capturing 11,000 emails in 10 weeks at about 46% conversion, which was insane – that’s when I knew we were on to something.Building hype and the launchWe sent out one email per month to our list to keep them engaged, got customer feedback in the form of surveys (which colors to they want, most popular sizes, etc.), and that informed which colors and sizes we chose to make for our launch (had to hone in on 25 SKUs tops to ensure limited logistical complexity).Ahead of May 1, we sent out “72 hours” and “night before emails,” and on May 1 we ended up raising $45,000 on our first day from over 400 backers! (We also did a ton of product development and testing / approvals, designed and approved packaging, placed our first PO in April with a deposit to our manufacturer, and spent time planning out the cadence of our Indiegogo communication and marketing.)In June I traveled to India to inspect production and our facilities, and I made sure the production quality and pace was what we needed to succeed. Love our Indian partners.We began shipping thousands of preorders on October 1 (pretty much all 5-star reviews!), and now we’re just holding on for dear life through the holidays.Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?Social media engagementI think the single best thing we do to drive conversion is answer all Facebook comments and messages within minutes. I have the Pages Manager app on my phone (it’s terrible but it at least works), and when people comment on our ads we respond immediately to almost every single comment with on-brand straightforward answers, questions, jokes, pics, gifs, etc.I honestly think that some people are deciding to buy before they ever click on our ads based on our answers to questions and interaction with commenters.A lot of people (especially customer service folks) don’t understand that you’re not just responding to the person who asked; you’re writing marketing language to convert the thousands of people who will read the comments before clicking.SEOWe have about 50-50 paid/organic traffic right now. On the SEO side, we’ve worked to become the #1 result for “eucalyptus sheets” (ahead of Bed Bath, even) and top 5 for “lyocell sheets,” which are both small but very targeted organic search queries. Good steady revenue flows.We also have a ton of word of mouth with our customers and are starting a referral program that gives people 10% cash back for sales they refer when they share S&G with others and $10 off for their friends that use their link. (It’s already been used by large media outlets with good success.)Only funny emailsWe also almost never email our list of customers or broader email list. If we email people (maybe once a month), it’s something objectively funny that will make them laugh (and may not even have a CTA), or it’s worth their while in the form of a targeted sale. (I.e., “Hey you love your sheets, did you know they also make a sheety gift?”)Purple FridayOur most successful day post-Indiegogo has been Purple Friday (PF), which we did on 11/16 (Friday before Black Friday). We got over $22K in sales in one day, and to accomplish that we ran a 30% off sale (normally 15% off for preorders) and pushed 24-hour ads to Facebook to spread the word to our followers, general audiences, existing customers, and prior site visitors.We also sent out an email about PF to our existing customers that focused on giving the gift of S&G to someone eco-conscious in their life. This strategy allowed us to preemptively tap into holiday purchases without competing with everyone’s Black Friday (BF) sales; we were able to elevate our brand “above” the insanity of BF; and we were still able to double dip and participate in Black Friday and Cyber Monday because of the natural increase in conversion on those days (but we didn’t send out emails about those days).Customer serviceWe bend over backwards for customer service; I literally put my cell phone on the contact page and get about 10 calls a day.Defects? Free replacement.Delayed shipment? Amazon gift card.Follow us on Twitter / Insta / FB? You’re gonna get free money, free pizza, and free sheet.ReviewsAnd of course, the social proof that comes from reviews has been crucial.In my opinion, our reviews are responsible for upping our conversion rate from 4% in August (no reviews, pure preorder) to 5% in October (first reviews) to 6% in November (more reviews).How are you doing today and what does the future look like?We operate profitably, and in 2018 we’ll grow at a 25% compound monthly growth rate (60% from last month).We’ll probably end the year at about $600K in revenue (constrained by inventory), with 65% gross margins and about 10% net margins when it’s all said and done.Our cost