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Email marketing is getting tougher. People don’t even want to find emails in their inbox. Most people actually open their emails and quickly scan through them to find ones they can delete. The less they have to open the better. It doesn’t stop there either. People are very reluctant to sign up for more emails going to their inboxes. Emails are just overwhelming and time consuming. Because of

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If you’re like most email marketers, most likely you’re not doing it right. And, it’s really not your fault. Most people just don’t know the secret strategies to write effective emails – emails that people actually open – emails that prompt people to say YES to your call-to-action. For those of you who aren’t sure what or who an email marketer is, it’s anyone (an author, freelance writer, or

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In Part One of 7 Elements of an Effective Landing Page Designed to Increase Your Mailing I covered elements one (A Specific Opt-in Landing Page) and two (The Sign-up ). In Part Two, elements three (Convey the Benefit) and four (Your Ethical Bribe - The Free Gift) were discussed.

Now on to elements five, six, and seven:

5. Clarity

Putting it all together, clarity rules. Your opt-in page should be an easy read and easy to understand. And, it should answer all potential questions.

In addition, the sign-up wording you use should be visible and near the top of the page. And, what you’re offering, including the benefits and freebie, needs to be clearly stated. Bullet points are a good way to give the visitor a quick look at all your offering.

If a visitor has to guess or search for what you’re offering, or wonders what you’re about, you’ve lost that subscriber.

6. Images

Images are an important element to a website and landing page. I’m sure you’ve heard it before, people are becoming more and more ‘visual.’ This means images are a needed component of your opt-in page. But, the image MUST be relevant to what you’re offering. The visitor needs to be able to quickly make the connection, otherwise it may be distracting.

Along with this, you need to keep your landing page simple, clear, and easy to navigate. This means don’t clutter it with too many images.

Having your picture, along with your logo, or other relevant image should be sufficient.

The purpose of having your picture on the landing page is that people connect with people. The feel reassured when they see an actual person – it helps foster trust.

7. The Mailing List

You might have heard that only 1% of first time visitors will buy a product.

The first reason for this is because first time visitors don’t know you, which means they don’t trust you. Why should they buy from you?

The second reason is that during an initial visit, your visitor may not have the time to spend browsing your site for information that will entice him to make the decision to purchase your book or product.

This is where your specific opt-in page and sign-up text comes in. It gives the visitor a quick and easy decision-making nudge. If conveys the benefits and highlights the valuable free gift the visitor will get for taking action. With everything in place, including a clear call-to-action, you’ve made the visitor’s sign-up decision even easier.

The mailing list is your connection and opportunity to develop an ongoing relationship with the subscriber. It’s this relationship that will convert your reader into a customer or client.

If you haven't read Parts 1 and 2 yet, go to:


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RECOMMENDED RESOURCE:

Speedy Web Video

Video marketing is one of the most effective conversion tools. Speedy Web Videos is an ecourse that teaches you, with step-by-step instructions, to create your own videos. Check it out!


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MORE ONLINE MARKETING


Beyond Book Sales Income: Book Marketing and Diversification
Creating Content: 10 Online Repurposing Formats
4 Simple Steps to Web Videos That Sell

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To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).

Karen Cioffi

Multi-award Winning Author, Freelance/Ghostwriter, Editor, Online Marketer, Affiliate Marketer
Writer’s Digest Website of the Week, June 25, 2012

Karen Cioffi Professional Writing Services
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/

Author Online Presence and Book Marketing Ecourse:
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/book-marketing-ecourses/

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This is the first part of 7 Elements of an Effective Landing Page Designed to Increase Your Mailing List. Since it's a bit long, it will be divided into three parts.

Off we go.

The nitty-gritty of your landing page is to create an effective, engaging, and appealing website that is designed with focus and that will motivate the visitor to say YES to your opt-in or other call-to-action.

Getting traffic is great, but if that traffic doesn’t convert, doesn’t take action on your site, there’s really no point to it. Your opt-in landing page should convert visitors into subscribers.

Here are seven elements to an effective opt-in landing page.

1. A Specific Opt-in Landing Page

With attention spans dwindling and competition increasing, the main goal of your
opt-in landing page is to get email addresses that will convert into sales.

You might be wondering why a separate opt-in landing page is a necessary step. The answer is: distraction.

Most visitors and readers today are scanners. There’s just too much information online for people to read everything. And, in addition to this, attention spans are shrinking.

If you bring a visitor to your blog for the purpose of having her sign-up for a newsletter, she may first glance over your interesting post and scan for more information. Maybe she’ll glance over all the gadget/widgets you have on your sidebars. This is distracting and dilutes focus.

When you drive traffic for the purpose of increasing your mailing list, your intent, your call-to-action, needs to be deliberate and clear, with NO distractions. 

This is the purpose of a specific opt-in landing page.

2. The Sign-up

According to a number of marketers, the most essential words on your site are: SIGN UP or other text prompting the visitor to subscribe to your newsletter.

Getting subscribers onto your mailing list is the first and most important element of an effective website. It should be the purpose of your opt-in landing page.

The sign-up text is the building blocks of your empire. It is the link to developing a relationship with the visitors to your site.


Stop by next Monday for elements 3 and 4.

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RECOMMENDED RESOURCE: 

To learn the ‘ins and outs’ of creating and building an Author Online Presence check out the ecourses Karen offers:
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/book-marketing-ecourses/






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MORE ON ONLINE MARKETING

Book Marketing – 9 Quick Tips for Being a Guest Blogger on Blogging Sites
Commenting on Blogs Still Works
What is an Author Platform and How Do You Create It?

