During his List Control promotion I could swear I heard Frank Kern say ‘why using an autoresponder is actually not a great idea’ or words to that effect.

When someone subscribes to your blog, you simply send them a notficiation about new posts. So I was just wondering if you’d considered using an autoresponder in your email marketing strategy – and any reasons you have for not using one.

You see we’re kinda torn, we currently a ’semi-squeeze’ page as our home page, which leads to an autoresponder that presells our eBook (with a link to the sales page at the end of each email).

But I think we prefer the idea of just an open blog where folks would subscribe and simply pick up the story from the next blog post – just as you have here. It seems a lot more human, open and interactive, plus I like the idea that a blog post has today’s date stamped on it – it says ‘this is what we’re thinking NOW!’.

So was wondering if you were clearer than me on when to use an autoresponder (and when not to)…

Thanks Lynn!

Best wishes,
James
www.habitguide.com

Hi James,

I missed Frank’s List Control promotion, so I didn’t hear that reference myself to know the exact context. You ask a great question though, and I’m happy to give you my thoughts on the ideal email marketing strategy.

Here at ClickNewz I offer an email subscription option, in addition to the option of subscribing via RSS. I do that because not everyone uses a Feed Reader and some people still prefer to receive updates by email.

That particular mailing list is set up as a means of subscribing to the content, as an option and service for ClickNewz readers. I don’t have an autoresponder set up, and I don’t email that list directly. It’s set up as a Blog Broadcast through Aweber.

Your method of delivering content, or email marketing, should depend on your specific objective with each mailing list.

To answer your question, yes – I would consider using, and do use autoresponders, on some of my websites and with some of my mailing lists. Autoresponders are particularly useful in pre-launch and product launch phases. They are also a great way to set up a passive affiliate revenue stream where you feed content with the specific objective of leading the reader into a purchase.

In your particular case, I think your squeeze page is fabulous! Your squeeze page and autoresponder is definitely the ideal email marketing strategy for this offer. The only suggestion I have is that you move the site navigation below the offer, instead of at the top of the page. See if this improves your opt-in conversion rate.

If you do switch to a blogging & Blog Broadcast model, you will need to create just as much – if not more – content than you do/did for your autoresponder series. That content may be “fresh” (ie timestamped), but it will never be as relevant to every single subscriber (at any given time) as your sequential autoresponder series.

Instead, if you want to blog, remove the timestamp from the blog posts and then include links to relevant blog posts throughout your autoresponder sequence.

The Squeeze Page / Autoresponder Method

The first few emails in your autoresponder series need to get your readers engaged. Start by following up on the product they downloaded – your product. People download things on the internet all the time and don’t always open them. You want to make sure they consume your product. This is the first step in building a relationship with that person.

Ask them if they received the product. Give them the download link again. Mention something specific inside the product, using a page number or other reference point, that other people found particularly interesting. This will pique their interest and encourage them to open the file if they haven’t already.

In your next email you might offer a poll. You could ask them why they are interested in (your product), what their plans/challenges/questions are, etc. Make sure you give them an incentive to participate. Offer to share the results, or to cover the points in an upcoming interview that you’ll also share with them for free.

The messages in your autoresponder series should be personable, timely and relevant. They should sound like you just wrote them, and like you wrote them personally to that one reader.

Continue engaging your subscribers on this level through your autoresponder messages, before you start promoting products to them. Follow up again with a thank you note, and give them one last chance to participate in the survey if they haven’t already.

Next find a great article, blog post or forum thread that would be of interest to your readers and send them the link. It doesn’t have to be on your site – just send them a resource you know they’ll enjoy.

This type of follow-up will condition your subscribers to open your emails when they arrive, and keep them engaged (ie clicking) – which is exactly what you want.

Need in-depth tutorials on setting up Squeeze Pages? See Mini-Site Profits by Michael Rasmussen. This is a FREE online video training series and you can view the entire course outline here: Minisite Profits Summary

YOUR Email Marketing Strategy

You have a lot of options for building a mailing list, and delivering content to that list. What you choose, and how you set that up, depends on your specific email marketing objectives. Consider the desired end result first, and work backward from there.

For example, if you are an affiliate marketer and you promote baby products (toys, crib bedding, clothing, etc), you might set up a mailing list for “the best online deals”. Your visitors will subscribe to get coupon codes, special offers, hear about sales, etc. You will need to mail this list directly every time you find a good deal or a special offer to share, as those are time sensitive messages.

As another example, you may be selling a software product you created yourself. You can offer a free report that teaches your target market how to do something, with your software being the ultimate solution. In this case an autoresponder is ideal as you can lead them from the “how to” to the “how to do it better” (or “how to” to “here’s what you need”) with a sequential series.

The autoresponder is great for automating your communication with a target market, and leading them from point A to point B. When you have a timeless message to share, and the order/sequence of the follow-up messages is important, an autoresponder is the best tool to use.

I hope this helps, and answers your question, James!

Also See:

• 3 Ways To Improve Your Blog Email Notification
• How To Set Up Your Mailing List
• Is There Money Hiding In Your Mailing List?!

Best,

p.s. I have a brand new tip-filled report coming out on 2010 Email Marketing & List Building. Subscribe below to make sure you get a free copy by email as soon as it’s available! Just enter your first name and email address here:

#1 copywriting secret: copy must be specific to its audience to work best.

It’s a term that’s used by virtually everyone involved with Internet marketing: target customer. You’ve heard it a million times.  You may even be able to define its meaning.  But, are you actually focusing on this target when you write copy, or are you missing the mark?

It’s a common mistake in copywriting: one I see very often.  People want to push information at a group of readers instead of pulling a single target customer toward them through effective communication.  The difference?  One is all about you, and the other is all about them.

I’ve seen copy that completely ignored the site visitor.  It didn’t make a single mention of the word “you” or “your.”  It was all “we, we, we” and “our, our, our.”  Considering that your target customer has all the money and they are the ones whose business you want to win, I’ll bet you can figure out where the focus should lie.  It’s time to stop “we-ing” all over the place.

A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words

Before you begin writing copy, take about 1,000 words and create a profile of your target customer. Jot down all the information you know about them.  Don’t guess!  If you’ve never done any target audience research, now’s the time to get started.  After all, how will you be able to write effective and enticing copy to someone you know nothing about?

