Kieth Kogane has posted several articles on the Warrior Forum that are excellent “How To” make money posts. Keith is a very “giving” kind of person, helping out and giving great information away for free, he has a generous and nice ethic. He gave me permission to re-post his articles with the condition that they be posted where people could get them for free. He asked me not to post them in a “Paid” forum. Here they are. These are some really great ideas for Internet Marketing and making money. Thanks, Tony
How you can subsidize your own IM education for free
For anyone just starting out in IM, I have bad news for you. The chances are very, very slim that unless you are very talented, very lucky, or both, it will take you at LEAST a year of learning before you'll start to "get it" enough to make any money.
Now, I know that may sound like a generalization, but it's true for me, and it's true for everyone I've ever talked to about their IM experience.
But a friend/protege challenged me recently to come up with a way for him to get paid for his research and study into IM. He wasn't asking for a handout or a grant or a loan, but rather a way to get paid as a result of what he was doing online in order to learn IM.
I tried to think about what my own learning experience was like, and tried to re-formulate how I started using all the knowledge and mindset I've gained since then. This is what I told him to do, so I'll share it here too, in case anyone else can use it.
What I created for him was a sort of process or system for doing research on any IM topic (or nearly any topic, really) in such a way as to be able to create a monetized online asset WHILE you research your topic of choice.
So basically as you learn, you're going to create a record of that online, and pair it with a way for you to get paid. You answer your own questions, AND create an opportunity to get paid forever.
First, you need to create a some customized search tools. Use Google Custom Search for this.
The first custom search to set up is going to be a site search of all the article directories you can find, but to get started, all you need is ezinearticles.com and goarticles.com.
From now on, any time you are trying to learn more about something or answer a specific question about a topic, be it IM or just anything else, use this custom search box FIRST before you look elsewhere.
Find as many articles as you can that will answer your question about your topic. Bookmark them. When you answer your question, create a free blog somewhere. For this model, I use blogger.com because you can post via email.
Set up and configure the blog so you can post via email, and put some kind of advertising on it. I suggested that my friend use AdSense for now, but if you're a little more advanced, I recommend using something like CBPro ads instead (it makes more money in my experience, but AdSense is easier to implement).
Now, I use Thunderbird as my email client, and with a plugin for that called "Send Later" I am able to set any email I want to fire on a future date.
I take all those articles I found while I was researching and set them as emails to my blog's posting address, on a schedule of one per day for the first 7-10 days, then once a week after that. That's a minimum of 58 articles you need to create a whole year's worth of content.
If you use Outlook, you can do "Send Later" also, but if you don't have that option with your email client, try LetterMeLater.com - I looked at a lot of web-based email delayer services, and that one seemed to work the best for this. Plus, you can just use it via your own email service, which is good - in case they go under, you still have all your own emails on your side.
Now it's possible you got your research done and didn't have that much content.
If your initial question didn't have that much content for you to set up, we can fix that easily and make sure you're actually making your blog useful for others.
Create another Google Custom Search, and this time, include only URLs for sites that are Paid Answer sites. Like Google Answers was, there are several others out there. Just do a search for them.
NOTE: I use PAID answer sites (rather than Yahoo answers) because this tells me these are burning questions that were worth paying to find an answer, therefore, these people should respond to well matched ads.
Now, use your other Custom Search to find articles that answer these questions and pad out your content schedule for your blog.
If there AREN'T articles there that have the answer for these questions, do a little research and write your own article. Set this one up to publish in the future like the others, but set yourself a calendar reminder when this post publishes so you can social bookmark this piece of original content.
If you STILL don't have enough content for at least a year, THEN go to free Q&A sites like Yahoo answers for ideas you can search for articles on.
If you still don't have enough after that, oh well. Let it run with what you got and see where you are when you run out. If that niche isn't making you money, leave it be. If it is, do a fresh search, or consider paying for some PLR or fresh content (or create your own, if that's your thing).
That's it.
