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6 Ways to Build Author Platform Using Spoken Words

Most writers like to write rather than speak. I don’t mean they are all reclusive. I mean they tend to consider themselves more adept at writing than speaking. They say, I’m a writer, not a speaker,” and they may even claim to possess a fear of public speaking—along with many other people.

Yet, speaking offers writers and authors one of the best ways to build a platform, and today you can use spoken words in a variety of ways to accomplish this goal. Here are 6 ways you can speak your way to an author’s platform:

1. Give speeches. Go out and speak to a variety of groups on subjects related to the topic of your book. If you can build up a busy schedule of gigs for large groups in your area and around the country (or even internationally), you’ll have a speaker’s platform, which equates to an author’s platform. This can provide nice income, too.
2. Host a talk show. These days almost anyone can be an Internet talk radio show host. If you can develop a listening audience, you’ve got a platform.
3. Become a sought-after radio and television shows guest. Pitch yourself as an expert to radio and television show talk shows. Each time you get on the air, this becomes a platform element. The larger your “expert” platform, the larger you author’s platform. Getting on air gets your face and name in front of thousands of people.
4. Develop a popular teleseminar, webinar and workshop business. If you can draw in 50-1,000 or more people to your teleseminars, webinars and workshops on a regular basis—and collect these people’s names, you’ll have created a speakers platform, which also equates to an author’s platform. You’ll have some nice income as well!
5. Record your work and post it on ITunes. This provides a super way to get your message out to millions of people. If you have something really important and moving to say, your words might become viral. Use social networking to push your message out to more people. Always try to have a link back to your website. Then try to capture email addresses.
6. Record your words using a YouTube video and post it online. A YouTube video also might get seen by millions of people if promoted well with social marketing. It carries your words out so they can be seen and heard. Link this back to your website and try to capture email addresses.

Techniques for Building an Author’s Platform with Your Website

Every author or aspiring author must have a website. This becomes your online home where your readers, prospective book buyers and the media can find you.

How many visitors come to your website on a regular basis provides another useful statistic to quote in a nonfiction book proposal. However, if you plan on self-publishing your book, you will want to drive traffic to your website because you can sell your book there. In fact, you want your website to be the place your readers or potential readers go to find you and your book on the Internet. Therefore, you must have an Internet presence.

The question then becomes how to drive traffic to your website and gain an Internet presence, which basically means a Google ranking? Here are three techniques writers can use easily. I have used them effectively myself.

1. Have a blog and post consistently. As mentioned in yesterday’s post, you can develop a built in readership, or platform, with a blog if you post to it consistently. If this blog is hosted on your website, your blog will drive traffic to your website. Your website will then move up in ranking on Google. This means someone searching for you, your book or your subject matter will find it more easily. You want your website to be within the top 10 listings on Google for your name, book or subject matter. If you don’t have a website, you can create one simply with a blog. (For more information on this topic, you can read my other blog, How to Blog a Book. There you can find a variety of posts on increasing blog traffic, publicizing your blog, and increasing Google ranking.) For this strategy to work, however, you must post on a regular basis—at least a few times a week.
2. Post articles or news releases to e-zine directories. E-zines directories provide free content to other bloggers and to people who need newsletter or e-zine content. When you provide free content to these directories, you allow them to make it available to a wide variety of people, who then disseminate it to their lists or readers. Each time it gets published, it contains a resource box with a brief bio and information linking back to your website. Readers can then click on this to find you. Thus, you gain new readers. The most popular free e-zine directory is EzineArticles.com. You can also use an article distribution service to submit your article to many directories at once; I use www.submityourarticle.com.
3. Use social networks consistently. Commit to becoming a social networking. See my posts on building platform with social networking, and use the social networking tips and tools I provided. By linking to the information in your blog and by offering links to other people’s work, as well as by having conversations, offering quotations, and just getting involved, you will find people in your social networks showing up at your website.

Tomorrow we move on to building platform using your spoken words rather than your written words.

4 Tips for Building Author Platform with a Blog

In today’s publishing world, traditional publishers expect every aspiring author to have a blog. Blogs have become essential platform—promotion—elements.