Male or female?  What is their home life like?  How much money do they make?  Are they the end user, or are they buying on behalf of someone else (a business, an older parent)?  What challenges do they face that your products/services can help them overcome?  What dreams will your products/services help them fulfill?  What results will they see after they’ve used your products/services?

These are just a few of the dozens of questions you can ask about your target customer.  If you’ve never attempted to get this information, try using a Survey Monkey or some other online survey tool to collect details.

Does it Really Make a Difference?

Who would know whether you wrote copy to a group of people or to your particular target audience?  Can understanding who they are, where they’re coming from and what they need really make a difference?  You be the judge.

For the sake of example, we’ll pretend we’re Realtors and our product is a beautiful one-story, brick house on a gorgeous corner lot.  As you know, Realtors have many different segments within the single homebuyer target audience.  We’ll look at three: first-time homebuyers, growing families and retirees.

First-Time Homebuyers – Fresh out of college, these young couples probably have a ton of student-loan debt hanging over their heads.  Excited and anxious at the same time, they have no idea what to expect from all the paperwork and meetings that come when buying a home.  They’ll need guidance.  With no kids and a very limited budget, price is a primary factor: they’ll sacrifice space and amenities for a few dollars less on their mortgage payment.  After all, it’s just their first home… they’ll upgrade in a few years.

Growing Families - With student loans paid down (thanks to several promotions and pay raises) growing families are looking for more room.  They’ve got money to spend and priorities to fill.  With 2.4 children in tow, safety, good schools and short commute times rank high on their wish lists.  Experienced in the home-buying process, they are ready to show off the rewards of their hard work with a newer, bigger and better house.

Retirees – These folks are downsizing.  They’ve raised the kids, put them through college and gotten them out of the house.  As their life focus changes, they no longer want days filled with yard work and housecleaning.  They’ve got fun things to do in their retirement years.  On a fixed income, seniors still have some money to spend, but it doesn’t flow as freely as when they were working.

Can you see the difference?  You wouldn’t use the same language or highlight the same benefits within the copy when writing to growing families as you would when writing to retirees.  Yes, they are all shopping for houses.  Yes, we are selling the same one-story, brick house; but each buyer has their own needs, wants and criteria.  The copy has to be individually crafted to entice everyone on their level.

The same applies to your target audience and its individual segments.  Finding out as much as you can about them will help your copy strike a more personal and emotional chord while – at the same time – positioning your product or service as the perfect solution.

Join Lynn Terry and me on a special, free webinar Tuesday, January 19, 2010, at 12:00 noon Eastern Time where we’ll discuss defining your target audience and more copywriting techniques.  I’m sure Lynn won’t mind me telling you that I’ll offer an exclusive discount code worth 20% off on all my copywriting books for those who attend.  Don’t miss out!  Register now… it’s FREE!

Reprinted by Permission. (c) Karon Thackston 2010, All Rights Reserved.

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There are two main types of email marketing: the traditional customer follow-up of course, and the second is content based mailing lists to build trust & rapport with your target market.

In this tutorial, we’ll look at creative ways to use PLR Articles in your Email Marketing Plan. You’ll finally have email marketing working for you – and a lot easier, with much time & less work than you might have imagined!

First, what is PLR?

It stands for Private Label Rights and it is content that you can edit, add to, change the format, etc and claim authorship to once you have made your changes.

PLR comes in all types of formats: articles, ebooks, reports, ecourses, etc. Basically it’s just content, and you can use it in any format you like. A PLR article can be used to create a video, a group of PLR articles can be combined into a short report, etc.

Email Newsletter Ideas

We’ve discussed easy email newsletter ideas before. Your emails don’t need to be essay length, professionally designed “newsletters”. The main objective is to stay in touch with your readers and build rapport with them – which is best done in short, interesting notes than in wordy or fancy emails.

Still, it can be a lot of work to come up with content for your autoresponder, e-courses, follow-up messages, etc. Not to mention your bonuses or your opt-in incentive to compel them to subscribe in the first place.

This is where PLR content steps in.

3 Simple Ways To Use PLR in Your Email Marketing Plan

PLR content is not the same as reprint rights, or using articles from article directories. You have more options and flexibility with PLR because you can edit and change it to suit your needs…

1. Opt-in Incentive

To encourage visitors to subscribe to your mailing list you might offer them an incentive such as an e-course, a free report or a tip sheet. You can take a great PLR Report and turn it into a time released e-course using an autoresponder. Or you can take a set of articles and use those to put together a free short report. Once you find good PLR content on your topic, you can get creative in how you deliver it!

2. Follow-up Series

If you sell a product online, you’ll want to follow up with your buyers and stay in touch with them. Let’s say that you sell gardening supplies to vegetable gardeners. You can find how-to PLR Articles or a PLR Report, and break those down into tips that you can share with your customers each week through your autoresponder. You can include links back to your online store, or links to affiliate products if you’re an affiliate, when the tips mention or require certain products.

3. Newsletter Content

One of the biggest problems I hear from people who have started a list, or are thinking of starting their first list, is what to send out in the emails to their subscribers. PLR Content is a great source for topic ideas! Articles will general cost you around $1 each, or you can often get 30 page reports for only $20. This is a small investment to have months worth of content for your list.

Again, you want to break it down and keep your emails short and usable. An article with ‘7 tips for a great vegetable garden’ can be broken down into 7 emails (sent once a week, that’s almost 2 months worth!). You can expand a bit on each tip and then lead into the next one – keeping them engaged and waiting for your next tip.

You can also use PLR content to create subscriber bonuses, such as short reports or simple how-to guides. Exclusive downloads can really increase your open rate and response rate, and have your subscribers looking forward to more emails from you.

There are a lot of great sources for quality PLR content. You can do a search on Google for your keyword and just include “plr”. For example, if you have a blog or list about gardening, you can type in gardening plr.

You don’t always know what kind of quality you’re going to get, but when you do find a source you like you can stick with it. I get almost all of my PLR from http://www.easyplr.com, which is owned & managed by Nicole Dean.

She offers articles, reports and even e-courses and on a variety of topics. Everything from dog training to home interior to search engine optimzation, and just about everything in between. A great place to start your search!

I would love to hear your thoughts or questions on using PLR, and on creating a successful email marketing plan. What is your biggest challenge with it?

