For your inbound marketing to succeed, a call to action is a necessity.  Without it, how will you build your lead and future customer base?  An opt-in incentive gives your readers the option to stay informed by being added to your mailing list.

Opt-in incentive is often referred to as ‘bait’. For you to convince visitors to your website to hand over their name and email address to you, you need to give them a good reason. There is one common trait among computer users... they REALLY LOVE FREE INFORMATION and other freebies.

Online freebies are common and they leave the visitor wanting more when they are well written and present themselves as informative introductory materials. Consider such freebies as:

1. Giving away an eBook with your ad on it. Allow your visitors to also give the freebie away. This will increase your ad exposure and increase web traffic to your website at the same time.
2. Holding free online classes or seminars. They could be held in your website's chat room. The idea of "live" information will definitely entice people to visit your website. You will become known as an expert on the topic.
3. Giving visitors a free entry into your contest or sweepstakes. The prizes should be something of interest or value to your visitors. Most people who enter will continually revisit your web site to get the results.
4. Letting visitors download free software such as freeware, shareware, demos etc. You could even turn part of your site into a free software directory. If you created the software, include your ad inside and let other people give it away.
5. Targeting specific groups who might worry about using the Internet with free lessons in using it on your site – senior citizens, busy workers etc. might find these convenient and alluring.
6. Offering free online services or utilities from your website.  For instance, they could be search engine submitting, copywriting, proofreading etc. The service or utility should be helpful to your target audience.
7. Giving free consulting to people who visit your website. You could offer your knowledge via e-mail or by telephone. People will consider this to be of tremendous value because consulting fees can be very expensive.
8. Offering a free start-up package that has a finite time; enough time for the customer to practice with your online product and like it enough to pay for continued use.
9. Sending out free CD-Roms, CDs, DVDs etc. that contain starter packs or teasers to encourage the customer to use your site more.
10. Offering free screensavers or templates for business cards, cards, writing paper, etc., anything that a customer can print out.

Being creative with your ideas and putting strategies in place will grow your customer base.  It is only a matter of time!

We’d love to hear from you – what has worked for you in the past?  Feel free to share your success stories with our readers.

Blogging has become a serious marketing tool. Technorati claims they track over 50 million active blogs. Some are good and some aren’t. No matter, my guess is Blogging is here to stay.

Writing a Blog is not something most people enjoy doing. To illustrate, when we recently recommended to a prospective client that he post two Blogs a month on his website he physically froze and got that blank “How am I going to do that?” stare. After I explained that we would be writing the Blogs he was able to refocus on our conversation.  

If your boss commands you to write a Blog and outsourcing is not an option, here are 10 tips to remember:

1. You don’t need to be John Steinbeck to write a good blog. Most Blogs are written in a conversational style and getting professional writing help is much easier and less expensive than most people think.
2. Good blogs have a common denominator and that’s a unique individual voice – a personality. Don't shy away from a strong opinion.
3. To achieve that personality it is important that you don’t over-edit. A conversational style let’s you shine through. That does not mean poor grammar is acceptable.
4. Be consistent with your posts. People are creatures of habit and if your posts are good, they’ll adjust to your schedule. I post on Tuesdays and Fridays every week.
5. Keep your posts short and simple. Don't get caught up in length of your posts but somewhere between 300 and 600 words, less than a page, is the right length for most business Blogs.
6. Don’t feel confined to a single topic. It’s okay to veer off in another direction if the subject matter is timely and you believe your point of view is unique and interesting.
7. Allow comments even though most blogs get very few. People are a reluctant to put their name into the public domain or be critical.
8. Create an interesting title. People are busy and a catchy title helps you get noticed.
9. Inserting one or two (appropriate) images also helps your Blog stand out from the crowd since most Blogs are text-only environs.
10. Sending a link to your Blog is a great way to connect or reconnect with the people who you’d like to invite into your professional or personal network.

See you in the Blogosphere!

Steve