Do You Really Need an Ezine? Only if You Want More Business

I haven’t sent out an ezine (email newsletter) in over a year. Why? I was immersed in several large projects and I didn’t really want more business. And I knew from experience that sending out a newsletter meant more business and I already had too much on my plate.

So if you already have more business than you know what to do with, stop reading. There are probably better things to do with your time then writing a newsletter. But if you don’t have a steady stream of business, an ezine is one of the best and most inexpensive ways to make it happen.

Does the idea of writing a long, “traditional” ezine stress you out? If that’s the case don’t do it.

There are non-traditional ways that work just as effectively. Over this last year I have been busy writing newsletters – for my clients – and I’ve been watching what works and what doesn’t. So let’s take a look at the difference between traditional versus non-traditional ezines and see what’s best for you – maybe it’s a mix of the two.

Traditional Ezine

If you want to learn about the traditional ezine the best person to learn from is the Ezine Queen, Ali Brown. She recently wrote an article on “7 Ways to Market Yourself Within an Ezine” with great suggestions. What Ali describes in her article is the ezine you’re probably used to seeing in your inbox – it includes a note from the editor, a main article, promo blurbs, special announcements etc.

The thing is these ezines take a lot of time to write and a lot of time to read. So if you’re short on time and your target market is short on time maybe it’s time to consider a non-traditional approach…

Non-traditional Ezine

Instead of a big, long ezine try sending a short tip with a link to your blog for more information. The beauty of this strategy is that it drives traffic to your blog. When we implemented this technique for one of my clients, she saw a dramatic increase in blog traffic and comments.

Let me give you an example of what I mean. Let’s say I want to send an email to my list about this blog post that you’re reading. I could say something like…

Hi XXX,

If you already have more business than you know what to do with, stop reading. There are probably better things to do with your time then writing a newsletter. But if you don’t have a steady stream of business, a newsletter is one of the best (and most inexpensive) ways to make it happen.

Maybe you feel like you’re too busy to write a newsletter? Check out my latest blog for a strategy that works and takes only five minutes to do!

All my best,

Jennifer

Do you see how quick and easy it can be? Regardless of its simplicity it still maintains the communication open between you and your target market. They continue to view you as someone who has valuable content to share. Once they land on your blog you can usually include something you want to promote at the end of the post, such as an upcoming event, product promotion etc.

Several of my clients send an entire blog post as the main article for their newsletter and include links to other recent blogs if their readers want to learn more. This requires hardly any additional writing but keeps them front and center with their newsletter list.

Now what if you’re saying, “This sounds great but I don’t have a blog or I don’t post regularly…”? That might mean you really hate writing or are just too busy with other aspects of your business. If that’s the case maybe it’s time to hire a copywriter that can help you maximize the content you already have or create new content. Contact me for a free consultation if you want to learn more.

Tags: Ali Brown, blog, ezine
Posted in Copywriting, Marketing | No Comments »

A Surefire Technique to Get Red Hot Testimonials

Testimonials are important but hard to get – especially if you want a good one.  The last thing you want to do is harass or annoy your best customers into giving you one.  So what’s the solution?

I recently experimented with a new technique with two of my clients who were having the same problem – getting their customers to provide their testimonials in writing. We got great results and we did it without alienating anyone.

Here are the steps I took:

·         I asked my client for a list of email addresses of the customers I should contact – the ones who would have positive feedback.

·         I sent an email to everyone on this list asking them when I could schedule a 10-minute phone interview with them.

·         When they responded to the email I confirmed a time for our interview and sent them a thorough list of questions to look over BEFORE we talked. This gave them time to mull over their responses.

·         During the interview I kept it brief, asked my questions and wrote down their responses.( I also asked them if there was anything I didn’t think of asking that they wanted to include.)

·         Immediately following the interview, I wrote a well-crafted testimonial using the answers they provided. Whenever possible I used their words and their individual style of expression so that the testimonials sounded authentic, not canned.

·         Then I emailed a draft of the testimonial to the person I interviewed and asked them to make any edits, corrections or additions they wanted. (Very few made changes to what I had written.)

·         Once I had their approval I sent the testimonial to my client to post on their website.

Why did this strategy work so well?

For one thing my clients rock so they have customers who are eager to help them with a good testimonial. This is an element I have no control over. However, both clients had tried to get these favorite customers to write up their own testimonials with little or no response.  Frustrating, isn’t it?

My approach worked like a charm. Almost EVERYONE responded to my request for a 10 minute interview. Most people would rather talk than write. I guess that’s why I have a job as a copywriter!

Give it a try and let me know how it works for you. If you’re not comfortable interviewing your clients you might want to ask your assistant to conduct the interviews or consider hiring a copywriter to help. It takes some work to get red hot testimonials but it’s worth the effort!