of acquisition is under $30 for the year, we’re converting at over 5% on SheetsGiggles.com right now, and 100% of our sales come through the site.Average initial cart values are about $140, and lifetime values should be > $1000 if we play our cards right (38% of Americans buy new sheets every year).Our day-to-day operations revolve around production management, customer service, digital marketing, website improvements, content creation, fundraising, and logistics.Next year, we’ll expand our product lines to new sizes (Twin, Split King), add new colors (red, green, beige), and add our first non-bedding product: a eucalyptus lyocell throw blanket. We also plan to dip our toes into international sales next year with the UK, Australia, and Canada, and likely the EU too (gotta start translating the pun somehow).Short term, I start paying myself in December (sheet yeah, only took a full year...), and next year we plan to grow 4-5x in revenue. To accomplish that, we’ll expand to a couple new channels without going overboard or doing physical retail (Amazon in January, and HSN or QVC would be my Q3/4 target).I can talk for hours about why we’re not doing physical retail. Main reasons:Their margin share requirements for this category are ~40-60%, which means our “cost of acquisition” for that channel will at least be the margin cost, which is 2x our standard CAC.For little-known brands that don’t “sell themselves,” merchandising costs add up super quick. I.e., if you’re a new company and need to educate people on your product to sell through, you need to spend money on displays, which can wind up being hundreds of dollars per store. If you’re in 1000 stores and you’re merchandising correctly, you’ll spend over $100,000 before you sell a single unit.You need to train sales associates to talk about a product well, which costs money and will give you little long-term ROI (high turnover in sales associates). I can’t tell you how many bedding stores I’ve walked into and asked questions about competitors’ brands, only to be given totally incorrect information with poor sales efforts (I’m weird and do this too often).Your packaging needs to “sell” the product in person, or it at least needs to grab someone’s attention and make them stop. Ours is a clean white box with our brand name on it; it would be DOA at retail until we revamp it.Return policies can cripple a startup. If we sold 50 units into 100 stores on Nov. 1, that’s 5,000 units and hundreds of thousands of dollars, right? Nice. Except if on Jan. 1 each store still has 25 units on hand, those 2,500 units are coming right back to you, and you better have kept half the money you from that PO in escrow. Otherwise, you’re cooked. (And if you think you can negotiate away return rights, they’ll just dump your remaining inventory on Amazon, stealing the buy box away from you and harming your brand in the process.)Philosophically, instead of rushing into retail headfirst, I think it’s strategically wiser to spend a few years building a well-known brand that will sell itself at retail and that will give you more supplier power when negotiating with retailers.As for what long-term success looks like, I envision storming the last Bed Bath & Beyond in a sort of Helms-Deep-style raid.Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?Habit: I always try to have an action bias, and I try to focus on getting items done that “unlock” my team members’ work. If someone needs me to write some copy that allows them to do 4 hours of work, I’ll take care of that first thing in the AM. Or, if someone needs to be trained on logistics software to do customer service, I know my life will be made easier if I train them ahead of tackling my must-do’s for the day.Lesson: We should have been a C-Corp from day 1 (we were an LLC at first). Corporate transitions cost attorney fees.Unforeseen problem: Political season drives up the cost of Facebook ads big time (50% increase).Lesson: Don’t hire people you know are assholes just because you need someone to do the job. Suffer and do it yourself, or delay the launch, but don’t hire assholes. It’ll hurt you more in the long run.Lesson: You get lonely, and personal relationships will suffer. Make time for family; why even start a business if you can’t spend time with important people in your life?Good decision: Stay heads down on building a business that’s revenue-positive and growing, and investment will come to you.What platform/tools do you use for your business?Google Sheets is my everything; I obsessively update my pro forma before I go to bed every night with daily numbers.Shopify is an amazing platform and I love that they calculate and collect local sales tax for you.Bold Cashier + Bold Upsell