Cash the Web

Posts Tagged ‘Publicize’

People love to get free useful and original information. If you can provide that, they will flock to your website. One of the best ways to do that is provide an ezine or newsletter.

Publishing an ezine isn’t as hard as it appears. Your biggest hurdle will be coming up with topics and information to include in your newsletter. However, the best thing about an ezine or newsletter is that it keeps your visitors coming back to your site. It gives you numerous opportunities to get in front of your audience over and over again.

You do this by capturing their email addresses in exchange for your free publication. (see collecting email addresses below)

You don’t have to get fancy with a newsletter or ezine. All you need to do is create your newsletter in an email and post it to your viewers about once a week or perhaps once a month. There are many more formal ways of doing it but if you’re just getting started do it the easy way and work up to perfection later on.

When to Publish

With as much email as people get it’s probably best to publish once a month. That gives you plenty of time to gather good, solid, useful information and you won’t be bombarding your opt-in list with more mail than they want.

Tip:

Instead of publishing a full blown newsletter, you could also publish entries on a blog and once a month simply email your list outlining the topics on your blog and simply send them there instead of putting it all in the email. A simply email directing them to your blog is a lot more likely to get through the spam filters as well.
Make sure when you request your viewers email address that you specify what your ezine will include, for example, tips, specials, guides articles, etc., and also specify how often you will be sending out your newsletter. People today like to be sure of what they’re getting and how often.

Collecting Email Addresses

If you’re not familiar with how to collect email addresses here’s some useful information.

When collecting emails and publishing any publication online you will need an auto responder email service or auto responder service to professionally maintain your email collection. This is a service that helps you collect email addresses and stores them for you. An email auto responder will allow you to create emails, newsletters or ezine and broadcast it to all the members of your list with one stroke of a key. When collecting opt-ins simply collect the person’s first name and email address. If you ask for too much information you’re not as likely to get the sign-up. It will also help you create a form for collecting email addresses.

Don’t use safe lists or purchase email lists. No matter how reputable they don’t achieve the results that you get from obtaining your own lists. I don’t recommend using a free auto responder. Heaven knows there are plenty of them out there. The problem with free auto responders is that they will include lots of advertising with your emails. It will detract from the look and feel of your email, plus it can distract your readers, I don’t recommend it.

If your website hosting company has an email auto responder you can also use them but there are also problems with that. I’ve discovered that host mail servers often get ‘blacklisted’ which means your emails are never likely to reach your viewers.

I recommend going with an auto responder that is in the email business. They’ll work harder to make sure your emails get sent and don’t get blacklisted. I’ve also noticed that email auto responders that come with web hosting services often get blacklisted, so they’re not always a good option if you want your emails to reach your viewers.

For each sign up that you get, send an automatic welcome email thanking them for signing up. Be specific about what they signed up for and how often they can expect an email from you. If you are offering an email course, let them know they will be receiving an email every day for the next x number of days. Whether your newsletter is weekly or monthly, let them know that.

Most importantly don’t bombard your readers with ads or useless information. You want your readers to look forward to getting your emails and you can only do that if you offer useful, interesting content that has a tone of your originality.

Submit your ezine or newsletters to ezine directories

Always submit your ezine or newsletter publication to publication directories. There are newsletter directories that provide specific information such number of subscribers, how often it’s published and other information that readers need to know.

Content ideas

You want your newsletter or ezine to be something that people look forward to getting each week. Don’t bombard them with ads or useless information. People are busy and generally read a lot online so they want to read things that offer value.

• Make your newsletter personal. In your salutation use the person’s name that you captured in your opt-in list.
• Make comments on topics related to your web site’s topic
• Include articles. They can be written by others but should be articles that you have found of particular interest.
• Include a “what’s new “ on your website
• Don’t be afraid to be a little controversial. Write an editorial about what irks you or a personal feeling. People can read about the usual stuff anywhere, they want to hear about the unusual, controversial and interesting.
• Tell a joke or use http://www.freesticky.com to find ideas to make your newsletter fun and interesting.

This is often an underutilized strategy but it works very well. It’s also a great way to promote your link within the “World Wide Web “ or one way links.

It works because it gets you and your website known. You do this by finding forums that relate to your website topic and post questions or comments, answer questions or post your articles.

This does two things for you. It gets your name and website out there and it helps create you as an authority, hopefully because you’re answering questions and making comments that help and support people. They’ll really appreciate that! If you look like you know what you’re talking about, people will be interested in finding out about you. Who you are and how you can further help them.

How to Use Forums

Create a simple signature that includes your name and your website address. Most forums will provide this feature. Set it up so that it will automatically be included when you make a post to the forum. Keep in mind that not all forums allow you to include your website link address to your signature. Some of them, in fact, will dismember you if you add your website link to your signature. They consider it advertising and don’t like it.

There are also forums that will require you to make a number of posts first before allowing you to include your site link. So it may take a few tries to find the right forums. Read the forum guidelines before posting, this will give you an idea of whether or not it’s a forum worthwhile posting to.

What you should not do, don’t post to forums to simply advertise your website. Posting things like “Nice forum” or “Love your posts” and attaching your website are considered spamming and you will be banned.
The real purpose of posting to forums is to provide useful information for everyone to experience. Spamming them for the purpose of promoting your website isn’t helpful to you or anyone else and it won’t help your credibility either.

If you respond intelligently to questions, offer suggestions and ideas, post your articles and offer support you’re likely to generate more traffic because viewers will trust and remember you.

If you find a forum you like, see if they need any moderators. A moderator will basically moderate comments and make sure entries on the forum follow the specific guidelines of that forum. This may take logging into the forum every day, maybe even a few times a day but you don’t have to do it forever and it will give you some good air time and exposure.

When you find 4 or 5 of forums that you can post to with your signature and website included, add them to your desktop and while you’re watching TV or have a little free time, go into the forum, answer or post a few questions and you’re done. It takes about 20 minutes. Do this 3 or 4 times a week and you’ll begin to see some real traffic and interest.

How to Find Forums

In your favorite search engine, type in your topic followed by the word ‘forum’. Here’s an example: “Childcare forum” or “Internet marketing forum” Be sure to use the quotes.

Remember, the more the traffic you get to your site the more chance of success in make money online!

Create a Forum to increase your traffic and make money online!

Creating a forum requires a little more monitoring than a blog or website; however it allows you to network with other businesses and exchange business tips, ideas, strategies, advertising, etc.

You could use the forum to start an online class, provide free tutorial and tips, and respond to your visitors inquiries. You’ll soon notice that your visitors will begin to trust you, meaning your visitors look a bit more seriously at your products and offers.

Forums are also a great place for sparking discussion on specific topics. It gives your viewers the opportunity to participate in debates, offering opinions or providing support. This method can gain you a steady stream of free massive traffic, and you could create additional income by displaying pay-per-click ads like Google AdSense or even offer advertising space on your forum.

You’ll also get a good feeling of what your visitors are looking for. You can even post inquiries for questions you want to know about products, services or whatever you need to know to enhance your business. The feedback you receive could be invaluable.

You can use a forum to provide after sale support to your customers by including a section that covers common customer questions. By posting customer questions and answers, your customers will get instant answers and you’ll increase your customer satisfaction tenfold.

…and the best part of all, creating a forum is free and the traffic you’ll receive is priceless.