Have you heard of many ways to increase your page views? Are you skeptical of some of them? Do they sound like gimmicks, perhaps? Maybe they are just too time-consuming to even consider considering you are trying to navigate life both in and out of the blogosphere.
I heard of many of those ways myself. When one person suggested it, I was so overwhelmed with learning all that blogging entailed, I was skeptical. When several people suggested it, I was intrigued. When someone told me they solely credited their blogging success to it, I was hooked. The suggestion was to have an Email list.
In a recent blog post, I explained the importance of networking. I believe it is the one key to blogging to success. I called it Secrets of Successful Bloggers, but as one of my readers noted, there is only one secret. I believe networking is the definitive answer to increasing traffic and ultimately followers. One way to network is to have an Email list.
I resisted using MailChimp fearing it was overwhelming to learn and therefore time-consuming to learn and to use. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Welcome to the MailChimp Tutorial!
Step 1: Go to mailchimp.com and sign up for free!
Step 2: You could start in any order, but I started by clicking Lists. This is your Email list.
Click Create New List. Name your list and fill in the other information MailChimp asks for. Click Save.
Step 3: Click Add Subscriber.
Copy paste the Emails you receive in your blog comments into MailChimp. To ensure you are not stealing Emails, you need to check This person gave me permission to be added to my list. Click Subscribe.
The best part is that if they are unhappy you are contacting them through their Email, they can click Unsubscribe at the bottom. It isn’t awkward that they don’t want to be on your Email list since they are not asking you to take them off directly.
If you get repeat commenters (wouldn’t that be great?), the MailChimp memory will tell you that the reader is already on your Email list, so you don’t have to worry about keeping track.
I was afraid readers would be angry I was contacting them through their Email when they had not signed up for my blog via Email. On the first Wednesday I tried this I notified people that my Linky party was going to end in a few days. Initially I sent it as a reminder. Then, I gave a recap of the week on my blog sending out links to the posts I’d written. Instead of being angry, people wrote to thank me.
Step 4: Click Campaign and Select Create A Campaign. For the sake of ease and simplicity (is that the same thing?), choose Regular Ol’ Campaign.
A “Campaign” is simply your newsletter or whatever you want to send the people on your Email list.
Step 5: Choose the list you want to send your campaign to.
You will now see your Navigation Menu at the bottom of the screen.
Step 6: Choose Setup and fill in the information asked for. You want to write a good Subject Line so people are interested enough to read your Email. MailChimp can help with this if you need.
Step 7: Click Template. For the sake of ease and time constraints, I recommend choosing the simplest template, 1 Column. Click on it if you want to preview it first. Otherwise, click Select. If you find yourself in preview mode, just “X” out, and you’ll be in the designer mode.
Edit the copy boxes and image box the way you like. If you’d prefer, you can edit predesigned templates by clicking Themes.
By using MailChimp, people who don’t subscribe can read your information. This is a view of the Design area.
How to Edit the Template: Hover your mouse over the area you want to edit; it will turn black, and an icon of a pencil will appear at the top. Click it. On the right side of the screen, you will be able to edit the text box.
Don’t forget to edit the entire template including the very bottom where it gives readers the chance to Unsubscribe.
Click Save and close.
After you send your first “Campaign,” it will be saved for you under Campaigns, and you won’t have to reinvent the wheel so to speak.
Click Confirm and then Next.
Step 8: When you are happy with the List the Email is going to, the Subject Line, and the destination Email of the replies, click Send. Be prepared for Oh, So, Cute. The MailChimp’s paw will come out to give you a high five!
I kept hearing and reading about the value of an Email list but didn’t comprehend just how valuable until I started using one myself. Wednesday is a typically low page view day for me, so I don’t publish. Instead, I send out my Email list. I was told that you get a “bump” in stats on days you publish. My page views are just as high on Wednesdays as if I’d published. Do I know it’s a direct result of using my Email list? Absolutely. The page views are primarily distributed among the posts I’d notified my readers of in the Email.
If you think someone can benefit from using MailChimp, please share. If you have tried Aweber and would like to share your experiences, I’m sure my readers and I would love to know the difference between MailChimp and Aweber and which you prefer. I look forward to your views.