are the best apps on Shopify for upselling after someone has already made a purchase, which is incredibly valuable (about 20% of people add something else to their cart after they’ve already given you money, which increases average cart values).I use Judge.me’s Shopify app for my product reviews – best cheap app by far and allows people to post verified reviews, pics, videos, edit reviews, etc.Hypervisual Page Builder is the perfect Shopify app for building out landing pages that convert.Streak is great – I track leads (out of stock requests, etc.) all from Streak.Lastpass for password management.Slack for team comms.MailChimp for email.My logistics software… I would not recommend and we’re switching. Open to suggestions.What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?It’s embarrassing, but I don’t really read books at this point. I hate that I’ve become this person who just works when I’m awake, and I need to make time to read more. I do love the Dan Le Batard Show podcast – it keeps me up to date on sports and pop culture and is my lifeline back to Miami, where I’m from.Rand Fishkin did a 40-minute talk in September of this year that was stellar and that I think is a must watch for someone starting a business. He’s learned a lot the hard way, and you can almost hear the desperation in his voice basically telling you “learn from my mistakes.”The best thing I ever heard from him is something like “If you make $10M in revenue, you hear crickets. If you raise $10M, your family comes out the woodwork, your friends trip over themselves to congratulate you, your team throws you a party, you become the toast of the town, TechCrunch writes an article about you. This is how we train people to raise money and not make money.”My best resource has been and continues to be the Techstars network (went through Techstars in 2015 in Boulder). I’m on the Colorado Techstars alumni board and love that I have access to the network for mentorship, investment, amplification, and recruitment.Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?My #1 thing is: build a business model first, not a product. So many entrepreneurs spend time and money (lots of time and lots of money) building a solution for a problem they perceive without ever validating that it’s a viable business.Make sure you feel passionately sure that the business model is sound – sustainable margins, strong product-market fit, engaged potential buyers, and long-term growth potential.Spend a few hundred bucks on Facebook ads to a landing page that describes what you’re building – are people giving you their email to lock in to the Kickstarter price? No? Then you have to go back to the drawing board before you spend more money and figure out if your value prop isn’t good enough, if the product vision needs improvement, if your proposed price is too high, or if your marketing just sucks. The last thing you want to do is to spend $100,000 building something over a year of your life and then find out nobody wants it.I genuinely think that people do the opposite of this because when you work on a product, no one can tell you no. In your mind’s eye, it’s going to be a huge success, and you can stay heads down on building it. You can envision a perfect future. The moment you begin selling and someone tells you no, that rejection stings worse than anything in the world, so I think people avoid that inflection point (sales) for as long as possible to avoid possible rejection while they work on building the “perfect” MVP.Going headfirst into sales / gathering leads can actually really help you, though. You’ll gather a user base who can give you feedback on how they want you to build the product, and more importantly you can go to an investor and say, “I have 500 leads signed up who will give me money if I can give them this thing. Give me money to build this thing.” It’s a much stronger value prop than “I want to build this thing and here’s why it makes sense,” and it doesn’t cost you that much to do (costs far less than product development).Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?Yes, I’m hiring in marketing (someone who can do everything including creative, copywriting, and digital), supply chain management, logistics (inventory management, international freight, and domestic shipping), and customer care.Where can we go to learn more?SheetsGiggles.com or @SheetsGiggles anywhere on social, including /u/SheetsGiggles on Reddit. (I have a weirdly viral post on resumes on Reddit from back in February.)My email is [email protected] if anyone wants to drop me a line (787 unread and counting… sorry if I don’t get back right away!).Liked this text interview? Check out the full interview with photos.

