The Your Daily Kick is the place to find daily advertising tips, motivation, and success principles to help you on your online marketing journey. Use these tips in your online marketing plan for daily traffic, long lasting success, and higher profits.

Today’s Your Daily Kick is all about landing pages.

Affiliate marketing is all about the landing page that you direct traffic to. This landing page (squeeze page, capture page, or whatever else you want to call it) can be a simple one page website, a few pages of content, or a full blown blog site with a special page dedicated to capture leads and pre-selling the product. Whichever way that you want to create one, a landing page, is the key to your overall affiliate marketing success.

This is the one page on your site that will;

- pre-sell the visitor into clicking to merchant site,

- deliver a power packed statement about the affiliate product,

- collect email addresses for building email list,

- create awareness about the product with news clips, videos, or special downloadable reports,

- and even show a video demonstrating the product, among other things.

The importance of creating really good landing pages has been talked about endlessly by many different people. There is some really great information about how to make great looking, and great selling, landing pages, but so few marketers actually put this advice into practice. Each week I am presented with a the opportunity to work with new clients that need help with their internet marketing and advertising. One of the biggest problems I see when doing my initial research into their current advertising, one thing I find more than anything else is that there is a poorly designed landing page – or, the complete lack of one.

Landing Pages – Fix Yours Today

Today’s daily kick is all about getting you motivated to fix that landing page. Or, create a landing page of your own! I’m not going to go into the actual “how to create a landing page”, or “how to design a landing page,” but I do want to get you started on the road to having a very good landing page.

Landing pages are integral to your overall affiliate marketing, network marketing, email list building, service providing, or info product selling success. Without one, you are simply shooting a shotgun loaded with birdshot at a small target 50 yards away. Very slim chance of hitting anything.

Creating a landing page, or fixing the one you have, will help you bring that shot into closer and the target, much easier to hit. However… you have to do it. Do not take the importance of a landing page for granted. Make it your priority today to do something about your landing page.

Easiest Way To Create Landing Pages

With the invention of Wordpress, there is simply no other better way to create landing pages. With a good webhost, you can easily create several landing pages with Wordpress. You can use Wordpress.org for a free version, but it is much better to have your own domain and your own host. You do not even have to know how to design anything.

One of the biggest problems in creating landing pages is the design aspect. I am simply horrible and graphic design. I can see what I want, I just can not make it happen. However, with Wordpress, I simply use a theme already included with it (just make some simple changes), or I can use something like The Thesis Theme for WordPress or Affiliate Theme. They have tremendous themes that are easily customizable and create incredible looking landing pages.

The point of today is not to get you to buy something. But, to get you to do something about that hideous landing page! Go fix it. Go spruce it up a little. Even a small change to the heading, or some of the subtitles, or a few of the words in your copy will give it a huge

Landing Page Video Resources

Here are a few videos you can check out to help you with your landing page design. One is a short video by SEOMOz that shows some landing page optimization tricks. It is really very informative and only a few minutes long. The second video is a complete webinar. There is a lot of information, but it is also over an hour long. If you have the time, check it out.

Good Luck!

New Year’s Resolutions are a dime a dozen during the change from the old year to the new one. Of course, they are usually the same old ones. Lose weight, quit smoking, be more giving, be a better spouse, and on and on. One of the things that most resolutions have in common is that they are ill fated to last.

Why?

Mostly because there is no real commitment to it. It is just something that is made up on the spur of the moment to make sure you have done the “resolution” thing. Coming into 2010 I did not make any New Year’s Resolutions. Rather, I made New Year’s Commitments. These commitments are birthed out of desire and necessity. Instead of going into a long ramble about what I am doing, I thought I would put down the main points of the ten most important new year’s commitments that every internet marketer should make.

Internet Marketing Commitments For A New Year

1. Define your goal! Whatever you do, do not head into this new year without a sound, detailed goal on paper. Be as specific as you can be and plan out your entire year. This is not a list of things you would like to accomplish – more, it is a list of what you will accomplish. Many people think it is good enough to put down a wish list. What they would like to do, if they could. I believe there is much more power when you write a list of the things you will accomplish. Sure, it is still a wish list, but you have a different mindset about it.

