Building an online business is not easy, especially when you are on a very limited budget.
As I come in contact with more people, I realize that numerous publishers and netpreneurs are overlooking some very effective free advertising opportunities. Examples of these opportunities are: 1. Welcome letter for your subscribers – I subscribe to tons of groups and ezines and am always disappointed when I get the default welcome letter. Personalize it by introducing yourself and letting the subscriber know about your website/business. This is a crucial moment in that you can start bonding/connecting with the reader before they even get your ezine. Inform them of any specials you might have. Tell them your advertising rates and add a testimonial. Invite them to your site to utilize the free resources. Let them know your email so they can contact you. Use some of the space for ad swapping with other publishers and their welcome letters. Add an affiliate product or program review. 2. Goodbye letter for your subscribers – This is your last chance to get this person back. Make it a good one!
Thank them for being a subscriber and encourage them to re-sub. I also have a little message in my goodbye letter that encourages people to let me know why they unsubbed. Example: Thank you for being a subscriber to the Bulletin. I am sorry to see you go. If you could take a minute to let me know why you unsubbed, I would appreciate it. Please drop a quick note to (put email here) Thank you. By doing this you might be able to change their minds and if not, you could find ways to improve your ezine for the next subscriber. Remember, always send them an appreciative thank you note as well. 3. Email Signature – This simple but powerful method of promotion is unknown to some. By using an effective email signature, every time your email goes out to someone, you have free advertising. Join several discussion groups and message boards to utilize your sigtag to the maximum. Example of a email signature: Warm regards, Jane Doser FREE Ecourses – Sign-up for one or all! (Put link here.) Build Your Business with Us! (Put subscribe email here.
) You want to keep your signature fairly short – about 6 – 8 lines. Many discussion groups will have a limit to the number of lines you can have in your sigtag. 4. P.S. – It has been found that a P.S. is very likely to get read. Using a P.S. can be quite effective. Make it short and to the point. A P.S. novel will more than likely be ignored! Example: P.S. Need more subscribers? FR~E Report (put email or link here) Then you would have your main message on auto – responder. Do not just send them a sales pitch. Add some useful information and resources that will actually help the reader. This will get you more credibility, which is extremely important if you want more customers. 5. Thank you page – An excellent way to get more subscribers is to get together with a group of fellow publishers and set up a group subscription page. Every time someone subscribes to one of the group’s ezine, the thank you page will come up with a message something like this: Thank you for subscribing to the Bulletin. Take this opportunity to check out more quality ezines. Please check the ones you wish to receive. You would have each groups member’s ezine listed with a short description.
This is a very powerful method of gaining subscribers because the person is already in a subscribing mood and will most likely check most or all of the other ezines. The above advertising opportunities are quite simple, but simple can be most effective!