It may seem like a lot, but you only set up your custom searches once, and once you get the hang of setting up the blog, this is just a copy-and-paste operation that takes an extra hour TOPS beyond just doing the research (which you were going to be doing ANYWAY).
Will this make you rich? I doubt it. But it requires extremely little effort, and you can at least have a CHANCE to get paid forever, and you do it WHILE you learn whatever it was you were trying to discover.
Even if it doesn't make a cash cow, each of these blogs WILL begin to rank, and WILL have good cache times, and WILL get PR over time. Especially if you spend a little time every now and then submitting your RSS feed to places, commenting on related blogs, and other backlink building strategies.
That in itself has value, as you could use them to pass juice to other sites you may develop later on.
My suggestion on how to do more backlink building? Just be aware of what blogs you have, and any time in the future if you do research on the same subject, just keep an eye out for backlinking opportunities.
If it's not a subject you're going to delve into often, try setting up some google alerts with the same queries you used earlier. That should give you some leads on a regular basis.
What I told my friend then is, whenever he discovers some new site promotion method he wants to try, he should have several sites already going that he can actually implement and learn by doing the stuff.
He's already building some small assets as he goes, and I know personally, this method would have helped things "click" for me a lot sooner, because you actually get to see how it all comes together, and forces you to achieve the proper "editor" mindset vs. the "author" one most marketers adopt.
Plus, when you're learning the nitty gritty of IM, it's nice to have some actual ongoing sites to work on - you're essentially re-habbing your own sites - instead of having to start at zero each time.
That's fine if that's your thing, but I'm not out to build a name for myself. I just want to be lazy and make money, and I figure this method is a decent way to do both.
This is at least a very basic foundation upon which you can really go in any direction. It's also a very cheap and easy way to test a market, and how easily you can jump into it.
NOTE: I know some people are going to cry about "duplicate content" and all that. It doesn't apply. In fact, based on my previous experience, you can actually outrank the article directories for their own articles, especially if you post them to a topically focused blog and update regularly.
NOTE AGAIN: I also know some people are going to say building on Blogger is a waste - I agree that I prefer to build self-hosted WP sites myself, but remember who this method is for. I'm assuming you got little cash, little technical skill, and little knowledge about IM at all. That's why I pick the easy and free services that I did.
And I use sites like blogger.com and wordpress.com (and other free blogs) as linking sites and you know, puts some ads on there. It couldn't do anything but make you money.
NOTE AGAIN AGAIN: I also know some people will ask about whether there's a problem with the author's bio boxes and all that - look, you're going to lose some visitors like that, but that's what you get for free content. TV networks risk the changing channel too, but they still run commercials for shows on other networks.
Don't worry about it, just do it, and I promise you'll either be proved right, or pleasantly surprised - either way, you win.
Anyway, I hope some of you get some use out of this method, and if you have some of your own that work in the same spirit, please share as well.
My buddy's only been doing this a couple of weeks, but he's already getting nuts putting the opt-in boxes on there (and getting subs) so I think it's solid, and will be doing some for myself very soon.
http://www.warriorforum.com/main-internet-marketing-discussion-forum/63722-how-you-can-subsidize-your-own-im-education-free.html
Now, I know that may sound like a generalization, but it's true for me, and it's true for everyone I've ever talked to about their IM experience.
But a friend/protege challenged me recently to come up with a way for him to get paid for his research and study into IM. He wasn't asking for a handout or a grant or a loan, but rather a way to get paid as a result of what he was doing online in order to learn IM.
I tried to think about what my own learning experience was like, and tried to re-formulate how I started using all the knowledge and mindset I've gained since then. This is what I told him to do, so I'll share it here too, in case anyone else can use it.
What I created for him was a sort of process or system for doing research on any IM topic (or nearly any topic, really) in such a way as to be able to create a monetized online asset WHILE you research your topic of choice.
So basically as you learn, you're going to create a record of that online, and pair it with a way for you to get paid. You answer your own questions, AND create an opportunity to get paid forever.