2. Make A Schedule! Every successful internet marketer has a set schedule that they adhere to very rigidly. There will be times when you will have some distractions – this happens at any work site – but, you must have a schedule of when you work, what you plan to accomplish, what you do on specific days, and even when you will participate in social media and networking.

3. Make Social Media A Priority! Following on the heels of the last point, social media, and social networking, is the way that marketing it moving to at a very rapid pace. If you are already involved with social media marketing, that is great! But, you will have to step it up in order to keep your brand, your website, your services, your product, you yourself in front of the millions of eyes that are out there. The real important part is not to be just involved with Twitter or Facebook, but to expand your horizons with YouTube, and becoming very active specific niche sites.

4. Do Something New! One of the worse things you can do with your online business is always do the same old thing. Believe me, I know. The first few years of my business I didn’t want to try new technology, or new ways of doing things. I wanted to stay with what was comfortable. Today, it is much different. I make it a point, every day, to learn a little bit about something new. To catapult your business much farther than ever before begin doing something new. Make videos, do a podcast, go to seminars, set up your own webinar, it does not matter what you do, just do something new.

5. Create New Content Each Week! Content is still what is going to win the day as far as organic search traffic, viral exposure, and winning the hearts and minds of the people of the Internets. Every week should have some time set aside for creating new content. This content does not have to always be in the form of written. It can be videos, audio, email series, ebook, or anything else that people can grab, use, and give to someone else (or let them know about).

6. Focus On SEO! While you are out doing your socializing with social networking, you must also give SEO (Search Engine Optimization) a major part of your attention. Learn about what makes the search engines love your site and work at it until you get higher and higher rankings.

7. Start A Newsletter! We have all heard that many people think that email is a waste of time. However, many big name marketers are starting to run a separate email newsletter besides their RSS feed. By integrating a newsletter into your marketing efforts you have another platform from which to give out your content. It is not just an advertising medium. It is a content medium. Start and build an email newsletter for a much larger Internet footprint.

8. Focus In On Mobile! This is a two part commitment. We can not deny the fact that the world is going mobile. Mobile phones are no longer just for making phone calls. Accessing the web, answering emails, sending pictures, and making videos are all done with mobile phones. If you want to stay competitive you need to be available anywhere, anytime. Focus on how to move your business towards being more mobile in this new year.

The other part of focusing on mobile is to make your website more mobile friendly. This is one of the things I am working on for my websites now. You can either add a plug in for your Wordpress site, Wordpress Mobile Edition is a fairly decent plug in, or you can have it built into a downloadable application. The plug in would be much easier.

9. Commit To Building A Business Instead Of A Quick Buck! The one thing that I have seen the most is that most of the people who are getting involved with internet marketing today are looking for a quick dollar. They join one MLM after another in search of the one BIG opportunity that will earn thousands of dollars each week. However, always looking for the ONE BIG THING will not work in the long run. Building a business – a brand – will. Commit to this year of building your authority, your brand, and a long time online business.

10. Have Fun! Least, but certainly not in importance, is to have fun with your online business. Uptight internet marketers who walk around with a scowl on their face, stressing out about their business, and just not being very friendly to anyone are just not fun to be around. Look at your internet marketing like a journey, or an adventure. I look at my online business as an Indiana Jones movie. I never know what will happen next, what treasure will be uncovered, or who I will meet. I have a lot of fun. Probably more than I should. Make it a commitment this year to have fun with your internet marketing adventure!

Internet marketing is more than just throwing up a few banner ads and buying some PPC ads. Much more. Commit to these ten things and you will a drastic improvement in all areas of your online business.

And remember… have fun!

I have come to know a lot of great people all over the world while helping them with their advertising campaigns. Of course, I have also met some less than desirable people. During the last several years of online marketing I have come to see that there are three distinctly different types of internet marketers.