Best,

Disclosure: Nicole Dean is a good friend of mine, a sponsor of ClickNewz, and I am both an affiliate and a customer of Easy PLR.

In a word… WOW!

One of the biggest issues most people have had with Aweber and list building is creating a stylish, customized opt-in form. Up until now, that is…

This brand new opt-in form builder is scheduled to release sometime this coming week. Aweber hasn’t even publicly announced it yet.

Be sure to watch the video above to get a sneak peek at how this form builder will work. It is incredibly nice. Definitely a major upgrade from our options with the traditional Aweber forms.

A few highlights of the new opt-in form builder:

• Pre-created web form templates in a variety of colors, styles and sizes.

• Advanced design tools – customize your submit buttons, form colors/sizes, labels and more with a fully featured point-and-click editor.
  That way, even if you don’t want to start with one of our templates, you can still create great-looking signup forms without having to know a lick of HTML.

• Better-looking hover and lightbox forms: we’ve modernized the styles and animations for these. No more blue Windows 95-looking bar on popover forms (unless you want to add one) and the lightboxes are much smoother.

• Plus you can make ANY form a lightbox or popover form now, instead of just having the one look for each of those types.

• Dynamic thank you pages: you may be familiar with our audio thank you pages that tell people to go confirm their subscriptions.

• With the new web form builder, we’ve added a *video* version of this that will show the subscriber your exact confirm message (with the correct “from” and “subject” lines)…
  …and we’ll detect what email program they’re most likely using (Gmail, AOL, Yahoo, Outlook, Mac Mail, etc) and show them what your confirm email looks like in that exact program. Uber-cool stuff IMHO.

• Insert a privacy policy with one click – handy for folks who don’t want to write their own email privacy policy.

I am really looking forward to seeing this new feature go live, and taking it for a test drive! I’d love to hear your thoughts – excited??

Best,

p.s. If you’re not building a mailing list from your blog or website yet, you should be. What are you waiting for?! Aweber offers a trial test drive. Check it out and get your list-building started today!

Another common content-writing concern is coming up with email newsletter ideas.

One of the most frequently asked questions about email marketing is “what do I send to my list?” and most people admitted that they find emailing their subscribers daunting or even intimidating…

Email Marketing Mindset

The first order of business is a simple shift in mindset. Remind yourself that you are a market leader or expert in your niche, and that these people have subscribed to your list to get more information from you.

Not only did they request it, they expect to get email from you.

Offering an opt-in box and building an email list – that you never (or rarely) send an email to – is a disservice to your visitors. You owe it to them to hold up your end of the deal by sending them exactly what they requested.

Email Newsletter Format

The traditional long-format email newsletter is out, and short & resourceful is IN. There’s no need to spend hours creating some massive perfectly formatted essay to send out to your email subscribers every week or every month.

Short is good. In fact, short is better. People are busy and usually go through their email in a hurry. They will really appreciate getting quick actionable tips from you. Consider your own email reading habits, and what you prefer to read yourself.

Keep it short, use short easy-to-read paragraphs, and simply send them a resource or an idea they can put into action right then and there.

Email Newsletter Ideas

Before you sit down to write an email to your list, consider the purpose of that message. What is your objective in writing it? What do your readers expect from you? What do you want your subscribers to do when they read it?

Answering those questions will help you craft the best possible email message.

If you’re at a total loss for newsletter ideas, or what to send your list, go back to your opt-in page or your subscribe box and see what you promised them when they signed up. That’s always a good starting point…

Keep in mind that you don’t always have to send your readers to your own site, or try to sell them your own products. In fact, it’s best if you don’t do that in every email message. Being too self-promotional will be a real turn-off for your readers.

Send them a link to a great blog post on someone else’s blog, or a great discussion on a forum in your niche. Send them a cool free resource they can use and a short paragraph describing what it is, what it does, and why you use it.

5 quick email newsletter ideas to consider:

• A link to a news story, and your thoughts on it.
• A great new blog post you recommend they read.
• An idea, or how-to, with quick tips for implementation.
• A free tool or resource to help them achieve their objective.
• News about a sale, special offer or coupon code you found.

Obviously what you send via email is going to be specific to your niche, the purpose of your newsletter, and what your subscribers expect and want or need most. Take a moment to get in their mind, and consider how you can meet them where they are – and help them take action on your topic.

Also decide how often you are going to email your list, and when. Create an email marketing publishing schedule, and stick to it. This will help you stay on track, and also get your subscribers looking forward to receiving emails from you on certain days or at specific intervals.

Best,

p.s. If you need a step-by-step fill-in-the-blank solution for email newsletter ideas, see www.clicknewz.com/instantnicheemails.htm The software is great (I’ve used it myself), but first download the free report there by Lisa Preston.

A few weeks ago Nicole Dean shared some great email marketing tips with us here during her guest blog tour. Nicole’s methods work great for anyone, whether you’re promoting your own products or offers, or promoting products as an affiliate.

I wanted to share Jason’s post, and his strategy, with you as a follow-up to Nicole’s series on email marketing…

Awhile back I mentioned that I’m not a big fan of the squeeze page method. I went on to clarify that I do build lists on my niche affiliate sites, but for further clarification I should say that I’m not a big fan of squeeze pages that add zero value to the process. You know the types of pages I’m talking about: the offer is so lame, or even non-existent, to the point that they are forced to BUY clicks just to get anyone to look at it.

Not all squeeze pages are bad, and the strategy is actually sound if you use it as a means to add value to the buying process – and to serve your market.

That’s exactly what Nicole shared with us in her series, and Jason Parker went into some advanced detail in his post about how to build a list – and why you would want to do that as an affiliate marketer.

The Way Of The Advanced Affiliate – Automated Email List Building

He also offers a free recording on Ultimate List-Building Secrets right there in the sidebar, which I hope to listen to as soon as I get some free time.

My point is that none of this is rocket science, and if you look around you have everything laid out for you. Both in blueprints and tutorials, and in live examples. All you have to do is take action.

I’ve been doing that more myself lately, and like I said in a previous post – it’s really paying off. And not just in upfront or immediate sales/income, but in long-term passive revenue as well.