#/r/entrepreneur #reddit

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freebestbettingtips · 6 years

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Premier League: Wolves 0-2 Liverpool

New Post has been published on https://bestfreebettingtips.com/premier-league-wolves-0-2-liverpool-2/

Premier League: Wolves 0-2 Liverpool

Artwork by @chapulana.

Liverpool make sure that they are four points clear at the top of the Premier League after a convincing win over Wolves. It also means that the Reds maintain their unbeaten run which has been one of the greatest assets of Liverpool since the start of the season. At Molineux, goals from Mohamed Salah and Virgin van Dijk were enough to seal an important win that guaranteed Liverpool would top the league on Christmas Day. In this tactical analysis piece that is supported with stats, I will be taking a closer look at how Jurgen Klopp and his side performed and got what they wanted.

General Overview

Well, we are now accustomed to seeing Jurgen Klopp field his side in a 4-2-3-1 formation that turns into a kind of 4-4-1-1 or 4-5-1 in defence. That was actually the case against Espirito Santo’s 3-4-1-2 that turned into 5-3-2/5-2-3, as you can see below, while defending. The idea behind building a such a defensive line was to stop Liverpool from attacking through the centre, which seemed to work to a degree especially in the first half, in my opinion. Liverpool couldn’t produce as many chances as they had used to and the goal in the first half came following a set-piece – from which Liverpool had managed to score 9 goals in total this season.

Liverpool, with a brilliant unpredictability, looked to switch positions a lot in the attacking third. It was possible for us to see Firmino supporting Salah up front or sometimes playing up front alone himself, Keita supporting the centre of midfield although positioned off the left flank, Salah trying to find spaces and Mane in an effort to move into channels.

One of the most important talking points was that Fabinho looked fantastic once again except for his howler in the opening minutes that could have been costly. Apart from that massive mistake, though, he was as cool as you like and moved up the pitch occasionally supporting the attacks. It was a moment to watch when he managed to run into the box with the ball at his feet and provided a perfect ball for Salah who scored with a great simple touch. In addition, Henderson and Fabinho put in a good performance in the centre of midfield with their defensive duties and contributions to the attacks.

As I mentioned in my previous analysis pieces, Jurgen Klopp’s ability in turning Liverpool into a side that plays with a brilliant diversity in terms of tactical shapes is outstanding as it proves to be an unpredictability which is one of the strongest sides of this team. When they play with such a mentality with some great effort, it becomes a natural threat for the oppositions trying to stop them.

The man-marking strategies end up in the trash and the pace, quickness and ambition of the players make it very difficult for the opposition to stop them. No matter what shape they play, they make sure that, especially in the attacking third, they can play in a variety of shapes. Just as this shows Jurgen Klopp’s talents to produce something extra, it also shows the ambitions of the players in the squad to adapt to what Jurgen Klopp demands from them.

On the other hand, it is a fact that Liverpool struggled to produce decent opportunities to score in the first half as Wolves managed to block the passing lines with a densely populated defence. Liverpool’s passing accuracy was 85% and their crossing accuracy was just 13%. They couldn’t produce the best chances to score but one of the most significant points is that they somehow find a way to score even in the games they struggle to create good opportunities.

For instance, against a proper Wolves defence, Liverpool were not having their best day on the pitch but they found a way to open up the scoring in the first half after a set-piece. Although they made some critical individual mistakes especially in the opening minutes, Virgil van Dijk and Lovren performed well enough to stop one of the fastest and physically strong players in the Premier League, Traore.

The whole team supported the defence with a great effort and Fabinho’s constantly-improving performance helped a lot to intercept a lot of Wolves passes. Despite the fact that Wolves registered 4 shots on target in the first half, none of those shots made life difficult for Alisson. Ruben Neves and Moutinho were not really effective.

Things were not that different in the second half, especially for Liverpool. Wolves continued to defend well especially in the central areas but one of the talking points was that after every corner kick, Mo Salah was picking up the loose balls and no Wolves player seemed to be in an effort to stop him.

Considering Liverpool registered 10 corners throughout the game, it was an important job for a team like Wolves to decrease the efficiency of those corners as they are normally good in the air. On the contrary, Mo Salah took control of the ball in the 68th minute after a corner kick and then he sent the ball in where Van Dijk positioned himself to put it beyond Rui Patricio.

Firmino was again the key man, for me. He played a massive role in transitions and setting up the play. He came deep to get the ball and then carried it successfully and distributed quite comfortably with his great talent on and off the ball. He never runs out of energy despite his contribution both to the attacking third and to the defensive play. He has the most interesting and important roles in Jurgen Klopp’s 4-2-3-1. He initiates the attacks, provides key passes, supports Mo Salah and the other attackers, closes down his opposition, blocks passes, sends through balls. He does simply everything.

