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Seriously...you’re not going to be able to do all this stuff in one day, because your fingers will start to ache and turn blue. My advice is that you pick something and work on one hack everyday. In a couple of weeks you will have fully optimized your mailing list and the happiness of your fans will have increased to 11. Let’s get started... 

1. Make sure that your fans don't have to scroll down to see your sign up form. I read a statistic that said 80% of people never scroll down when they hit a web page which means they will never see your free music offer. 

2. Your email sign up form should be on every page of your site. If you’re using a blog just put it in the sidebar. 

3. Split test your email sign up box to see what your fans respond to the best. Watch my guide. 

4. It’s a good idea to sign up for your own mailing list so that you can get an idea of how your messages are looking from the fans point of view. If you start to annoy yourself then it’s time to rethink your communications. 

5. Include a“forward to a friend” link in ALL of your emails. 

6. If you’re using Aweber they let you integrate your email sign up form with Facebook. Make sure you use that feature. 

7. Create an irresistible offer for your fans to join your list and make it very clear. I have found that 9 FREE TRACKS in big red lettering will work better than a 500 word explanation. 

8. Whatever you offer your fans in exchange for their email address, make sure you give it to them on the thank you page, or in the confirmation email. This will build trust right away. If they don’t get what they signed up for within a few minutes you’re dead to them. 

9. Regularly send your current fans free music and videos. It’s like a bank, the more you pay in the more “interest”you will receive. 

10. Whenever somebody emails you through the contact form on your website make sure that you offer them the chance to join your fan list as well. 

11. Go around personally after every show and offer to send enthusiastic people some free music. Then collect their email address so you can keep your promise. 

12. Whenever you connect with a new contact in the music industry ask if you can add then to your list. This is like networking on autopilot and having influential music people in your gang can be very powerful as they watch your progress and become fans. 

13. Use QR codes to drive offline fans to your free music offer. 14. Put a link to your website on all merch including t-shirts, CDs, banners, flyers and even thongs! 

15. In every email you send you need to let people know what you want them to do next. This is known as a “call to action” and it does not have to be about buying your music, it could be “liking” your Facebook page or listening to your newly recorded tune on YouTube. Every connection with your fans should have a call to action. 

16. This is my personal opinion but sending a newsletter packed with links is not effective. Email your subscribers more often and give them one link to the thing you want to tell them about. This avoids confusion. 

17. Split test the subject lines of your emails to see what your fans respond to the best. 

18. To come up with catchy subject lines go through your own email inbox and look for the emails you always open first. Ask yourself why that is and then use what you learn to make your own headlines POP! 

19. Use plain text emails because images are turned off by default in most email clients these days. 

20. If you decide to ignore me and go with snazzy HTML emails then check that they look OK in Outlook or Gmail. Also include a link to an online version in-case your fans can’t view it. 

21. Make sure that your “from” name is correct. For instance if your band name is “Death by Seaman” you would probably not want your emails to come from the drummer “Norman Peabottom”. 

22. Set up a series of autoresponders to introduce new fans to your musical world. You want to get them engaged in your story and ultimately lead them towards financially supporting your work. 

23. To get maximum effectiveness from your autoresponders make a note of the most successful one-off emails you send then just add then to your automatic follow up sequence. 

24. Give people your best stuff for free. Don’t worry this will get them thinking “My god! If this is what the free music is like I better get the album and jump in the fan club as well.” 

25. If you’re using Aweber it will allow you to segment people who don’t open your emails. You then want to start a re-engagement campaign saying something like “Should I stop mailing you” or “You missed this”. If they still don’t open it’s time to delete them because the chances are that they gave you a fake address when they signed up. This will save you money and increase your open rate. 

26. Capture the name as well as the email address so that you can add the personal touch with your fans. “How’s it going Bill...” will usually get more response than “We have a gig”. Phew...brain dump over guys! If I was not up to my neck in work here I would have put them all in pretty little categories for you, but I’m sure you can pic-and-mix the stuff that hits home for you. I have personally tested every one of these email tweaks and have only included the stuff that had a positive effect. As ever I’d love to hear any suggestions for things that have been working with your own fan base. See you next tomorrow...same bat time, same bat channel. - Chris Watch the video podcast version below...