Yesterday I was coaching a client who presented me with a
not-very-unique problem. We'd just put the finishing touches on
her website and blog, and were about to embark on promoting her
new workshop series.
"Just one problem," she said. "I have absolutely no one to
promote them to." "Well, surely you have someone - like maybe a
thousand? Or 500?" I asked hopefully. "Nope," she replied. "I
have ... like, zero." Wow. OK, I thought, let's just put
together some speedy and highly visible ways to get folks on
your list. And as I thought about it, a number of excellent ways
leapt to mind.
Here's my foolproof way to build your list to thousands in a
relatively short time. (But you do have to do these steps ...
like, REALLY, honestly do them ... or it won't work.)
1. Get a kick-ass bonus. There's just no other way to put it.
Your bonus has to be something everybody wants and simply can't
resist. Mine for this newsletter used to be a list of '25 Top
Self Help Literary Agents'. Which worked pretty well, except
that this limited my market to self help authors. Then I changed
it to the more general 'Suzanne's Top 50 Media & Publishing
Contacts' and that works MUCH better. If folks want your bonus,
they'll also get your ezine - because you'll be adding them to
your list.
2. Hold a contest. Last spring I doubled my list and my web
visitors by inviting 12 partners to help me put a $4500
Marketing Makeover contest. They all got lots of exposure, and I
got lots of entries - almost 1500. And you can bet every one of
those entrants got on my ezine list as well. I let them know
that joining was the 'price' of entering the contest. And they
were happy to do so!
3. Announce your contest or other ezine give-away event on
prweb.com or any other press release submission service on the
Web. But be sure to only plant press releases that are truly
newsworthy, and thus likely to get press attention. Even if the
media don't use your words this time, they'll hopefully file you
as an expert for future use. 4. Give away a bonus for other
sites to use based on your ezine. A popular web marketing
technique is the special one or two-day promo that offers big
bonus lists when you buy a certain product on those particular
days. So collect some of your best ezine essays, pack 'em up in
a downloadable PDF-based e-book, and offer it as a bonus these
sites can use in their special promos. Don't forget juicy
descriptive copy about your ezine, and a subscribe link at the
end of your e-book. I've gotten hundreds of new readers this
way, and plenty of hits on my sites. 5. Sponsor other people's
contests. Give away copies of your bonus (and ezine) to
pertinent groups, contests, and conferences that request it,
regardless of size. (Make sure their target market matches
yours.) Simply run an announcement in your ezine that you'd be
happy to sponsor comparable events. Ask them to provide a URL
for an event description so you know it's legit. Then offer up
your gifts, and ask for a plug for your ezine on their site and
in their materials (i.e. handouts, goodie bags, etc.) and for
them to talk up your dazzling freebie, as well. 6. Give away
something totally unique in your content. Who's not covering
something important in your world? (And remember, your ezine can
be really short.) One of my favorites - at tut.com(Totally
Unique Thoughts) - is only a few sentences long. But it's got
GREAT pass-along value, and has a huge list of 40,000 because of
it. Think about what info you could offer that would REALLY
motivate folks to forward the email to friends. And make sure
your 'Join Here' info is really prominent in each email. 7.
Brevity is key. As Tut.com proves, brevity is key. Make sure
your ezine doesn't blab on forever but is so pungent, and boiled
down to the essence that in our time-pressed era, anyone can
make time for it.
8. Feature the bonus attached to your ezine in all of your email
signatures. Again and again and again. And be sure to make it
sound tantalizing AND hyperlink it. And while you're at it, load
the graphic of that bonus up high on the typelist (margins) of
your blog with a direct link to sign up.
9. Consider Google Adwords or other pay-per-click search engine
listings. Google's got the biggest, and for many categories, the
most expensive ads but you can't beat the traffic. (There's some
great information on how to manage this business at
perrymarshall.com/google for free pointers on how to use Google
Adwords effectively.)
©2005 Suzanne Falter-Barns LLC.
About the author:
Download Suzanne's free list of 50 Top Publishing & Media
contacts at
www.getknownnow.com . Drop by her blog at
http://www.painlessselfpromotion for almost daily tips on how to
get known now ... the easy way!
