16 Aug, 2010  |  Written by  |  under Internet Marketing

Building an email list is a lot easier than most people think.  Many bloggers and entrepreneurs are worried about the email list building costs with the tools required to be compliant with the law.  You can build your email list easily, however, and it’s not nearly as expensive as you might think.

These five tips are the fastest way to grow your list quickly and keep it growing as they are marketing fundamentals for helping you build your email list.

1 – Place your sign up form in a priority spot – right on top, up front, where it’s easily seen.  It should be on the first screen, preferably at the top or near the top of your content.  It should be in an easily-identifiable spot and should make it clear that there are good reasons for joining your email list.

2 – Use multiple signup forms.  Put them on every page of your site and if you can, have them track-able so you can see which forms are giving you the most signups.  This helps with marketing and shows you which forms, layouts, etc. may not be performing as well.

3 – Give a good reason for signing up.  People won’t just sign up for your email list building just because you ask them to.  They need

a reason.  Give them free information, better access, or something else for their trouble.  They need a reason to trust you with their email address.

4 – Give an incentive whenever you can.  Your incentive is what helps email list building the most.  This ties in with number 3 and is the most fundamental marketing you’ll do to build an email list.  Free ebooks, reports, access to private areas of your site, etc. are the kinds of incentives that are cheapest and most often used.

5 – Use forwarding options.  Give your current subscribers plenty of opportunity and reason to forward your newsletters or email correspondence to their friends.  Called “word of mouse” in the industry, this is another long-term, steady wya to build an email list and it costs virtually nothing to do.

15 Aug, 2010  |  Written by  |  under Internet Marketing

Today on Newest on the Net, we are going to talk about email marketing.  Specifically, we’re going to show you the best email marketing blog posts out there and tell you why you need to read them.  These are not beginner or newbie posts, these are current, top email marketing blog informational posts that are covering the latest trends.

If you’re new to email marketing, you probably are still catching up on the basics.  That is OK as these posts will keep you informed of the current trends and technology behind the best email marketing techniques to help your learning curve.  Our first will also speed up your learning on the subject.

35 Guaranteed Ways to Increase Your RSS Subscribers – from Newest on the Net
While not specifically about email, this one covers a lot of marketing information that any newbie should know and will get you started. READ MORE>>

Email Design Tip of the Week: Social Media in Email – posted by Andrea Smith
Should social media be used in email? Sure! But only if it makes sense for your audience. Decide if you will link to your existing social presence, enable content sharing, or both. READ MORE >>

Twitter’s ROI: Relationships & Influence – posted by David Hoang
With CoTweet joining the ExactTarget family, we see the convergence of the power of social media and email communication; an Internet Marketing Hub to maintain relationships on both platforms. READ MORE >>

Design Tip of the Week: Notes from Google – posted by Anna Meier
Looking for a dose of inspiration to jumpstart your marketing program? Take a few notes from Google’s Marissa Mayer. She spoke at Make/Think, the AIGA design conference last October.  READ MORE >>

What’s in a bounce? – Posted by Karen Balle
Yesterday, a friend found a terrible post about bounces.  We talk about looking at your bounces and understanding what they mean in regards to your list health, but what are bounces and why should you care? READ MORE >>

23 Jul, 2010  |  Written by  |  under Newest On The Net

Ask five freelancers how they find new clients and you’ll get five different answers.  Ask five marketers how a freelancer can get new clients and they’ll have only one answer: marketing.

Like it or not, no matter what business you’re in, marketing is going to be a part of it.  The problem is that there are so many different types of marketing out there that it’s impossible for anyone to do all of them, let alone do them well.  Depending on your business, your marketing approach will decide how effective you are at finding new clients (or getting them to find you).

Ask yourself these questions and it will get you started.

“Where do your potential clients spend their time?”  If they spend their time on Facebook, then that’s where you need to be.  If they are reading Vanity Fair Magazine, then that’s where you need to be.  If your market is local and these clients spend their time in specific places, then that’s where you need to be.  Your marketing needs to be where the people you are marketing to are.  Otherwise, you’re just wasting time and money.

“What do my potential clients want to hear?”  Note that the question isn’t “what do you THINK they want to hear,” but rather it’s “what do they want to hear?”  That’s important because a lot of freelancers go about their marketing thinking in terms of a freelancer wanting to get a client.  You need to aim your marketing at your client, so it needs to appeal to them, not appeal to you appealing to them.

