Attract Fans, Not Visitors

There's nothing more powerful than a direct connection with readers (whom I prefer to call friends and fans). And one of the most potent ways to make that connection is to inspire someone to give you their name and email address (and snail mail too, if you can get it).

Having your own author web site is fine, but you must do more than just sit back and hope that people visit. You need to be more proactive and convert casual visitors into connected fans.

Brian Clark wrote about the importance of subscribers on his excellent Copyblogger site. He may have been writing specifically about blog subscribers, but the principle applies to your email subscribers and anyone who signs up for your mailing list online or off.

A subscriber has made a commitment to you that a mere site visitor hasn't. Something magical happens when someone raises their hand and says "please communicate with me on a regular basis." This small commitment is the heart of permission marketing, a very powerful concept that seems to be getting lost in all the Web 2.0 hoopla.

A subscription not only increases the frequency and regularity of contacts with a prospect, it also changes the frame through which that prospect will view your eventual offer. The prospect's world view may now be such that a purchase is more likely thanks to the subscription relationship.

Subscribers and participants in your blog comments can be your most loyal allies. They'll tell their friends about you and rush to your defense in times of trouble.

Yes, a subscriber will be far more committed to you than a random, drive-by web visitor. So build that mailing list and use it often to develop your fan base!

And ... don't get stuck because you think starting a mailing list will be complicated and time-consuming. It's not. It's something you need to do to survive and thrive as an independent author.

Just do it!

-Bob

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