Posted in Copywriting, Marketing | No Comments »

Benefits of Hosting a Telesummit

I have telesummits on my mind. I’ve been helping three different clients work on their telesummits this month. (FYI- A telesummit is an online interview series on a specific topic that can be accessed via the internet or telephone.)

I’ll be honest it’s a ton of work and I just work on the content end of things – sales pages, blogs, press releases, tweets etc. But in addition to all that a telesummit requires lining up speakers, setting up sign-up pages, autoresponders and much more.

So what’s the payoff? What are the benefits of hosting your own telesummit? I’ve identified five benefits that I’ve observed:

·         List-building – This works if it’s a free event – you capture email addresses of everyone who signs-up so you can market to them later.

·         Establish your expertise – If you’re trying to position yourself as an expert, providing high-quality content through a telesummit is a great way to do it!

·         Ongoing income – After the telesummit you can easily transform the content into an info-product (MP3s, transcripts, worksheets etc.) that generates ongoing income.

·         Publicity – This is a great opportunity to get some media coverage for your event, especially if you have well-known speakers participating.

·         Establishing relationships with other experts related to your field – Experts are usually happy to participate because they benefit from the list-building and publicity as well. This can be the beginning of great joint-venture partnerships.

If you want to see for yourself how a telesummit works check out the following telesummits (they’re all free):

Going on now:

Career Changer Super Telesummit – Need to change your career? Not only is the event free but anyone who signs up will get a bonus 7 day e-course on career change.

Coming up soon:

Brand Reinvention Summit will be held on October 1^st and 2^nd. If you’re an entrepreneur, startup CEO and small business owner you’ll want to learn how to reinvent, revitalize or repackage your brand.

Scheduled for this fall:

Metromom Prosperity Summit  - Designed for mom entrepreneurs who want to tackle issues surrounding money, mindset and motherhood.

I know there are additional benefits of hosting a telesummit so please feel free to post them in your comments.

Posted in Internet Marketing, Marketing, Public Relations | 1 Comment »

Twitter for Busy Entrepreneurs – Finding the Time to Tweet

Twitter was big but now it’s HUGE. CNN and even the CDC are on twitter – apparently this has proved to be an effective way to keep everyone updated on swine flu! Some entrepreneurs have been quick to jump on this new form of communication while others are dragging their feet.

I understand, I’ve dabbled in Twitter but it’s hard to find the time… That is until the last two weeks, I’ve been stuck at home with sick kids so I’ve invested some time in Twitter. (I also reorganized the closets which was long overdue.)

The results have been interesting. I’m getting followers on a daily basis, I’m getting web traffic and I’m making new business connections. I was even contacted by a marketing firm that’s looking for copywriters – interesting thing is that even though they’re a local firm, they heard about me for the first time on Twitter.

I want to share tips for fellow entrepreneurs who would like to dive in to Twitter but are short on time. Here are three tools that will make it much easier to leverage your time effectively:

·         TweetDeck – This tool will help you stay organized. It’s your personal browser for connecting with your contacts on Twitter and Facebook.

·         TweetLater – This tool allows you to schedule your tweets out. This made a huge difference in my ability to tweet regularly. I can sit down for a few minutes once a week and set-up my tweets for the whole week.

·         Twollo – If you’re just getting started and need to build a base of followers quickly this automates the process.

If you need more tips read Nine Twitter Tips for Business, a great article posted at PCWorld.com.  I appreciated the balance between automating your tweets and keeping it personal. Please post tips you’ve found helpful or your own success stories using Twitter.

One more thing! You can follow me at www.twitter.com/jenodear.

Tags: tweetdeck, tweetlater, twitter, twollo
Posted in Marketing, Social Networking, Websites | 2 Comments »

The Internet Gives Women Options during Recession

Thankfully the internet gives us options! According to Kim DeYoung (AKA the Metromom) there are five steps you MUST know in order to grow your business online AND maximize your time and energy:

-How to Create Effective Design & Motivating Content
-How to Increase Visibility, Buzz, and Revenue
-How to Streamline Your Digital Back Office
-How to Put It All Together With the Right Mindset
-How to Get the Support You Need to Keep Moving Forward

A lot of us are feeling pressure to generate the income we need but we’re not sure the best way to go about it. Kim and marketing expert Laura West will be share how to use the internet to take control of your income and how to do it quickly during their one-time-only FREE teleseminar!

 ”Take Charge of Your Economy - 5 Steps on How to Use the Internet to Prosper and Profit,” will be April 21st at 2 PM Eastern. All you need is a phone. Reserve your space here: http://metromom.infusionsoft.com/go/call/jenodear

This is a FREE preview call for the Metromom Online Success Telesummit, taking place May 1st and 2nd; learn more http://metromom.infusionsoft.com/go/summit/jenodear. I’m one of the speakers that will be participating in the summit so stay-tuned for more details.

Tags: Internet Marketing, Metromom Online Success Telesummit
Posted in Internet Marketing, Marketing | 3 Comments »