Think about it: you put in the work upfront to create a product – maybe an audio or a short report, or use PLR or Resell Rights – and you set up an opt-in page and an autoresponder series. Like I said, not rocket science, just work. And not even hard work. Just a matter of putting the elements together in order. Period.

Once you do that, it will continue to work for you on auto-pilot month after month, year after year.

If you don’t yet have a list-building strategy in place with your online business model, now is the time to do that. Look over Nicole’s series. Look over Jason’s post. And of course if you have any questions, leave them in the comments section below.

Best,

p.s. If you are just starting your first mailing list or autoresponder, you’ll need an account with Aweber. You can use this link to get a free trial to start. Aweber is the industry leader, and is hands-down the best mailing list manager out there. If you think you might start out somewhere else and then move to Aweber later… don’t. A lot of us made that mistake, and you’ll end up losing ~90% of your list in the process. If you’re going to build a list, make it count!

Instead, do what makes the money and your passion will follow.

I know that may sound like a contradiction, but follow along with me here.

My first business was an electronic repair shop. Not something I was particularly passionate about, but it paid the bills. I was passionate about having a family business and pursuing financial freedom, of course. And I enjoyed the work – it just wasn’t my “passion in life”.

My next business included computer training and web development – helping others learn skills to start & grown their own business. Something I was definitely passionate about, but I didn’t really have the means to do it on any kind of large scale. Meaning I was basically helping one person or one business at a time.

But those were the right choices at those times in my life, because the bills had to be paid and the children had to be raised. It wasn’t until my business saw a sustainable passive income that I had the financial freedom to really discover and pursue my passions.

It’s hard to even know what you’re passionate about when all you can think about is how you’re going to make the next mortgage payment, or put dinner on the table next week.

Even worse is that nobody else will get it. If you’re working all the time, with no profit to show for it, your friends & family will tell you you’re nuts and tell you to go get a real job. But if you have money coming in, nobody will mess with you – and you’ll be free to really start exploring your options.

My point here is that I don’t want you to feel discouraged if you’re just starting out, and you haven’t discovered your true passion yet. That’s okay. Try a few things, make some money first, and let it just come to you naturally.

The cool thing is that the internet provides you the opportunity to do both – to make money AND pursue your passions in life. My own online business allows me to work from home, and allows me both the time and money to work on a series of books I’ve always wanted to write. So I do that, plus give back to the Internet Marketing community, because I have a passive base income that pays the bills. The main source of my income being my affiliate sites and various affiliate promotions.

It took me years to find my place in it all, and create a vision of the lifestyle and future that I wanted – and a plan to fund it. But every single one of those years that I wasn’t 100% sure I was going in the right direction… I still earned a full-time income. Money is necessary – so pursue that first, and let the passion find you when you’re ready for it.

Trust me, it will happen when you’re less stressed about making money.

So get out there and make some money!

Best,

p.s. If you need help making money online, join my group at our Internet Marketing Forum. I check in there daily myself, and would be happy to answer your questions, or share resources with you.

On Monday morning I posted this photo to Twitter from my mobile, with the caption: This is what affiliates do on Mondays. Cynthia LaLuna replied to that tweet saying: Stellar proof that a picture is worth a thousand blog posts!

Nicole Dean took that photo in Atlanta, the morning following the StomperNet Live 8 event at the Hyatt. We both stayed over, slept in, enjoyed a late breakfast and then had a coffee out on the patio.

It’s amazing how alike Nicole and I are, particularly in goals and values. Many of our conversations over the weekend were about our families, our futures and our goals.

She’s been to my home, we’ve met each others children, and I’ve been lucky to count her as a close friend after we met online through our blogs.

One of the things we really have in common is a deep appreciation for our lifestyle, and the quality time that we each have with our children.

We both make a very good living online, really enjoy the work that we do, and focus on creating passive streams of income. We are living the dream.

Is it Ferrari’s and mansions and hot babes on the beach? No. It’s hanging out with our kids by the pool on a weekday, an afternoon hike to Burgess Falls with a friend, traveling, making friends all over the world, and basically living a life we could only dream of back when we held 9-to-5 jobs.

All that without worrying about how we’re going to pay the bills. Instead, our creative brain power goes into the next cool idea to make more money online.

My personal goals are simple: I am on a continuing mission to simplify my life, and grow my business. I’ve made incredible progress on that over the last couple of years, and I am loving the results.

It’s not as easy as it sounds. More often than not growing your business only makes your life more complex. Or simplifying could easily mean scaling back your business. For me it’s all about striking that perfect balance.

While I’m sure that everyone dreams about winning the lottery or striking it rich, I would guess that most people would be truly happy to live a meaningful and rewarding life – with more time, more money… and less stress.

That’s exactly what Nicole and I have both achieved. And we’re not the only ones – there are thousands of people out there who have made a dramatic lifestyle change, and thousands more who are steadily working towards that goal.

We did it, so can you.

Nicole had some boring bank job before she started working online. I was a grossly underpaid Unix Sys Admin in a small town. I’m a single mother, and her husband went through several lay offs. We are two very normal women, with very normal lives, who each worked very hard to make it happen.

I wish I could find pictures of “my past life” to share with you for comparison in this post… but just imagine a totally stressed out, over-worked, under-paid, completely broke and exhausted woman. That was me. I never had enough time for my children, much less myself. It’s a sharp contrast to the life I am living now…

I know a lot of people think I must be just plain “lucky”, or that I’m the exception to the rule when it comes to success with online business. The truth is that I worked hard to claim more than a dozen years of successfully working from home, and creating my income from a home office.

Even though I know firsthand that it was no easy ticket for me personally, and that there are plenty of others out there doing the same… there is something powerful about meeting one of those people face to face and getting that confirmation.

I really liked Cynthia’s tweet that “a picture is worth a thousand blog posts”. For years now I have shared tips and resources, and hopefully some inspiration, to help you find your passion and create a profitable home business. But Cynthia is right – the photos really do say it all.

I’ve always said if I can do this, so can you. Now you have double inspiration. I did it. Nicole did it. There’s nothing stopping you from having a successful online business too.

How we do it…

It’s not all patios and waterfalls, of course. I’m sure you’ve discovered by now that working at home is still work. The main difference is that you can set up passive income streams, and you can earn much more money for your time by setting up systems that continue to work even while you’re out enjoying your life.

And that’s exactly what we do.

