In previous posts, we’ve looked at what a platform is, who
to target, how to find them, and the kinds of things you can offer them.
There’s one big decision you need to make about how you want to handle the
people who you lure to your site. That is whether you will make them register
with their name (perhaps just their first name) and email address, or give them
the content freely. Let’s see the advantages and disadvantages of both.
If you ask people to register with their contact information
before you give them access to your report or video or audio or other product,
you will have the information you need in order to stay in touch with them. You
can let them know about your latest products and services, special deals,
appearances, etc. Of course you must make it easy for them to unsubscribe from
anytime they want to, but this way you can build up a good list of
interested people. Some internet marketers stress that having a list like this
is absolutely crucial.
The downside is that a certain number of people will be put
off by the need to register, either because they can’t be bothered to fill in
the form or they fear that it will lead to getting unwanted email.
If you make your content readily available without any need
to register and specify that you are happy to have anybody distribute it, it
will be seen by more people. It’s a good way of building up awareness of your
name and what you offer.
One time management coach created a small guide to
using your time better and distributed it this way and he said it has been
downloaded more than 60,000 times. Because it included his email address and a
blurb about his services at the end, it did serve a marketing function. His
guess is that if he’d required registration in order to allow downloads only a
couple thousand people would have done it. He has gotten business as a result
of it, but of course there’s no way of knowing how much more—or less—business
he would have had from it if he’d required registration and sent a variety of
messages over time to that list.
Your decision is this: do you want to get your name out
there in a general way, or do you want to build a list of people who are
interested enough to give you their name and contact information? Of course you
can combine the two and use it as a test: create one report or video to
distribute freely (from a download site that doesn’t require registration) and
another on a related topic for which people have to sign up. Then keep track
over a period of several months the contacts and new business you get from
each. Overall, I suggest the list-building approach.
(Do you want to be guided through to your writing goal in 60 days? See my new Breakthrough Strategy Program at www.jurgenwolff.com and my book, "Your Writing Coach," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon and other online and offline retailers.)
