Welcome back to my journey blog, where I share what I’m learning about AI and other cool stuff. Today, I want to tell you about a surprising twist with a blog I almost forgot I had, and how it led me to dive into the world of email marketing.
A Surprise from an Old Blog
Have you heard about Medium? Medium is like a playground for people who love reading and writing blogs. I started writing there last year, mainly sharing quick summaries and tips from books about managing anxiety and improving yourself. I didn’t stick with it long because creating content isn’t really my thing. So, I moved on and forgot all about it.
Imagine my surprise when I checked an old email from Medium last month and saw that people were actually reading my posts! They were getting 200 to 400 views a month, all from people finding them directly through Google. I even searched for one of my posts myself and there it was, right near the top of Google’s search results. Here is my most read post about the book Dare: A new way to end anxiety and stop panic attacks
That got me thinking about something new: email marketing.
Understanding Email Marketing, Landing Pages, and Lead Magnets
Email Marketing: This is all about sending out emails to a list of people who have signed up to hear from you. You can share updates, tips, or anything you think your readers might like. It’s a great way to keep in touch and share valuable content directly.
Landing Page: This is a special page on the internet designed to do one main thing: get visitors to sign up for something, like a newsletter. It tells visitors what they’ll get in exchange for their email address, making it clear and appealing.
Lead Magnet: This is something you offer for free that is valuable enough that someone is willing to give you their email address to get it. It could be a free ebook, a guide, or even a series of tips. I am sure you have seen a lot of these and subscribed for a few aswell.
Building My First Email List
Seeing that my blog posts were still being read, I decided to try creating a lead magnet to encourage people to sign up for my emails. I thought about what my readers already liked—my book summaries and tips. So, I decided to make a small e-book with even more helpful checklists and insights from these books.
I used ChatGPT to help summarize the books more clearly and create printable checklists that readers could use to follow through on the tips. Then, I designed the ebook using Canva, making sure it was something people would find useful.
Next, I set up a landing page using a service called ConvertKit, which let me start for free upto 1000 subscribers (a looooong way for me to get charged). The page i created was simple: it explained what the ebook was about and asked visitors to give their email to download it. Here is the landing page i created check out.
Setting up my first landing page was a huge learning experience. I’m not an expert, but if you’ve visited the page, you might have noticed it involves a two-step process: first, you enter your email address, and then you receive another email to download the ebook. In hindsight, this might seem a bit cumbersome—I think a simpler, one-click process would be better, where you enter your email and immediately get the ebook. But this was my initial attempt, and I wasn’t aiming for perfection. I just wanted to get something out there. For my next landing page, I plan to streamline the process to make it much easier for users.
The Joy of Connecting Directly
I got my first subscriber the same day and I was thrilled. Now, I have over 50 subscribers! This might not be a huge number, but it’s really exciting to see people interested in what I’m creating.
So, why not give it a try? Start your own journey and see the magic of connecting with people who are interested in what you have to share.