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So are you saying that by leaving a comment (which will have an email address attached to it) i will then receive your posts by email as well as through my wordpress reader (and any other reader I may have subscribed to)
Are the email posts just a digest of your recent posts or something completely different?
Could be a bit of an overload for some, but then as you say they can always opt out.
Hi Cathy,
They are just receiving links & post titles in the Email–not the post.
I don’t add them if I know they already follow me & get the posts in their Email.
Janice
I loved your post. Thanks for writing it. I have Mailchimp on one of my blogs but felt too overwhelmed to use it, except to import my list. Now I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Your steps are easy and direct. 🙂
Reblogged this on The Art of This n' That and commented:
Always wondered about this….. When I find some time I’ll be looking into this MailChimp thing lol
I never thought to add them from the comments. Thanks for the tip
Oh, I’m so glad you’ve written this! When I hosted my first linkup I chose mail chimp to store my email list of participants. But when it came to email them back I couldn’t figure it out for the life of me. I cut and paste each email address separately into the email I wanted to send to each of them. It took a long time. I appreciate the tutorial and with Memee’s Poetry Party about to begin next week, it’ll be great to have a better understanding on how to utilize MailChimp! Now… on to the tutorial…
Oh, and if anyone wants to join my event, the details can be found on this page: Memee’s Poetry Parties
Now, on to the tutorial!
Okay, so I am still reading threw the tutorial — and I have a mind that if I don’t say it when i think it I won’t remember, so sorry for extra comments — I keep missing your linkup (after the first) because I forget about it… blogging so much balls in the air at once! And I do follow you on the reader, but the reader, a lot gets missed relying on that.
So, please, add me to your mail chimp account for your linkup! [email protected].
(And others reading this, if you have linkups or events and decide to use, specifically, Mailchimp, you can add me too. I am always looking for fun ways to expand my writing skills. With Mailchimp it your event doesn’t suit me I can unsubscribe myself.
BTW, one of my favorite events I participate in and have seen rapid growth in my writing is called Finish It!Autor S B Mazing provides a sentence or two and then the participants use that prompt as the beginning of a short story. It’s really expanding my imagintion, making me think in new directions. And the best part is reading other people’s stories and seeing how the exact same prompt, beginning diverges into something completely different from everyone elses! It is great,
Sorry, Janice, not meaning to utililze your site as an ad page! ROFL. This post of yours has me excited I guess! Pretty stimulating stuff.
I’m so glad you posted this because I tried that mail list thing once with MailChimp and was very disappointed. I don’t think I gave it my all though. How’s it working for you? I’m going to jump back in and get back to work with it because I have read so many times how a mail list will get the ball rolling! Thanks again for the great article Janice. ~Elle
Hi Elle,
I owe you a thank you. My readership grew last week thanks to your reblog, and I’ve become friends with your follower Shel Harrington.
At any rate, I was exactly like you. Yours were my thoughts exactly. One Sunday, I watched a YouTube video explaining Mail Chimp. It was an hour long, but I needed the slow pace of the help since I’m not very tech savvy. As she explained what to do, I did it. Now, it’s easy for me. Try it again. It really does help increase the page views from those who don’t follow your blog. As I said, some thanked me, others asked to be put on it, and hardly anyone clicks “unsubscribe”.
I love reblogs! You never know where you will end up! Actually I think I set it up ok. My big problem was getting subscribers. How did you go about that? Did you write a post about it? If so, send me the link. I may be able to pick up some tips! Thanks so much and Shel is great! A loyal reader and commenter! Glad yall connected! ~Elle
She Emailed me and told me that she thanked you for our connection. I thanked you for our connection too! Isn’t that funny? We might even share a Pinterest board, but right now it’s in the talking stage. I will go look for a post about getting subscribers and get back to you. I think I wrote about that several times actually, one recently. It may not be tonight though. I have to tear myself away from this blogging stuff and make lesson plans for the week. Darn. I’d rather be blogging (sounds like a bumper sticker).
Haha! It sure does! Wonder if there is one? I’ll wait on your links and thanks! ~Elle
Hi,
I just thought of a great link, so I’m starting with this one. I intend to send more, but this one occurred to me, and (if you pardon my humility, LOL), it’s a good one. Your question is about growing readership.
We need to get their interest first, and then a percentage will stick around.
