If you've been here a while you'll know I have a handful of obsessions. My kids. My dog and cats. Canadianisms. Romance novels. And Taylor Swift.

I've been talking about it for over a year and Saturday night, it finally happened. I went to Night 6, in Toronto, my home venue, for the Eras Tour.

We are not here to debate anything Taylor Swift so just scroll on by if that was your intention. We're here to talk about some life lessons I learned that I apply to my marketing strategies. Specifically, email strategies.

Before I get into the marketing lessons. Yes. It was that incredible. I am SO happy to have gotten tickets and so very aware of how privileged an experience that is. And I didn't take that privilege for granted. I was so full of joy.

Lesson One - Email marketing works. Drip email marketing to be specific. I got multiple emails leading up to the event from Ticketmaster prepping me for the technical end of the experience and it calmed my panic. Because friends, I have anxiety and the human I went with has severe anxiety. We needed to know allllll the things and it made me feel safe and ready.

Those emails are kind of like post-purchase email sequences. But they don't have to end at one email. Extend that hand-holding to make sure the tech isn't the reason someone didn't read your book.

But also dripping hints about an upcoming release really does work. Give it try for your next release and see if you can build a super-fan segment!

Lesson Two - It's the little details that take it next-level. I'm not going to spoil it for anyone lucky enough to be seeing her in the final days of the tour, but the personal touches as part of the experience were very, very small and had a major impact. Think about this when you're writing newsletters.

All too often I hear from clients who just can't imagine a reader wanting to know anything about them. Or care about what the process was to get that character named.

Pre-show Eras Tour was a complete behind-the-scenes look into all of her videos and I ate that up. During the show she brought the audience into the experience and truly that was one of my favourite parts. All I'll say is it was wearable tech that didn't cost you extra money.

Lesson Three - Even though I'm a huge Swifty, there were still plenty of moments and full-length songs I hadn't experienced before. Statistics show that only 20% of your list consumes everything you offer and they buy. That's an 80% profit growth opportunity you're leaving on the table by not selling your backlist or sending an email about a book you've talked about many times.

Come at it from a new angle (like my live show experience) and bam, you've made a sale.

Lesson Four - Collaborating with up-and-coming authors who speak to your audience like it is their job can benefit both of you.

Turns out, I'm now a HUGE Gracie Abrams fan. My Eras tour companion (my daughter) cried through her whole set she was so moved, which is exactly the reaction I wanted for her. And I got exposes to an artist I'm now in love with too.

Random swaps are not what I'm talking about here. And one-and-done swaps are not what I'm talking about here. There is a duo who also happen to be friends of mine, Eva Delaney and Mia Harlan who met, found out they have a similar vibe and audience and they lived near each and started marketing each other inside their emails and years later, it's still happening. And their audiences have crossed over many times over.

When you're out and about and connect with another author who gets you. Who writes with the same vibes for the same reader, lean in. In a strategic way, not just one insert into your news, but a quarterly check-in. Guest write each other's news. Share space on your socials. They're your opener and you're theirs.

I'm going to stop at four because I promised you short emails this quarter, but I could seriously go on for a while. But I've got one more for you then I'm out.

Bonus Lesson Five - There is good in this world. Take your wins bite-sized or super-sized. Behind my scenes, some serious wins happened to get us to this concert and I'm pretty wowed at the strength of humans and the kindness of humans. You can't help but feel that when 50K screaming fans are so joyously gathered in the same space, but also every single person we interacted with from the doorman to the police, to the guy selling water to the parking attendant and all points surrounding that were joyful, kind, respectful and supportive. That's the inclusive world I was reminded I live in on N6 in Toronto, Canada.

Happy Emailing,

Holly

PS I've got two things to remind you of then I'm out of town for a bit. Head to my BRAND NEW WEBSITE to find your link to purchase.

My templated 12 Days of Christmas email system will be gone Dec 11. Grab it now and plan your email extravaganza.

I have one audit space remaining for 2024 in late December. If you'd like it, click here to register.​

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