Why is this so? Because by posting content related to your book to a blog on a consistent basis, you increase your Google ranking in your subject area. That means that someone searching for information on your topic will find your blog and, subsequently, discover your book and buy it. (For more information on how this works, read my other blog, How to Blog a Book.)

It’s great if you can host your blog on your own website. This means you own all your content because it appears right on your own website. Free blogs are owned by the provider, like WordPress.com. That said, free blogs will serve as a website if you don’t have one, and even technologically challenged people like me can manage them. You can even sell your book from a free blog.

To build author platform with your blog, try these three tips:

1. Post regularly. The key to gaining readers—building platform—with a blog involves posting regularly. Some people say posting once a week is enough. To really gain the attention of readers you must post at least five times a week for several months. That’s when you’ll see readers showing up. (Most programs have a statistics program, but you can install Google Analytics pretty easily yourself. If you have a hosted site, your host might have a good program you can purchase.) For a while you’ll blog and be lucky to have one or two hits or visitors. After a while, though, you’ll get more. This will spur you on to keep writing.
2. Stay on topic. The point of blogging to build platform involves writing about the subject of your book or product. In this way, you bring in readers who also will be interested in your book or product. Remember, a platform consists of a built-in readership. You develop consistent or returning blog readers by writing about a topic that interests them—the topic of your book. They become a build-in readership for your book. If they are interested in your blog, they should be interested in your book or books on the same or similar topics.
3. Comment on other blogs. Read posts written by other bloggers who write on your topic and leave comments. These will link back to your blog, thus creating a trail for their readers to follow to your posts. Hopefully you will gain some of their readers in the process. However, don’t ever be promotional with your comments. Be sincere and complimentary and offer useful tips or information. Add to what they have said. Exert your expert status.
4. Provide links to new posts. Use your social networks as a place to “advertise” your newly published posts. Shorten your post url with www.bitly.com or www.tinyurl.com and let your friends, followers and contacts know you’ve written something helpful. Also be sure your posts are “pinged” out to blogging catalogues. (Again, go to How to Blog a Book for more information on how to ping your blog posts.)

By the time you have a hundred people a day (or more if you are lucky) visiting your blog, you have developed a small platform. You can now sell your book, e-book or information product to these readers!

Plus, if you approach a traditional publisher, you can put these blog readership statistics in the platform section of your nonfiction book proposal. You can also mention how you will promote your book to your blog readers in the promotion section of the proposal.

Tomorrow we will take a look at building author platform via visitors to your website, which goes along with your blog readership to some extent.

6 tips for Successful and Efficient Social Networking

No matter which social networking sites you choose to use, and I suggest you use them all, you must find ways to increase the number of people interested in what you have to say and in what you do and write about. Otherwise, you efforts to network will leave you without the contacts you want to create. (If you are unclear about the different social networks, read my last blog post.)

I’m not so sure that “working cyberspace” is that much different than “working a room.” To make people want to give you their business card or to call you later, which in the case of social networking amounts to befriending you on Facebook, linking with you on LinkedIn or following you on Twitter, you must try to get in contact with as many people as possible and show them they can gain something by doing so. You must prove they need you. To accomplish this goal, you must prove you have expertise and that expertise will be useful to them.

To gain followers, friends, and tweeple, here are a few tips:

1. The key to success with all of these social networking sites comes in sharing useful information. Share what you know. Share links. Share videos. Share tips. Give away as much as you can. Give away even your best information. Don’t worry that you won’t have more to give; you’d be surprised at how much information you possess, and in most cases people need to hear the same information multiple times before it truly sinks in.
2. Have a conversation now and then. Get to know the tweeple, friends and contacts that follow you. Get to know the other people you follow. Spend a little time each day simply letting people know you have read what they have posted by commenting on it.
3. “Retweet,” share or “like” those links or status updates that you feel are valuable. This means that you pass along the great information others provide to your followers. Share what other people know. Don’t be scared to let other’s know about your competition. Support your competition. They will, in turn, support you.
4. Post regularly. If you don’t post once or twice a day, you will miss important networking opportunities. Also, it takes this amount of “showing up” to create an online presence on these sites.

