THE COUNTERINTUITIVE PATH TO GROWING YOUR EMAIL LIST - JUST ASK

Social media isn't the only way to get people on your email list

Aug 28, 2023

Hi, I’m Seth Werkheiser and I help creative people reach their audience with email newsletters, instead of fighting the endless battle with social media algorithms.

Here’s the slowest, least-scalable way to grow your email list - “just ask, man.”

Want to reach a new audience that could help grow your fanbase?

Ask to be on a podcast.

Offer to write a cool feature for someone’s site that you like.

Did you make friends on a Discord? Don’t be a jerk, but maybe ask for someone to check out your newsletter on occasion.

Meet someone in real life and hit it off talking about your art, your business, your offering? “Hey, I write about this stuff all the time, here’s the link to sign up for my newsletter.”

Have a cool back and forth on social media in the comments? DM them and ask them to subscribe.

Have a QR code on your merch table - people who sign up get 10% of their purchase, or a free sticker.

Neil Mason (LinkedIn) spent $3,000 on a photo booth to set up at shows. It runs on an iPad and captures people’s email addresses:

Since purchasing the photo booth, we've averaged 80 emails captured per show.
We've played 63 shows in 2023, with 62 to go.
80 x 63 = 5040 emails

I know not everyone reading this is in a band, or if you are maybe you’re not interesting in setting up a freaking PHOTOBOOTH, BUT… take these ideas and run with them.

Do interesting things, meet interesting people, and on occasion ask them to check out your stuff.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Here’s some things I wrote in recent years that you might have missed:

Every click on the internet is a battle.
Amazon filed the patent for “1-Click” in 1999 for a reason.
The more you make someone click, the fewer people will actually do the thing you want.

From ‘SOCIAL MEDIA IS HARD (BE HARDER)’

As for “younger crowds don't even do email,” pop star Olivia Rodrigo recently sent a hand-written note to her email list, and it’s not on any of her socials (as of me writing this). So do something special for your fans! Anyone can include a fancy designed “new album, pre-order now” square image in their newsletter - but what can YOU do for your fans that no one else can?

From ‘HOW TO REACH NEW FANS’

“We're a thrash band comprised of ghosts of vengeance. We shouldn't be doing funny hand dances, or the running man.”

From ‘PROFESSOR PIZZA PUTS THE FANS FIRST’

I’m Seth Werkheiser and I’m ready for autumn.

Become a paid subscriber at $6/mo and support this mission.
Want to hop on Zoom with some other cool people and talk about this stuff? I’m setting up a SOCIAL MEDIA ESCAPE PLAN PLANNING PARTY - sign up here and I’ll be in touch.
Buy me a coffee via Ko-Fi, Venmo (@Seth-Werkheiser), Cash App ($ethwerkheiser), or PayPal.
Support an artist and buy me an album from my Bandcamp Wishlist

Send questions and dance music here: seth@closemondays.com