Affiliates and downline members don't sell anything unless you keep
them motivated. This is cheap, easy, and effective with your own email
newsletter.
A simple email newsletter (or ezine) keeps your product or service in
front of affiliates and resellers. You can give them new ways to sell,
let them know about new products, and remind them you are there to help
grow their business. Every six-figure affiliate program owner I know
spends a lot of time trying to give their members those there all-
important things. Your newsletter can achieve all three with very little
work and no expense.
I'm sure you have seen dozens of newsletters. You are probably subscribed
to a few and may even have a favorite you would love to imitate. That's
fine. Creative imitation is how almost all newsletter publishers get
started.
Here is a quick 5-step way to get your first newsletter out.
1. Give your newsletter a title. Put it right at the top along with your
name, contact info, and how to unsubscribe. Also include a line that
tells what benefit readers get from their newsletter.
2. Make a list of the things that would really help your members sell
more. Do they need to understand the product better? Do they need to
get
a web site and learn ways to promote it? Do your members simply need
encouragement so they don't give up when they are just starting out or
sales are slow?
Create a heading in your newsletter for each of these concerns. These
can
be the featured topics you visit in each issue of your newsletter.
Your headings might look like this:
PRODUCT NEWS
SIMPLE SELLING ONLINE
DON'T GIVE UP. YOU CAN DO IT!
3. Find or write articles or tips that can go under the headings. Your
articles don't have to be magazine-length 1,500 words long. Most
newsletter readers prefer shorter articles. Some are as short at 100
words (about half page on a word processor.)
You don't have to be a great writer. The best newsletters are written
with short, simple sentences that tell you how to do something.
You can use articles written by other people. Subscribe to some of the
email article services:
http://topica.com/lists/FreeEzineContent
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/article_announce
http://www.thewritersmentor.com
http://topica.com/lists/Article_Depot
Subscribe to these free services and you will receive fresh articles each
day. You are welcome to use any of them as long as you include the
author's name and contact info that comes right after the article.
4. Now it is time to send your newsletter to your members. If you have
less then 50 members, you can send to them by putting the addresses in
the
BCC field of your email program.
For larger lists, use one of the free list management services. My
favorites are http://topica.com and http://groups.yahoo.com (you'll notice those are the same ones the article services are using.)
5. Here are a couple of extras that will make your newsletter even more
effective. Include a little section where you talk about yourself, your
members, and your personal life. This may sound a bit hokey, but it
works. Readers love to hear what you're doing, what you're experiencing,
and how you feel about things.
Keep your newsletter coming out regularly, but don't over do it.
Newsletters that arrive three at a time or once every day should be
reserved for only the most active audiences. For most, a weekly or
monthly newsletter works fine.
Newsletters are almost magical in the way they develop a strong following
for you. Even 50 interested subscribers can produce a lot of sales. Get
your newsletter up to 400 to 800 subscribers and you've got a
budding profit center. 2,000 subscribers produce good results for any
business. Your list will often grow faster than expected.
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About the Author
Keller Flynn offers the full spectrum of tools, ideas and action
steps needed to create and run a successful affiliate program.
Reach him at mailto:keller@affiliatedirector.com or 801-328-9006.
Get his Extra Money Newsletter FREE at
http://www.AffiliateDirector.com to learn more about how YOU can
profit from the affiliate boom.