Archive | October, 2022

Why don’t your customers recommend you to their friends? It’s not because they don’t like you – if they didn’t like you or your products, they wouldn’t be buying from you. Nor is it because they don’t have time – we all naturally recommend things we like to friends.

The reason they don’t recommend you is because you don’t make it easy for them. Here are 7 ways to not only make it easy, but to also remind them in a very nice, non-pushy way that you really would like a little word of mouth now and then…

1. Encourage them to write online reviews. Whatever your product or service, if you believe in it then ask your customers to rate it for you. Give them a 1 to 5 star option on one or several aspects of your product, and give them a place to write their comments.

2. Remember those “refer a friend” scripts? You used to see those buttons everywhere. Now that they aren’t as popular as they once were, it’s the perfect time to add them to your website. Remember, doing the opposite of what others are doing is quite often the way to stand apart and get ahead.

3. “Share with a friend.” There are other options besides “refer a friend.” For example, you can let them share the content of your blog post or article by simply clicking a button and choosing the email addresses they want it sent to. Better still, simply having this button will often remind people to send it to their friends, and they’ll copy and paste the content in an email.

4. Use your “Tweet This,” “Like This,” and “PlusOne” buttons. Then ASK them to share it. You can double your tweets and likes simply by asking.

5. Depending on your service, you might be able to “share the credit.” For example, the Flip digital video cameras have an option at the end of the video editing process where the user can “share the credit” with Flip. They check the box, and a small screen appears at the end of the movie saying it was created with a Flip Camera. If you can incorporate something like this into your product or service, by all means do so.

6. Do you have raving fans? Then create a button for their websites and Facebook pages that lets them share their enthusiasm for your product or service.

7. Make a special offer. For example, if you offer a monthly service, give each customer a free month of service for each paying customer they refer.

If you have a blog you might want to consider allowing others to post on it. Here’s why:

1. Guest bloggers create content for you, meaning you either a) don’t have to create as much content or b) you can have even more content on your blog without the extra work.

2. Guest bloggers know things you don’t. You’ve got your expertise and they’ve got theirs, and while you could take the time to master what they already know, it’s far easier to simply let them write about it.

Bonus: You look just as smart whether you write it yourself or get a guest blogger to do it for you.

3. Guest bloggers see things differently. Let’s face it, reading everything from the same perspective can get tiresome. Allow your readers to see different perspectives and it will keep your blog relevant and interesting.

4. Guest bloggers bring friends. They tell their followers about their guest posts, bringing fresh traffic to your blog.

Diversity is a big key to success in every field. Don’t always “go it alone”. Invite others into your fold. Then sit back and watch in appreciation as your business and influence grows.

Have no doubt, email marketing is still a huge powerhouse and offers perhaps the very best return on your time. So how can your emails have an even greater impact with your readers? Here are 5 tips for strengthening and adding power to content you create.

Shorter is better. But not too short. Shorter sentences are more likely to be read than longer ones. And shorter emails are more likely to be read all the way through than 3,000 word behemoths.
But there’s also such a thing as TOO short. You know those emails that have one sentence designed to make you curious enough to click the link? Don’t be clever and copy those emails, because testing shows they don’t convert as well on the backend as emails that prep the reader for what they’re about to see. By that we mean, you may get just as many clicks as you would if you took the time to explain where your reader is going and why they should go there, but because you did not prepare them, you won’t get as many sales once they land on the page you sent them to.

The trick is to tell them, or in fact EDUCATE them just enough to make them want very much to go to the page you’re sending them to. This way they’re primed to learn more about the topic and quite possibly make the purchase. Think of it as warming up your prospect before sending them off to the sales page.

Being timely is key. Open your email with the latest news in your niche and then tie it into your offer and you’ve got a winner. Can’t find a way to tie the two together? Then don’t. There’s no reason why you can’t update them on both the latest news and your latest offer. Just be sure you lead with the news – keeping them informed is more important than making a sale, or at least that’s the way you should come across if you want your readers to continue opening your newsletters.

Be a problem solver. Regardless of whether or not you’re making an offer in your email, if you can show them how to solve a problem, you’re golden. Tell them about the solution you use and how they can use the same idea to fix their own problem. If you are promoting a product, begin with the problem it solves, and then explain why this particular solution holds an edge over the others.

Get them hooked, then link them over. A wonderful use of newsletters is to get your reader hooked into a story, and then at a key moment continue the story on your blog. This will get a vast majority of your readers clicking that link to find out what happens next in the story. (Be sure you put the entire story on your blog for those that land there without reading your newsletter.)

Be funny, or at the very least have fun. You receive two emails: One from your very serious uncle, the other from your cousin the comedian. Which do you open first? Obviously we all enjoy having fun, and if the writer had fun writing the newsletter to us, you know it’s going to be enjoyable to read. That’s why if you’re able to use humor, it’s like icing on the cake.

Keep these tips in mind the next time you prepare to write a newsletter or blog post, and you are sure to create more engaging content that draws your readers in.