In other words, it’s about how many connections you have. You might equate it to a popularity contest.
Unfortunately, there are millions of contestants in the online platform arena trying, as you are, to get the golden subscriber email address and get the emails they send opened.
Because of the sheer number of marketers, people are bombarded with marketing emails on a daily basis. This in turn has caused a drop in email opt-ins and a drop in marketing email open rates.
So, what can you do to fight the odds and keep moving forward to reach your goals?
There are four strategies you can use to keep you connected to people and keep you on the visibility radar.
1. Connection frequency
You need to connect with your subscribers and target market on a regular basis.
This doesn’t mean adding to the email inbox bombardment, it means to be visible in multiple places. How many times a week are you connecting with your subscribers and your target market?
This matters.
Are you taking advantage of the different venues you can reach people? Are you being active in groups? How about social media, such as Facebook, Linkedin, GooglePlus, Twitter, and Pinterest? Are you offering valuable information on a regular basis?
Each of these connection venues is another layer of visibility and familiarity. This frequency helps establish a relationship and helps it grow.
2. Consistency
Everyone when first starting a platform is determined and motivated. You diligently keep on top of social networks, blogging, article marketing, sending out a newsletter on a regular basis, and so on. But, then, when results aren’t what was expected or don’t come quick enough, the motivation and effort slows down.
Well, being consistent is what will help you reach your goals. In fact, without being consistent you most likely will never reach your goals.
Coleman Cox says it best: "Even the woodpecker owes his success to the fact that he uses his head and keeps pecking away until he finishes the job he starts."
Create a plan of action steps and stick to them. Be consistent.
3. Authority and Usefulness
According to pro-marketer Travis Greenlee, statistics show that published authors have a 300% higher credibility rating than non-published authors.
That’s quite a difference and gives the published author a big advantage in authority. If you’re not published yet, a quick remedy is to create an ebook and get it out there. With that said, your ebook needs to be a quality product.
But, having an ebook isn’t the cure-all. In addition to this, you need to deliver quality (useful) information to your target market on a regular basis.
The point here is that you need to be perceived as a person of value to your target market. Your actions and offerings need to demonstrate that you can help them with their problem, need, or want.
If you are perceived as having high authority (knowledge and experience) and value (capability and usefulness), people will want to be connected with you.
4. Visibility
Visibility and frequency go hand-in-hand. While you need to make frequent connections, you need to know where and how to make those connections. That’s where visibility comes in.
How many different formats are you using to be visible to your connections and make new connections?
There are a number of marketing formats you can use to generate visibility, including:
• Blog posting
• Using article directories
• Creating podcasts
• Creating videos
• Creating e/books, reports, etc.
• Sending out newsletters or ezines
• Offering webinars, teleseminars, or workshops
• Staying current on social networks, such as Facebook, Linkedin, GooglePlus, and Pinterest
You get the idea. Keep it fresh. Don’t use the same formats to bring information to your subscribers, readers, and visitors.
With email marketing wavering, you need to use all four of these strategies to keep your author-writer online platform moving forward.
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Karen has published 12 writing and marketing eBooks, the most recent, Article Marketing: Increase Website Traffic with Properly Formatted and Search Engine Optimized Content.
*** Join Karen's class, CREATE AND BUILD YOUR AUTHOR-WRITER ONLINE PLATFORM: Website Creation to Beyond Book/Product Sales, next starting on Monday, March 3, 2014. For information and registration, visit our classroom page. ***
4 comments:
I have to get better and more focused with all of these. I am published, but not with a book-- still, I think the anthologies and articles help add credibility. But an ebook is such a great idea! I also need to be more consistent, which may mean dumping one of my blogs. Such a tough decision. Thanks for keeping my thought process going on all of this. A great post.
Thanks for this very informative and helpful article. I have a book coming out in mid-March--and I need to get busy! I will use this article to help me! :)
Julie, you're right in that anthologies and magazines are definite credibility boosters.
Consistency is one of the key factors in marketing you and your products/services. Having an active blog is one of those consistency factors. If you're going to dump one of your blogs, dump the one that's not bring traffic and isn't connecting with an audience.
I'm so glad the post was helpful. Thanks for stopping by!
Margo, congratulations on the book! That's so exciting, but yes, you have to your book marketing rolling. :)
Work on getting presales.
I'm so glad the post was helpful!
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