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This Jumpstart Guide outlines the three essential strategies you need to have in place to build subscribers for your e-zine FAST.
1. Make a Plan: Before you concentrate on building subscribers you need to what you will offer and to whom, how this will benefit you, and how you will get the word out.
- What value you are offering and to whom? Without this clarity you can't make the offer.
- Who is your ideal reader?
- Age
- Sex
- Occupation
- Life conditions
- Challenges and concerns
- Values
- Dreams
- Level of education
- Cultural characteristics
- Income
- Marital status
- Family status (children? grandchildren?)
- What do they need that you can provide in your e-zine?
- How is what you offer different from other offers in this area?
- What's in it for your reader?
- Quality
- Convenience
- Speed
- Accuracy of data
- Unique information
- How you are going prosper as a result of providing that value? Without this knowledge you cannot sustain your offer.
Note: "Prospering" includes all the ways you will benefit from creating and promoting your e-zine. Be sure you are creating an e-zine that fulfills your personal vision of prosperity in all respects. This includes your quality of life, the way the e-zine supports and reflects who you intend to be in the world, and economic well-being.
- Set a specific goal for subscription growth.
- Know how having these subscribers will create value for you.
- As prospective clients
- As purchasers of your products
- As test market that will give you valuable feedback
- As source of community and dialogue
- As source of referrals
- Or ???
- Write out your plan. Without a written plan you cannot keep track of what you have done, nor can you improve your system.
- Where will you promote your e-zine?
- Look for places you naturally show up. (Pass out cards with subscription info at networking events; put subscription info in your email signature, etc.)
- Look for places you LIKE to show up.
- Look for places your READERS show up.
- What do you need to do/know in order to promote it? Write this down!
- How will you track your results?
- Weekly chart of subscribes/unsubscribes
- Number of sales
- Number of referrals
- Amount of feedback from readers
2. Make Your E-Zine a Magnet for Subscribers (also see above about offer and ideal reader)
- Give market quality content
- Quality of writing: pleasing/satisfying to readers who know good writing when they see it
- Quality and value of information: actionable, can turn into results, can be tested
- Accessible: the value can be recognized and realized in minutes
- Clearly defined niche
- Where and with whom your work is of most value.
- Think in terms of whose language you speak.
- Where are you the biggest offer?
- Rich offer in your niche
- What makes you different from the others guys?
- What are you afraid of revealing about yourself? This can be the key to your offer!
3. Put the Magnet Where It Matters: Get your newsletter and subscription info in front of people who want what you have to offer.
- Get your articles (with link to subscription page) on high-traffic Web sites
- Make sure these sites appeal to your niche
- Make "how to subscribe" ULTRA obvious
- Get your articles with "how to subscribe" info published in other e-zines
- Large circulation OR
- Smaller circulation but perfect audience, example: get an article from your fitness coaching into an e-zine on nutrition
- Make it ultra easy for readers to subscribe
- Paid subscription services
- Your own high-traffic Web site
- Must offer same value and benefits as NL
- Must have high search engine ranking
- Consistent and recognizable brand
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