Conclusion

Although in the past Liverpool led the Premier League twice during Christmas, they couldn’t make that dream come true but, undoubtedly, Liverpool have been writing one of the greatest chapters of their history since the start of the season by scoring 39 goals and conceding just seven and if they keep the momentum up, they will lift the first Premier League title in their history in some style.

If you love tactical analysis, then you’ll love the digital magazines from totalfootballanalysis.com – a guaranteed 100+ pages of pure tactical analysis covering topics from the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and many, many more. Get your copy of the FIRST of two December issues for just £4.99 here or preorder the SECOND of the December issues with an annual membership right here.

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jenmedsbookreviews · 7 years

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This has been one very long week. Productive in work terms but very, very long. And to cap it all off I have decided to try and get myself back on the diet which means I am tired and irritable right now. Which in fairness is my default mood/status so there isn’t actually anything unusual in that fact.

Funny old week. We have had go live with the first set of victims, sorry drivers, using the new proof of delivery app at work. Seems to have gone well all things considered. A few minor glitches, but nothing we couldn’t fix so happy days. It has meant early starts but that has also meant earlier finishes so I have been able to get to reading much earlier in the day than normal. This means I’ve had an unusually productive week on the blogging front too clearing a relatively high number of books (for me) without resorting to one audio book (or Mr Men) to help me out. Who knew?

I also had a bit of a surprise earlier in the week when this happened:

Yes. I recieved an email from Reedsy informing me that I’d been listed as one of their recommended best book blogs of 2017 over on their website. A great honour, especially when you look at some of the other blogs on the list – there are some really high profile blogs with massive viewing figures making mine look kind of tiny in comparison, but I am very chuffed and humbled to be up there considering I am just a babby in blogging terms. It’s been a very long time since that statement applied in real life…

I have tried to be good on the book purchase/download front this week. Failed miserably but it’s the thought that counts right? In my defence, some of the books I have bought in preparation for a forthcoming Christmas feature month on the blog, currently pencilled in for November. I blame Mandie as we came up with the idea while on a walk yesterday morning. What started as a couple of weeks of Christmas posts is now a whole month of madness, espescially when you consider that neither of us actually likes Christmas. 😉 Other books (namely the Netgalley download for which I blame Bookouture) are books I need to read for blog tours (well one is) so it doesn’t really count. That’s right isn’t it?

Books I ordered: Murder Game by Caroline Mitchell (preorder); Thorne at Christmas by Mark Billingham; Dying For Christmas by Tammy Cohen; Frost at Christmas by R.D. Wingfield; and six Mr Men Christmas Books. Audio book wise I only ordered one which was Perfect Prey by Helen Fields. Netgalley wise I only downloaded Hide and Seek by Richard Parker (blog tour fodder I promise).

I also received a lovely bit of book post this week in the shape of Santa Claws by Gabriela Harding. Can’t wait to dive into it and it’s part of what inspired the Christmas posts mentioned earlier.

Isn’t it fabulous? Send in the clowns lol. Blogging wise I’ve been quite productive too. I had, how shall I put this, a backlog of unwritten reviews – a mere nine – nothing to be concerned about. Much. I managed on Saturday to get six of the nine written … then promptly read another book so I am back to four to write but they will be done imminently. I probably would have completed all ten reviews but I was a) running out of new ways to say ‘really bloody good’, and b) starting to get my sarcastic, comedic head on due to blogger fatigue which is never a good thing ;). Reading wise, as I said, I’ve had a pretty good week clearing four books off my tbr. And four corkers they are too.

Books I have read.

I Know A Secret by Tess Gerritsen

I have a secret. And someone wants to make sure I never tell . . .

In a house decorated with horror movie posters, a young woman’s body is found. She lies on her bed, two bloodied objects clutched in her palm. Detective Jane Rizzoli and Forensic Pathologist Maura Isles are called to the murder scene, but even faced with this gruesome sight they are unable to identify the immediate cause of death.