Marketing and Sports

Being a coach, fitness fanatic, and personal trainer I like to compare everything to sports. In fact, if you think about it, there isn’t much in life that you can not directly compare with sports and athletics. Every time I work on a new campaign I think about a large sports arena with the advertising materials as my team and the internet target as the audience, spectators, and opposing team.

In sports there are three different types of athletes. The same thing goes for internet marketing. In the several years I have immersed myself in the internet world, I have come to see that there are three different types of internet marketers. And they are not all good.

What I mean by that is this; there are those who are hurting themselves by being one, or even two, of these types of marketers. It sounds harsh, but if you are not willing to step up and change the way you approach your internet marketing – you will fail.

Three Types of Internet Marketer

Before you take a look at the different types of marketers take a minute to think about how you go about your own internet business, or presence. If you take a very honest look at your business, you will most likely be able to pinpoint which type of marketer you are. And, be able to make some changes for future success.

1. Quick Hitter – Only In It For The Money (Glory)!

You know the kind of athlete that moves from team to team looking for a better deal? Today with free agency, many players jump ship at the sign of a more lucrative contract. By the end of their career they have played for several different teams. However, it isn’t only in the pro ranks that this type of athlete is found. I played men’s softball for several years and was amazed at the number of people who would join different teams each year because they had the “good” players.

In essence, these types of athletes want the glory – the accolades of either earning more money or being on a “winning” team. Internet marketing has this same type of marketer. They are in it for the glory, and most definitely for the money.

This type of marketer jumps from opportunity to opportunity, or plasters the web with quickly put together two page websites based on the “hottest” keyword. This is the perfect formula for failure.

The Quick Hitter is so wrapped up in keyword research, tweaking Adwords ads, optimizing landing pages, and leaving a trail of mini sites in their wake that they cannot possible focus on building a real business. They are in it for the quick hit.

2. Weekend Warrior – Plays On The Weekends But Believes They Know It All!

I’m sure you know about this type of athlete. Every town is overrun with these types. I know mine is. These are the guys who play a few pick up games of basketball, softball, or even volleyball at the local recreation center and think they know it all about sports. As a coach, these people drive me absolutely nuts. In the internet marketing world, this type of marketer is one that has dabbled with a few MLM programs, sold a few Clickbank products, and now gives out their “expert” advice.

This type of marketer is a step above the Quick Hitter in that they are more consistent with what they are doing. However, it is mostly very inconsistent.

3. Lifestyle Athlete – Dedicated To Lifelong Success And Growth!

I have been active all my life. In fact, I’ve been called “obsessed with sports”. I wouldn’t quite call it an obsession. Rather, I would call it a dedication. I love playing, coaching, and helping athletes reach past their goals and continually establish new ones. That takes a lifetime of dedication and passion.

Internet marketing, or building any business really, requires the same type of passion, dedication, and lifelong “obsession”. Anything short of this and you are missing the mark as far as what you can potentially achieve.

The first time I ever set foot on a field as a coach was on a soccer field. I love soccer. I’ve played it since I was about 10 years old. Even though I had a lot of experience, I was scared. I had never coached anything before. Now, I was going to be leading a team of middle school boys. I’d like to say we had a stellar season. We only won one game. However, the learning experience was invaluable. Now, I have gone on to coach several sports.

When I started marketing on the internet, I had a simple online shopping mall with banners to hundreds of different sites I was affiliated with. It did alright, but I knew I had to continue learning, growing, and stretching myself. So, I started copywriting, advertising, and consulting. It wasn’t a one time thing – it has been a life of learning and reaching.

Internet Marketing Is A Lifestyle

This has been made even more crystal clear with the advent of social media. You can see, in real time, how the most successful people have become that way. They live what they do.

The most successful athletes – from the middle school soccer player to the professional, highly paid athlete – live their sport. They practice, live healthy, and put all their energy into being better. Not just once, or every few months, but continually.

