Get More Clients Online

Ethical Bribes: 10 Most Effective Client Attraction Device Giveaways

One of the quickest ways to build your email marketing list is by creating an ethical bribe, or what I refer to as a client attraction device.  This free giveaway serves to entice visitors to your site to sign up for your email list because they want to access your solution to their problem proffered in your email list opt-in box.

What are the two most important characteristics of an effective client attraction device?  It must provide the solution to at least one of the problems of your target market and utilize the keywords that your target market might use when seeking this type of solution. Secondly, your offering must have a high enough perceived value that your visitors would be willing to pay for it.

I routinely opt into many lists just to get the client attraction device.  More times than not, the giveaway is simply a long reiteration of a problem, with the solution being available for purchase on the web site.  This is the WRONG way to introduce yourself to prospects. Don't be afraid to share some solutions with your prospects -- it's part of developing the Like, Know and Trust factor with them.  If you are truly an expert in your field, the info you share for free is only the tip of the iceberg of the variety of solutions you can provide to your prospects.

What is the easiest way to create your own client attraction device? Here are 10 ideas that you can use to package your information into a valuable ethical bribe for your web site:

1.  Audio of a presentation.  Hold a teleclass on a particular topic and record it, or simply record a presentation with audio recording software on your computer.  An audience isn't necessary for a good recording -- it is quality content that is the key.

2.  Interview of an expert.  Request to interview a noted expert in your target market.  Ask the expert questions, or pull questions from a pre-assigned list you've been given. Record the interview and have it transcribed to create a two-part giveaway.

3.  Special report or ebook.  A special report is simply a short PDF report that runs between 2-5 pages.  You can create this pretty easily by writing an article that's 1500-2000 words.   Typically an ebook is longer than a special report, combining several articles, or topics, to make a more complete overview of a topic.  Format it to be easily read and add a bio page and and upsell page and your report is complete.

4.  Checklist.  A checklist is a 1-2 page PDF file that walks someone through a to-do checklist to complete a task.  To create a checklist, simple outline the steps required to complete a particular task and insert a checkmark box in front of each so that the user can print out the list and mark off the steps as they are completed.

5.  Video.  Using video to promote your business is one of the hottest Internet marketing strategies today.  You can create an info video that is a training or tutorial video made by using video screen capture software, or record yourself answering questions or presenting a topic with an inexpensive video camera.  Upload it to your site or to one of the video hosting sites, and you've got a new client attraction device to give away.

6.  Software.  For as little as $50, you can hire a programmer to create a simple piece of software to help your prospects automate a task or solve a problem. Another option is to buy a license for some inexpensive software that you can then distribute as you wish.

7.  Rolodex (Resources) list.  Once you have developed a relationship with your prospects, invariably you will get asked to make recommendations for vendors to perform certain tasks. Because this list is valuable in that you have already gone through a number of services to find just the right provider and are thus saving your prospects hundreds of dollars and hours of time, create a list of these providers in a PDF document.

8.  Templates.  Templates are another time-saving device that prevents your prospects from having to reinvent the wheel.  Package together templates you regular use, like templates for telephone followup calls, emails, email newsletters, to-do list, budgets, etc.  Anything that will let your prospect use as a model for developing her own version will be greatly appreciated.

9.  Worksheet/workbook.  Sometimes information is better delivered in a format where the prospect can jot down ideas, answer questions, or brainstorm.  A PDF worksheet or workbook is the ideal format for that to happen.  Create a document with a series of questions and space to answer the questions, along with a bit of introductory text to set up the question, and you've created a useful workbook.

10.  Ecourse.  An ecourse is a series of emails that deliver information over a specific course of time via email.  Your ecourse can last as short as 3 days or as long as 52 weeks.  Once you pick a topic, simply determine the number of points that you want to make as you discuss the topic, and then create an email that thoroughly explains each point.  Put the emails together in a sequence in your email marketing program and you have an ecourse.

If you simply request visitors to opt into your ezine list or your blog list, you're not maximizing the work that your web site can do for you.  Add a client attraction device to your opt-n box and watch your list grow!

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it:  Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps baby boomers create profitable online retirement businesses by demystifying the steps needed to successfully market a baby boomer business online. Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at == > http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

List Building: 7 Steps to Grow Your Email List with Twitter

by Donna Gunter, The Online Biz Resource Queen (TM)

Twitter is a microblogging platform that has taken the business world by storm, 140 characters per post.  The purpose of Twitter is to post short updates (not to exceed 140 characters) about what you're doing at the moment, read the updates of others whom you're following (in a non-stalker way), and comment and reply on what they're doing.