First, you need to create a some customized search tools. Use Google Custom Search for this.
The first custom search to set up is going to be a site search of all the article directories you can find, but to get started, all you need is ezinearticles.com and goarticles.com.
From now on, any time you are trying to learn more about something or answer a specific question about a topic, be it IM or just anything else, use this custom search box FIRST before you look elsewhere.
Find as many articles as you can that will answer your question about your topic. Bookmark them. When you answer your question, create a free blog somewhere. For this model, I use blogger.com because you can post via email.
Set up and configure the blog so you can post via email, and put some kind of advertising on it. I suggested that my friend use AdSense for now, but if you're a little more advanced, I recommend using something like CBPro ads instead (it makes more money in my experience, but AdSense is easier to implement).
Now, I use Thunderbird as my email client, and with a plugin for that called "Send Later" I am able to set any email I want to fire on a future date.
I take all those articles I found while I was researching and set them as emails to my blog's posting address, on a schedule of one per day for the first 7-10 days, then once a week after that. That's a minimum of 58 articles you need to create a whole year's worth of content.
If you use Outlook, you can do "Send Later" also, but if you don't have that option with your email client, try LetterMeLater.com - I looked at a lot of web-based email delayer services, and that one seemed to work the best for this. Plus, you can just use it via your own email service, which is good - in case they go under, you still have all your own emails on your side.
Now it's possible you got your research done and didn't have that much content.
If your initial question didn't have that much content for you to set up, we can fix that easily and make sure you're actually making your blog useful for others.
Create another Google Custom Search, and this time, include only URLs for sites that are Paid Answer sites. Like Google Answers was, there are several others out there. Just do a search for them.
NOTE: I use PAID answer sites (rather than Yahoo answers) because this tells me these are burning questions that were worth paying to find an answer, therefore, these people should respond to well matched ads.
Now, use your other Custom Search to find articles that answer these questions and pad out your content schedule for your blog.
If there AREN'T articles there that have the answer for these questions, do a little research and write your own article. Set this one up to publish in the future like the others, but set yourself a calendar reminder when this post publishes so you can social bookmark this piece of original content.
If you STILL don't have enough content for at least a year, THEN go to free Q&A sites like Yahoo answers for ideas you can search for articles on.
If you still don't have enough after that, oh well. Let it run with what you got and see where you are when you run out. If that niche isn't making you money, leave it be. If it is, do a fresh search, or consider paying for some PLR or fresh content (or create your own, if that's your thing).
That's it.
It may seem like a lot, but you only set up your custom searches once, and once you get the hang of setting up the blog, this is just a copy-and-paste operation that takes an extra hour TOPS beyond just doing the research (which you were going to be doing ANYWAY).
Will this make you rich? I doubt it. But it requires extremely little effort, and you can at least have a CHANCE to get paid forever, and you do it WHILE you learn whatever it was you were trying to discover.
Even if it doesn't make a cash cow, each of these blogs WILL begin to rank, and WILL have good cache times, and WILL get PR over time. Especially if you spend a little time every now and then submitting your RSS feed to places, commenting on related blogs, and other backlink building strategies.
That in itself has value, as you could use them to pass juice to other sites you may develop later on.
My suggestion on how to do more backlink building? Just be aware of what blogs you have, and any time in the future if you do research on the same subject, just keep an eye out for backlinking opportunities.
If it's not a subject you're going to delve into often, try setting up some google alerts with the same queries you used earlier. That should give you some leads on a regular basis.
What I told my friend then is, whenever he discovers some new site promotion method he wants to try, he should have several sites already going that he can actually implement and learn by doing the stuff.
He's already building some small assets as he goes, and I know personally, this method would have helped things "click" for me a lot sooner, because you actually get to see how it all comes together, and forces you to achieve the proper "editor" mindset vs. the "author" one most marketers adopt.
Plus, when you're learning the nitty gritty of IM, it's nice to have some actual ongoing sites to work on - you're essentially re-habbing your own sites - instead of having to start at zero each time.