“What marketing am I doing now that is working well?”  You’ve likely done some kind of marketing up to this point and some of it has probably paid off.  What was it?  Why did it pay off?  Can you repeat it?  Once you find what works, stick with

it.  Feel free to explore new things, but do that exploration after you’ve maintained the fundamentals that are proven to be working.

In fact, that last one is the most commonly overlooked aspect of freelancer marketing.  Once you’ve found a way to find some freelance clients, stick with that plan and keep it working for you.

22 Jul, 2010  |  Written by  |  under Internet Marketing

One thing everyone wants is more money.  There are a lot of ways that freelancers can boost their incomes in between jobs or working on the side from their usual clients.  Here are five of the best ones we’ve seen.

SEO Websites and Blogs – Creating a new website or blog is simple.  Especially if you do it not with the idea of making a site with a lot of professional design aspects and good looks, but instead as a site or blog focused on search engine optimization (SEO).  These are called various things, but the good ones are called AdSense-powered sites or SEO-based websites.  Far from being a scam, they are a legitimate way to make a steady income.  Best of all, it’s a lot easier than you might think, especially with the easy to use tools that are out there now.  A simple website can be built in a few hours using WordPress, free templates, and some time setting up menu-based configuration and a $10 domain name.

Start Your Own Blog – If SEO blogging isn’t for you, why not set up a blog for your own business?  These have a lot of advantages, most of them being the long-term marketing they produce.  Not only can a well-made blog increase traffic to your site (especially if you know anything about SEO), but it can build clientele for your main business over time.  Readers get an idea of your expertise and over the long term, they will often become clients when they need someone with your knowledge.  Blogging is also a good way to stretch yourself professionally as you look into aspects of your business that you might not have spent the time delving into before.

Experiment with Advertising – Try something you haven’t tried before and see if it helps your bottom line.  There are thousands of ways to advertise.  One of them might be the gold mind you’ve been looking for.

Do Short-Term and Charity Projects – If you find yourself with a little time on your hands, why not put it towards a good cause?  Set

up short term projects with interns or school kids or whomever or offer your services to a charity.  No matter what your profession, there is always a worthy charity looking for your help.

Plan Personal Projects – Why not do something for yourself?  Maybe you’ve been working on a personal project that always gets put off.  Or maybe you’ve always wanted to write a novel or a few short stories and try to get published?  Well, now’s as good a time as any!

11 Jun, 2010  |  Written by  |  under Getting Things Done

Here at Newest on the Net, we’re continuing our look at freelance writing and the aspects of this career choice.  Time management is probably the most helpful or destructive thing to a freelance career so the subject of freelancer time management is an important one.

If you’ve chosen a career (part- or full-time) in freelance writing, then the first thing you’ll need to know is where you’ll be working.  Most likely, this is at home, which creates a large number of hurdles to be overcome in freelancer time management.

Rule #1: separate home from work.  While you’re working at home, in your work space, make it as separate from other aspects of your house as possible.  Make sure your spouse, children, roommates, etc. all understand that when you’re in your work zone, they should treat you as if you have left the house and are at an office somewhere in the city.  This is, for most of us, the hardest aspect of time management when working at home.  People easily forget and will walk into your space to make comments, yell things from another room, or present themselves and demand attention.  If your chosen work space has a door you can close: use it.

Rule #2: act like you are at work, not at home.  This might mean dressing up for the day, combing your hair, or whatever.  Whatever it is, it gets you in the “work mindset.”  For some of us, it’s as simple as brushing our teeth and combing our hair.  For others, it might be more elaborate and require dressing up or otherwise “feeling” professional.

Rule #3: have a schedule.  Your schedule might be fixed hard-and-fast, making your time management easier, or it might be more loose and open.  Whatever it is, try to keep it at least generally consistent.  For most of us, our freelance writing schedule is pretty arduous when you spell it out for someone.  Many of us put in 16-hour or longer days, but maybe don’t work every single day of the week.  Others put in a 9-5 and call it good.  Whatever your schedule is, stick with it.

These three simple rules should help your freelancer time management and greatly reduce your time wasted and keep your time management in check.