Marketing on the internet demands that same type of lifelong dedication. It does not matter if you are an affiliate, a service provider, own a retail website, consultant, or info publisher. You must live it.

Which type of marketer are you? Where do you find yourself? Are you the Quick Hitter, Weekend Warrior, or the Lifestyle Athlete?

Here’s a quick list of 60 online advertising tricks I’ve learned over the last 13 years of online marketing and setting up marketing campaigns. There is no particular order, just some of the do’s and don’ts I’ve come across along the way.

Do….

1. Be persistent in continuing to learn advertising and marketing.

2. Find a proven marketing coach to help you.

3. Learn, and practice simple copywriting as soon as you can.

4. Be familiar with different advertising tactics.

5. Use articles for website promotion.

6. Write and submit a consistent 3 to 5 articles a week.

7. Be an expert author at EzineArticles.com.

8. Submit articles to individual ezine publishers.

9. Get started with social media marketing.

10. Start a blog dealing with your niche.

11. Be a consistent participant in forums.

12. Comment, comment, comment on other blogs in your niche.

13. Provide quality content through weekly ezine or newsletter.

14. Send traffic to landing pages for capturing email and preselling visitors.

15. Be active on Twitter

16. Learn solid pay per click strategies.

17. Spend time optimizing webpages for higher search engine rankings.

18. Use an email signature in all your emails.

19. Seek out relevant sites and ask to exchange links.

20. Spread some ‘link love’ in your own articles and blog posts.

21. Give away a lot of free information in reports, ebooks, and email courses.

22. Keep landing pages up to date with relevant information and web copy.

23. Always test new copy, landing pages, headlines, and ads.

24. Participate in webinars, internet radio shows, and teleconferences.

25. Hold contests to increase web traffic.

26. Focus your advertising on one single action.

27. Go Viral in your advertising.

28. Have a plan and work diligently on it.

29. Use email ads in relevant ezines for targeted marketing.

30. Think of how you want to be thought of (brand) and build your online presence from there.

31. Experiment with buying targeted ad space on relevant websites.

32. List your website with all major search engines and directories.

33. Work hard in creating effective, stirring, and “pullable” headlines and titles.

34. Keep a ’swipe file’ of other advertising to learn from.

35. Create a social media landing page.

36. Do budget your advertising dollars to spread out over several areas.

37. Write guest posts on other blogs.

38. Form partnerships with other people within your niche.

39. Use social bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon and Digg for further exposure of your site.

40. Have a multi-pronged attack in your advertising.

41. Use coupons and time limits as incentives.

42. Write and submit press releases on newsworthy events in your business, or affiliate company.

43. Use offline advertising methods (business cards, newspaper ads, etc.) to promote your website.

The Do Nots

44. Get discouraged if you don’t see overnight millions.

45. Write over-hyped sales copy for landing pages.

46. Get started with PPC advertising without really studying it first.

47. Just post your own links on Twitter.

48. Only participate in forums when you want to advertise your website.

49. Only publish your newsletter when you want to sell something.

50. Use pre-written, company supplied landing pages and ads.

51. Comment on blogs with “Great blog!” and leave it at that.

52. Spam publishers and site owners with your content on a daily basis.

53. Focus only on selling a product.

54. Limit yourself to just one advertising method.

55. Waste your money with safelists and paid “guaranteed” traffic sites.

56. Jump into social media marketing without a plan.

57. Use only free blog hosting for your blog.

58. Spam your ezine subscribers with daily issues or ads.

59. Try to do everything yourself.

60. Present an answer to your target audience’s problems.

The Biggest Marketing Do Of Them All

You can really get lost in the do’s and don’ts of advertising website and kind of lose the fun of it. (Yes, advertising and marketing is fun!)

You can also get so wrapped up in what you should and should not do that you kind of get frozen and don’t know where to go. But, I think I can lessen the anxiety a little bit with the number one marketing “do”.

Just do it.

You simply won’t achieve any type of traffic to your website if you don’t do something. Get started slowly and begin to build as you learn, work with someone, and see some results. But… you must do it!