That's fine if that's your thing, but I'm not out to build a name for myself. I just want to be lazy and make money, and I figure this method is a decent way to do both.
This is at least a very basic foundation upon which you can really go in any direction. It's also a very cheap and easy way to test a market, and how easily you can jump into it.
NOTE: I know some people are going to cry about "duplicate content" and all that. It doesn't apply. In fact, based on my previous experience, you can actually outrank the article directories for their own articles, especially if you post them to a topically focused blog and update regularly.
NOTE AGAIN: I also know some people are going to say building on Blogger is a waste - I agree that I prefer to build self-hosted WP sites myself, but remember who this method is for. I'm assuming you got little cash, little technical skill, and little knowledge about IM at all. That's why I pick the easy and free services that I did.
And I use sites like blogger.com and wordpress.com (and other free blogs) as linking sites and you know, puts some ads on there. It couldn't do anything but make you money.
NOTE AGAIN AGAIN: I also know some people will ask about whether there's a problem with the author's bio boxes and all that - look, you're going to lose some visitors like that, but that's what you get for free content. TV networks risk the changing channel too, but they still run commercials for shows on other networks.
Don't worry about it, just do it, and I promise you'll either be proved right, or pleasantly surprised - either way, you win.
Anyway, I hope some of you get some use out of this method, and if you have some of your own that work in the same spirit, please share as well.
My buddy's only been doing this a couple of weeks, but he's already getting nuts putting the opt-in boxes on there (and getting subs) so I think it's solid, and will be doing some for myself very soon.
http://www.warriorforum.com/main-internet-marketing-discussion-forum/63722-how-you-can-subsidize-your-own-im-education-free.html
Check out my automated niche blog business model (it really works)
This is my current business blueprint. This is something I've built up over time, and I actually really hesitate to give it away because it works so well. I've been doing this for about a year now with fair success. It really works for me, because you just set up the site once and then you hardly ever have to touch it again. It just runs itself and gets better and better over time.
Check this out and tell me what you all think:
Wordpress is the platform that everything is based on.
WP-O-Matic Plugin - this is a plugin that lets you take RSS feeds and turn them into posts automatically. More importantly, it lets you replace keywords from a list, and link them to whatever you want. This is the key to the whole game.
GoCodes Plugin - this is a plugin that lets you make neat redirects from your domain. We're using this to cloak our affiliate links.
Pick a niche, buy a domain, get WordPress and plugins set up.
Need affiliate products/links
Need keywords
Load GoCodes with affiliate links
get keyword-based RSS feeds for WP-O-Matic
- (I have a huge list of these)
- load up keywords and GoCodes URLs
- this makes all your keywords into links to your offers
submit blog RSS feed to every place possible
- (I have a huge list of these, too)
- this spreads the links to your offers all over the web
get largest ping list possible
- (I have a huge list of these, too)
- this helps to get all your content indexed, and your links crawled
Turn everything on and move on to the next blog.
What will happen is that the blog is continually building keyword targeted backlinks to your GoCode URLs, and sending keyword targeted traffic to your affiliate offers. Keep an eye on the affiliate programs, swap out non-performers with something different in the GoCodes setup. (This is another reason we're using GoCodes instead of directly using the affiliate URLs - you don't lose all the previous link-building).
Your blog domain is getting the benefit of all this backlink love so you will start to grow PR over time too. (This is yet another reason we're using GoCodes. All the backlinks you're generating link back to your own domain, giving YOU the PR benefit).
Do this over and over with new blogs in as many niches as you can manage. You'll start out making very little, but you'll be amazed at how much this kind of thing will grow over time.
Other ways I am using to make money:
AdSense and other PPC networks
Sell redirection of the GoCode links
Sell advertising space
Once the blogs get PR, sell text links
- you can get a sponsor donate plugin to make this automatic
Sell the blogs outright
Put up a squeeze on the homepage and build a niche list
- make backend offers to your list/sell ad space in your emails
Get a feed control plugin and further monetize feeds
- affiliate links/ad space sales
Replace affiliate products with your own products
-Use something like RAP to build your own affiliate team
The possibilities are endless. I'm only just scratching the surface myself.