Nicole did a guest series here a couple of weeks ago where she shared some of those systems in detail. If you haven’t had opportunity to read that series, you’ll find it below – or if you did, you may want to go back over it one more time.

We both use these methods – repurposing content, using PLR (private label rights), setting up email autoresponder series, creating short reports – just as an example of some of the things that make up our passive income. Things that increase traffic and sales whether we are sitting at our computers… or hiking through Cumberland Caverns with our kids.

Here are the links to Nicole’s 5-part series:

• Email Marketing: E-courses Make it Easier
• Promoting Your E-courses
• Re-purposing Content & Creating Buzz
• Planning One Project Ahead
• Two Secret Strategies…

No matter what level you are on, it pays to get aligned with people who have similar goals, and to continue learning and growing. Nicole is brilliant, and she is one of those people that truly inspire me. I wanted to share that with you here too, the best I can with text & pictures, and really encourage you to go for your dreams!

It’s definitely worth it.

Best,

p.s. You’ll find Nicole Dean online at http://nicoleonthenet.com and @NicoleDean on Twitter. Be sure to follow her there as she continues to share her tips & methods.

If you have questions, or need help with anything along the way, sign up as a free member at my Internet Marketing Forum. I check in there daily and I’d be happy to help you start or grow your online business.

Today, we’re on day 5 of this series, and I’m going to wrap up with two more ideas (one of which is a big secret).

But, first, if you missed any of the past 4 posts, you can catch up here:

So far I’ve chatted about…

1. Basics of an Ecourse.

2. Getting People Excited about your Ecourse by Making it  a Valuable Bonus.

3. Promoting your Ecourse by Repurposing one Message and Clever Ways to Create Buzz.

4. Planing a Project Ahead.

Now, this next strategy that I’m sharing today is a BIG secret, so don’t go telling, ok?

In a few of my ecourses, I put up a squeeze page and then post every message to a hidden page in a folder on that website rather than delivering the messages in email.

The page that I send my readers to may look something like this: http://bit.ly/lkUOP

As you see, I send people to this page from my ecourse so that they can learn more about using PLR and how to choose a quality PLR provider. By posting the bulk of the message on my site, rather than sending it via email, it helps me get past the SPAM filters, since my messages are shorter, and it enables me to track results better by using Google Analytics.

But, that’s not the coolest part.

I link to every one of my ecourse lessons from other places to alert the search engines to index them. In fact, in one of my ecourses, the entire site is “hidden” behind a squeeze page, except that it’s really not.

So, I actually get search engine traffic to my meaty ecourse lessons because the search engines index all of my pages. In fact, I get a lot more traffic to my interior pages than I do my main squeeze page, thanks to the search engines. Of course, I have a signup box on the bottom of each page that says “If you found this message, you’re in luck. You can get access to an entire series of tips entitled (insert title) just like this one at (insert URL).”

Of course, you’d want to test the effectiveness of that method to see if you get the same conversion by sending your readers to a web page rather than sending them the entire message via email verses sending them a pdf with the info in it. What works for me may not work as well for you and vice versa. Or you may choose to do all of the above. (A prime example of repurposing at its finest.)

See? There are lots of ways to get subscribers to sign up for your ecourse.

One last idea for you before I wrap up this series.

This one may get me some backlash, but we shall see.

This last idea involves using a tool. My opinion is that any tool can be used for good or for bad.

Used properly, it can be a great asset to your online business.

Used improperly, you’ll look like a jerk.

So, you’ve been forewarned.

If you have kids, you know that a Barbie Doll can be held as a baby or as a sword. A carrot can be used by one child to poke the other in the eye. So, it’s not the carrot that’s evil, but rather how it’s used. So, use this tool wisely or I’ll send an evil carrot after you? I’m not sure where that was going…

The tool that I’d like to talk about is Comment Relish. What it does is to enable you to send a one-time email to a new commenter on your blog to thank that person for commenting.

Is it like the Twitter DM’s that we all hate? I don’t believe so, because there is more room to offer value.

Of course, again, you can use this tool to either look like a jerk, or to offer value and win over a new fan. A proper message might look like this one. I’ll draft it up for Lynn. (This is me writing it, not her, so forgive me if it doesn’t sound Lynn-ish enough for you.)

———————-

Thank you for posting your thoughts on my blog. I’m happy that you found me and I hope that you enjoyed your visit at Clicknewz.com.

I’d really be interested in hearing what your #1 concern is with growing your online business. Please click “reply” and let me know. While I can’t personally reply to all questions, I will certainly answer many of the questions on my blog as I can get to them.

Here are some “Hot Topics” from my blog that others have asked about:

http://www.clicknewz.com/hot-marketing-topics/

Be sure to come back soon. I’d love to hear more from you.

Warmly,
Lynn Terry, ClickNewz.com

PS. Here are some additional resources that are popular with my readers. They are all free.

This is a report entitled “10 Proven Ways to Earn $10K/Month”. I’ve reviewed several of the ideas in the report as you’ll see when you go to this page.

http://www.clicknewz.com/1892/10-ways-to-make-money-online/

If you’re just getting started with your List Building, you’ll truly benefit from this free report from one of my favorite teachers, Jimmy D. Brown:

http://www.clicknewz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/6steps-_to_6figures.pdf

You are also welcome to check out out my free weekly webinars where I teach specific marketing strategies:

http://www.selfstartersweeklytips.com/webinars.htm

I also welcome you to join my active discussion forum and learn from other marketers:

http://www.selfstartersweeklytips.com/members/

And, yes, of course you may share the links above with your friends. I don’t mind one bit.

Best wishes in your online endeavors!

———————-

As you can see, the email shouldn’t feel like ME, ME, ME! It’s about how Lynn can help her new guest. And, in the list of free offers, there are a few opportunities for her to grow her list. (Signing up for the webinars, the sign-up form on her blog, and the forum link where they’d need to sign-up to participate.)

Now, just to be clear, I’m not saying to add the person to any lists automatically. I’m including an invitation at the end of the email to him or her to check out resources. Big difference.

Well, that wraps up my week here. I hope that you’ve enjoyed this series and are thinking of ways to profit from ecourses. I love my automated income and hope that you discover the wonders of passive profits, too.

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

To keep in touch with me, sign up for email notifications on my blog & podcast. Thanks!

