Over the last 5 years, I have critiqued roughly one blog per month for my video column at What’s Working Now and in that time the biggest glaring mistake bloggers make is the lack of list building.
No matter how many experts and gurus suggest that email marketing is dead, the money is still in your list. In fact, for every dollar spent on email marketing, $41 is generated on average, driving over $600 Billion in estimated sales last year alone.
If you haven’t heard it said before…
If you are wondering where your leads are…they are actually right there on your blog, but sadly most people don’t have the right tools in place to grab them.
There are two strategies that every blog should use in order to generate more leads…
1. Pop-up Opt In – some people dislike pop-ups, but at risk of sounding harsh, I don’t really care. They work and if the content or offer is relevant to the content you offer on your blog, readers will gladly exchange their email address for your bit of value.
2. Sidebar Opt In – this one is the no brainer and while probably not as effective as it once was, it’s still absolutely required if you want to generate leads.
The 2 examples above are from my personal blog at TyTribble.com using my new Internet Marketing Blog Theme. Pop-ups and Sidebar Opt In widgets are included for free with the theme.
I have been list building for about five years now. The single best decision I made was to place a popover on my website. No, I don’t like popups myself, but it converts like crazy! Probably 95% of all of my new subscribers (about 20 a day) are from my popup. Just food for thought.
Chuck