I can't believe the Holiday went by so fast and 2011 is just around the corner! I'm still settling back into the routine of things (and digesting) before I come back from “break” on Wednesday, but I wanted to share this short but powerful guest post by someone I'm very fortunate enough to call a friend in the Blogging World, someone successful who I really look up to: David Risely of DavidRisley.com. We recently met at Blog World Expo, and I am confident when I say he's one of the nicest and smartest guys in this business.
Here, David talks about a missing ingredient that most bloggers (including myself at times) miss or forget when trying to build our lists and grow our email subscriber count.
Enjoy!
I've talked many times about the importance of list building (and so has pretty much everybody else). The most common way to entice people to get onto the list is to give something away. Usually a free ebook.
However, there is a vital element in offering that free ebook that most bloggers just miss entirely, and it is costing them subscribers like crazy. Not doing this one thing will lead these unfortunate bloggers to think nobody wants their free ebook, when that isn't always true.
The missing ingredient is to SELL them the ebook.
No, not for money. You're still giving it away for free. But, you've still got to sell it to them. Most people will hang onto their email address down to their last dying breath if not given a strong enough reason to give it up.
So, here's what you do.
Go through the ebook you'll be giving away and pull out some of the key points. Next, turn the wording around so that you can turn it into a point of mystery.
MYSTERY is what is going to get them to opt into your list.
What big burning questions is your report going to answer?
With your opt-in form, you tell them what they'll get. You SHOW it to them with a picture of that ebook. You then point out the big burning questions, phrased in order to extract maximum curiosity.
Let's look at an opt-in form for my own Six Figure Blogger Blueprint (Full disclosure: Pat earns a commission of this link). Obviously, I could just say “get your copy” and give them a picture of it and hope for the best. Or I could SELL the report by spiking their curiosity:
- 3 vital questions to pick the right niche.
- The layout for funneling traffic into your blog.
- How this blog generates thousands of dollars monthly—without a single banner ad.
The key to coming up with these selling points are:
- Target their biggest “buttons”. For my market, niche selection and traffic building are two huge problems on their minds, so my first 2 selling points address that.
- Spike their curiosity. For example, the “vital questions” not only makes it seem simple and finite, but makes people immediately wonder what they are.
Add this to your opt-in forms and see how it affects your opt-in rate. Remember, you need to sell it to them and peaking their sense of curiosity and fear of being left out of the loop is often the best way to get them to act.
David Risley shows bloggers how to find the intersection between blogging and marketing, and finally start making money with your blog. You can follow his escapades on Twitter at @davidrisley.
Also, David's 51-Page Six Figure Blogger Blueprint (version 2.0) is one of the best free ebooks on Blogging I've personally read (actually, I listened to the mp3). I'm not going to hide anything, so please note that the links above are indeed affiliate links for David's Blog Masters Club (which I've heard really good things about, but have not participated in myself), but you can still get the ebook for free, no obligations. Plus, the video on his landing page is pretty impressive as well, so check it out if you have time.