All kinds of applications have been developed for Twitter, and I've discovered that people either love to tweet (i.e. submit a Twitter post) or the whole concept drives them crazy.  I admit that seeing all the tweets exchanged among those I follow can be overwhelming (like being in a big instant message universe where everyone can see everyone else's messages), but I am having success in getting to know my fellow Twitter peeps and in getting the word out about my business and in growing my list.

As I became accustomed to tweeting daily, I began to wonder if I was missing a key business marketing strategy in the process, and then a colleague told me about her strategy of sending a direct message, or DM (this is a private message goes directly to your Twitter pal via email and can't be seen by others) thanking them for following her, as well as a short introduction to her business.  I thought that was a wonderful idea, began to implement that strategy, and saw results immediately.

Then I read a great post by Denise Wakeman of The Blog Squad on building your list with Twitter, and knew I had to incorporate this idea into my marketing strategy.  Here are the steps I took to maximize my use of Twitter to grow my email list:

1.  Create a Twitter account.  Your Twitter ID can be your given name, or you may want to use your Twitter ID to brand yourself, i.e. OrganizingQueen.  Just get the basics set up at this point. In the setup, check both options of "Email when someone starts following me" as well as "Email when I receive a new direct message."

2.  Have a freebie to give away.  You may want to create a unique electronic giveaway just for your Twitter followers, or you can use the same giveaway that you already use on your site. Once you've decided what to give away, create a squeeze page and insert sales copy and an opt-in form so that you can direct your Twitter followers to this page for them to join your list and receive your free giveaway.  For tracking purposes, you may want to set up a unique page to see just how many subscribers join your list from this invitation.

3.  Twitter bio:  You have 160 characters to describe your business as a part of your Twitter bio.  Describe yourself and your call to action.  Here's a sample: "Houston Professional Organizer. Follow me for free ebook to learn how to clear your clutter in 30 days."

4.  Set up TweetLater.com account and welcome message:  The aspect of this service that you'll be using is the ability to welcome and send an automatic message to new followers, which you should turn on as a part of setting up your account. You can choose a public or direct (private) message.  Choose to send the private message.  This message is limited to 140 characters, as it's a tweet, so here's a sample along the same lines as the sample mentioned earlier: "Thx 4 following. Get free ebook to help clear clutter in 30 days @ <your website squeezepage URL here>." 

5.  Automatically follow new followers.  It's part of the Twitter culture to follow your new followers, so I have also turned on the ability to automatically follow new followers in TweetLater.com.

6.  @Replies Digest.  If you find that you sometimes get too busy to check your replies in Twitter, this option will email you a digest of the replies other folks sent you. Turn this option on in TweetLater, and they collect and send you the new replies (100 max) you received on your Twitter account since the last digest email you received.

7.  Test your setup.  To ensure that this setup was working for me, I set up a "fake" Twitter account just for testing, using one of my free account email addresses.  In my "fake" account, I found my "real" Twitter profile and clicked "Follow".  Within minutes I got an email message that my "fake" account is following my "real" account, and then at my "fake" account email address, I received my TweetLater direct mail message about getting my free ebook, and a second email that my "real" account is following my "fake" account.

Twitter is a wonderful tool to help you add your Twitter followers to your list, which is one way you can create deeper relationships with your target market to help them get to know, like, and trust you.  Start Twittering today and begin to experience amazing list growth!

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it: Online Business Resource Queen (TM) and Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals learn how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise on the Internet, and get more clients online. To claim your FR*EE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, visit her site at OnlineBizU.com. Ask Donna an Internet Marketing question at  AskDonnaGunter.com.

How to Build Your List

Q:  How do you get a mailing list started when the site is brand new (as in a month?)

Sue

A:   Hi Sue--

There are 2 primary ways that I teach people to build a list:

1.  Create a compelling giveaway and offer that on your site as your primary call to action.  Read more here in my article, Grow Your List with an Effective Client-Capturing Device.

2.  Start writing articles and submitting them to article banks.  Read more about that in my article here, How to Write Articles That Will Increase Traffic to Your Website.

For the full details on how I implement this article marketing strategy regularly, check out my product, Article Marketing 101: How to Drive Droves of Clients to Your Website Audio Download and Transcript.

Got an Internet Marketing question?  Ask it here: AskDonnaGunter.com.