If all of this seems overwhelming—especially on two or three sites, commit to automating them. Here are two more tips to accomplish this:

1. You can, for example, sign up for www.ping.fm. This free service will allow you to send a status update and a shortened link to all three networks at one time.
2. You can also schedule your updates, but www.ping.fm won’t do this for you. If you want to schedule status updates to all three social networking sites at once—and you want to do this for free, you’ll need to look into www.hootsuite.com. There you can link to all your social networking accounts (including www.ping.fm) and schedule updates. Scheduling updates means you can enter 10, 20, 30 or more updates and have them post without you having to do anything at all other than initially enter them and schedule their posting time.

The downfall to posting so many updates lies in the fact that you never get online and interact with anyone in your social networks. Remember, the whole idea lies in getting involved in social networking. I know…you are writers…you want to write. You must, however, put on a socializer’s hat or networker’s hat for at least a little bit of time each week and get out there in cyberspace and connect with other people—your prospective book or product buyers.

Tomorrow we look at another platform-building element any writer can handle: blogging.

How to Build Author Platform with Social Networking

More writers than not balk at the idea of becoming savvy social networkers. They see this activity as a time sink or a waste of time. Some don’t even want to try, while others are only willing to set up a Facebook account. They don’t realize the Internet provides one of the easiest ways to build an author’s platform, and social networking sites offer a prime place to do so. In fact, social networking has become a must for aspiring authors.

The three most important sites for authors are:

• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Facebook provides a great place to gain potential readers from old friends, professionals, like-minded people, and a variety of people from around the globe. This site started out as a place to post status updates but has become much more. People share everything from blog posts to photos to articles to videos. While a general account is a great thing, eventually you’ll want to switch over to a Facebook page or Fan page. A general account only allows you to have 5,000 followers or friends. Pages allow you many more and you can behave in a much more promotional manner with your messages, because they are meant for businesses.

LinkedIn provides a more professional feel and a way to connect to other people doing business-relate things through LinkedIn groups. This site was set up for on-line professional networking. As you get involved in groups, you also can let people know about your expertise, which lets them know about your forthcoming books or your website and services. Also, connecting to professionals, provides a great way to offer services, obtain speaking engagements, and connect with other experts. You can now post status updates here as well, and you can share links, etc. This site has become less about professional networking over the years, but this remains its primary focus.

Twitter, much like Facebook, started out as a way to post a status update but has quickly evolved into a way to have a conversation and to offer great information on a variety of topics via links. In this way, you can gain “tweeple” (followers or potential readers). This site has a bit of a learning curve, but can be useful not only for connecting with potential readers but also for getting answers to questions, letting people know about upcoming events, etc. It works much like Facebook, but your postings must be 140 characters or less.

If you aren’t already using one or more of these social networking sites, today simply go check them out. Maybe set up an account. Post something! Get your feet wet, so to speak.Discover that they aren’t as scary or hard to use as you thought. Actually, they are sort of fun.

In my next post, I’ll share a few tips for successful social networking and making this activity less time consuming.

Four Tips for Writing Newsletters that Build Lists

Aspiring authors can build platforms—build mailing lists—with newsletters by doing two things: sending them out regularly and providing useful information. The first takes some effort and scheduling; the second simply entails writing about what you know.

If you want to build your mailing list with a newsletter, try using these four tips:

1. Include tips, tools and helpful advice. Your newsletter should be a service piece. If readers find it indispensable to getting their jobs done or achieving their goals, they will subscribe—and tell people they know to subscribe. You also can advertise your services, classes, products (books!), teleseminars in the newsletter. These become helpful “tools” as well.
2. Include a “forward to a friend” option in your newsletter or a “share” button. This allows your readers to tell other people about the articles they find most useful. This is a great way to gain new subscribers. They can send your newsletter on by email or notify others via their social networks.
3. Put a subscribe notification with a free offer of some type—give away a report, ebook, coaching session, podcast, etc.—on every page of your website. Yes…every page. I hardly received any subscribers from my website until I implemented this tip. (Of course, you need to have traffic on your website as well for this to work.)
4. Come up with a publication schedule for your newsletter and stick to it. (I need to take my own advice on this tip.) Allow your readers to expect your newsletter…to look forward to it. In other words, first give them a reason to want to read your newsletter, and then get them to look for it in their email box on a certain day. The only way people will continue subscribing or tell others about your newsletter is if they get familiar with it. And, yes, you might lose a few people because of the frequency of your newsletter; some people have newsletter overload. Don’t worry. You’ll gain the readers who really want to receive the information you are providing.

If you do this, you will find that your mailing list will slowly but surely increase. A large mailing list used to be the true foundation of an author’s platform. You can build a platform this way, especially since you are a writer. Writer’s, of course, write.

Next time, we move on to another platform element: social networking.

Building Platform by Writing a Newsletter

Here’s a platform-building element that’s manageable for any writer. Yet, most writers don’t bother to take it on. Why? Because it’s time consuming and requires follow through.

How do I know this? Because I’m at fault of starting newsletters and…well…not following through with them.

I’m so busy doing other things, like blogging, for instance, that the newsletter falls by the wayside. However, a newsletter offers writers and aspiring authors a phenomenal and fairly inexpensive—and really not too time intensive—way to build a mailing list.

What’s entailed? On a regular basis—weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly—you produce a newsletter chock full of great information related to your book’s topic. When I say “chock full,” I don’t mean that you have to create a 50-page newsletter. If you send out a newsletter weekly, you may only need to write one article. If you send it out once a month or quarterly, you’ll want to adjust the content accordingly. Yet, you still don’t have to produce something with content comparable to a national magazine. A few really great articles do the trick.

Assuming that you have a website, you will want to have sign up forms on your website. A great way to get people to sign up for your newsletter is to offer something free in return for their subscription.  You can also do this from a blog.

You can send a newsletter simply by email. However, there are services that allow you to produce really nice newsletters, send them to a list, and that also track your new subscribers as well as those people who unsubscribe. They also provide analytics on your newsletters. A popular one is ConstantContact.com, which is what I use. Another popular one is Icontact.com. AWeber.com is more expensive but offers a host of services, such as auto responders for sending out free gifts to your subscribers. (I may soon need to bite the bullet and switch to this service!)

Tomorrow I’ll offer four tips to help you write your newsletter and build a subscriber list.

What is an Author's Platform and How Do You Build One?

The majority of people who come to me for help with their nonfiction book proposals have one issue in common: They have nothing to fill the platform section of the proposal. This may seem a small problem. After all, it’s just one part of the proposal and has nothing to do with having a good idea or being able to write well. In actuality, this section of a nonfiction proposal can mean the difference between getting an agent or publishing contract or being turned away. Plus, when an aspiring author wants to approach agents and publishers ASAP, having done nothing to begin building an author’s platform poses a large problem. Platforms are not built over night.

This post marks the beginning of a series of posts about how to build your author’s platform. I’ll be talking about concrete things you can do little by little. Most aspiring authors cringe at the thought of having to do anything—and so they don’t. You must begin now, though…before you begin writing your book, almost before you feel ready to begin a book, before you ever approach an agent or a publisher with a proposal or a finished manuscript.

I could have sold a book the first time I tired if I’d had a platform, but I didn’t. The agents sent me off regretfully—yes, regretfully. They told me to approach small publishers. Even the small publishers told me to go build platform.

Why? Because a platform ensures readership for a book. Few, if any publishers want to take a chance on a book—especially a book by a new writer—who doesn’t have a built-in readership.

As Julia Andrews sang in The Sound of Music, “Let’s start at the very beginning…” What is a platform? As I indicated, it’s your built in readership. It’s all the people who know and love you and your work, whatever that might be, and who are ready and waiting to buy your book when it is released.

