Work Better, Not Harder

You've got your first lead magnet all ready to go and you've got a great landing page for it. You're anticipating a rush of new visitors to download your giveaway and discover how valuable your small business might be to them. If sending a series of promotional emails is the next step in your plan, did you tell subscribers to expect that? Near your sign-up form, you have to tell people what they're opting in to - the general content of the emails and the frequency - to be compliant with CASL (and other regulations). No one opts in to receive a series of promotional emails.  So how can you legitimately build your list and then get people's attention? Your best option is to opt new subscribers into regular, valuable content. Build the relationship over time and then send promotional emails based on the subscriber's interest and interaction with your content. Give subscribers opportunities to express their interest with call-to-action buttons and links. T...

Every time I do online research, I find broken things. I'm curious; I like to see how things work. And it's quite amazing how many times I find things that don't work, or don't work well. I'm not just talking about small business websites - even big brands fail sometimes. The thing is, big brands usually have a reputation which leads people to forgive or ignore more easily. I've written before about how important it is to audit your website at least quarterly. (I pay someone to do it for me and it's well worth it.) If you haven't done a website audit recently, now is a great time. Here are a handful of specific things to check. Is your website doing these things well? Be really clear about the benefits to potential customers and put that front and centre. More money and more time are great - but how much? Read and test everything yourself. Don't rely on what others tell you. I've seen a lot of non-functional website forms and suc...

You work hard to attract new subscribers who find value in what you're offering. Someone makes a decision to sign up to your mailing list expecting to receive that great value and... they don't hear a thing from you. I'm not talking about businesses who have sign up forms yet never send a thing - that's a different blog post (and hopefully that's not you). Delivering your precious content to your fans has always been a challenge - what with spam filters, corporate gateways, and then trying to stand out in the inbox. What you may not have realized is that Google has become society's censor, whether you use it yourself or not. Google decides what gmail users see in their inbox , and what gets (sometimes arbitrarily) moved to the promotions folder - out of sight, out of mind. Even if you want to receive newsletters from your clients, or get this week's sales at the mall, Google may decide you don't. This is interfering with: satisfying your subsc...

Why do we want our blogs to be more interactive? I googled that question and didn't find any kind of consensus or a clear answer to share. This seems a little odd with everyone talking about engagement (and lead magnets and sales funnels ). As soon as a reader takes some action (often a click), they are much more inclined to take a second action, and a third, and so on. It's exponential, and it's what engagement is. If we know we want our readers to keep taking actions, we need to give them encouragement to do so... but not all at the same time. Here are a few ways to make your business blog more interactive. #1. Use a link strategy within your posts to move readers along to more relevant content. #2. Conduct a one question poll . Link to your poll in an app like SurveyMonkey which allows you to show results after someone answers. This poll could be legitimate research or a fun distraction. You can even publish the results in a future blog post. #3. Includ...

A simple process was all I needed to promote two workshops and manage registrations. But, as I often do, I decided to use the opportunity to try out some new ways to do things. Yesterday I put the workshops live for registration. Here are all the different applications I used or will use in my campaign to promote and manage the registrations. my website builder Canva Blogger Hootsuite Social Jukebox iContact PayPal JotForm - my newest favourite app Google Calendar Twitter Facebook Google+ LinkedIn and email Phew! Some of these are integrated, some not, but I had fun pulling it all together (mostly). And the next time I need to fill workshops, it'll take me a lot less time to put everything in place. photo by edkohler / Flickr Click to Tweet this Article

If you have a sign-up form, you want subscribers. If you want subscribers, you need to get them to your sign-up form. To get people to your sign-up form, you need to tell them where to find it. Check your own subscription process now If you have a sign-up form on your website , try this short exercise. Prepare a call to action with the appropriate link to send a new social media follower to your sign-up form. Really, do it now or you won't get this. It'll only take a minute. Go and post it now. Here is an example I might use: Free with sign-up! Immediately get a mini workbook with 10 Content Templates to make your writing time more productive.  http://daleyprogress.com/newsletter.html Ready? Pretend you're that new follower. Read your call to action and click to follow the link. Now stop and take your fingers off that mouse. Is your sign-up form staring you in the face, bold and beautiful with no other distractions? If it's not, that might explain why yo...

Aside from having a catchy subscription process on your website, you can use calls to action on your social media platforms to attract new readers. While doing a little research recently on Twitter, here are some examples I found - bad examples first. I have no idea why I would want this newsletter - I'm not even remotely curious to know what those 'important updates' are. Aside from having no interest in 'the latest' from a stranger, these poor folks don't even have a sign up form. I wonder how many new subscribers they get. I could show you hundreds of examples like this - or you could go look yourself . Doing this is a total waste of your time. Now for the good examples: Authors generally do a pretty good job of creating interest with their calls to action. This one is short and sweet. You know it's a newsletter and you know what it's about. This seems like a pretty good reason to sign up. And you can see ...

