As a lot of you may know I am a massive believer in having an e-course as your list building bribe.
So that is why I am currently working on a fantastic new list building course called ‘List Explosion’ that will give you ten tips in ten days that will really explode your list building efforts.
I am really struggling to find the best method of delivery, so I thought I would open it to you guys to see what you thought. (BTW, let me know what you think of my e-cover I will be using to promote it?)
Delivery Method Options
Direct To Email
This was the obvious choice. I mean wouldn’t it be best to just send the content through each day in a long email, allowing them to read it right there, without having to do anything else?
The Problems:
- Can’t Get Email Templates To Work
Sure I can use the basic Aweber ones, but I find them a little boring and common. I found the perfect one that I wanted to use, and actually bought it off Theme Forest, but there are some coding errors and I have sent multiple emails to the creator but he has not replied. - People Don’t Like Long Emails
I don’t know if you are like me, but I prefer short and too the point emails. If you want to give me a heap of information, direct me to a website where I can read it. - It’s What Everyone Does!
Call me a counter-culturalist, but I’m not one to follow trends just because everyone is doing it. I am very much experimental and am always looking for the best way to do things – not the most common.I heard someone once say that the majority of people are not making money, so why are you doing what the majority of people are doing? If you want to make money you usually have to headin the opposite direction of the crowd.
PDF Download
So then I thought that maybe a better option would be to email a new worksheet each day – almost like a mini ebook. This would allow subscribers to easily save the files into a folder to keep on record as they continue to build their list.
The Problems:
I don’t really have a heap of problems with this method but my mail issues is that I might get a couple of people getting worried that I am sending them a virus by attaching a file to my emails.
I’m not sure how this would affect my SPAM rating through Aweber – but this is one of my prefered options.
Members Only Blog
This is something that I think has a lot of potential because it creates a community within your list. It would allow me to write a teaser email each day for the 10 days that would link to a password protected blog post (that would be on a blog hosted on a sub directory on this blog). The password would be in the email, and this would allow subscribers to add value to the posts by leaving comments, asking questions and getting to know each other.
The Problems:
- Making Subscribers Deal With Passwords
I am a massive believer in simplifying things, and adding a passwords I think would annoy some readers and stop them from reading (but then again, they probably are not the readers I am looking for).
However, I See Massive Benefits From This Method:
- I Get To Network With My Subscribers
It is pretty rare in email marketing to hear from your subscribers. I usually only do when they are unsubscribing, or letting me know they have bought something. This method allows me to find out - Potential For Premium Content
I am always looking for ways to monetise my blog and after a while of giving the 10 day course away (and I have created a new free product – because it is important to keep your blog, list and bribe fresh), I can use the feedback provided in the members only blog to repackage the course into a premium ebook or product. - Opportunity To Expand Into A Membership Website
I must admit that I have become extremely interested in membership sites as a way to really take your blogging to a whole new level. By giving away quality content and getting people used to my delivery method and where I am going. I can easily see this becoming the start of a premium list building membership website.
Obviously you can see my opinion on which I believe would be the best method of delivery for my free ‘list explosion’ course, but I really want to know what you think! Because it is not me that will be signing up (actually I probably will just to make sure everything is running smooth), but it has to be something that people are comfortable with, see value in and are ready to take advantage of.
So Which Of These Options Would You Prefer?
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Tom,
I’m very new to this game, so they all sound good ideas to me. I guess they all have their pros and cons. I’m only using Aweber at the moment and probably not to it’s full capacity. I do need to do more work on producing my own materials for readers and people on my list.
Thanks for sharing these great ideas.
Regards
Paul
Paul´s last blog ..Rocky Road
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Tom Reply:
March 1st, 2010 at 5:13 am
No problem Paul. If you need any advice on producing your own material or building your email list just shoot me an email!
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Tom, I would take a page out of Sonia Simone’s book and put a tease of each new module in the email and then link to a page on your site with the full content for that module.