Their investigation leads them to a high-profile murder case that was seemingly solved years before. But when another body is found in horrific circumstances, the link between the two victims is clear. Was the wrong person sent to prison? Is the real killer out there right now, picking off new targets?

One woman knows the killer is coming for her next. She’s the only one who can help Rizzoli and Isles catch him.

But she has a secret that she has to keep . . .

Confession time – I have a secret too … I have never read any Rizzoli and Isles before this book! I know. I should hang my head in shame. I have seen the TV series on occasion but not read any of the actual books. Until now. I shall be heading back to the first eleven books as soon as I can as I absolutely loved this and have no doubt fans of the series will love it too. Sucked in from page one I raced through to the conclusion. You can see my thoughts as part of the blog tour tomorrow but in the meantime why not preorder it here.

…

Hide and Seek by Richard Parker

The sun is out. Your little boy is smiling. The next time you look… he’s gone.

When Lana and Todd win a trip to Blue Crest Adventure Park, their four-year-old Cooper is ecstatic, but when Lana goes to meet them, Todd is out cold, and Cooper is missing.

No one stopped the man carrying the sleeping boy. The cameras don’t show where he went. Then Lana receives an anonymous message, telling her to visit a local school with a horrifying history…

This is no random attack. Whoever took Cooper is playing a twisted game, and if Lana wants to find him, she must participate.

What is the link between the school and her missing son? Can Lana uncover the kidnapper’s identity and save Cooper before it’s too late?

Now it may come as a surprise to some, but I absolutely loved Richard Parker’s last book, Follow You, so as soon as this appeared on NetGalley had to have it and as soon as I had it I had to read it. Did it meet my expectations. Well, the cheesy grin on my face while reading may have been a give away, but yes. I enjoyed it. Muchly. You can see just how muchly next month when I post my review in the meantime do yourselves a favour and go preorder it here.

…

The Good Sister by Jess Ryder

Two sisters. One secret… A lie that could destroy them both.

When her father dies, Josie is devastated to uncover he led a secret life: another house, another family and a half-sister called Valentina.

Both with red hair and icy blue eyes, Josie and Valentina could be mistaken for twins. But the similarities end there…

Josie – Sweet, reserved, jealous, thief. Valentina – Care-free, confident, dangerous, liar.

There is a perfect life here for the taking. But which one of them wants it the most?

Two sisters. One survivor.

I thought initially this may have been a biography about me as I am clearly the good sister of all of my siblings but turns out I was wrong. What it is, is a twisted tale centred around long held secrets which have deadly repurcussions. What it also is is extremely gripping and a fluffing good read. My review will be up in a little over a weeks time, in the meantime you can preorder here.

…

The Big Dreams Beach Hotel by Lilly Bartlett

Wriggle your toes in the sand and feel the warm breeze on your face when you check into the hotel that’s full of dreams…

Three years after ditching her career in New York City, Rosie never thought she’d still be managing the quaint faded Victorian hotel in her seaside hometown.

What’s worse, the hotel’s new owners are turning it into a copy of their Florida properties. Flamingos and all. Cultures are clashing and the hotel’s residents stand in the way of the developers’ plans. The hotel is both their home and their family.

That’s going to make Rory’s job difficult when he arrives to enforce the changes. And Rosie isn’t exactly on his side, even though it’s the chance to finally restart her career. Rory might be charming, but he’s still there to evict her friends.

How can she follow her dreams if it means ending everyone else’s?

I loved Lilly Bartlett’s Carlton Square books so when asked by the author if I wanted the chance to review her new book, how could I possibly refuse. I’m very glad I didn’t as this was a wonderfully funny book and having only recently been on holiday to Yorkshire when we spent a day over in Scarborough, where this book is set, everything about it made sense. A great cast of characters and some heart warming romance to boot, if you love rom-com you’ll love this. I’ll be reviewing on release day 18th August but you can preorder the book here. You can also watch the promo video below – make sure to leave the sound on …

…

So that was it reading wise. Four books. Are you impressed. Believe me when I say I am as I have never felt so tired as I did last week and I am pretty sure the books are partly to blame as they were too good to put down. Blogging wise I had a full week with a mixture of reviews, a couple of impromptu cover reveals, and the good old #booklove features.