What does a platform consist of? It consists of a large mailing list, huge numbers of followers on social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, impressive numbers of blog readers and visitors to your website, an active speaking schedule, a popular podcast, radio or television show, and numerous appearances on radio and television shows, as well as sizeable groups of people who attend your talks, teleseminars, workshops, etc. It can consist of one of these elements or a combination of these elements.

How do you build a sturdy platform? By attracting people to sign up for your mailing list with a popular newsletter, participating in social networks, blogging, having a web presence, speaking, hosting a show, appearing on radio and television shows, and offering talks, teleseminars, workshops, etc. To build a platform you must do something other than write, although many of these activities involve writing.

Today, think about which of these platform-building elements appeal to you. Which ones might you be willing to take on and work at daily or weekly? Which ones could form the foundation upon which you will stand when you launch your book into the world?

Tomorrow, we’ll begin looking at each of these elements in more depth.

How to Make Money Selling Information Products

On several occasions I have written about information products. Any writer can produce information products and create multiple streams of income–or even just one stream of income. Don’t have any idea what I’m talking about? No worries. Today, Stephanie Chandler, author of from Entrepreneur to Infopreneur, is here to tell you not only what information products are but how to make money selling them. It’s all well and good to focus on writing and selling books, which are, by the way, a form of information products, but not every writer wants to author a book. I like to be sure all nonfiction writers know their options, and producing information products represents a viable option, especially if you’d like to make money writing and selling products on the Internet. So read on. Stephanie has lots of great information on this topic.

From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur: Make Money Selling Info Products

By Stephanie Chandler

The term infopreneur is a relatively new industry buzz word that is making waves because it opens doors for entrepreneurs to generate new streams of income. Simply put, an infopreneur sells information. Information products are offered in a variety of formats including books, e-books, special reports, audio formats, videos, workbooks, tips booklets, and virtually any method in which you can deliver information. Whether you want to launch a new business or add new revenue streams to your existing business, opportunities abound for info product sales.

Benefits of Info Products

Perhaps one of the greatest advantages of info products is that once they are created and the distribution process automated, they can sell round the clock with minimal effort. And it doesn’t end there. Many infopreneurs have discovered hidden benefits of selling their product creations. For example, authors can treat their books like business cards, using them to open doors to new business opportunities. A book gives you more credibility and makes you more interesting to the media. With the right spin on your topic, media exposure could bring a windfall of new business. Just look at any author who has made it onto the Today Show or Oprah. Even an article in a local newspaper can prompt hundreds of readers to buy your book. As you add more info products to your line, you spin a web of opportunity. Each product may appeal to each customer differently. Some may buy one product, others may buy another product, and ideally, most customers will return to purchase multiple products. Giveaways are another fantastic use for info products. For example, you can reward new subscribers to your e-zine by giving away an e-book or special report. Or you could send your e-book to other business owners and allow them to distribute it for free, provided all of your contact information remains intact. This strategy will ultimately bring you new customers and that all important exposure to your audience.

Developing Product Ideas

Everybody is an expert at something. If you run a successful business, that makes you an expert in your industry. You could also capitalize on your expertise with a hobby, sport, or other special skill. Here are some tips for discovering product ideas:

• Conduct a survey with your customers and ask them what information they need or would like to know.
• Teach people how to do something.
• Create a directory. Do you have a list of 50 or more resources that people in your industry need? Sell it!
• Read books from your field of interest. Is there a book that covers an important piece of information in one chapter that deserves to be expanded upon? Could you write a whole book or a special report about that topic?
• Make a list of potential guests that you can interview and host teleseminars. You could charge for the seminars, or offer them for free and sell the recordings.
• Teach classes at your local adult learning center or become a professional public speaker. You can sell your info products at the back of the room and also sell recordings of your live presentations.
• Produce a video of a demonstration, speech, or technique.