The topic of this series is Easy List Profits for Busy Marketers.

 We’ve been talking about how wonderful ecourses are. (Specifically using an autoresponder to send a series of messages that your readers are hungry to receive.)

Lynn asked me to talk this week about how to promote your ecourse without using Adwords. So, that’s what I’ve been talking about. (She IS the boss here, you know.)

So far I’ve chatted about…

1. Benefits and Basics of an Ecourse.

2. How to Get People Excited about your Ecourse by Making it Appear as a Valuable Bonus.

3. Promoting your Ecourse by Repurposing one Message and/or Cleverly Creating Buzz.

Today we’ll get a little more advanced. (Do let me know if you have questions.)

First of all, before working on your ecourse, you’ll want to plan at least your next project ahead of time, preferably planning two or three projects ahead.

I’ll use an example to illustrate today’s strategy.

Lets say that my ecourse is called “Get a Blog Up and Earning Money in 7 Steps”.

What do I do with it to build my list? I’ll give you half of the scoop today and half tomorrow in my wrap-up, ok?

After I finish creating my “Get a Blog Up and Earning Money in 7 Steps” ecourse, let’s say that I’ve decided to put another one together called “How to Get Traffic to Your Money-Making Blog” but with a catchier title than that.

So, I’d take my first ecourse, and turn it into a .pdf  report using Adobe or Open Office (which is free).

I like to give away a pdf version of my ecourse on the last day of the ecourse, so that anyone who missed parts of the course can download the entire piece – plus, they may print it out and read it later. (Sneaky, eh?)

But, how does this help to grow your list? Simple. Inside the pdf report, you’ll promote your NEXT ecourse. Got it?

Are you following me? Now, what do you do with the pdf that you’ve created? Oh goodness, that’s another entire series of guest blog posts, but here are some quick ideas…

• Scribd.com – submit it there.
• Search google for “free ebooks submit” for places where you can submit your free report.
• Add it to your own membership site.
• Offer it to others to add to their membership sites.
• Offer resale rights to it and let people sell it on their sites.

I have a list of places that I make sure all of my free reports end up. Those are just a few to get you started.

When you heard I was guest blogging about getting people to sign up for your ecourse, you probably thought I was just going to tell you to post about your ecourse on Twitter & message boards. Surprised?

Recommended Resource:

If you’re not yet familiar with the power of using Small Reports (7-15 page pdfs) for profit, be sure to check out the free report here: Small Reports Fortune.

Big hint! Sign up for the free report and study the follow-up messages. From the Subject Lines through the PS. – each message is a lesson in email marketing.

I hope this is getting your wheels turning…

Warmly,
Nicole Dean
My Online Success Blog & Podcast

Follow us on Twitter: Nicole Dean & Lynn Terry <– We’re kind of cool.

The topic of this series is Easy Ecourse Profits for Busy Marketers.

We’ve covered a lot of ground this week, and I sure hope your brain is swelling with ideas. I’ve got two more for you today.

Repurpose your First Message.

I’m a huge fan of repurposing your content. I write something once and use it over and over again, if possible. And, I recommend that you do the same.

For instance, in your new ecourse, if you’ve written it yourself, why not use the first message in your ecourse to draft an article that you can submit to the article directories? If the ecourse is written in a series, then the logical thing to do would be to share that first message as much as possible – and encourage people to sign up for your ecourse at the end of the article.

People really get uncomfortable when they don’t finish something. I know, for me, eating half a plate of food is nearly unbearable. I want to finish it! Plus, we all like samples. Picture walking through the food court in the mall and someone offers you a taste of curry chicken. You’ll take it and want to dive in for more. Hmm… I must be getting hungry for dinner with all this talk of food.

So, use those two things to your advantage.

Submit one or more of the ecourse lessons (or messages) to the article directories. In your author bio, say “This is just one way you can lose 5 lbs in a week (and it’s not even my best tip). To get totally free access to six more ways to lose weight without going hungry in the process, go to (insert your URL here).” Easy as pie.

Create Something Buzz-Worthy.

I’ll give you one more way that I’ve used to get subscribers… (Click through all 15 of the comics below.)

If that just flew right over your head, let me know. I’m on day two of a migraine, so my poor head is feeling bleh. I’ll be happy to clarify if anything is unclear.

Now, I’m off to bed. Hope you enjoyed this!

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

PS. Remember, you’ve got to comment to win prizes…

Also, if you enjoyed this post, I’d really appreciate some Twitter & StumbleUpon love. Thank you!

Yesterday, I chatted about the importance of having a list, but, more importantly the ease of setting up an ecourse. I’m a busy mom and enjoy travel. I go the easy route whenever I can. I count on my autoresponder to keep my business running whether I’m watching karate practice or reading bedtime stories.

If you missed the first post in this series, you can catch up here:  Easy Email Marketing for Busy Marketers

More Praise for Ecourses.

Here’s another reason why ecourses are wonderfully profitable – List Segmenting.

When done correctly an ecourse can help you to segment (and therefore, better serve) your list members. Therefore, when you set up your ecourse, you should be highly targeted in what you’re offering and to whom.

Untargeted Example (Don’t do this!)
I have a mailing list that I set up back in 2005 for work at home moms. Honestly, I never know what to send them. Do they want affiliate marketing info? Traffic generation tips? Content ideas? Infoproduct advice? It’s very hit-and-miss and I never quite feel like I’m able to build the type of relationship that I’d like to build with that list.

I also hear this from mom bloggers all the time. They start a site for moms, and then their lists don’t convert into money. Why? Because it’s very hard to write an email that resonates well with both moms of toddlers who need potty training advice and moms who are interested in helping their teens get through the teen years with their self-esteem in tact. You’d be all over the place, and couldn’t possibly help OR sell very well to either group.

Very targeted Example
Jimmy D. Brown’s PLR Special Offers list is highly responsive. (I know that because I’m his affiliate manager.) The site is simply an autoresponder series that sends special offers about quality internet marketing PLR reports and articles. Easy peasy.

If that sounds interesting to you, you can sign up free here: PLR Special Offers.

Big Tip! Make your Ecourse Appear to Be a Highly Valuable Gift.

Today we’ll move on to a few of the many ways to promote your ecourses, but first, I’ll share a big hint.

