Monday, March 27, 2006
Web site marketing: Sneaky back-door ideas
Everybody’s sending out ezines. Lots of us hold teleseminars. Add yours and you’re joining a parade down Main Street. But sometimes you can find your clients if you go through the alleys and knock on back doors. Often these options seem amazingly easy – but you have to be strategic. You probably realize you can learn formulas to create effective e-zines and increase the attraction power of your website. But when using these back-door approaches, you have to play by the rules and understand what works. Example 1: Contribute to a discussion list related to your topic. Join a group whose membership matches your target market as closely as possible. You may be eligible to join a group after making a purchase. You may have a mentor group. Or you can get one and search for lists through google. For example: “professional women discussion list” or “work at home dads discussion list.” Once you feel comfortable, you can get information, show off your skills, test ideas, and generally get known among a group of prospects (or people who greatly resemble your prospects). Strategy: Once joined, it’s a good idea to “lurk” for awhile. Get a sense of the group’s mood and style. I’ve gained clients, subscribers and buyers who liked what I said. The challenge is to draw a fine line between contributing proactively and becoming a nuisance. (I must admit I tend to err on the side of enthusiasm myself!) Create a blend of asking questions and providing expertise. Example 2: Write reviews for online bookstores. As an avid and eclectic reader, I began writing reviews for amazon.com just for fun. I wrote about everything: mysteries, business books, nonfiction. To my surprise, many of my clients and subscribers found me through my reviews. When they came, they were highly motivated. Unlike readers of ezines, they came prepared to pay. After all, amazon doesn’t give away books. They typically had a credit card in one hand as they surfed with the other. Strategy: Choose best-selling books related to your topic – but not exclusively. Write carefully, using correct grammar and style. Follow the guidelines concerning what you can disclose about your business. I’ve found that I get the most response by being edgy but thoughtful, and not too long or too short. Often we find our most successful back-door strategies accidentally, just as I discovered amazon reviews as a lucrative accident. For more: Attend a teleseminar: Build your business through book reviews Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., runs Copy-Cat-Copywriting, a resource for professionals and entrepreneurs who want to sell themselves but can't afford to sound sales-y. Click here to discover the 7 best-kept secrets of client-attracting copy |
# posted by Cathy Goodwin @ 10:12 AM 