You can see this method in action by signing up for her Internet Marketing for Smart People series here:
http://www.copyblogger.com/internet-marketing/
Paul Cunningham´s last blog ..Here’s a Quick Way to Create an Endless Supply of Blog Post Ideas
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Tom Reply:
March 1st, 2010 at 5:14 am
Thanks for the link Paul! I have just gone and subscribed, and really interested to see how they do it.
It is great to see how the bigger internet marketers are doing things.
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Amey Reply:
March 1st, 2010 at 9:06 pm
I agree with the method Paul described. It allows you to freely use the template you desire and configure your content that way you want.
Also, if it is just a coure (and its free), I would recommend just creating a single page for each day/class of the course. No need to lock it, because it could help bring in extra SEO search.
Amey´s last blog ..7 Reasons To Add A Blog To Your Company Website
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Tom Reply:
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:30 am
I think this may be what I am leaning towards! I’ll let you know what I choose.
Hi Tom,
Personally I would go with option 2 but instead of attaching the PDF to your mail I would put in a download link into the mail. That way you won’t be taking risks with spam complaints.
Leslie
Leslie´s last blog ..Almost The End Of The Month
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Tom Reply:
March 1st, 2010 at 5:45 pm
That is a really good idea Leslie! I hadn’t thought of that.
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I would design a small and fancy email template, just really simple but good looking.
In that i would write the excerpt and add a link with a password provided for a private wordpress post.
If you blog displays private posts (but cannot be accessed without password) you could make people aware they should enter the list to get access
Eli´s last blog ..How To: Add Shine on Edges in Photoshop
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Tom Reply:
March 1st, 2010 at 5:46 pm
Interesting. I like the idea of getting my blog readers to see the private posts and giving them an option to sign up. However, all the content will be posted about the same time so it will seem like an influx of posts, and could annoy my rss subscribers.
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Tom, Believe it or not I won’t use any of these methods. I am using a different method, and when you visit my e-course, you will find out what it is.
Although none of my course are completely finished, you can join now for free and hold your place while I get feedback from the first course run through.
Visit the link below to view my course offerings.
http://www.createasuccessfulblog.com/course/
Jack Cola´s last blog ..How To Make Your Blog Posts Have An Impact On Your Readers
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Tom Reply:
March 1st, 2010 at 5:48 pm
That is an interesting strategy. But I am not the best with coding or design and I would want any community type site to have the same feel as my blog.
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Jack Cola Reply:
March 1st, 2010 at 5:53 pm
If that is the case, use scribd to deliver your material which you could then embed into your posts (or a private blog)
Jack Cola´s last blog ..How To Make Your Blog Posts Have An Impact On Your Readers
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i personally prefer e-mail ….i do love the cover design…how did you make it?
mk akan´s last blog ..The Magic of giving Free Samples, Free Downloads, Free Chapters And Free Information
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Tom Reply:
March 1st, 2010 at 5:58 pm
I can understand that! Everyone likes things that are different to others! The cover was designed by someone over at DigitalPoint. If you are looking to get one done just hit me up and I’ll give you their details.
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I have to agree with Leslie on this one. You can simply create a download page for each day and send your visitors there to download the pdf.
OR
You can create a membership site. That is a really good idea because you can charge a small monthly fee and get recurring commissions.
But if you truly want to keep it simple just create a download link for each day with a simple “thank you, download here” type of page.
Paul Roekle´s last blog ..7 Day “Action Plan” How To Enter Any Niche And Turn A Profit In 7 Days Part 1
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Jack from Online Marketing Blog Reply:
March 1st, 2010 at 12:10 pm
I too agree with Leslie. Upload the PDF to your server and use a download link. If you’re list is decent in size, I’ve noticed many bloggers take use the newsletter method. They would send a lesson plan each week via email to their subscribers, give them a week or so to read the content, and then submit the next lesson plan.
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Hey Tom…
I like both Leslie and Paul C’s ideas…
My question to you is… Is this a paid or free course?
If it’s free, I’d do Paul C’s ideas because it’ll put more content on the web and help your site rank… Maybe a page or 10 will rank in the SERP and get you traffic, then put an email capture form on the bottom of each page to sign up for your free capture pages.