4 Ways to Make Your Blog Post Go Viral tells how to dramatically increase your page views so the post goes “viral”. A percentage of those people will stay and become subscribers.
Look at the post. The one where I advise: teach something new–that was my first real “hit”. I didn’t and don’t consider myself an expert on Google Analytics, but it went viral Elle! All day on my phone while I was at work, I saw WordPress comments and likes. Many people became followers of my blog that day.
I’ll send more, but this is a good one. Don’t put the cart before the horse so to speak. Get their interest and subscribers will follow.
Question for you though– don’t you have like 400 followers? How did you get all those subscribers?
Janice
Sounds good! I’m away from my computer today but will look at it tonight. My 400…slowly but surely. I did blogging 101 in February and things snowballed! I learned a lot of tips and started visiting other blogs and commenting. It was time consuming but I have found so many new blogging friends and interesting posts since then. Also started my #reblogwednesday event and that was a great building idea. Lots of interaction and putting out there what readers want. Also tweaked my about page and that seemed to draw some attention. ~Elle
Great idea!! I do use Mail-chimp, but never thought of adding email from comments
THANKS !!
Where do you get your Emails from? Thanks for the kind words and reading my post.
Great tutorial Janice! I’ve been playing with the idea of doing an email list too. perhaps doing a newsletter style instead of an email going out every time I post. I don’t know, decisions, decisions. Would you happen to have a link to the video you watched? I’m a visual learner so I would love to see that
Hi Chronicles of a Cold Texan,
My apologies doesn’t cut it. You wrote me in March of 2015 and I never replied. I never saw this until today. So so sorry.
Janice
Janice Wald recently posted…How to Quickly Get 2,000 New Blog Subscribers for Free
Reblogged this on Stylemindchic Life and commented:
Excellent post about the value of email and using Mailchimp!
Please forgive me. I am usually not this rude. It would be rude of me not to reply to your comment, but a reblog?! I am so sorry. Thanks for the kind words and for the link and the exposure. I tried to visit it, but it wasn’t there.
Janice
Janice Wald recently posted…How to Quickly Get 2,000 New Blog Subscribers for Free
Thank you for sharing this info. I can see in the comments that many have benefited from it.
I had a question and I hope you can help me. I have finally decided to move to a self-hosted platform. I read in one of your posts (’18 Important Things You Should Know About Self-Hosting’) that you cannot transfer all the followers (you can only transfer the subscribers who actually subscribed to you via mail and not the ones who clicked the follow button)
I was wondering if I start using mail chimp later, can I use your strategy of putting those people in the email list?(who are my followers and who write comments regularly but who I wasn’t able to transfer to the self-hosted site) Is that something you’d recommend?
I hope I made sense. I am just worried that I might lose a lot of my followers in the process.
Cheers,
Shamira
Hi Shamira,
I am here. I saw your comment come in a few days ago. Forgive me for not responding.
There are ethical considerations. Honestly, I am not sure how to handle them.
If you move, you will lose your Blogspot followers. You have their Email since they commented on your site.
Question 1: CAN you copy their Email and paste it onto your subscriber list? Yes, you can.
Question 2: SHOULD you copy their Email and past it onto your subscriber list? I don’t know.
Unless someone has given you permission to Email them, you can’t Email them.
This is how I handle it: I tell them I took the liberty of adding their Email to the subscriber list.
People ask me to stumble their links, for example. It says on the page you need to be a subscriber to request a link, so I add their Email and then tell them I did. No one has complained. They could always unfollow if they wanted. You would think subscribing to your old blog indicated intent. Maybe you should add them and just tell them.
I hope that helps.
Janice
Janice Wald recently posted…How to Quickly Get 2,000 New Blog Subscribers for Free
First of all, thank you so much for your reply. Taking out time from your busy schedule and responding means a lot to me. I understand what you are trying to say and I completely agree with you. Being transparent will always help. I really wouldn’t want anyone to feel I’m taking advantage of them. This makes things a lot clearer. Of course, I still have a lot of things to work on now that I’m thinking of going on a self-hosted site, but I’m definitely going to keep your advice in mind.
Thanks a ton once again Janice. You are an angel.
Awww… Glad I could give you some ideas to ponder. My pleasure.
Janice