Which one would be the horse before the cart or the cart before the horse? It is hard to say because I feel that newsletters and blogs both go hand and hand. Many of you may be wondering what you start with. Do you start with a newsletter or do you start with a blog? Both are traffic drivers to you and your business.
We will start off with your newsletter and how to entice people to subscribe.
What is your compelling offer to entice visitors to subscribe to your list? What do you offer your visitors now?
Think like your target market and curb your offer around that. What I mean is that if I were looking into your business and I saw a priority notification box what would I see? Would I see notifications on upcoming products, sales, business ongoings. Or would there just be a lonely box saying “subscribe here”.
You want a call-to-action or compelling offer for your visitors to type their name into the box and have your newsletter arrive into their personal email. Here is an example of my own opt-in box.
After I put up that opt-in box I started to receive more subscribers. And if you noticed when you go to my website it is located at the top right, on every page and also it is above the fold. Above the fold meaning that you don’t have to scroll down to find the box.
Now that leads me into setting up a blog.
My newsletter opt-in box leads visitors to my blog. I send out an email once a week that contains the new posts on my blog to keep everyone up to date. I get a better response with blog posts than I do with the typical email newsletters.
I did try browsing around google to find candle and soap blogs. I did not find any candle or soap blog eye candy there. So, I went into a craft forum and low and behold I found quite a few that I enjoyed reading.
Take a quick gander at these blogs to draw some ideas for your newsletter.
- Annie Cupboards
- Young House Love
- Soap Queen
- Sassy Ornie Patch ~ Example of selling and still have blog posts
- Sweet Annie’s Graphics ~ Example of completely selling from your blog
I am showing you examples of blogs that I enjoy reading. Why not look at blogs you enjoy and gather your likes and dislikes around those. Set your own blog up similar, but with your “voice”. Notice the colors, pictures, layout, what the main blog topics are about, and how you maneuver through their blog to keep you reading.
All these factors are pivotal in keeping your visitors and drawing in subscribers.
Many Blessings,
P.S. What do you do to compel your readers to subscribe?
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