If it’s paid, go to Ejunkie… And the files will be PDF download links, so you won’t have to worry about people thinking you’re sending them a junk file. If that’s the way you’re thinking, email me and I’ll give you step-by-step guide on how to do that.
BTW, the cover looks cool…
BrianJUY´s last blog ..You Don’t Matter
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Tom Reply:
March 1st, 2010 at 5:59 pm
It is going to be a free course. But I would like to leas it on to a paid course in the future. Thanks for your great advice and resource. I may take you up on your offer!
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I like the cover design.
I like the idea of receiving an email with a link to the download page. I would use a template to match the site that the download would be on for professionalism and I think that would help readers know that they are on the correct page and not sent to a bogus site. So, I would create a template that would be used for both the email with the download link and a snippet of information they would see on the site, then the matching template on the landing page of the download welcoming the reader.
Tina´s last blog ..Fabulous GeekTool Screenshots From February 2010
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Tom Reply:
March 1st, 2010 at 6:20 pm
Thanks Tina! I love your idea about making sure the templates match.
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Good roundup. Members only blog seems the best, as you say they might not want to deal with passwords but the benefits you and your community get outweigh this. I’d never even thought of something like that but it’s a brilliant idea. And once you setup the posts, you’d have to do relatively little work bar an update once a week/month/whatever.
You could give away the first post ‘free’ to let them gauge quality and then all ones after would need a password so they’d have to stay subscribed.
Jason @ Make Money At Home´s last blog ..Trent Brownrigg Interview – The $48,000 Site Flip
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Tom Reply:
March 3rd, 2010 at 6:06 am
Thanks Jason! That is a great idea about giving away the first days content as a sample. I might implement that.
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I love the cover, but it looks very thin. Like 2 pages. Maybe thicken the binding a little so it looks like it has more substance.
I agree with putting the content on your site so it helps you in google. It’s free, no one wants to jump through hoops to get it. But, then again, you want to be able to put a price on it later, so I would say ejunkie. Set it up just like a regular eBook. Treat it like it’s an eBook and slap a price on it later. Good luck with whichever way you decide.
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Tom Reply:
March 3rd, 2010 at 5:32 pm
Thanks! I can understand your thought on the thickness, but I didn’t to make it look like a book simply for the fact that it is not an ebook, but a report. I do have an ebook cover designed for a future ebook that is a lot thicker.
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Very good analysis Tom. The problem with PDF attachment is that it can annoy users who are downloading the email using a desktop email software like Outlook Express. If the PDF is large it will block their download queue for some time. Especially if they have a slow connection.
My preferred method would be to send 10 emails and give away an eBook that complies all the 10 email contents. The eBook should be given on the last day.
Aaron´s last blog ..Percentage of Posts by Category at TechThinker.com
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Tom Reply:
March 3rd, 2010 at 6:08 am
The problem is that I don’t want this product to be an ebook. I have an idea for a product that will most likely be an ebook in the future, but I want to make this ‘list explosion’ product into an e-course. But great suggestion.
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Jack Cola from CreateASuccessfulBlog Reply:
March 3rd, 2010 at 6:38 am
Tom, a suggestion/offer only
Did you want to team up in some way with my e-course about Blogging? I think the two courses will go good together. You don’t have to if you don’t want to. If you are interested, contact me on my website and we can work something out.
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Tom Reply:
March 3rd, 2010 at 5:44 pm
Sounds like an interesting offer Jack. I’ll email you and we should try and nut out if we can make something work!
Jack Cola from CreateASuccessfulBlog Reply:
March 4th, 2010 at 12:54 am
I await for your email then. I am not in any hurry.
Jack Cola@CreateASuccessfulBlog´s last blog ..3 Posts You Should Post At Least Once A Month
You can create password protected posts and give the passwords only to your subscribers. That will be good.
Agent Deepak´s last blog ..Interview with James Richmond – The InfoPreneur
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This sounds like a good idea…good source of information for newbie like me
infopediaonlinehere´s last blog ..Google App Engine technologies, Google App Engine SDK, Google cloud computing google app engine
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