What about you?

Do you have any tips for the “do” and “don’t” list? I’d love to hear them. Why not jotting it down in the comment section?

Copywriting master John Carlton is doing what he always does. Helping others succeed.

To do that he is giving away a few amazing resources over at his Simple Writing System Blog. I’ve been checking out John’s stuff for awhile now and know that he does nothing but produce quality information. He has a teacher’s heart and shows you exactly what you need to know in order to do things the most effective way.

John has released a few copywriting case studies in interview form that are free for a few days. There are also going to be a few more coming towards the weekend.

In addition to that, he has put together four free reports called “Making the Sale”.

Yes, this is all in build up to his upcoming releases of his Simple Writing System, but the free stuff is also worth the time to check them out.

Copywriting is not the same for every type of business model. In fact, if you are into affiliate marketing, network marketing, or both you’re going to find out that they way you write landing pages, sales letters, or even articles is going to be different for each one.

Networking marketing is different than affiliate marketing. While you are still advertising other people’s products, the technical aspects are vastly different. Because of that you need a different kind of copywriting approach to network marketing than you would with other types of internet marketing. By approach I’m talking about the actual writing. Some of the principles might sound the same, but the implementation is different.

Network Marketing Copywriting Tip #1

Target-Audience should be main focus.

Your target for network marketing opportunities is to build your own business by recruiting others to join your network. This is most often referred to as ‘building your downline’. In affiliate marketing it is mostly aimed at a sale, or click-thru to the merchant site. The copywriting, or the words you use on the advertising piece, sales letter, or landing page should reflect this type of focus. You want to get the reader excited about the possibilities that this opportunity presents to them.

Network Marketing Copywriting Tip #2

Use personal examples to present your opportunity.

If the current social marketing revolution tells marketers anything it is that people are looking for something that they can relate to, and people they can feel a connection to. Being personal in your copywriting, using your own personal journey in network marketing or failures/successes is a powerful way to do connect.

Another big component of being ‘personal’ in your copywriting is to solve a problem that people are facing today. Right now that would probably be the economy and the high unemployment rate.

Network Marketing Copywriting Tip #3

Build your copy around benefits instead of outrageous claims.

When I’m working with new clients involved in network marketing I usually have to break the news that the biggest problem with their marketing is their landing page copy. Yeah, the one that cost them a few hundred bucks to have someone write for them is working against them.

Your copy needs to be built around something. Your best bet is to build it around the benefits of the opportunity rather than outrageous claims. Claims such as “$10,000 in 3 weeks!”, “Earn $25,000 in just 3 hours a week!”, and “Be a Millionaire in just 2 weeks!” are not going to be overly effective in turning readers into new recruits. Instead of going that route use the benefits as the foundation and build from there. If you want to hype the benefits that is ok, just don’t hype the false claims.

Copywriting is, without a doubt, one of the most essential tasks of online marketing that you should have a working knowledge of. In fact, I would dare say that anyone who is trying to make a little money online should be able to do a little of their own copywriting.

That being said, I do admit that it is a daunting task for someone to undertake if they are not familiar with writing at all. Articles, sales letters, ads, autoresponder messages, landing pages, blog posts, and even comments can befuddle people and leave them speechless… or rather, wordless.

To make this process a little easier it might help to think about certain rules rather than absolutes. I made this statement to my middle school basketball team the other day while teaching them the motion offense as opposed to set plays. When running set plays there are certain places you need to be, things you need to do, and it can get you “locked in” and stifle your creativity. While the motion offense is really built upon a few rules and opens up your offense to a world of creative playing.

I believe copywriting to be about certain rules rather than specific “set plays”. Copywriting is all about creativity and anything that is perceived to be “set” can squash that creativity and leave you grasping for the right words.

Copywriting rules to be creative by.

To avoid sitting there looking at a blank screen (or blank piece of paper) here are a few rules to live by rather than absolutes to die by.

