Jonathan Wondrusch
I got a chance to talk with one smart cookie the other day, and I think you will agree. Jonathan Wondrusch of ByBloggers.net doesn’t just follow the accepted path. And the creator of the EPIC free ebook, Epic eBook Creation, isn’t shy about voicing his opinion – as my partner in the last #customerlove challenge, David Crandall, and I found out when we first met him. 😉
In the interview, Jonathan talks about:
- Why he challenges the idea that you have to give away a free product to get people to sign up for your list.
- How to make sure you’re giving your subscribers valuable content.
- How to brainstorm ebook or other content that will be truly useful.
- Using your content to build a platform that you can build on later.
Download MP3 18:51
Mentioned:
- ByBloggers.net
- Download Epic eBook Creation [no opt-in]
- Grokkery.com
- Everett Bogue – FarBeyondTheStars.com
- Adam Baker – Man vs Debt
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This was a great interview, I’ve been feeling the same way as Jonathan about bribing people to get on my mailing list – it often seems a bit sleazy to me.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately that just because something works, it doesn’t mean we should do it, especially if it conflicts with our core values. For example, people say that pop-up newsletter sign-ups work but I loathe them & you’ll never see one on my blog.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately that just because something works, it doesn’t mean we should do it, especially if it conflicts with our core values. For example, people say that pop-up newsletter sign-ups work but I loathe them & you’ll never see one on my blog.
While I definitely agree that we shouldn’t do anything conflicting with our core values, we have to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. I had the same initial reaction to pop-ups as you, but I’ve since learned that it’s possible to tweak settings so individual visitors never see them more than once (so long as they don’t delete their cookies or browse incognito, to my understanding), or so that they only appear after someone’s been on your site for a minute or more. For me, that’s a way to take advantage of the massively higher opt-in rate provided by pop-ups without feeling like I’m pestering people. When I started I swore I’d never do pop-ups, but I’m meeting Monday with my web design guru to set them up on two of my sites.
Kirsten, I agree that we need to be effective with our marketing & everyone needs to decide for themselves where their line lies. I’m not saying that people who use pop-ups are wrong, just that I wouldn’t personally be comfortable with it.
I also think part of my resistance to pop-ups is that I’m not entirely sure what I’m doing with my newsletter. Perhaps if I had a clearer idea of what role I want my newsletter to play, I might be more confident about interrupting people.
I’m so glad you agree Kirsty! And I have to agree with YOU about the pop ups.
Though, I am thinking of doing pop ups on By Bloggers … ones that compliment my ideal readers haha. And in regards to incentivizing people to join a list, I think that it all comes down to intent and transparency. I’ll be creating an opt-in for By Bloggers, incentivizing with a product, at the end of the month. I feel good about doing this because I know that I have already provided amazing value in Epic E-Book Creation, and I’ll be fully open about what my goals are with the list. I don’t have problems with lists that are done consciously: Transparent, authentic and giving, instead of a constant sales pitch.
Three cheers for core values 🙂 I don’t think enough people make decisions with those when the gurus say to do something!
I’d have far less problem with newsletter pop-ups if they appeared at the side of the screen but blocking a blog post that I’m reading just irritates me.
What I do instead is add a newsletter sign-up option to other places on my site like the bottom of my sales pages. That way I get the people who think, “I like this but I can’t afford it right now”.
I have been thinking of doing some auto-responder stuff, which obviously requires a sign-up. Mostly because I’ve got a lot of written stuff that I would like to get out to people but I don’t necessarily want it on my blog. Haven’t decided yet.
That was such a good lesson for me. Just because something is the accepted wisdom doesn’t mean it’s what *I* should do. Doesn’t mean it’s wrong, either, but we need to make decisions based on more than just what someone else is doing.
Thanks for your comment, Kirsty!