If you've been doing a newsletter for more than a year, it's a good idea to examine your strategy, look at your stats, and implement some positive change. You don't want your email campaign to get stale. Doing that, of course, means generating ideas. One way to do that is to look at what your competition is doing. Are they doing something well that you can expand on? Are they missing an opportunity that you can take advantage of? Is there a chance to collaborate? Take a few minutes to sign up for your competitors' newsletters. Pay attention to the sign-up process, too. photo by HowardLake / Flickr Click to Tweet this Article

Save yourself time, money and stress by avoiding these common mistakes. They can have a big impact on your success. #1. Having your sign-up in only one place The more places people see your sign-up form, the more subscribers you'll get. Make sure it's in multiple places on your website, including on a dedicated page. Have a call to action with a link to your sign-up page on your blog, your social media profiles, and in your email signature. Regularly promote your sign-up page via social media posts. #2. Putting too many calls to action on your sign-up page People get confused by too many options. Don't ask them to sign up for your list, buy your latest product, like your Facebook page, and check out your newest blog post... all at the same time. Explain exactly what you want them to do, how to do it, and what button to click next. Don't assume everyone recognizes a hyperlink - say "click here". #3. Not telling subscribers exactly wha...

Phew, your newsletter is done and sent. But that shouldn't be the last anyone sees of it. With the online version of your newsletter you can have readers anytime - not just when it gets published and not just those it gets emailed to. #1. Use it as a Resource If your newsletter is informational and useful beyond today, it can become a valuable resource, sort of like a blog. Occasionally share a link to your archive as a post on your social media platforms. Add it to the Resource page on your website if you have one. Put a link to it in each newsletter issue - "Read past issues." Place a call to action and link to your archive in your email signature. Some newsletters just aren't as useful as a resource; perhaps you already publish the info on your blog or website, or it is time-sensitive. There's still a good reason to share your newsletter archive. #2. Use it as an Example The more clearly someone understands what they are signing up for, the...

One day, not so many years ago, an email marketer with big glasses and a funky haircut decided to add a bunch of people he didn't know to his email list. When he got complaints, instead of owning up and politely offering to remove them, he said, “I didn't do that. Someone else must have signed you up.” This geeky guy was the first of many. And so, the myth of the mysterious newsletter signer-upper was born. The email marketing industry somehow had to address this strange phenomenon. How could they keep these signer-uppers from signing other people up? And so, the double opt-in process was born. Of course, this made it really difficult for the signer-uppers to cause mayhem. No longer did signer-uppers gather on Friday nights over beer to wreak havoc on the email marketing world. Now the experts, who not so many years ago were preaching that having a double opt-in process was a must, are saying that maybe it’s not so necessary anymore. I have ye...

“Nobody signs up for newsletters anymore.” I heard as I sat in the audience during an Infusionsoft presentation. I gritted my teeth. The presenter went on to say that newsletters are all about what’s happening with the company and have no value. A filling popped out. I kept my mouth shut till I could get home to my keyboard. Here's why... I was chatting with a new client recently and asked her if she had a chance to look at the newsletter examples in my online gallery . She told me she had actually signed up for several of them. This is just one example that shows people still want interesting and useful information delivered to their inbox. People say YES to value. When they know you deliver value on a regular basis, they'll sign up because they won't want to miss it . In fact, stats say that 1 in 5 people actively seek out and sign up for newsletters to get the information they want. Creating that perception of value happens over time as you consistently mee...

Once you've started your mailing list and are working to turn subscribers into fans , don't stop selling your newsletter. You'll lose about 30% of your subscribers over a year, so continuing to build your list is important. One way to encourage sign-ups is on your social media accounts and profiles. "Please sign up!" doesn't cut it. You need a compelling call to action . Here's a great example I found on Twitter from my friend and organizing guru Jane Veldhoven. Dare you to Go Ahead and Get #Organized by signing up for my monthly #newsletter http://t.co/ZRH8cwCMg1 — Jane Veldhoven (@organizerjane) February 2, 2015 Click to Tweet this Article

You already know about the identification requirements that need to be in the footer of commercial electronic messages (CEMs) to be compliant with CASL : name, mailing address, plus either phone # or email address. Do you know that this information must also be near, or "easily accessible" from, your sign-up form if you want to gain express consent? Take a moment and check your website to see if this contact information is there. Perhaps you have a contact page with this info on it, or have it in your page footer - that's good. You might also put it on your redirect page if you have one. (That's your web page where a new subscriber ends up after clicking 'sign up'.) Also note: "An individual must take action to opt-in to a stated purpose ." Is there a description of what people are signing up for? (It's also a good time to test your form by signing up to make sure it works.) While you're there looking, think about how you can mak...

