2 questions for the Pro bloggers

8 replies
Hey guys,

Now that I've started to see some sales coming in on my products I'm really trying to focus optimizing the whole site to capture more of the traffic I'm getting from all over the world. I have 2 questions I'd like your opinion on.

1. Even though I have made a few sales lately I'm not sure my funnel is set up the best way for a blog. Can you share your basic funnel for a blog business model?

2. I've been writing and sending out my blog articles to my mailing list one at a time, week after week. I recently learned I should automate that with my autoresponder (facepalm, lol) and set up a year's worth of evergreen content to go out weekly.

But there's a debate about which practice is best: including a paragraph or two with a link to the site to read the rest, or including the entire article in the email. Which one do you prefer to do?
#bloggers #pro #questions
  • Profile picture of the author jbsmith
    Here is my approach, has been working very well since implementing some changes about 4-months ago

    1. Post regularly - on average every second day, some periods daily with mix of video, text, podcasts - each of these bring in traffic from Youtube and Podcast directories as well as search and social

    2. Post notifications are sent twice to my various Twitter, Facebook, Google+ subscribers - spend about 30-mins on these social platforms daily to cultivate social community (lots of other posts other than blog content notifications)

    3. Have opt-in forms on both upper right and body (above/below) posts that capture subscribers with valuable give away

    4. Upon opting in, subscribers are redirected to my low-end product sales page (variant where I thank them first for subscribing and to check their email for download instructions on the giveaway) - I get some direct sales from this page

    5. Subscribers are sent through an orchestrated series of email follow-ups that are focused on adding value and selling intro-level product

    6. Sales funnel is multiple levels, as someone buys intro level - they are given special offer on back-end membership site offering

    So far the blog is converting well with my new give away, though that will depend highly on the relevancy of your content

    Also - every 3rd or 4th post (where content is relevant) I link back in text to either the opt-in giveaway page or to intro-level product page

    Jeff
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  • Profile picture of the author RevenueGal
    I prefer to bring them back to my site through my email content. So, yes, share enough content to get them interested, but getting them back to your blog is a good goal, particularly if you're selling other services and products on your blog.

    If you're doing an autoreponder ecourse or newsletter, then you can offer more content within your emails, but mention a few related articles on your blog to bring them back to your site.
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  • Profile picture of the author jbsmith
    Ah yes -missed that part of the question. I do also send weekly digests of blog activity to my email list (rather than emailing each day) - though on occasion with special content (interviews, promotions, current news) I will send an email broadcast out the same day.

    Jeff
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  • Profile picture of the author karlene
    Wow, Jeff, that's a great strategy that I'll implement myself.
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  • Profile picture of the author nuworld
    You could have the whole blog post in your email and then link it to your blog. Another cool thing to do is to add extra content in the email for subscribers only.
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  • Profile picture of the author MusicMinCoach
    Thanks for the input so far guys! I read a couple of articles just last night that touched on a couple of the topics brought up here. One of them made a very compelling case AGAINST blogging every day, believe it or not. He gave several points, all very good. But the one that stood out to me was the fact that when you post a new blog every day it drops off your front page so fast that it doesn't have a chance to build much social proof.

    I recently went from twice a week to once week because I felt like I was kinda forcing it and sometimes not writing very good content (another great point the article made). But since I went to once a week I've definitely seen an increase in the number of clicks on my social media buttons.

    The other article I read made a brief case for including the entire article in the e-mail rather than the "read more" thing, which I had been doing. The point this author made is that you shouldn't be sending the reader to your blog post, you should be sending them to a sale opportunity like one of your products or affiliate products.

    Right now I'm promoting and growing a list but it's a funnel for my main product and not my blog. I'm thinking I should be growing my main list and then kinda promoting everything from there. I haven't figured out what to give away yet to grow my subscriber list to the blog. I just released my first e-book, but it's made a few sales so it seems unfair to those people to now give it away.

    Maybe I can look through my content and put together some kind of report or something, Thanks for the help so far guys.
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    • Profile picture of the author Enfusia
      Here's a formula that works for me:

      1. Write the blog post.

      2. Post it as an excerpt linking back to the post in Facebook. Post the picture in Pinterest.

      3. Have my opt in offers at the bottom and upper right side in the side bar.

      4. Have an exit offer with a cookie so they dont' see it again for a year so I don't tick them off.

      5. Tell them about great posts and videos in their emails.

      6. Give value in the emails. Only pitch when you have something really great that you have used yourself.

      This works well for me.

      Patrick
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    • Profile picture of the author savidge4
      I view my lists as developing a relationship. You may not be marrying these folks, but ultimately you want their money. I personally believe they are worth a bit of my time. Spitting out a blog post that they already have access to is not making them feel "Special"

      My e-mails tend to be a bit on the personal side. I talk about what is going on in my life in relation to the topic of my blog. I talk about a conference I may have gone to and share some insight and generally just provide the list with unique heart felt information. The time spent pays off.

      Again for me, in regards to how much of a blog post do I share with my list... UNLESS it is really good stuff and I expand on it, I generally will have a box with the titles and links and that's it.

      Now it terms of automation, if you have never looked at it before you want to look up IFTTT https://ifttt.com Once you figure it out.... you post it, it will go! as in you post a blog post, that post will go to Google Drive for archiving, facebook, twitter, G+, and where ever else automatically and instantly. It can even turn on a light with it ( no I am not kidding! )

      Keep in mind we are talking about Wordpress here. Just because you put in some widget that displays 5 of your most recent post's doesn't mean you cant change that to display 10. If you are finding that leaving those posts there longer is increasing your social indicators, you might want to consider that.

      I just see automation as a tool. There are times it is useful, like updating all of your social accounts with a new post. Why waste your time, when it can be done for you. But direct personal communication? I just cant see automating that.
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