Web Strategies #14

The Powerful Little eZine Sign Up Box

An item to consider including on your homepage is a box for visitors to sign up to receive future email communications from you. Not having visitors sign up to receive an eZine or some other message from you really limits the effectiveness of your web site. Such a sign up can work for all kinds of businesses--from a wine shop to real estate and from insurance to coaches and consultants.

The eZine is a key to Internet success because it’s rare for people to buy after seeing your marketing materials just once. Visitors may see your site once, but most people look at their email every day. If people sign on your web site, you then have the opportunity to send them relevant information written by you at regular intervals. The news you send people gives them other chances to get to know you, trust you, remember you and increase the likelihood they will call you when they need your service.

Where are you going to put that email sign up box? The most visible parts of your web site are the top right and top left corners of the homepage because readers scan from the top down. I suggest you put your email sign up box in one of these top corners.

Here are three ways you can make the offer:

1. Simply say something like “Sign up here for more free tax advice.”

2. Bundle a free report or workbook with the eZine -- something like “10 Ways To Save On Your Taxes Next Year.” And receive our free monthly eZine in your email box as well. Make the report really valuable.

3. Make a simple offer like the first and then use a quote from a subscriber. For this to be effective, give their name and title and a very specific quote. It can’t be “Cecilia’s eZine is great.” But something like “I read Cecilia’s eZine every month. She has really opened my eyes to tax mistakes I was making and opportunities I have been missing to save money for my small business. Thank you Cecilia.”

If you choose the first choice of just asking people to sign up you can place the sign up box in either top corner of your homepage. If you want to make the offer in more detail, choose the left side of your homepage to make your offer.

What I’m telling you has worked for other businesses. If you have traffic to your site and you are not getting a good percentage of visitors signing up, you’ll want to make adjustments to your offer. Have some business colleagues critique your offer. Also, you can put the eZine sign up in other pages of your site to increase the likelihood people will see it and sign up.

What is magic about writing an eZine or sending some other kind of communication to your clients and prospects regularly? It will impact you and your business in several ways. In addition to having people sign up online, you can offer your eZine to people you meet networking and offer it to your clients. (Be sure to ask if you can send it. Don’t send it to anyone including clients without asking first.)

In time you will start getting calls from people who have been receiving these email communications. You would never have gotten their business if you hadn’t kept in touch. How else would they remember you and call you with confidence many months after meeting you? Furthermore, they will have learned so much about you and your business in the interim that they are already ready and willing to work with you or buy from you.

The other part to the magic is from the writing itself. Writing about your business, about what you know, tests and expands and reinforces that knowledge. It makes you more confident and articulate in explaining what you do. I want to gush here about the transformative power of writing. Writing is exercise for your mind and heart and will make you stronger and sharper. That has certainly been my experience in writing this eZine.

If you are not convinced…do a little research on what others say about writing an eZine. And think about starting small if that will help you. Can you commit to once a month? Four times a year? Commit only do what you can do because consistency is essential for the eZine to build confidence in your subscribers.

It will not work quite the same magic if the eZine is sent sporadically instead of consistently. How do I explain this? Since the eZine is all they are seeing of you, they are judging your business by the appearance of the eZine. If you send it every two weeks or month without fail people come to expect it. Missing weeks will leave them feeling your commitment to them is wavering.

It is better to start small then not start at all. Twice or four times a year is a fine start. Sending the eZine only a few times a year may not get people calling you but you will have started and you can increase your commitment, as the writing gets easier for you.

Write about what you really know. Write so people can avoid the mistakes you have made or your clients typically make. In most cases you are going to write about your service, product or something closely related. There are instances where small business people write on other topics more or less related to what they do. One of the most appealing eZine I have seen was from a wine store with notes about the fabulous wines they carry. A realtor I know sends a newsletter on topics relevant to homeowners. And actually you can also send relevant articles written by others.