Digital Marketing Guide for Authors & Online Entrepreneurs | Denise Wakeman

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The Top Two Reasons You’re Not Getting More Blog Subscribers

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I'm frequently asked this question… “what is the best way to get more blog subscribers?”

You probably already know having great content with compelling headlines, published frequently will help you increase the number of people who subscribe to your blog.

And there's a lot more you can do.

You may also know using email in conjunction with your blog is one of the best ways to get people to come back to your blog over and over again. If they love what you're writing about and it solves their problems, they'll subscribe to get your updates and return to read your articles. The biggest challenge though, is moving readers to become subscribers.

When I do blog audits, there are typically two big mistakes I see bloggers make:

1) They bury the subscription form too low on the blog's sidebar so few people see it

2) They don't ASK readers to subscribe

How to correct these two mistakes and increase your blog subscriber numbers:

  1. Put the email subscription form at or near the top of your sidebar so it's visible when the reader lands on your site. If you do nothing else, do this. You want the optin form visible “above the fold” and in a spot where eyes naturally move as your reader scans the page.
  2. Include a call to action with your optin form with a compelling reason to subscribe, like a free gift (see this post for ideas). Merely saying “Join my list” or “Subscribe to get updates” doesn’t cut it. Offer an incentive that’s too good for your reader to ignore.

Bonus tip for boosting your subscriber numbers

If your blog is built on WordPress, you can use a simple plugin called "What Would Seth Godin Do" to include a call to action on every blog post. The plugin displays a custom welcome message to new visitors and an alternate message to returning visitors. Use this plugin to invite new visitors to subscribe to get blog updates and to welcome back returning visitors, encouraging them to subscribe (if they haven’t already), comment and share your post.

You can customize each message and set how many times a visitor sees the "new visitor" message before it switches to the "returning visitors" message.

You can also set the location of the messages: at the top of the post or the bottom. I put it at the bottom (you can see it in action below) since I believe readers are more inclined to subscribe once they have read your content and determined it’s valuable enough to show up in their sacred inbox.

Since adding this plugin, I’ve seen a 15% increase in new blog subscribers. It takes a couple of minutes to install and customize and then you're good to go.

Remember…a highly visible email optin form and a compelling offer will increase the number of subscribers to your blog.

There are at least seven ways to optimize your blog to attract more subscribers. If you’d like to learn how to generate more leads and build your list with your blog, I have a special invitation for you. Join me for a 90-minute live webinar training program on how to optimize your blog to convert more readers to subscribers.  Learn more and register now. 

The Truth About List Building

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Six Figure List Building Program

The number one skill most everyone wants to perfect is list building. Not just building a list, but building what is known as a responsive list.

I am here to tell you it's possible!

The truth is you really CAN build a responsive, money-making subscriber list once and for all.

If you know where to get the right information you can build your list in record time. A list of people who are responsive and spend money.

Isn't that what everyone online wants to do? I know I do.

I have conversations with my clients nearly every day about how they can build responsive lists. [You know who you are!] After all it's futile to make an offer for your products and services if there's no one to send it to.

I was contemplating offering a short list building course before the end of the year, and then I received a note from my colleague Kathleen Gage letting me know she has a remarkable offer available on her Six Figure List Building Course.*

Kathleen has been making a great living online specifically because of her subscriber list for a long, long time. But list building is not just for online businesses. Every type of business needs a subscriber list.

Kathleen handpicked 14 global experts who all make a great living because of their subscriber lists. Their revenues range from six figure, multiple six figure and even seven figures. It's mind boggling what is possible with the right list.

Let me ask you this: if you could learn each expert's number one list building strategy what would that be worth to you?

To me, it would be worth a fortune.

Kathleen decided to make this so affordable that virtually anyone can get the Six Figure List Building Home Study course.

Right now you can get it for 67% off [$200] of the regular price. Act now because in a few days it goes back up to the regular price.

When you get the program you also get a bonus three-part training – Increase Your Revenues, Position and Expert Status Through the Power of Telesummits. [A highly effective way to grow your list.]

Claim your package right now.

By the way, when I reviewed the program, I noticed one thing missing… none of the experts talked about how to build a list of qualified leads with your business blog. So I’m going to fix that. When you invest in Kathleen’s program and forward a copy of your receipt to me, I’ll invite you to a complimentary private webinar on how to generate more leads and build your list with your blog. Use this link, claim your copy of the program and then forward your receipt to admin [at]denisewakeman.com to get your VIP invitation.

*Yes, I'm an affiliate for this program. I've known and partnered with Kathleen Gage for several years and personally know many of the experts who reveal their list building secrets in the Six Figure List Building Program. I only promote what I know to be top quality and will help you grow your business.

List Building Tip – Most LinkedIn Group Owners Miss This

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In previous posts about LinkedIn, I’ve written that hosting a LinkedIn Group is by far the best way to build a community, connect with potential new clients and drive more traffic back to your blog. And there’s one more thing (at least).