I hope my brief description here is enough for some of you who want to try it can get all the info you need. If not, feel free to ask any questions. I'll answer as best as I can.
Hope you like it!
K.K.
http://www.warriorforum.com/main-internet-marketing-discussion-forum/28256-check-out-my-automated-niche-blog-business-model-really-works.html
Check this out and tell me what you all think:
Wordpress is the platform that everything is based on.
WP-O-Matic Plugin - this is a plugin that lets you take RSS feeds and turn them into posts automatically. More importantly, it lets you replace keywords from a list, and link them to whatever you want. This is the key to the whole game.
GoCodes Plugin - this is a plugin that lets you make neat redirects from your domain. We're using this to cloak our affiliate links.
Pick a niche, buy a domain, get WordPress and plugins set up.
Need affiliate products/links
Need keywords
Load GoCodes with affiliate links
get keyword-based RSS feeds for WP-O-Matic
- (I have a huge list of these)
- load up keywords and GoCodes URLs
- this makes all your keywords into links to your offers
submit blog RSS feed to every place possible
- (I have a huge list of these, too)
- this spreads the links to your offers all over the web
get largest ping list possible
- (I have a huge list of these, too)
- this helps to get all your content indexed, and your links crawled
Turn everything on and move on to the next blog.
What will happen is that the blog is continually building keyword targeted backlinks to your GoCode URLs, and sending keyword targeted traffic to your affiliate offers. Keep an eye on the affiliate programs, swap out non-performers with something different in the GoCodes setup. (This is another reason we're using GoCodes instead of directly using the affiliate URLs - you don't lose all the previous link-building).
Your blog domain is getting the benefit of all this backlink love so you will start to grow PR over time too. (This is yet another reason we're using GoCodes. All the backlinks you're generating link back to your own domain, giving YOU the PR benefit).
Do this over and over with new blogs in as many niches as you can manage. You'll start out making very little, but you'll be amazed at how much this kind of thing will grow over time.
Other ways I am using to make money:
AdSense and other PPC networks
Sell redirection of the GoCode links
Sell advertising space
Once the blogs get PR, sell text links
- you can get a sponsor donate plugin to make this automatic
Sell the blogs outright
Put up a squeeze on the homepage and build a niche list
- make backend offers to your list/sell ad space in your emails
Get a feed control plugin and further monetize feeds
- affiliate links/ad space sales
Replace affiliate products with your own products
-Use something like RAP to build your own affiliate team
The possibilities are endless. I'm only just scratching the surface myself.
I hope my brief description here is enough for some of you who want to try it can get all the info you need. If not, feel free to ask any questions. I'll answer as best as I can.
Hope you like it!
K.K.
http://www.warriorforum.com/main-internet-marketing-discussion-forum/28256-check-out-my-automated-niche-blog-business-model-really-works.html
Turn any WordPress blog into a "stealth squeeze" machine with these free plugins
OMG - I've tried this on a couple of new blogs this past month, and compared to my previous efforts, I'm getting a HUGE response rate from this technique.
I only tried it in some pretty thin niches traffic-wise, but my opt-in conversions have nearly TRIPLED from the same traffic.
You MUST try this!
First, use this plugin to encourage people to make a comment.
WordPress plugin: What Would Seth Godin Do | Richard K Miller
This is very important - you want to push people MORE to simply COMMENT than to subscribe. This plugin shows a special message to new blog visitors on their first few visits, and then refrains from bugging them. (Note, you can also make a special message for return visitors, but I haven't used that feature yet)
Then, use this plugin, too.
Comment Prompt/Reminder • Tim Nash UK SEO Blog
This plugin will bug return users who have visited a couple of times and remind them to leave a comment if they like your stuff. It was designed based on the above plugin, but obviously behaves differently. I find these make a nice 1-2 combo to really push your visitors to commit to participating.
