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Hi! I'm Holly.

Hollydarlinghq.com

I help authors sell more books with emails! Join my list for all the FREE email resources you can handle.

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It's Women's Day. My least favourite recognized day. Here's why.

Today is International Women's Day. It's supposed to be a day to celebrate women and all that women are and can be. But for me, it's not a day I love celebrating and here's why. Side note: This email is not about emails for authors. I have another life inside the start-up ecosystem where I coach small business owners to help them get their businesses up and thriving. The day has its roots in the early 1900's when women gathered and marched to protest inequities in the workforce and in...

about 2 months ago • 3 min read

Hey Reader. It may come as no surprise to you, or it may be news, that I'm a fan of Taylor Swift. If the sound of her name gives you ragey vibes, this email may not be for you. But stick with me if you can, because her email marketing team has done something that I think deserves a closer look. Last month I was interviewed for an upcoming podcast on the email marketing strategy for Taylor Nation. I had some positives and a decent amount of negatives and it was really a lot of fun. But now,...

5 days ago • 3 min read

Last week I landed on Mrs RoperTok. I may be dating myself, but Three's Company is easily one of my favourite all-time shows. Oh how I wanted to live in that apartment building and how freaking hilarious was Mrs Roper? For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, here's a link to attempt to catch you up on the classic tv show, Three's Company. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075596/ But for those who do know what I'm talking about, the one thing I'm so excited about when it comes to this...

12 days ago • 2 min read

About 5 years ago I separated from my husband. At the time, I was writing 2 full-length novels a year and loving my writing life. It's relevant to note that I write contemporary romance. You may see where this is heading. In the midst of my divorce, I had a sixth book in a series due to my long-time editor and so, because I'm a #1 Achiever, I wrote the damn book. Even though I cried myself to sleep, was stressed out about finances and had two young children to try to help through the...

19 days ago • 4 min read

I'm veering off the planned sending schedule today for a bit of a spicy topic but one that I think is incredibly important and was highlighted by one of our members, Zee Irwin Romance. Hands up if you use BookFunnel to either participate or run multi-author promos? This post is for you and it's really important that you look for solutions from a place of growing your business, not making things harder, because for some, this information will feel overwhelming and scary and potentially very...

about 1 month ago • 3 min read

This is our final email in a 3-part series on how to build an effective double opt-in. If you missed parts one and two, click through to give them a read and then pop back over. This email is purely a demonstration. I'm going to show you an example of my double opt-ins in action. I'll show you what it looks like in ConvertKit first, then a secondary Mailerlite look. It's a little less extravagant in ConvertKit but it gets the job done for sure. 1st Email in Double Opt-In ConvertKit doesn't...

about 1 month ago • 1 min read

A few years, heck even a few months ago, double opt-ins were still something you could probably get away with not employing. I mean, you shouldn't have, but you could have still easily legally collected names and gone on with your life. But now? Post GooHoo requirements, without a double opt-in, you're putting the revenue you earn from email in jeopardy. This week and next, we're going to break down how to build one that doesn't feel icky and actually builds your brand. The Why? Marking...

about 2 months ago • 3 min read

Again, my double opt-in part 2 instructional email that I had planned for today got pushed aside this week thanks to trending events. Meta went down on all of their platforms for a couple of hours earlier today. Thankfully, I was in back-to-back meetings and had no idea. It was my ex-husband who texted me to ask if it was down funny enough LOL and I was deeply offended he was ahead of me on a tech development! I'm going to keep this reminder short and sweet because you've heard it before. But...

about 2 months ago • 1 min read

I'll get back to part two of the double opt-in series next week. I just really needed to talk about this TikTok series while it was relevant so pause on the DOI (double opt-in) and let's dig into Reesa Teesa and Legion. I don't sleep very well. Two weekends ago I think I clocked a handful of hours over the whole weekend. In fact, a friend saw me on the following Monday and asked me if I was okay. I grumbled my reply and because I was sleep-deprived and menopausal, then I barked at her and she...

2 months ago • 3 min read

I have a 15-year-old daughter who is as typical as typical teens come. She's awesome but has more than her fair share of indecisiveness. Last week, she asked me to pick her up some ice cream. Her favourite is Hagen Daz, so, not the inexpensive kind but it's the little pleasures that I'm privileged to be able to provide for her, so I try to when I can. However, on this particular day, she instructed me to NOT pick up the ice cream like I always do on a Friday night. Okay, I said. Fine by me,...

2 months ago • 2 min read
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