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To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).

Karen Cioffi
Multi-award Winning Author, Freelance/Ghostwriter, Editor, Online Marketer, Affiliate Marketer
Writer’s Digest Website of the Week, June 25, 2012
“This site from Karen Cioffi should stand as a model for other freelance writers.”
~ Brian A. Klems, Online Editor for Writer’s Digest

Karen Cioffi Professional Writing Services
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/

Author Online Presence and Book Marketing Ecourse:
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/book-marketing-ecourses/

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When an author is invited to speak at a conference–Reading Association, National Council of Teachers of English, Science Teacher’s Association, School Librarians Association, etc–it’s a great opportunity to connect with an audience who is already inclined to like your books. You need to be ready to maximize your efforts at such a speaking engagement.

Darcy Pattison on Read Across America Day 2011

Do a great presentation. First and foremost, do a great presentation. Plan ahead, make sure the audio-visual setup works, have great handouts. Practice. It is worth everything you can do to make a good impression. Think about the needs of your audience, not about what you want to present. What would help your audience do their job better? Meet the needs of the audience, exceed their expectations.

Build a Mailing List. The second most important thing to do–if you do nothing else right, get this one right–is to build a mailing list. I just have a paper signup sheet asking for name and email. Period. Make it easy for them to sign up. At the top, I clearly state the purpose of the newsletter: Darcy Pattison’s News: Occasional Updates, New Releases, Speaking Engagement and Other News.

I use MailChimp (NOTE: This is an affiliate link.) to actually set up and send e-newsletters. I’ve tried Constant Contact, but found it harder to understand. With MailChimp, a free account allows up to 2000 subscribers. They also offer a simple mailing program–no html formats (which means no pictures in the email)–with TinyLetter. If you’re really afraid of doing this, try TinyLetter for a while: it’s simple, easy and fun.

Handouts. You should have handouts ready. A flyer on your latest book. Business cards. Sales coupon for your book. Something. At conferences, attendees LOVE freebies and will take almost anything you hand them. Think ahead about what you want to promote or what you want them talking about. Maybe you’ve just put up some great book trailers and you want people to go watch them!

Here’s a tip: If you want people to go to a certain website, use the bit.ly URL shortening service to create a custom URL just for them. You must be a member to use this feature, but it’s worth the registration. Try this one: http://bit.ly/ARA2011 Sure, you could do a designer QR codes, too, but how many people have the app? Be safe and try a catchy URL.

Schmooze. Talk to people! If you’re like me, you hate talking to strangers. OK. Find someone else who is standing alone and go talk to them. Remember how YOU feel standing alone and be a friend (To make a friend, BE a friend!)

Another tip: Read the newspapers closely for 2-3 days before you go, so you are up on current events. Choose a couple things that interest you and be ready to talk about them. It can

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It's Summer 2010 Guest Article Wednesday, and this one is important for all us writers - at least those of us who want to sell our books, e-books, and services.

Why You May Need a Squeeze Page to Make the Most of Your Article Marketing Campaigns
By Suzanne Lieurance

Article marketing is a great way to generate traffic to your website or blog. And, if that's ALL you're after, then all you need to do is write quality articles that will appeal to a specific (niche) market. Then, in the resource box at the end of each article, include some compelling reason for readers to click on a link that will take them directly to your website.

However, if you're like most people who are using article marketing as a way to generate new customers or clients - and not JUST more traffic - you might be better off leading readers back to a squeeze page instead of your website or blog.

I know what you're wondering - Why is that?

Well, the reason is this. Generally, people don't buy from a website or blog on the first visit. They must get to know, like, and trust the business person who owns that site before they feel comfortable and confident enough to purchase products and/or services from him online. This comfort and confidence doesn't usually happen instantly. It takes time.

The way most people get to know, like, and trust someone who is doing business on the internet is by signing up for this person's mailing list.

Okay, so now you're thinking - But I have an opt-in box on my website or blog. People can sign up for my mailing list right there.

But here's the problem with that. There are probably OTHER things visitors can get distracted by at your website or blog. You might have interesting and informative articles for them to read, an engaging video for them to watch, or even a short audio they can listen to. Before they know it, they've finished visiting your site without ever opting in to your list. And they may never return to the site, so you've lost them as a customer or client forever.

But with a squeeze page, your visitors won't get distracted because all a squeeze page is designed to do is get people to sign up for your list.

If article marketing is driving more traffic to your sites, yet you aren't getting more sign ups for your mailing list, consider a squeeze page and see if you don't get better results.

For an example of a squeeze page, go to http://www.fearlessfreelancewriting.com and don't forget to sign up for my mailing list so you'll start receiving my free newsletter, Build Your Business Write. AFTER you've done that, check out my website at http://www.workingwriterscoach.com to read more informative articles, watch interesting videos, and get other great resources to help build your business.
 
Suzanne Lieurance is the author of 22 (at last count) published books, a freelance writer, and the Working Writer's Coach.

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You can also check out these programs by Suzanne:

The Children's Writers' Coaching Club

Write More, Sell More, Make More Money Than EVER in 2010 Coaching Program

I highly recommend these programs, and I am a member of both. If you do take my advice and join one or both of Suzanne's programs, please mention my name--I am an affiliate of hers. But, I’d like you to know that I only recommend these programs because I belong to them, and I know their value if you're serious about writing.


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Check out these related articles:

7 Steps to Writing for Article Directories



Benefits of Creating

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