1. Copywriting is about creativity. I already mentioned this one above, but it is too important to leave out of this list. Your creativity is your secret weapon to your copywriting success. You are not locked into any type of “must to” and “have to” rules. You are only limited by your imagination.

2. Copywriting is for real people. Any writing for that matter is for real people. You’re writing for people who are going to visit, read, make a decision, and either leave your site or want to go deeper.

3. Copywriting is about action. An effective sales letter, ad, or even an article should have an overall call to action with smaller actions spread throughout. Think about it, the reason you are writing something on the web is for traffic, opt in subscribers, or new customers. So, everything you write should have some action in it.

4. Copywriting should be done in blocks. Instead of looking at the entire copywriting work as one BIG project, look at it in smaller blocks. When writing sales letters for web pages I tend to break it down into smaller chunks of writing. I can write much more this way and can create a flow for the reader instead of one long winded ramble.

5. Copywriting should be personal. When writing anything a connection between the written word and the reader should be made. There are a few ways to do that, but the one that I favor, and use most of the time, is to be a little personal in the copy. Examples of my life (or the client’s life), current events happening in the world, and situations that the reader is in are all great ways to be personal in your copywriting.

6. Copywriting is best when a problem is solved. One of the main aspects of writing copy, especially a sales letter or ad, is to give a solution to a problem the reader will be, or is, facing. One of the biggest reasons I will buy something, sign up for something, or just give up my money to someone I have to know that it’s going to help me. The same thing is true online. A copy that will give a solution to a problem will trump one that doesn’t.

7. Copywriting should contain several sub-headings. Sub-headings are the lure that draws people down to the end of your sales page or sales letter. Sub-headings are kind of like the proverbial trail of bread crumbs. When your reader is at your sales letter there should always be a sub-heading showing on the screen.

8. Copywriting should be written with the end first. In every sales letter or copywriting piece there is, or there should be, and end goal. That end goal should be what draws you through the writing and sets up your beginning. The worst thing a person can do when trying to write something from the top down. You will be much better off if you write from the bottom up, or with the end in mind throughout the entire copy.

9. Copywriting defines the product. How many times have you read something that you could have some sort of interest in only to be left in doubt because you couldn’t decipher what the actual product, or service, was? The copywriting on the sales page is how people are going to make a determination if they want to spend any money with your or not. They should know exactly what they are paying for. So, copywriting is then the definition of the product or service.

10. Copywriting is a creative outlet. Rules always box you in so that you don’t have the ability to think or be creative. Yes, this is about some ‘copywriting rules to live by’ but in reality these are just guidelines. Copywriting should be as creative as you can make it. Each and every piece you write should contain some sort of creativity that sets it apart from everything else. Don’t get sucked into the “cookie cutter” approach and turn out page after page of the same drivel. The internet is full of that already. I shudder everytime I read client landing pages. They are all the same. It’s no wonder they don’t work. Be creative.

Just do it.

Copywriting is your online business. The only way to learn it is to do it. To fail at it. To learn from your mistakes and continue being creative. Just do it. Go ahead. Take some, or all, of these “rules” and apply them to your next copywriting piece.

But, above all else… Just do it.

In the previous post on thinking about your advertising plan I had a very short section where I talked very briefly about making people feel like it is just you and them in your advertising.

I’d like to elaborate on that a little bit. I kind of left it hanging there and wanted to make sure that there isn’t any confusion about what I meant by that.

Copywriting is about a conversation.

In my years of copywriting and working with people in their advertising I have come to realize that copywriting is all about the conversation between you, the advertiser, and the reader, the consumer.

When you talk to somebody you’re not carrying on multiple conversations with several people all at once. Hopefully you are paying very close attention to the one person that you are addressing. When you do this the conversation is a lot more productive and both sides feel comfortable. It’s a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling really.

Copywriting, no matter what the piece is you are writing, needs to have the kind of connection. You need that same warm, fuzzy feeling.

In the previous post I made this statement, “People like to feel like they are the only one you are talking to.” That means a one on one conversation.

