Whether youve got 100 or 100,000 people on your email list, chances are you can optimize your web page to better feature and promote your ezine. Heres a few ways to capture more customers and leads - without having to increase your traffic.
Give Something (Or a Few Things Away)
Studies show that most people will only subscribe to about a dozen email lists at a time, and given the number of lists out there, youve got to seriously compete for your customers email address. Giving away free bonuses is a great way to push you over the edge.
A few things you can give away are:
Free ebooks. This is a strategy many marketers use - and its a little worn out. Not just any free ebook will do anymore. Still use it, but make sure your ebook is something your customers crave. Ebooks like 10 Easy Ways to Make Your Skin Look Younger and 7 Ways Moms Can Make Money On Ebay Today will get you a ton of email sign-ups.
Free courses. This is a lot like the free ebook strategy, except you break up your course into a sequence using an autoresponder. This works well if you want to be in constant contact with your prospect for a few days or weeks.
Exclusive coupons. If youre in the retail or service business, offer up a few exclusive coupons for list members. Make them little bonuses (like a free handbag with a clothing purchase of over $100 - or free facial with any cut and color). 10% off isnt likely to make your customer jump - but a free goodie will.
A birthday offer. This works especially well for restaurants, womens retail, and travel. Invite visitors to join your birthday club - and in return give them a free meal, little gift, or night at your B&B on their birthday.
Write a Killer Headline
Having no headline for your ezine ad is a mistake many new marketers make - but bad headlines can be almost as damaging. Join Our Email List or Get Site Updates just doesnt cut it anymore. Your headline needs to have a strong call to action or benefit. Heres a few excellent examples:
Free 7 Day Course - How to Lose Weight Without Carb Restriction
Win $10,000 and Your Dream Vacation
Free Google Adwords Tip of the Day, Plus Free Top Google Strategies Ebook
Have a Compelling Name for Your Email List or Ezine
Selling discount designer handbags Call your list the Chic Yet Cheap Club. Advertising your day spa Call your ezine Ultra-Relax VIP Circle
Most people are members of enough email lists, discussion groups, and ezines. However, they always seem to want to join more clubs and VIP groups.
Give a Bullet List of Benefits
No matter how good your copy is, the fact remains that surfers scan. By outlining your benefits in a bulleted list, youll grab wandering eyes - and summarize your case nicely. Heres a sample bulleted list for a local Italian restaurant.
Why arent people signing up to your list That little nagging voice in their head wondering if youll spam them, if youll email them to much, if the emails will be boring. A short list of objection killers can take care of this nicely. Heres an example.
Make sure you do include a short version of your privacy policy in your list, with a link to your full privacy policy on a separate page. More and more surfers are looking for privacy policies every day.
Provide a Sample Email or Two
If the emails you send out are content filled and well written, by all means show a couple of them off. A lot of ezines are boring, poorly written, or worse, just blatant ads. If you show surfers that your emails are worthwhile, theyll be much more likely to sign up.
Make Your Ezine Ad Standout
Many marketers take the time to set up an email list, write the issues, and then bury or hide the sign up box.
Feature your sign up box as prominently as possible, using bright colors (Im partial to a yellow background).
Include a photo in your ad when relevant. Diet ezine Show a woman satisfied with her fit body. Parenting advice Happy moms with their kids.
Experiment with the size and location of your sign up box. Does it work best on the side, above the fold Or in the middle of an article Usually bigger is better when it comes to ads - but test unusual shapes (like a square or long rectangle) as well,
Dont Ask Them to Join or Subscribe
You can make your submit button say whatever you want, so why not re-enforce your marketing message with a strong call to action Get Your VIP Coupons or Download 7 Easy Ways To Look Younger
(c) 2003
About The Author
Cynthia King, runs shelikesmoney.com a free marketing resource site for female business owners and entrepreneurs. To find more free articles like these, visit:
Want to use this article Youre welcome to reprint this article on your web site, in your ezine, or in your ebook as long as it is in its entirety (including the copyright, author bio, and web site link).
Name: Nicholas John Martin aka Nick Martin
Age: 24
Residence: Copenhagen, Denmark (Europe)
Business name: LifeStyleNetworker
Business address:
Business description: Free lead generation and list building system with inbuilt email capabilities.
Q) First of all, can you tell us how you got started in internet marketing and what sparked off Life Style Networker
A) I first got started with Internet Marketing in May 2000 when I was using the internet to search for a job in the US. Ive always wanted to visit America and try it out for size. One day I fell over an ad with the headline Earn $50.000 in 90 days and thought hell yeah!
