If you already have an online business, then you know how important it is to get the word out about your product. You will need to do the same with your membership site if you want it to be a success.
Try these steps to begin your promotion. Some of the same marketing strategies that you used for your online business will work but they may need to be tweaked a bit. You'll see what we mean in a second.
1. Target the correct market. This usually goes without saying, but your market may have changed a bit with the membership site. If your target market was those interested in fitness, the group that would pay for a fitness membership site may be a more focused group of fitness buffs who are serious about staying in shape or who want to be fitness trainers. You'll have to modify your sales pitch just a bit.
2. Use unique content. Your visitors already get the run-of-the-mill stuff everywhere else. Present them with something that is innovative or has a new twist on an old problem. Use snippets of your articles on the home page so that they get a taste of what they will see if they sign up to become members. And, don't forget about SEO marketing. High search engine rankings, as you know, draw more traffic to your membership site.
3. Network like crazy. Use all of the avenues open to you. Guest blog for some of your business associates. In your bio, promote the membership site. Find your way onto guest spots on online radio shows and business podcasts. Use social networking venues like YouTube to start a viral marketing campaign using video media. It can be a simple video using an animated PowerPoint presentation set to music or with audio.
4. What about an affiliate program? This will be promoted from within the membership. Introduce the affiliate program to your members as a way to make a profit from the membership with your site. Also offer incentives at various levels as their sales increase like a second tier affiliate program that gives residuals for referrals.
5. Offer a free trial membership. For three or four days (a week if you want), offer those who will sign up for emails and newsletters limited access to the membership area. Entice them by giving them access to a few articles, but when they click on links for eBooks, special reports or video for more in-depth information, they are redirected to a page that says those items are only accessible with a paid membership.
To drive traffic and increase your membership, you will have to promote a lot. But, if any of your current customers are interested in taking their knowledge to the next level, invite them become members and bring their friends.
People want good information. If the seekers are looking for something in your niche, you want them to find you. One way to gain new leads is through newsletters.
Wouldn't it be great to get the information you need delivered right to your inbox? You can, or at least your readers can if you create a newsletter.
Your website contains content that will help draw your target market to you. You use keywords (that you carefully researched), catchy headlines and other tricks to provide interesting tidbits for your readers. But, there are more tidbits in the marketing kitchen that you can cook up. Save those for the newsletter.
Benefits of a Newsletter
What makes a newsletter so special? It gives the reader more detailed information than they can find on your website. You can upsell it as exclusively for subscribers. That alone can get your readers to opt-in for it and also tell their friends.
What are the components of a newsletter? It varies, but the more features you add, the more attractive it will be. Here are a few ideas:
- Contest entries - Preview new products before the general public - Discount coupons - Letters from you - Tips and articles - Pictures - New product info
Newsletters are usually delivered monthly on the same date each month. You can set your newsletters up to be delivered through your autoresponder service so your subscribers get them on time.
Newsletters can be created in a couple of different ways. Some people have their entire email be their newsletter. It is a one-page piece that includes links to areas on your website where they can find more information. If it is a contest entry, a link will bring them to the landing page where they can enter and read up on the contest particulars. That page can also link to other offers they may be interested in.
Others post emails that tell you the newest newsletter is available. Subscribers click a link that takes them to a "subscriber only" area of your website. Here they can read and download the newest newsletter. Also let them know that they can access your archive of newsletters that were created before they found your site. Creating timeless content makes these past pieces valuable months or years later.
Want to build your list? Offer newsletters to readers if they subscribe to your site. By including some of the information above, readers can stay connected in such a way that eventually leads to recurrent sales.
The Internet is all about getting the right information into the right hands in the most efficient fashion. If you have a website, then you believe that what you have to offer is important enough for others to read. Backlinks are a useful way to increase traffic to your site and increase your search engine ranking.
You can go through the more popular methods of creating backlinks. Social networking, social bookmarking, blogging and other tools take time to get established. If you are looking to drive more traffic now, then you may want to look into paid linking services.
Why Backlink in the First Place?
Like we said, backlinks can increase traffic to your site. Anytime that someone sees your comment on a post or an article in a directory that they want to use, they will also have links included that they can click to check out your other work on the website. Whether your site sells a service, information or a product, the increased traffic will potentially increase your sales and conversion rates. That is always a good thing.
Not only will people find you through your backlinks, but the number of backlinks help when search engines rank your website. It is every website owners dream to be in the first page of search results. That way, everyone will see you first. Most people don't look past the first page anyway since it is rightly believed that the results deemed best by the search engines can be found there.
Paid Linking Services
Paid linking services speed up the process of finding good quality links for your website. It works this way. You pay a monthly fee to "rent" a link from another website. These websites will be ones that are of high quality and rate high on search engines.
There are two ways to acquire paid links:
- Use a paid link service - Go to a company directly
Most people will opt for the first one but you must be careful. Search engines like Google are cracking down on paid links. To them, paying for a link doesn't demonstrate that your site is creating a quality backlink. The website "sponsoring" you may never have known your site existed before you asked for their links. On the flip side, sites that have worked hard to build their brand want to share the good fortune, so why shouldn't they get paid for it?
Internet marketers suggest that if you use a paid link service, don't go with the overt ones. Try text link ads since they are integrated into the body of the content and are harder to separate from other hyperlinks.
You can also go to a company website and petition them for use of their link. They may say no or ignore you altogether. You can make a reasonable rental offer for their link and they may accept or not. But, you won't know unless you try.
Using paid links is one way to get the ball rolling on your traffic situation at your website. You can use paid links in combination with other methods to see which will bring you more traffic and more sales.
Have you ever shared a link with someone else? You read something that was so incredible or informative that you had to tell others. Social bookmarking can help others do that very same thing for you.
Backlinking is the method of enhancing your website traffic through inbound links from other sites. And these are not just any sites; they are reputable business sites and blogs that have established them on the Internet. It is not always easy to gain access to these sites and their loyal visitors.
Social Bookmarking
Try social bookmarking. Maybe you have seen all those cute little icons at the bottom or middle of the page on websites and blogs. What are they?
They are links to social bookmarking sites. When you bookmark something, you want to be able to come back to it later without a lot of trouble. These sites allow you to submit articles that are ranked by other members. Content that is ranked high has a chance to be featured on the front page to gain even higher visibility.
To get the ball rolling, you can sign up for these accounts for free. Some of the most popular are Digg.com, Facebook, Twitter and Delicious. Facebook and Twitter are actual social networking sites where you can post links to articles posted on Digg, Delicious and your own website. With an extensive network of friends (and their friends), you can create a ton of backlinks in no time.
On your website, you can then post an icon for these social bookmarking sites. Readers who are members also, can click and post your article there.
You can be proactive and post your article there as well, with links back to your website. If your business associates and friends are also members, they can vote for your articles and you can do the same for them.
Here, quality does count. Votes will be cast for the best content that meets the needs of your peers. You can achieve a high status here for consistently great performances. That, in and of itself, can multiply your backlinks as everyone will be looking for your latest creation.
So, what are you waiting for? If you feel that your search engine ranking is not what it could be, it could be your backlinks or the lack thereof. Social bookmarking can help catapult you onto the front page of Google and Yahoo when you and others submit your content on those sites.
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