#BlogTour: Review – Red is the Colour by Mark L. Fowler

#BookLove: Carol Cooper

Cover Reveal – @Bookouture & Tracy Bloom

#BlogTour: Review – Long Shot by Jack Steele

#Blogtour: Review – Till the Dust Settles by Pat Young

Cover Reveal: @Caroline_writes @Bookouture

#BlogTour: Little Bird by Sharon Dempsey

#BookLove: Lorraine Rugman

Guest Review: Stalker On The Fens by Joy Ellis

…

The week ahead is just as busy. I have two blog tours this week, both tomorrow. First up is I Know A Secret by Tess Gerritsen and then I have a guest post by Jo Huey, author of Transition. I will have a selection of reviews and also #Booklove posts from Louise Walters and Abbie Rutherford. I do hope you can join us. I also have a very exciting afternoon and evening planned on Thursday, but more about that next week.

Have a fabulous week’s reading all and I’ll see you same time next week.

Rewind, Recap: Weekly roudup w/e 06/08/17 This has been one very long week. Productive in work terms but very, very long. And to cap it all off I have decided to try and get myself back on the diet which means I am tired

#Best Book Blogger #Rewind Recap #Weekly Round UP

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char27martin · 7 years

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You’ve Got Mail: What Writers Need to Know About eNewsletters

Journalist Ann Friedman started her e-newsletter, The Ann Friedman Weekly, after she lost her magazine job. Formerly the executive editor at GOOD, she was navigating the world of freelancing and looking for a way to keep her name fresh in editors’ minds. Not only has it since helped her land many assignments, but the newsletter—which contains curated articles she finds interesting alongside her own original pieces, as well as GIFs and the “occasional product endorsement”—has developed an impressive following of more than 25,000 subscribers.

Friedman isn’t alone. Writers of all stripes are now turning to this once written-off tool as a device to reach readers as directly as possible—right in their own inbox. And for those who make it a priority, providing consistent, quality content to their subscribers, a newsletter can pay major dividends.

This guest post is by Dinsa Sachan. Sachan curates an e-newsletter packed with international science and culture news. Subscribe at dinsasachan.com/nucleus and follow her @dinsasachan.

Why To Launch an e-Newsletter

If you’re a freelancer, an e-newsletter can announce your latest bylines to your audience. Many journalists use it to keep friends, family and dedicated readers up to speed on their work.

For some writers, the newsletter is the new blog. (Though the two can also work in tandem—many bloggers use newsletters to help circulate their posts.) Ariane Resnick, author of The Thinking Girl’s Guide to Drinking, set up an email list because a blog seemed like an ineffective use of her time. “I was looking for a way to offer advice and recipes,” Resnick says. “But I don’t enjoy blogging: You create content, put it out, and no one might see it.” She is also using the newsletter to expand her brand. “Rather than just being considered a chef and a nutritionist, it’s been helpful to show people that I have more to offer in the general lifestyle realm.”

Fantasy novelist Suzanne Johnson says her monthly newsletter—which includes blog posts, giveaways and news about her most recent releases—has been her most effective marketing tool. “There are thousands of books published every month,” Johnson says. “So how do you find true readers and how do you keep them engaged between books?”

A newsletter is a more targeted marketing tool than a blog because readers are able to opt in (or out) of their own volition. Even if your audience is small, those who subscribe are doing so with a built-in interest in your work. They’re your biggest fans, your best customers. Author Jessica Scott, who writes contemporary fiction, recently started selling her indie books on Amazon, iBooks and other platforms. Every time she sends out a newsletter (which features early news about new books, teasers of latest releases, and the occasional “random bit of information”) she sees a 30–40 percent bump in sales. When entertainment and travel journalist Valentina Valentini started sending out her e-newsletter featuring her clips, she was flooded with pitches from publicists: “[They] wrote to me saying, ‘Oh I didn’t know you wrote for so and so. That would be great for this client I have.’”

