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ALTERNATIVE 1:
The "Evergreen" Ezine
If you don't foresee yourself writing fresh new content every week
or month that you publish, why not make your ezine "evergreen?"
This means that you write all your content ahead of time, and none
of it can be time-sensitive. That is, it should be just as relevant today as it would be a year from now.
Evergreen ezines are brilliant and easy to do. Here's how it works:
Suppose you want to publish a short tip every two weeks. That means you'd have to write 26 issues for a year. Once you had
this content written, you'd just set up the messages on your autoresponder and tell it when you want them sent out. (For this
example, it would be day 1, day 14, day 28, etc. — each reader would get a message every two weeks.)
Internet marketing expert James Maduk does this. He offers an evergreen
ezine called "52 Secrets My Mom Never Told Me About Internet Marketing." When you sign up, you get one secret a week, which
adds up to a whole year. Very effective! (You can see what I mean and sign up at www.JamesMaduk.com. I signed up about 10
weeks ago, so I'm on secret 10. But if you sign up today, you'll start on secret 1. (See how easy this is?)
ALTERNATIVE 2: The
Mini Email Course or Report
These are very popular right now. You simply create several e-mails'
worth of content to spread out over a certain amount of days, and set them up on your autoresponder as your ezine.
Many sites offer 7-day courses or reports, and quite frankly, many
of them are awful. So here's a chance for YOU to stand out. Make sure your ezine offers really useful or interesting
content that's more helpful than salesy.
For example, say you're a small business coach. You could offer an
ezine course called "5 Ways Hiring a Coach Will Make This Your Most PROFITABLE Year Ever!" Just sit down and list the 5 ways,
then write a few paragraphs of copy under each.
Then write one final sales message that you'll add on to the end of
the series as the 6th message. This should be a friendly invitation encouraging the reader to call you for a consultation,
buy your book, sign up for your workshop, etc.
Paste all the messages into an autoresponder series, set the timing
to what you want (e.g. every day or every few days), and voila -- you've got an e-mail course ezine!
ALTERNATIVE 3: Promotions Only
If you offer products on your site that don't lend themselves well
to creating related content, just offer what you've got!
Give your visitors the chance to receive special offers
that will save them money at your site. The trick to high sign-up rates is to make them feel as if they'll be part of an exclusive
group. Use words like "special, exclusive, limited, VIP, first looks, discounts, savings, club, and members-only."
For example, one site that I frequent sells discounted designer clothes.
During my last visit, they invited me to sign up for "discounts, exclusive offers, and first looks." I jumped at the opportunity!
Don't underestimate your visitors' interest — many of them WILL
sign up for e-mail ezine offers if you politely extend the invitation and make them feel special.
Just make sure not to overdo your messages to this crowd. Keep your
ezine blasts to a maximum of once a week. Otherwise your readers will get irritated and may unsubscribe....
About the Author: Alexandria K. Brown, “The E-zine Queen,” is
author of the award-winning manual, “Boost Business With Your Own E-zine.” To learn more about her book and sign
up for more FREE tips like these, visit her site at http://www.ezinequeen.com
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| Is It *Immoral* To Make Sales This Easily? |
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