How do you do that with a sales letter, or ppc ad, or email ad, or even a blog post?

That’s where the tricky part comes in.

1. Be passionate about whatever it is you’re advertising. People can tell instantly if there is no feeling in your copywriting. If it’s just hype and drivel the conversation never gets started. It falls into the background as noise and never taken seriously. But, if there is passion… true passion… your copywriting takes on a personal feeling.

2. Use personal stories. Whatever is going on in life, whether it be yours or theirs (economy, holiday, etc.) touch on it a little bit right at the beginning. That sets a personal tone and narrows the gap between out of touch advertiser and thinking consumer. Again, you are making things more personal.

3. Use “you” and “we”. One way to become more one on one in your copywriting is to use “you” and “we” throughout your writing. Again, you are trying to be more personal and bring the conversation down to just you and them. Saying things like, “How do you feel during the economic down turn?”, or “When was the last time you read a report on…”, or “When we get together for this special webinar…” creates a real conversation.

4. Be letter like. Everyone loves to receive letters. Even in today’s age of email and quick, short notes a personal letter always gets people’s attention. It makes them slowdown and really take in what is being said.

5. Think like you are sitting across from them. Finally, one of the biggest hurdles to jump over when writing conversationally is to think it. Picture in your mind that you are actually sitting across from someone in your target audience and talking about your product, opportunity, or service.

If you can picture that then everything else comes naturally. You will naturally write like it is a conversation and follow the personal rules that apply.

Whenever I am writing anything I always picture a particular person in my mind. Once I get that picture in my head then I start talking. From there the advertising piece begins to take on a whole new dimension. It is no longer advertising but a conversation.

Try conversational copywriting in your next advertising piece.

I will admit that this is a copywriting strategy that does take some time to get use to. But, it does improve your results. Give it a try, or you can always hire me to do it for you.

Copywriting is all about action.

The words you put on the webpage, sales letter, direct mail, even resume all have a goal. You want the person reading to be emotionally driven to do something. Preferably what you want them to do. On the web that could mean a variety of things.

You could want your website visitor to watch a video, click a link, sign up for your newsletter or autoresponder series, buy something, or even leave a comment. Whatever your angle is, that’s what you write for.

One of those things that we want online is to get people to sign up for your email list. It could be you want subscribers for a weekly ezine, an autoresponder series, or a special list for updates to your website. Your mailing list is a big part of your online business and you need subscribers. Active subscribers.

Copywriting Tips For More Subscribers

There are two schools of thought where subscribers are concerned. The first is that the more the better. The other is active subscribers is better. I like them both. I think a large list of active subscribers is what we should all be striving for. How do we do that?

Be intentional about it. Don’t beat around the bush. I often tell my clients that while they do want to sell products from their website, their main goal – especially where first time visitors is concerned – is to capture their email address. The usual way to do that is through a landing page, or a specific sign up page.

And don’t wait halfway through the page before asking them to sign up. Let the visitor know that you want them to sign up for your newsletter or email series.

Give a reason, or several reasons, to sign up. This is where a lot of people lose it. They might be upfront with wanting people to sign up, but they don’t tell them why. It’s usually something like, “Sign up for my weekly newsletter and you’ll receive a free ebook!”

While that might be an incentive it certainly doesn’t explain why. Treat your newsletter or email series like it’s a real, honest to goodness product. Because your list could make you more money than just your product alone. It’s important to give details of benefits of subscribing.

Provide short excerpts. This is something to both get the sign up and combat the ’sign up and never read it’ syndrome. Like I stated already, the combination of large and active list is what you want. To get that you have to provide some of what the subscriber will be receiving.

I tried this with a few new landing pages I wrote for a couple of clients. I put together a mammoth 20 part series for both of them and made it available on the landing page. The landing page was all about the autoresponder series. Nothing else. To sell people into signing up for another email list I provided short, relevant excerpts form the actual series. So far so good.

Always ask. Throughout the entire copy of the page continually ask the reader to subscribe. By the time they get to the end of the page, if they make it that far, they’ll do it just because it seems like they’ve seen it a hundred times.