Next, you want to use this plugin.
Guru Consulting Services Wordpress Aweber Plugin
NOTE: Looks like Guru is updating their site and they lost this download page - the same plugin is still available from the WP repository though - get it there (link below) if the link above is down.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/...dpress-plugin/
That allows you to automatically subscribe your commenters to your aweber list. You can put a little checkbox message so they know they are subscribing or not, but this is the real power of this method. You're getting the reader to MENTALLY COMMIT to leaving a comment, so by the time the get to this point, they're already convinced to agree to this minor step.
Now, I recommend doing a double opt-in here, and offering to give them something good for confirming in your aweber setup. If you do that, you can even mention the freebie in your agreement checkbox I mentioned above.
You'll get more confirms that way, but it's not necessary. Get everything else working before you worry about this part.
Or if you want to go balls out, do a single opt-in list.
Now, here's where you really get the cool stuff happening.
Use this plugin:
Plugin: Thank Me Later | Making the Web
This will send your commenters an email thanking them for their comment a few days after they leave it. Plus, it will invite them back to the blog. If you're doing double opt-in above, this is a great opportunity to remind them to click the link in your confirm email. Or if you are only doing single opt, just remind them about the freebie they earned.
If you are moderating all your comments, you should use this plugin too:
Comment Approved Notifier Plugin v1.1 Yakup Gövler'in Not Defteri
This one is going to send them an email once you've approved their comment. For other stuff you can tell them, see above suggestions.
That's the system as I'm using it now, and it is working FANTASTIC on my niche blogs. I haven't used the below suggestions yet, but I want to include them because I plan to incorporate them as soon as I'm able. I think it will make the method even more powerful.
First, there's this plugin:
Subscribe to Comments 2.1 Tempus Fugit by Mark Jaquith
This will allow visitors to subscribe to email updates JUST to the comments on a particular post. This is an option whenever they fill out the form. Yet another way to hook them in and keep them coming back. Of course, I will remind them of this option everywhere I can.
This is especially useful on the blogs using the method I describe in "Another Automated Blog Tactic (Even Easier Than Before)" thread (linked in my sig) - because that method involves using a plugin that will rotate my old posts on a cyclical basis, this will be sending reminders long into the future and bringing old commenters back to my blog using a context they are familiar with.
EDIT: I removed another plugin I suggested here as apparently it's broken and won't be updated. I intend to look for another plugin that will alert a returning visitor as to what posts and comments are new for them. I don't think there's a single solution (since the plugin I referenced is broken) but there are a couple of possibilities that may work. If I find any, I'll post to this thread.
-----
Anyway, I hope you wordpress bloggers find that useful. I know it's working great for me, and I'm literally grinning ear-to-ear with the list-building possibilities this presents for my little blog empire!
NOTE: the above method requires Aweber, simply because that's what I use for my list building. If you don't have or don't want aweber, there are a number of other plugins that allow you to use WordPress itself as a list manager (though none I've found will do autoresponders - just broadcasts).
Check it out, and tell me what you think!
I only tried it in some pretty thin niches traffic-wise, but my opt-in conversions have nearly TRIPLED from the same traffic.
You MUST try this!
First, use this plugin to encourage people to make a comment.
WordPress plugin: What Would Seth Godin Do | Richard K Miller
This is very important - you want to push people MORE to simply COMMENT than to subscribe. This plugin shows a special message to new blog visitors on their first few visits, and then refrains from bugging them. (Note, you can also make a special message for return visitors, but I haven't used that feature yet)
Then, use this plugin, too.
Comment Prompt/Reminder • Tim Nash UK SEO Blog
This plugin will bug return users who have visited a couple of times and remind them to leave a comment if they like your stuff. It was designed based on the above plugin, but obviously behaves differently. I find these make a nice 1-2 combo to really push your visitors to commit to participating.
Next, you want to use this plugin.
