| Ebook Marketing: Do I Really Need to Have An Email List With Subscribers? |
| Invention Development Advice - Marketing | |||
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Many ebook marketers agree that having a carefully thought out business plan is crucial to their success. And that plan is there because it helps the business owner to navigate: more specifically, the business plan is, in a sense, a map to finding customers.
Many e-book marketers agree that having a carefully thought out business plan is vital to their success. And that plan is there because it helps the business owner to navigate: more specifically, the business plan is, in a sense, a map to finding customers. So when we are talking about growing our ebook business, one dimension of that is growing the number of customers. The more customers we get, the more profit we get. But it is not just customers we want. We want satisfied customers that come back to buy more of our ebooks or other products or services that we may provide. So it is not sufficient, as seen from a long-term business perspective, to have completed some sales and having some new customers; we also have to take care of our already existing customers and recommend them new products and services. What Are Your Plans for Those Who Visit Your Web Site? Now let us turn to your blog or site. Let us assume that you already have traffic to your site. Hundreds of visitors come to your site every day. The question is: When new visitors come to your site, what do you do with them? Can they come to "window-shop" and leave without doing anything? Or are you counting on them to buy something? What happens if they don't buy anything? The question, in other words, is this: Can you afford to let non-buying visitors go? And, even more essential, can you afford to let buying visitors go? After all, since they have already showed that they are prepared to buy from you, why not construct a marketing system to cater to those users? Unless your uncle owns Google, all traffic you get has cost you something, either in money or time. So why let your visitors escape if you can stop it? And you can stop it, to a large degree, by using one or several opt-in lists. Getting your visitors on that e-mail opt-in list will let you have them at your fingertips: you can now email them at any time with information regarding the products and services you provide, and gradually build a long-term relationship that will be mutually beneficial. And as soon the potential client is certain that you are an expert in your niche, he will buy from you, providing you have the right products to offer. The Opt-in List: The E-book Business Plan In Action The main idea that I am trying to promote is this: if you invest some time in setting up an optin email list (a so-called autoresponder system), this makes perfect business sense. By being able to track potential customers we are, in a sense, getting a map of the territory and our future customers. We may thus see the email list as tangible evidence that our ebook marketing plan is working. The argument can, of course, be made that we don't need an opt-in e-mail list of potential customers to verify that our business model is working. After all, these people are not necessarily the real customers anyway, since they have not necessarily picked up anything yet. So it is no indication of that our ebook marketing plan is working. If there are no sales yet, what good is it for? So a better indication of that our business plan is working would be to simply look at the sales figures: if there is more sales, then it is working; if there isn't, it's not. Although the above objection may have some truth to it, let me say this. It is true that possible customers do not necessarily indicate the amount of the current sales; as for current sales, the sales figure alone is the best gauge. However, as is known from statistical analysis of sales figures and potential customers, it is reasonable to expect that there is a certain percentage of those who have signed up for the e-mail list that eventually, in the future, will become buyers, and perhaps even be returning buyers. If we can acknowledge this as true, then an increasing number of potential customers signing up to our e-mail list would, indeed, be a sign of that our business model is working, and that we are on the right track to making more money. The strength of the list lies therefore not chiefly in the idea that it is a measure of the current sales, but that it is a measure of what our sales figures are going to be in the near future. Opt-in Email Lists: Also For Tracking Customers So by building one or several email lists you may increase your sales and simultaneously getting a better picture of what lies ahead for your company. But opt-in lists are not just about immediate sales or sales projects either. They may also be used to increase your comprehension of your customers. For example, the information about when they signed up to your email list can be important. If you just had an AdWords advertising campaign going on, and saw that the campaign was still running when the visitor opted in to your list, you may conclude, in conjunction with other factors, that this was a direct result of your campaign. Another way to analyze information from the opt-in procedure could be the following. Let us say that you have several types of opt-in forms on different pages of your site. So when the visitor signs up, you can right away see which page and form he has used. This may tell you more about this customer's preferences and interests. Also, this information may be gathered from many customers sign-ups, which then may be compiled to a report on which forms work the best -- statistics which in turn may be used to redesign or tweak certain aspects of your website. Opt-In List Building Is Great E-book Marketing The bottom line, however, is this. You have to build an optin list for your e-book business. Whether or not you carry out the analysis of the customers' behavior to further enhance your business is, of course, up to you. But in any case, you should seriously think about setting up your email responder to maximize your ROI. By using a professional opt-in list for your business and doing some serious email marketing, you can continuously communicate with your subscribers and gradually build their trust. And when the trust is there, and the products are there, there will be sales. More information: ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Johnny Jones currently writes for the EbookBrothers.com website, where he publishes his thoughts on ebook marketing, and on specific topics such as the opt-in list: yes or no? etc. For a free subscription to the EbookBrothers.com Newsletter (with free articles and tips on how to succeed with your own e-book marketing), visit Ebook Brothers today, before the free offer expires.
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