Do you get sales come from your ezine regularly? How many well-written articles do you submit per week to Online ezines? How often do you send thank you’s and follow up messages to your different email groups?
If you answered not many, then you need to re-evaluate. The answer to Online success is the same as traditional Success–promotion, promotion, promotion.
Use these easy ways to boost Online credibility and sales:
1. Market and Make your Ezine a Sales Tool
Ezines are one road to sales if you send them to your list of targeted subscribers who stay with you at least 8 months. After 4-7 issues, their trust builds and they eventually will buy from you. When you offer a live link straight to your sales letter for your services or products, they will be more likely to visit your site and buy from you.
Many professionals complain that many subscribe to their ezine, but not many buy. Ask yourself why?
Is your list targeted to one preferred audience?
Just like a book, you must visualize your preferred buyers. What are their interests, their major problem that you can solve, and what do they spend their money on? Are they Online and comfortable with it? Know as much as you can about your audience, including the information they really want, and how they like to buy a product..
As a book and web coach, my ezine may not appeal to free- lance writers looking for work. Also my books are mainly for non-fiction writers, who want to self-publish, are interested in eBooks, and who want to sell thousands rather than hundred of copies in an easier, Online way.
Be sure to give your targeted audience what they want. If you don’t know who they are, write a short survey of less than 5 questions. Include in your ezine to pull your subscribers’ opinions.
How are you building your subscriber list? What do you offer people who subscribe?
This sign on most web sites turns people off:
“Subscribe to Our Ezine.”
What’s the motivation? Where’s the benefits? None. To motivate, include a free eReport or book with every subscription. Get a strong testimonial like Dan Poynter’s for The Book Coach Says… ezine: “Filled with useful tips and resources–definitely worth your time.” Place it on your home page. Give visitors a reason to buy.
Another way to build ezine subscribers is to submit articles online. Many Webmasters and other business people who subscribe will see your professional article and want to post it on their Web sites or in their own ezine. Why? Because they need fresh content for their site and ezine. They want and need your information. What great publicity for you!
When you get an article accepted, more than 500,000 people can See it. Check www.addme.com. Other publishers publish your article On their site, often with a link to your site. Called viral marketing, this method spreads the word fast and wide.
Each day on my email, I see 10-25 new subscribers’ names and email Addresses. These come directly from my articles. You can see why I submit at least two a week.
More recently, I discovered after eight months of submitting over 45 articles to various sites, the key words I listed put me much higher on the search engines. Rarely do I update on the search engines, but I love what these articles do.
2. Submit Articles to Ezines and Web sites
After seeing different excellent articles, your audience will take advantage of your benefit-driven signature file, visit your site, subscribe to your ezine, and eventually buy. Each time I submit an article, new sales come in–about $100 a day.
Read articles on “How to Write a Publishable Article,” “How to Write an Article Fast,” “How to Submit Articles to Ezines and Web sites.” Remember, the trick to promoting yourself and your products is giving away free information. It’s like tasting chocolate cookie samples at Mrs. Fields. Visitors will be more likely to buy after they experience a piece of you.
Keep your articles categorized too. At first, I just submitted random articles. I then realized my 20 years of experience could be put into six categories:
1. Writing/Publishing
2. eBooks
3. Online Promotion
4. Web Marketing/Promotion,
5. Offline/Traditional Marketing
6. Under 500 words
Now, I offer these categories by auto responder to specific audiences who want only one or two kinds of articles. They appreciate the categories and the easy way to receive promotional articles.
3. Send Follow up Messages to your Customers, Subscribers and Clients
Do you keep email lists by category such as subscribers, potential clients, customers, teleclass participants?
Talking with many professionals, I discovered many only keep one list, primarily subscribers. While giving my subscribers information once a month, I make it a point to connect with many other groups. Each month or so, I send them some free information with a sales message.
How often do you follow up? The people who hear from you over time develop trust in you. Once They trust you, they are more likely to buy from you than new contacts.
Keep a file of your loyal customers, your potential clients, your subscribers, your teleclass participants, and ePublishers.
To each of these, send a different, targeted follow up email. Send a “thank you” message offering a freebie. To my loyal customers I offered a free question answered by email.
In the same email, I followed with “Ways to Benefit and Succeed from the Book Coach.” These included a free subscription to my ezine, a free teleclass on book writing and promotion, and an introductory coaching price.
Recycle those articles you post online. Give them away as free reports to your potential clients. No cost to you and they take very little time.
Put your online promotion groups in a buying mode. Make an irresistible offer that is real. It’s a turn off when the free bonus reports are worth more than the major package being sold. I just noticed one–the book was $39.95–the free bonuses were supposedly worth $500. That certainly doesn’t speak truth.
For an eBook of 30-60 pages packed with how-to’s and resources, offer two free bonus reports taken from your article files or book excerpts. These can be 3-7 pages.
Display your product or service’s benefits clearly. Give your potential buyer a picture of how their life would look after using your expertise. Write ad copy that appeals to their emotions, so they feel they must buy now.
Off-line promotion takes a lot of time and money. Spend your time and money on email promotion. The payoffs are large!
Judy Cullins, 20-year Book and Internet Marketing Coach works with small business people who want to make a difference in people’s lives, build their credibility and clients, and make a consistent life-long income. Author of 10 eBooks including “Write your eBook Fast,” “How to Market your Business on the Internet,” and “Create your Web Site With Marketing Pizzazz,” she offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, The Book Coach Says…and Business Tip of the Month at http://www.bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml and over 145 free articles. Email her at Judy@bookcoaching.com.