Guru Consulting Services Wordpress Aweber Plugin
NOTE: Looks like Guru is updating their site and they lost this download page - the same plugin is still available from the WP repository though - get it there (link below) if the link above is down.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/...dpress-plugin/
That allows you to automatically subscribe your commenters to your aweber list. You can put a little checkbox message so they know they are subscribing or not, but this is the real power of this method. You're getting the reader to MENTALLY COMMIT to leaving a comment, so by the time the get to this point, they're already convinced to agree to this minor step.
Now, I recommend doing a double opt-in here, and offering to give them something good for confirming in your aweber setup. If you do that, you can even mention the freebie in your agreement checkbox I mentioned above.
You'll get more confirms that way, but it's not necessary. Get everything else working before you worry about this part.
Or if you want to go balls out, do a single opt-in list.
Now, here's where you really get the cool stuff happening.
Use this plugin:
Plugin: Thank Me Later | Making the Web
This will send your commenters an email thanking them for their comment a few days after they leave it. Plus, it will invite them back to the blog. If you're doing double opt-in above, this is a great opportunity to remind them to click the link in your confirm email. Or if you are only doing single opt, just remind them about the freebie they earned.
If you are moderating all your comments, you should use this plugin too:
Comment Approved Notifier Plugin v1.1 Yakup Gövler'in Not Defteri
This one is going to send them an email once you've approved their comment. For other stuff you can tell them, see above suggestions.
That's the system as I'm using it now, and it is working FANTASTIC on my niche blogs. I haven't used the below suggestions yet, but I want to include them because I plan to incorporate them as soon as I'm able. I think it will make the method even more powerful.
First, there's this plugin:
Subscribe to Comments 2.1 Tempus Fugit by Mark Jaquith
This will allow visitors to subscribe to email updates JUST to the comments on a particular post. This is an option whenever they fill out the form. Yet another way to hook them in and keep them coming back. Of course, I will remind them of this option everywhere I can.
This is especially useful on the blogs using the method I describe in "Another Automated Blog Tactic (Even Easier Than Before)" thread (linked in my sig) - because that method involves using a plugin that will rotate my old posts on a cyclical basis, this will be sending reminders long into the future and bringing old commenters back to my blog using a context they are familiar with.
EDIT: I removed another plugin I suggested here as apparently it's broken and won't be updated. I intend to look for another plugin that will alert a returning visitor as to what posts and comments are new for them. I don't think there's a single solution (since the plugin I referenced is broken) but there are a couple of possibilities that may work. If I find any, I'll post to this thread.
-----
Anyway, I hope you wordpress bloggers find that useful. I know it's working great for me, and I'm literally grinning ear-to-ear with the list-building possibilities this presents for my little blog empire!
NOTE: the above method requires Aweber, simply because that's what I use for my list building. If you don't have or don't want aweber, there are a number of other plugins that allow you to use WordPress itself as a list manager (though none I've found will do autoresponders - just broadcasts).
Check it out, and tell me what you think!
Another idea - I only implemented this yesterday, and I haven't seen how it's gone yet, but basically I worded my additional copy so that the entire "system" is geared towards bribing the comment with the freebie. Basically, instead of saying "opt-in to get this freebie" it's all "leave me a comment on my blog, and get a freebie" - I think that will strengthen the system even more. This is all about removing the opposition to "subscribing" or giving your email by presenting it via an avenue people are NOT used to (or at least tying it to a task that the don't necessarily associate with that action).
NOTE: I'm not saying to be disingenuous here, in my confirmation email, I tell em that when they confirm to get the freebie, they will also get my newsletter, but can unsub at any time, blah blah blah.
Anyway, hope that helps, and to all the folks who have thanked me, you're welcome!
NOTE: I'm not saying to be disingenuous here, in my confirmation email, I tell em that when they confirm to get the freebie, they will also get my newsletter, but can unsub at any time, blah blah blah.
Anyway, hope that helps, and to all the folks who have thanked me, you're welcome!