LinkedIn Groups can be a great source of new subscribers for your blog or email list. But, most Group owners/managers miss this one key place to encourage new subscribers…

[NOTE: this is an evergreen tactic. I checked the steps in March 2015 and they are still correct. ~ Denise] [Read more…]

List Building Tip: Reward Your Blog Subscribers

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How to build an email list

Are you building your list of blog subscribers? No doubt you've heard that list building is a critical strategy for building your business. And there are many tactics you can employ to grow your list.

Back in the olden days of the Internet (I got started in 1996!), your list meant your database of subscribers to your electronic newsletter (ezine). Now, there are many kinds of lists that comprise your business universe: your customer list, ezine list, special reports lists, twitter followers (yes, that's a list of people in your world), Facebook friends, Facebook "likers" (fans), LinkedIn connections, YouTube channel subscribers and of course your blog subscribers.

I think many bloggers neglect their readers. They offer an RSS feed on their blog but don't offer an email subscribe option. Did you know that most blog readers still prefer email over RSS? I do. And I consider myself to be a tech savvy, sophisticated blog reader. I realized a while back that though I subscribe to blogs with Google Reader, the blogs for which I receive email updates are the ones I read the most consistently.

In just about every presentation or teleseminar or blog review I do, I talk about the fact you must have an email subscribe option on your blog. Otherwise you're neglecting a lot of people who may want to stay on top of what you're writing.

There are several options for offering an email subscribe option. I use Feedblitz (fee) and have since it was launched in 2005. There's also Feedburner (free) and Aweber (fee), the autoresponder service, offers an RSS to email option for blogs.

How do you get readers to subscribe?

Like building an ezine list, it helps to offer an "ethical" bribe – a gift in exchange for subscribing to your blog. For example, when you subscribe to Build A Better Blog, or any of my blogs, you get a gift. Sometimes it's access to a teleseminar recording or a transcript of a program I normally sell.

Feedblitz makes this really easy to do. They have an option to create an automated message that goes to your new subscriber as soon as they confirm their subscription. In that message you can provide a link to a page where they can download their gift. You can also set up the subscribe system to redirect to a download page as soon as they confirm. I recommend doing both as a way of ensuring they get their gift.

I also like Feedblitz because I can fully customize the template for the email my readers receive with their updates so it's branded with my blog banner and other information or marketing messages.

You can set up a similar process with Aweber through their autoresponder function.

However, Feedburner is not quite as sophisticated. You can set up for notifications to pull your logo into the email, and you could add a link to a download page in the confirmation email that subscribers get before they actually confirm. I couldn't find any way to redirect to a special page or send a follow up email.

Where there's a will, there's a way. With so many sites and so much content competing for your readers' attention, anything you can do to show appreciation for their subscription will help. You want readers to subscribe because those subscribers are the ones who will return time after time to read your words of wisdom. They are the ones who build a deeper, more intimate connection with you. They are also the ones who drive more traffic to your blog by "liking" and sharing your content. A little reward can go a long way.

Are you rewarding your blog subscribers? If so, what is your system or process? What do you give your readers when they subscribe? Please share your tips in the comments! 

Want to learn more about how to build a big, responsive list? Join me at the Irresistible List Building Summit – Version 2.0. I’ll be speaking in this virtual event so be sure and catch my exclusive interview:

Harness the Power of Your Blog: How to Easily Generate More Leads Every Day
 
There are 17 more top heart-based marketing experts in the summit, including Robert Allen, Maria Andros, Lisa Sasevich, Kendall Summerhawk, Christian Mickelson, Christine Kloser, Adam Urbanski, Milana Leshinsky, Vrinda Normand and more…
 
The Summit is free and begins on March 13.  Register now and reserve your free spot!

Zero to Email List in 10 Days [review]

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How to build an email list

Hot on the heels of the four part series on list builiding, this guest post by Sarah Arrow seemed appropriate to feauture. Sarah posted a comment in one of the list building articles and mentioned a WordPress plugin she had been using to quickly build a list on her blog. I checked out the plugin, WP Subscribers, and was impressed with the depth of options. It's now on my list to get and test.

Then, Sarah submitted this guest post, reviewing several pop-up list builiding plugins and I decided immediately that you could benefit from this information. Now before you get crazy on me, I know that pop-ups are controversial, and they work, so read with an open mind, check out the different options and then decide. Some of the plugins can be used in multiple ways and you do not have to implement the pop-up option.

Zero to Email List in 10 Days

If you are just starting out blogging or waking up to the the power of having an email list then this post is for you. Back in the summer I realised that my personal blog was growing fast and I actually needed to have an email list to support my blogging and maintain relations with my readers.

I did a little research and decided that as blogging is a business – it costs me time and effect to create useful blog posts.  I needed to grow my email list with more than a half-hearted effort. I decided that I would use a pop-up to capture the data as I had read that they were the most effective list building tools. I know not everyone likes them and some people are Pop-Up blind and just automatically close them but they still work, so I'd give them a try. At the very least I'd have enough research and testing to be able to write blog post about them.

[Read more…]