Dishing on the Newsletter Sign-up Marketing Ploy

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Sound familiar? It’s a safe bet that you’ve encountered a similar request online at some point. To enter a contest, register for a webinar or other event, or even just to gather some research information, you often must “enter your email address” AND “you will receive our newsletter.”

I completely understand the marketing ploy behind this irritating request. But if you’re like me, chances are you already receive their newsletter, which is how you learned of the event or intriguing opportunity.

Entering your email address to validate the entry or registration is a necessary evil; and I’ll bet your next thought is, “I already receive their newsletter; if I do this I wonder if I’ll receive multiple issues?” (And you may not even want the one you currently receive).

Shock Jock Writers – Oh Yes, They Exist!

Shock-jock writers. Who are they? Think about it. We all know the name of the radio jock generally considered the epitome of the original broadcast shock-jocks. His name rhymes with “learn.” (I refuse to give him credit here – he offends me on so many levels.) If you haven’t a clue to my reference that’s OK; you’re not missing anything.

Somewhere underneath the vitriol diatribe, shock-jocks may have a valid point. But they apparently don’t feel comfortable enough with their normal personable charm (said with tongue in cheek) to attract your attention, so their agendas are punctuated with profanity and/or adjectives meant to disgust, berate, or shockingly suggest sexual exploitation.

Well, guess what? The world of authorship has its own breed of shock-jocks. What I’d like to offer is the viewpoint that if you’re a good writer, you don’t need tricks or trash-talk (fiction and erotica excluded) to make your points and gain a following.

Static Pages Could Be Sabotaging Your Business (Challenge below!)

So tell me – how many pages does your website contain? Five? Fifteen? A hundred or more? Large companies’ sites stretch into the thousands. Even with a website team, maintaining more than two can be time-consuming. And time is money.

Oh, and please don’t tell me you don’t have a website (or blogsite). Have you published a book? Do you own a business? (No matter how small – home based qualifies.) You MUST have a website. Are there true naysayers anywhere who disagree? I seriously doubt it.

It doesn’t really matter how many pages you maintain because the top five viewed are generally the most important. Why? For whatever reason – your marketing, backlinks, their popular searchability – interest in their hype or content has driven people to them. As such, they are your site’s foundation.

Good for you! Enticing people to your website is difficult. Of course, keeping them there and ensuring they click on your Buy Buttons is even trickier. But as an editor, I know one element of your website that once created is often neglected in updates, and just might be the biggest cause to losing your visitors’ interest.