Set up a squeeze page for your ecourse on a hidden page of your website. This is handy for referring people to your ecourse as a bonus or freebie. Just be sure to name it something enticing – not www.yourdomain.com/ecourse.html

Name it www.yourdomain.com/gift or www.yourdomain.com/special so that it appears to have more value.

Other hints:

• Include a graphic representation for the ecourse or a special report that people will get when they sign up.
• Show a dollar value for every item that your list members will receive.
• Add testimonials to your squeeze page for your ecourse or for anything that you’ve done that’s relevant.

Then, once you have that set up on a hidden page, you can give the ecourse away as a bonus.

Where can you give away this new bonus of yours?

• When you are interviewed on podcasts, teleseminars, and webinars. During the interview, refer people to the free gift that they can receive just for being on the call.
• In your author bio in articles that you write. This is a great strategy to getting people to click through your author bio for their valuable freebie.
• Inside videos that you submit to YouTube. Offer the free ecourse as your call-to-action in the video.
• Mention the free gift inside all pdf reports that you create.
• Include the gift as a bonus for customers who purchase your products.
• And, of course, mention it during your other ecourses. While I don’t encourage you to automatically sign your readers up for info they didn’t sign up for, you can let them know about your other ecourses as they wrap up the one they’re reading.

Those are just a few ideas off the top of my head.

Picture a spider web. You know how all of the lines cross over each other? Your ecourses and offers should look like that. Lead your visitors from one piece of valuable content to another. (Note again: “Valuable”) Your readers should always feel like you’re overdelivering and be excited about your next ecourse/offer/etc.

Reminder: Resources to Learn More.

Did you read these yet? They won’t do you any good on your hard drive. (hint, hint)

How to Create an Ecourse in One Day

6 Steps to 6 Figures with List Marketing

I’ll be back tomorrow with more.

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

Hi. I’m Lynn’s friend, Nicole Dean. As Lynn mentioned yesterday, I’ll be a Guest Blogger here this week, writing a series about email marketing.

Here’s the scoop. I’m doing a Summer Blog Tour. I’m kind of like Aerosmith, but with less rock and more marketing. I started this blog tour in early June and will wrap up the last week of August. Each week, I head to a new blog and write a series about whatever marketing and online business topic the guest requests from my various areas of expertise.

Well, Lynn is my bud, but I was still afraid to ask her if I could include her blog on my tour. I mean, she’s THE Lynn Terry! I shouldn’t have worried, though, because she immediately agreed. (Don’t you just love her?! Me, too.)

I thought about which topic to write about for awhile, and then was inspired when Lynn posted about squeeze pages. She’d said that squeeze pages are an effective marketing technique, but that she didn’t like to rely upon Adwords for traffic and instead preferred free traffic from search engines. (Paraphrasing … Lynn, feel free to correct me.)

I replied that I love squeeze pages (preferably squeeze pages that promote ecourses) and that I benefit from them, but that I don’t send traffic with Adwords. Her reply was “We should talk about this.” I thought “BINGO!” – so this week, I’ll be talking about…

Ecourses + Traffic = Automated Income Streams

Let’s back up a bit. I barreled into the topic pretty quickly.

Essential Pieces of a Successful Online Business.

There’s no doubt that you’ll need a few important things to make money online. The bare minimum that you’ll need is…

1. A website or blog.

2. Offers that your visitors will be interested in buying so that you can make money. These can be either affiliate recommendations or your own offers.

3. An email list of some sort.

4. Lots of traffic.

That’s pretty straight-forward, right?

In this series, I’ll assume that you have #1 and #2.

So, we’ll focus on #3 and #4.

List Marketing for Busy People.

Now, I’m like most people – super busy. I run my own business, have 2 energetic and demanding kiddos, 2 absolutely nuts puppies, and a hubby who kinda likes me, too. Plus, if I don’t exercise… it’s not pretty, so I have to find time to do that, too. Did I mention that I homeschool my son and am involved in Girl Scouts? Yeah. Life moves at a fast pace around here.

So, I’m pretty limited in time when it comes to working on my online business. And, my lists are the area that I tend to let slip. Time just gets away from me.

What’s the solution for a busy person who wants to make sure her lists aren’t neglected? Well, my absolute favorite way is with an ecourse. It’s easy. It’s effective. And, by offering an ecourse, people expect you to follow up with them and watch for your messages. Because the messages are sent in a logical order, they tend to get opened and read.

Offering an ongoing newsletter is fine, if that’s what you prefer, but I’m busy and travel often, so having a weekly commitment isn’t something that I can find time to keep up with. That’s why I like the flexibility of an ecourse.

And, yes, you CAN do both.

Definitions of Squeeze Page & Ecourse.

Now, I’m mixing my topics here a bit because I’m referencing both Squeeze Pages and Ecourses. So, before I go farther, let me define both.

Squeeze Page: The purpose of a squeeze page is to “squeeze” your web visitors onto your email lists. You do this simply enough by offering something that’s valuable enough that a person would willingly trade their email address for it.

Examples: Small Reports Fortune by Jimmy D. Brown & Learn about Private Label Rights Content by me

Ecourse: An ecourse is a followup series of messages that is sent via autoresponder. If you sign up today, you’ll get message #1, whereas someone who signed up six months ago may be receiving message #30. The messages go out in order, with message #1 going first, whether you sign up today or next year.

Example:  Sales Army Secrets – You see the top of the page where it says “5 Practices of Wildly Profitable Affiliate Programs”? That’s a preloaded followup series. Good stuff. Sign up for it.

Yes, the squeeze page & ecourse can be combined and used together. In fact, that’s a highly effective strategy.

Setting up your Ecourse.

Back to your ecourse. You only need three things to set it up.

1. A website or blog. I’m assuming that’s something you already have.

2. An autoresponder. That handles all of your messages, making sure they are delivered in order, follows all SPAM laws and keeps things running for you while you’re on vacation.

3. Valuable Content. This is what we’ll talk about next. You obviously need a good topic and great info to keep people opening your messages.

I’m skimming over some of this quickly, but I have two resources at the end of this message where you can fill in some of the blanks if I’m moving too fast. And, of course, you may ask questions in the comments area below.

How to Find Content for Your Ecourse.

Need some help getting content for your ecourse? Here are a few ideas and resources for you.