I use to think that waiting to the end of the page was best. After all I just created a masterpiece of copywriting and I wanted them to read the whole thing. But, studies have shown that people are more likely to click on an action link near the beginning to the middle of the webpage. So, now I put an action link after every third paragraph.

Use bribes. I wholeheartedly endorse very liberal bribing. Providing one, or maybe two, ebooks, reports, mp3’s, videos, whatever… isn’t going to cut it anymore. Create an avalanche of stuff to give out. Combine all those things and more if you can. Bribe. Bribe. Bribe.

And while you’re listing all the goodies… tell the reader why they should want them!

I suggested that a client create a set of mp3’s, about 1 hour and 30 minutes total, to teach a few network marketing skills as a free incentive to subscribe to her email list. Not only that, but we provided transcripts, free report with more information, an interview with some of her downline, and a video showing about 20 minutes of her “working” at home. It was a great bundle that improved her conversion rate by 87%.

Get more subscribers

You need to constantly be growing your email list. I realize that RSS is up and coming but people really do prefer to stick with something they are comfortable with. For now that is email. Grow you list with great copywriting and you’ll see not only a large list but an active one.

There have been countless ‘rules’ posted online about the copywriting of email subjectlines. You can get all kinds of information by just doing a quick search for ‘email subjects’, ‘getting email read’, or ‘writing perfect email headings’. I recently came across a great article by doing this myself.

The one thing I love about copywriting is the diversity in the rules. In the world of writing great emails, I have to admit that the ‘rules’ should be merely guidelines. Maybe an even better term should be suggestions. People click on what they want. Your goal as a copywriter, or marketer, is to figure out what it is your targeted audience is most likely to click on.

Dina at Copywriting on the Fly has a new post about this very topic; Email Subjects. In it she gives some great examples of what she is receiving in her email inbox and her reactions to them. She also says…

“I think the idea is to 1. either tell it like it is in the subjectline, or 2. catch people off guard with something that nobody else is doing.”

Incredible thoughts about what it takes to get people to read your emails. Again, you’ll see that these aren’t exactly ‘rules’ to follow but suggestions.

Your target market wants to read your email. Your job is in figuring out how to do that. Here’s five of my suggestions.

1. Ask a question

Some of the emails I get, and I know they’re going to be ads, get me to read them because they ask me a question. Something like, “Do you know the new trick to more customers?” will intrigue me to find out.

2. Keep your focus on your target

Remember who is reading your email. Use words they would know without being too technical or using abbreviations. People are going to read what they are interested in.

3. Use their name… don’t use their name.

I’ve seen it go both ways. This is a trick I use sometimes if I want to make it personal and the rest of the subject doesn’t sound fake. Subject like, “Hey Tim I just make $100,000! So can you!” are not going to get me to open it. But something like, “Tim, have you seen this video about my day yesterday?” will generate some interest.

It’s also important to notice that even if my name isn’t included in the subject the second one would still work. It’s a little more generic, less personal, than using a name but the effect is still there. No I haven’t seen the video and I am wondering what the heck he’s talking about.

4. Write a bold statement

The opposite of a question is a statement. Both will work in your email subject if used properly and without sounding like another ad. Statements will also force the reader to become engaged by bringing them to the place where they want to see if it’s true or not. Statements like, “5 Copywriting Tips for increased sales” will give a reason to read further. People interested in that (remember your target) will have a desire to see what those tips are.

5. Do something different

I love Dina’s suggestion to do “something that nobody else is doing.” I believe in it 100%. I’m always trying new things, using new angles, and saying things others aren’t. The biggest thing in marketing to remember, even if it’s email marketing, is to be yourself and not a copy of someone else. Say your own thing. In your style. People will begin to recognize that and begin to read your emails because of it.

What is your favorite email subject suggestion?

I know I just scratched the surface with my five tips. What are yours? Leave them in the comment section. I can’t wait to see what you think!