While most offer their newsletter for free, some have even managed to convert it into a revenue stream. The Ann Friedman Weekly makes money in two ways—through subscriptions and classified ads. When readers subscribe for $5 per year, they receive additional, exclusive content. The e-newsletter also features four to five classified ads, for which Friedman typically charges between $50–100. “It’s very difficult if you’re a freelance writer to have a revenue stream that you control,” she says. “I take a lot of career security in the fact that this is a thing I built. Even if it’s not a ton of money, it’s income I can count on.”

[Get your creative juices flowing by trying this 12-Day plan of simple writing exercises.]

How to Hook Subscribers

While it can be tempting to start off by adding everyone in your address book to your subscriber list, Friedman warns against it. “It’s terrible practice,” she says. “The only person I added was my mother.” Instead, to garner subscribers, add a subscribe button to your website, and promote the newsletter as relentlessly as you can on your social media accounts. (You can even designate “Sign Up” as a call to action at the top of your Facebook page.) It’s also smart to send polite email invites to trusted writer friends and editors—without being too pushy, of course. And don’t forget to plug a link into your email signature.

Once you’ve begun to build a list, your e-newsletter must provide some kind of inherent value to keep subscribers engaged. What you choose to include will depend on the type of writing you do, as well as what you plan to achieve.

Scott offered six chapters of her new release as a freebie to her subscribers. In her September 2016 newsletter, Johnson enticed her readers to preorder a copy of her upcoming novel by raffling off a Kindle Fire. Readers could enter the drawing by preordering the book or sending her a postcard. She also routinely offers subscriber exclusives, such as deleted scenes or a sneak peek into a new cover.

In anticipation of her new parenting book in 2018, independent journalist Katherine Reynolds Lewis is using her e-newsletter to build her platform as a parenting expert. Her January newsletter began with a personal note, which she followed up with some book recommendations and curated articles on parenting.

An important note: If you want a loyal readership for your e-newsletter, you must send it regularly. Friedman is fiercely punctual with her weekly send. In the last four years, she has only missed four weeks.

[Do you underline book titles? Underline them? Put book titles in quotes? Find out here.]

What to Watch For

Keep in mind that you’re not sending out a company newsletter, so don’t make it sound like one by using a stiff voice. Employ a casual, professional tone—one that implies a level of intimacy. “A big mistake is to see the newsletter just as a vehicle for selling,” Lewis says. “It should really be a vehicle for engagement.”

Second, recognize the importance of tracking statistics—seeing who’s opening your emails (and who’s not), and what subjects are most popular with your readers (based on click-thru rates). Most newsletter services charge based on total number of subscribers, so make sure your list is fine-tuned to include only your target, active readers. After Scott’s list grew to 21,000 subscribers, she used analytics to see how many of them actively engaged with her newsletter, and ended up cutting her base by almost half.

Finally, don’t set up an e-newsletter if your heart isn’t into it. “If you’re a writer who thinks about this as a chore, it’s not going to be [a good use of your time],” Friedman says. But for those who do invest the energy, an e-newsletter can be an essential piece of your authorial platform.

ORDER NOW: The Brainstorm New Ideas Value Pack is designed to help you succeed with proven tips on structures, hooks, characters, dialogue, viewpoints, settings, and more. Only available online here at the WritersDigestShop.

This post is edited by Writer’s Digest Managing Editor Tyler Moss. In addition to working with new submissions and a regular stable of freelance contributors to WD, his own freelance credits include Conde Nast Traveler, The Atlantic, Outside and New York magazines.

Follow Tyler on Twitter @tjmoss11.

The post You’ve Got Mail: What Writers Need to Know About eNewsletters appeared first on WritersDigest.com.

from Writing Editor Blogs – WritersDigest.com http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/youve-got-mail

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