I knew absolutely nothing about the internet at that time. I had just got my first email address lol. So I pursued the idea of earning $50.000 in 90 days and all I had to do was buy 4 reports and resell them ... The first report told me I had to bulk mail loads of email addresses, so I started searching for a way to do that.
I got enrolled into the Internet Marketing Warriors looking for a bulk emailer software. It was there I met my first sponsor Quentin Brown and thats when I learned that harvesting emails and bulk mailing was a no no in Internet Marketing.
From there I started my learning curve. I read everything I could get my hands on and started building my first website. I cant quite remember how I learned about Surf4Hits programs, but it was at that moment I knew they were the key to my traffic problems!
At that time there were only a handful of them out there so I joined them all and started surfing like mad.
After some time I thought to myself that there had to be a clever way of advertising these Surf4Hits, so one could build a decent downline in them. And thats how I started thinking about LifeStyleNetworker.
Q) And how long did it take to take it from the idea stage to reality
A) Well the first version was actually called TTAN (TheElite-TeamUp Advertising Network) and it took me a few days to get the first script I had working like I wanted it to.
From there it has been a steady development and lots of changes have been made to get the LSN we see today. I like to think of LSN as my little baby lol. Always tinkering with the site and coming up with new ideas for it.
Q) Give us an example of a specific challenge you encountered in the beginning stages of Life Style Networker. How did you overcome it
A) My members have definitely helped me a lot! When I was running TTAN, I soon after learned of a site called MoneyLegs and started working that program. I could see that Doug (the owner) had a much more advanced software and I couldnt keep up with such a competitor.
That was the time when I decided to let TTAN go and asked all my members at that time to join me in MoneyLegs.
The response to that really took me by surprise! So many people emailed me and wanted me to continue what I was doing. There were also some who wanted to take over the site. Thats when I realized how much people liked my idea.
So thanks to my founding members support, I decided to drop TTAN and go even bigger and started work on LifeStyleNetworker :)
Q) What are your day to day responsibilities
A) Emails! I answer support emails and post in my support forum. I wish more members would use the forum, but I guess its much easier to email Nick :)
Q) What aspects of running your own business do you enjoy the most
A) When I receive PayPal payment Notifications . We must admit thats a good feeling, but to be perfectly honest what I really enjoy is when I get thank you emails from my members.
Thats when I really feel like Im making a difference and helping others. Of course the money is great, but there is nothing like thank you emails :)
Q) And which do you enjoy the least
A) Hmm, thats a good question. I really love running my own business, but there are always some emails that I just dont get answered immediately. The days when I open my inbox and see a lot of unanswered emails, thats probably what I enjoy the least.
Q) Why do you favour using traffic exchanges as one of the main Life Style Networker promotional techniques
A) Because they work! Simple as that :) There is no one in the whole world that can show me a better way to generate free traffic to a webpage - period!
Surf4Hits programs really work if you know how to work them and whats even better you get results immediately. Surf 100 sites and you will see your hit counter going up almost immediately.
Q) Where do you see Life Style Networker 5 years from now
A) The whole idea of LifeStyleNetworker is showing ordinary people how to get started with building their lists of contacts for free. In 5 years time thats exactly what LSN will be doing.
I will keep my eyes and ears open for any new free traffic generators that come along and will incorporate them into LSN. I will never put a price tag on LSN and it will always be free to use for members.
Q) How do you handle stress What do you do to unwind
Hehe ... stress whats that I love to play golf and have been playing for 8 years now. Thats really my passion and my goal in life is to be able to play anywhere in the world I like.
When I feel like unwinding I go to the golf course or driving range and hit a load of balls :)
Q) What advice would you give to someone reading this whod like to start their own online business program
A) I would say that if they feel strongly enough about it then just do it and see it as a vehicle for developing their skills. Dont expect to be a pro or even act as one. Be professional but be personal.
I see too many program owners being all administrative and hiding behind admin emails. Dont be afraid to show that you are a real person - after all thats who we like working with the best.
Oh and a shameless plug here at the end, they might want to take a look at for a cool software to help them ;)
Q) What personal qualities do you feel an internet marketer needs in order to succeed
A) Three words: Persistence - Patience - Dedication!
Thats what it takes to conquer the world. Any of us who have these three qualities will see success no matter how we pursue it.
About The Author
Ofa Morgan is the owner of Blue Moon Offers, a site where you can win a prize for your complaints. Find out how by visiting: . Paul Penafiel is a die hard Life Style Networker. To learn winning surf4hits strategies while building your list of contacts at the same time. please go to: .