Sunday, April 16, 2006
[Internet Marketing Solutions] 7 Tips For Website Marketing with an E-course
You’re starting a new website or targeting a new market with a new product. You realize you’ll need an ezine, but that’s a major commitment. An ecourse is a series of emails, each containing a short “lesson,” delivered to your target market. I recommend creating an ecourse as a first step in developing ebusinesses, especially if you plan to offer a service, such as coaching or consulting. Often first-time visitors to your website will be more likely to sign up for an ecourse than subscribe to your ezine. There’s less commitment and they want to learn about the topic. But an ecourse can backfire. When I first started, I created ecourses that (literally) sent the wrong message. My emails were long and thoughtful. People enjoyed reading my courses but we never moved to action. Here’s what I learned. 1. Decide why you’re creating an ecourse. Do you want to build a mailing list for subscribers? Attract clients? Sell information products? Each goal calls for different content. 2. Choose a straightforward topic that addresses a specific, painful problem. “Never be afraid of cold calls again” will probably draw more readers than “Introduction to sales.” 3. Keep courses short. Most readers tend to tune out after five to seven days. And even when you offer terrific content, readers can find themselves thinking, “Oh no! I’m still catching up!” Readers will tell themselves, “I’ll get around to reading five messages someday.” But most of us can’t convince ourselves we’ll have time for ten messages, let alone 52. 4. Time your message for every day or every other day. Readers have short memories. You can always wait a few weeks or months, then offer another course. 5. Keep each message short. Aim for one take-away in each message – no more. Too much material? Time to write an ebook. 6. End each lesson with a brief action step or exercise, especially if you’re a coach or consultant. You’ll give readers a taste of what to expect if they sign up to work with you. 7. Sign up with a mailing system that hasn’t been universally banned for overzealous mailings. There’s no way you can manually track who’s on which lesson. And you’ll want an automated record of subscribers so you can move to your next objective. I use my shopping cart. and know many folks who use A. Weber For a good example of an ecourse, click on the link below and sign up for Tom Antion’s Free Marketing Course – a small link just under the ezine in the upper right corner. Antion's Course and my ecourse on writing blocks Click here Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., helps solo-preneurs, professionals and small businesses build Internet revenues -- without turning themselves into techies or high-powered pushy sales people. 10 Copywriting Tips Inspired by My Cat. Sign up here. Copywriting and Consulting Services. Contact me. |
# posted by Cathy Goodwin @ 3:28 PM 