Keys to Info Product Success

In order to convince customers to get out the credit card and make a purchase, you need to follow a basic formula for success: Credibility: Demonstrate any credentials that you have in your field. This is not the time to be shy. Publicize your education, experience, awards, or achievements in the area that you specialize. Strangers are not going to buy from you unless you can demonstrate your ability to deliver on your promises. Quality: There are plenty of information products out there and some are downright lousy. Make sure that whatever you produce is of the highest quality. All products should be professionally edited. Value: There is a fine balance when determining the price of products. Too many infopreneurs price their products out of the ballpark. Check to see how your competitors are pricing their products. Some price products higher to demonstrate the extreme value of the information they are selling. If you use this strategy, be sure you are delivering information that is worth its weight at checkout. Delivery: With electronic products such as e-books and reports, customers who purchase want instant gratification. Though you can manually e-mail electronic products once a sale is completed, its best to set up a system to automate the delivery process. An added advantage of automation is that you wont have to constantly check e-mail for sales notifications and you can actually make money and deliver products while you sleep.

Strategies for Promoting Info Products

No business can survive without marketing. You need to let people know you are there so you can entice them into buying from you. A solid marketing plan is essential to success with info products. The first place to begin is with a website. A website can reach a potential customer base that spans the globe. Your own website allows you to establish your credibility, build a database of site visitors, and promote and sell your products directly. Following are additional tactics for getting the word out:

• Conduct public speaking engagements (including workshops, seminars, and classes). Seminar speaking experience helps you earn credibility while gaining valuable exposure and experience.
• Hold teleconferences to share information. Ask peers to announce your events in their e-zines or on their website. Even if you aren’t selling your product up front, you are exposing people to your products.
• Distribute a newsletter or e-zine. This is an inexpensive yet valuable way to market to your customers.
• Up-sell and promote additional products when someone makes a purchase. Include a brochure about your other products when you ship an item or offer the buyer a special discount on a related product at the time of purchase.
• Establish yourself as an expert in your field by being seen and heard everywhere. Participate in interviews, publish articles in print and online, and seize every possible opportunity to get your name out there.
• Take advantage of media exposure. Radio is an inexpensive way to reach a lot of people in a short amount of time. Many talk radio programs accept experts through call-in format. If your topic is interesting enough to reach a broad range of listeners, you could go on a radio tour right from the comfort of your own home. Print publicity is also beneficial. Find news angles for your topic and contact newspaper, magazine, and TV reporters.
• Create an affiliate program. Offer other businesses the opportunity to sell your products and pay them a percentage of each sale.
• Swap advertising with websites and e-zines that reach your target market.

As you develop a plan to generate and sell your own info products, take notice of how others are doing it successfully. Purchase some products from business owners that you admire so you can evaluate the content. While you should never steal from your competition, it is certainly acceptable to emulate their success. Soon you could be generating income while you sleep. For additional resources on developing an infopreneur business, visit www.BusinessInfoGuide.com/infopreneur.htm.

About the Author

Stephanie Chandler is an author of several business and marketing books including The Authors Guide to Building an Online Platform: Leveraging the Internet to Sell More Books and From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur: Make Money with Books, eBooks and Information Products. She is also founder and CEO of http://AuthorityPublishing.com, which specializes in custom publishing and internet marketing services, and http://BusinessInfoGuide.com, a directory of resources for entrepreneurs. For author and speaker details, visit http://StephanieChandler.com.

22 Ways to Increase Your E-zine Subscriber List

When building an author’s platform, writers often fail to create a sizable subscriber list. They think their list of email addresses will suffice. However, this is not enough.The way to successfully promote a book, service or information product is through a subscriber list–a list of people who have actually asked to be notified about you books, services and products. A publisher will find a large subscriber list an impressive platform element, and it will prove a successful way to sell an independently published book, e-book or any other information product as well.

Producing an e-zine provides one of the best ways to create or increase a mailing list. Many writers balk at this idea, complaining that this job just involves more work–writing that takes them away from writing their book. However, it doesn’t have to do so; in fact, much of what goes into newsletter can be repurposed into a book or vice versa.

Today, Stephanie Chandler, author of  LEAP! 101 Ways to Grow Your Business and From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur: Make Money with Books, eBooks and Information Products, offers some great tips on how to build a large e-zine subscriber list. Although some of this may sound like it relates more to someone building a business rather than writing and selling books, remember that you are in the book writing, publishing and selling business. You are a business person as well as an author. All these tips relate to you, so take them to heart.