Buy an ecourse. You can buy prewritten ecourses at Mostly Sane PLR if your niche is internet marketing.

Outsource an ecourse. Hire a Ghostwriter (or preferably a Copywriter) to write your ecourse for you.

Go Video. Record a video series if that’s easier for you. You can take existing videos that you have on YouTube.com and reuse them to create an ecourse. (Or even use mine and Lynn’s if you’d like: Nicole Dean videos | Lynn Terry videos)

Audio Ecourse. If you are more comfortable using audio, then record an audio series. You can even find free reprint audios like this one: Nicole Dean Free Reprint Audio

Short-cut with PLR. Grab some PLR articles and send one each week.

Expert Interviews. Schedule a series of expert interviews and use that as your followup.

Borrow content. Another option is to find affiliate programs that offer content that you can publish. Most of them will allow you to replace their links with your affiliate link for that program. A great place to start is www.FreeAffiliateArticles.com (articles that promote affiliate offers) and www.BrandableStuff.com (for top quality free reports, audios, and videos that you can send to your list ).

** Remember: You do not need to worry about duplicate content when working on your ecourse if all of the content is delivered via your autoresponder. You can publish other people’s content without worry.

Resources to Learn More.

Here are two very valuable resources for you to enjoy:

How to Create an Ecourse in One Day

6 Steps to 6 Figures with List Marketing

I’ll be back tomorrow with ideas for promoting your ecourse.

Warmly,
Nicole Dean

PS. At each stop on my tour, I randomly give away prizes to those who comment. Usually, you can win the report of your choice from SR Zone. (My favorite is Homepreneur Habits.)

Here is an example, so you can see what this chicklet looks like:

As you can see, it is meant to go below or near the subscription box, or opt-in form, and it looks very similar to the Feedburner chicklet that displays the current number of RSS subscribers on blogs:

They are called social proof chicklets because the idea is that a large display number will influence a visitors decision to also subscribe to the email list.

You may recall that Aweber and Feedburner recently integrated, so that the Feedburner chicklet now shows a combined number of RSS subscribers and email subscribers (if you use Aweber’s Blog Broadcast feature).

This new “social proof chicklet” released by Aweber is similar, but for traditional email newsletters or mailing lists – instead of blogs.

I havent had opportunity to give this a lot of thought just yet, but I’ll share some of my initial thinking. First, I’m not entirely sure that the number of subscribers would influence me personally when making the decision to subscribe to an email list. I’m also not sure I would want that to be the deciding factor for any of my visitors.

I do think this would be highly valuable when evaluating email lists for possible ad placement, joint ventures, affiliates, content submissions, etc. It could work very well in certain situations, no doubt. Very much the same as scouting blogs to submit guest blog posts or engage in cross blog conversations, based on their published subscriber count.

Still, its not the size of the list – but the relationship that publisher has with those subscribers, no matter the number. A mailing list with 600 subscribers could yield a higher ROI than one with 6,000 or even 60,000 subscribers for example. There are just too many variables at play.

As a side note, it might be fun to watch those chicklet numbers bounce on IM sites during heavy product launch periods

As much as this is a “social proof” tool its also about transparency, which is becoming quite a topic in marketing circles. Still, I’m not sure what true effect it has on visitors, or whether it influences their decisions at all. Ultimately, in my opinion, it boils down to great content and a strong call to action.

I would love to hear your thoughts. Would you use this chicklet? I’m curious what you feel the pros and cons would be of displaying your subscriber count…

Best,

I noticed this trend across the board while looking at stats for the first half of the year. Not just with one of my mailing lists, but with ALL of them. Its an official unsubscribe trend, as I’ve been hearing similar reports from other eBiz email publishers…

Not surprising considering the recent discussion on this across the blogosphere lately. The advice has been to unsubscribe from marketing pitches, and to only remain subscribed to content that you actually read and use.

Good advice, no doubt. I have said the same, and have even been unsubscribing from email lists at a higher rate than usual myself.

Also interesting to note is that in that same time frame, Twitter became the #1 referrer for new traffic to my blog. (You can see current stats here)

That may seem completely unrelated to the topic of list-building, but actually its not. Growing your “following” on Twitter is much the same as building your email list. You are still broadcasting to a group of people who opted in to receive your updates.

I’m not suggesting that you stop focusing on list-building, not by any means. But now, more than ever, it pays to look into social networking and the ways that you can integrate it into your marketing plan.

Social networking is a more personable, sociable style of marketing and includes being interactive on: niche blogs, social Q&A sites, internet talk radio shows, niche discussion forums, as well as sites like Twitter, MySpace & Facebook.

That is not to say that you should use social marketing strategies to replace email marketing or list-building, but rather use them to establish a more personal relationship with your target market.

People who meet you, like you, and have an interest in what you offer will follow your links and subscribe to your mailing list. Establishing that personal connection upfront will work to build a more loyal readership, which will ultimately result in less unsubscribes.

Obviously you have to continue building on that relationship through your email correspondence. But it is much easier to make a personal connection through social networking, than it is on a static opt-in page where you and your visitor ‘meet’ for the very first time.

With current market trends, it has become incredibly important to focus on building a loyal readership – rather than just a ‘large mailing list’. In fact, the numbers are not near as important as the quality of your relationship with each indvidual subscriber. Its not a numbers game anymore.

As for the high unsubscribe rate, I’ll also say that new subscriptions are at an all time high as well – specifically since I have been using social marketing strategies more heavily.

There are a lot of factors that can result in a high unsubscribe rate. One of the most common being that you arent offering your reader what you promised them when they subscribed. For example, if they opted in for free copywriting tips and you send them a high percentage of emails completely unrelated to copywriting.

But even with every consideration taken, top-notch publishers are affected by the current unsub trend. If you are experiencing the same, dont sweat the loss. Those who are unsubscribing from your mailing list are not the responsive sector of your list anyway.

In the meantime, consider the ways that you can build a more loyal readership, and a better relationship with your readers, by using social marketing strategies upfront.

Best,

p.s. The release of Aweber’s new Email Analytics package was perfect timing. Not only will the in-depth stats reveal who is unsubscribing – and why – but it will also allow you to craft individual, personalized messages to your readers.

The more I study current marketing trends, the more I see the value in what Aweber is offering…