Getting someone to your sign-up form is one thing. Getting them to actually subscribe is quite another. To make that happen, here's what I recommend: Have a sign-up form on its own page , or at least immediately visible on the web page (aka landing page) where you send people to subscribe. ( read more about this ) Avoid other calls to action that may distract your potential subscriber. ( read more about this ) Clearly describe what’s in it for your subscriber and how often they’ll get it. ( see our sign-up as an example ) Provide examples via links to past issues in your archive. ( our archive ) Include a brief disclaimer that you won't sell or share contact info. Ask only for an email address unless you have a pressing need for more information. The more you ask for, the less likely someone will be to sign up. With the new Canadian anti-spam legislation (CASL) , building our mailing lists via 'express' consent will become increasingly critical to e...

photo by HowardLake Any of the reputable bulk email service providers (ESPs) will expect you to have received permission to email your subscribers. In many cases, this requirement can be satisfied by having a public sign-up form . Of course, this isn't an option for organizations sending private messages to a membership list. Just because someone has agreed to become a member, paying or free, doesn't mean you have permission to email them - unless you have asked for it during the membership process . Granted, this may seem like overkill. Generally, when someone becomes a member, they'll expect to receive some email communication. But the problem likely won't arise from your members. It'll come when you (wisely) decide to use a bulk ESP to communicate with them. That is when it will be important to be able to demonstrate that you have permission. While you might be asked to provide proof of permission for all subscribers, being able to show a process that ...

Do you know what happens when someone signs up for your newsletter? When they click that little SUBMIT button, where do they go? If you don't know, now is a good time to find out. Your sign-up process is a critical piece of your newsletter strategy. Plan it from your potential subscriber's perspective. Of course, you need a prominent, simple form and a clear call to action with an explanation of what they'll get by subscribing. But what happens once that button is pushed? Test it yourself, start to finish. Likewise, your unsubscribe process is something you should understand as well. Do your subscribers have an option to be on some lists but not all? Is your unsubscribe process simple or does it require entering information? Is it a 2-click process? Caution: Don't unsubscribe yourself from your own newsletter to test this process. Use an alternate email address. These processes will vary greatly depending on the bulk email service provider (ESP) you us...

photo by Andrew Pescod Unless being used for a drip campaign, I typically don't recommend the use of welcome auto-responders at all. Not even for event registrations or other uses of sign-up forms. The goal is to not send any emails that aren't necessary and aren't what subscribers signed up for. What I do recommend is using a redirect web page , also called a landing page. You can typically put more types of content on a web page, such as maps, video, files for download, and PayPal buttons. I really do think it's a much better way to deliver important follow-up information. And you don't have to be concerned with delivery issues like a full mailbox or spam filters either. The redirect page will pop right up for them as soon as they click the sign up button. To see the value in a redirect page, click here , enter your email and hit submit. (You'll also be signing up for our newsletter!) Click to Tweet this Article

photo by alborzshawn Marketers encourage you to use welcome emails as an opportunity to market. Those same marketers are the ones writing all the articles about how integrity and relationship-building are so important to your content strategy. If you've succeeded in getting someone to sign up for your newsletter, don’t muck it up! I’m pretty sure they didn't sign up for a welcome email. Several times now I have signed up for a newsletter and then immediately unsubscribed when I received a welcome email that: had no value whatsoever for me contained (a lot of!) advertising was long, boring and ugly made me think, “If this is an indication of what is to come...?” and then hunt for the unsubscribe link There is another, much better, way to communicate to your new subscriber – use a landing page , also called a redirect page, in your sign up process. I can think of some situations where a welcome email might be desirable but, in most cases, a landing page can accom...

“...at some point along the way, gathering and managing their subscribers' info became more important than their subscribers' experience.”   I made that statement a year ago in response to an article that Danielle wrote explaining her troubles when trying to unsubscribe from Air Canada’s newsletter . Don’t let this happen to you. While your newsletter is your marketing tool, your readers don’t care about that. They don’t care about your processes. They don’t care how much work goes into your newsletter. And they don’t care how successful it is. They only care about the value you’re providing... if you’re lucky enough to get their attention. "Build it and they will come."   Don’t hold your breath while waiting. photo by CarolBEE_blogger Put yourself in your potential subscriber’s shoes. How often do you sign up for newsletters? What triggers you to do that? How do you feel when you’re expected to do extra work? Do you give up? Getting new subscribers ...