22 Ways to Increase Your E-zine Subscriber List By Stephanie Chandler

Publishing an electronic newsletter (e-zine) is one of the most cost-effective ways to market your business. To achieve the best results, it’s important to continue growing your subscriber list. Here’s a round-up of methods you can use to increase your database and ultimately, your profits. 1. Put a “Subscribe Here” link on EVERY PAGE of your Web site. Your e-zine shouldn’t be a well-kept secret; make it easy to subscribe. 2. Offer a bonus for signing up. A special report, e-book, coupon, discount or other special offer provides great incentive. 3. List your privacy policy on your Web site and in your welcome message to subscribers. Ensure that you won’t share their contact information with anyone and then keep your promise. 4. Include a “Forward to a Friend” link in your e-zine message. Sometimes all you have to do is ask! 5. Cross-promote your e-zine with business alliance partners. Contact businesses that compliment yours and offer to swap ads in each other’s e-zines. 6. Publish articles related to your industry in other e-zines and Web sites. You can distribute articles through sites like www.ezinearticles.com and www.ideamarketers.com. Make sure you include your author bio and a link back to your site. 7. Send your articles directly to industry-related Web sites. Let them know they can reprint your article as long as your bio is included. Many sites are in search of quality content so you have a good chance of getting your articles published. 8. Update your e-mail signature with a call to action: “Sign up for our monthly e-zine to receive industry reports and special offers!” 9. Print your call to action on the front or back of your business card and those of your employees. 10. If you conduct speaking engagements, make it easy for the audience to sign up for your e-zine either by using a bowl to capture business cards or by passing a sign-up sheet around the room. 11. Notify your friends, family and business alliance partners about your e-zine. Ask them to sign up and to refer others who might be interested. 12. Always be on the lookout for opportunities to build your list. If you’re hosting a trade show booth, give away something great—like an iPod—to entice people to leave their business cards. 13. If you meet a potential prospect at a business event or networking function, ask if you can add them to your list. 14. Never add someone to your list without asking first. This will frustrate recipients and they could end up marking your message as spam. If you generate enough spam reports, your e-mail address could get black listed by e-mail hosts, preventing future messages to your true subscribers from being delivered.

FOR RETAIL LOCATIONS

15. When your customers check-out or exit your business, make it a policy to ask every single person if they would like to receive your e-zine. Don’t forget to tell them WHY they should want it: “Would you like to receive our monthly e-zine? It contains industry articles along with a special subscribers-only discount!” 16. Host a promotion to capture e-mail addresses by placing a bowl in your lobby to collect business cards. Then conduct a monthly drawing and give away something of value such as a gift certificate or high-value product. 17. If you have a client application or intake form, include a line to capture the client’s e-mail address and a box the client can check to sign up for your e-zine.

QUALITY COUNTS

18. Archive previous editions of your e-zine so that potential subscribers can preview your publication. 19. Follow the 60/40 rule. Your e-zine should contain at least 60% content and no more than 40% sales messaging. You will lose readers quickly if you aren’t providing interesting and valuable information. 20. Look at the e-zines you receive. What do you like about them? What do you dislike? How can your e-zine meet the needs of your readers? What incentive can you offer so that they open it each time it’s delivered (great content, special offers, information they can’t easily find elsewhere, etc.). 21. Be consistent with delivery. Your e-zine should go out on or around the same time each week, month or quarter. Whatever schedule you set, stick with it. 22. Make sure your e-zine aligns with the goals of your business. Your publication should have a clear purpose, consistent content, professional appearance, and ultimately become something your clients look forward to receiving.

About the Author

Stephanie Chandler is an author of several business and marketing books including “LEAP! 101 Ways to Grow Your Business” and From Entrepreneur to Infopreneur: Make Money with Books, eBooks and Information Products. She is also founder and CEO of http://AuthorityPublishing.com, which specializes in custom publishing and internet marketing services, and http://BusinessInfoGuide.com, a directory of resources for entrepreneurs. For author and speaker details, visit http://StephanieChandler.com.