Free Gifts to Build Your List: eCourses and Interviews
More Gift Suggestions to Build Your Course
To continue with suggestions for free gifts to build your list, today we are going to explore two more possibilities: eCourses and Interviews.
Offer an eCourse
An eCourse or series of articles is a smart choice for attracting subscribers – when they are high-quality and relevant to your niche. People look forward to the next installment if they know they will be receiving insights and helpful tips on something of interest to them. Teachable is a great resource to help you do this.
E-courses not only have a lot of power drawing in new subscribers, you can set one up and get started before the series is complete. You can finish it as you go, which lessens the pressure that comes from having to create full course up front.
To get started, it is as simple as 1 – 2 – 3.
- Define the purpose of the series (the problem you are going to solve), the number of weeks the course will run, and create an outline of the topics, steps, or insights you will cover .
- Write your first posting and set it up in your auto-responder.
- Create an opt-in box on your Website promising a 7-week series on your new hot topic (number of weeks is your choice).
You can complete the three steps in a few hours. Bite the bullet and do it NOW! It is a sure way to build your list.
When you are finished, sit down, have a nice glass of wine, pat yourself on the back, and enjoy the moment. You have started building your list, no more delays! From this point on, all you have to do is spend a little time each week creating the next installment.
Word of Caution:
It is OK to do some selling in your FREE eCourse; but do it prudently. Do not make the course one big promotion. The main focus of this initial series should be to provide value to your subscribers. You can add an occasional sales link with a little promotion; but, do not promote something in every posting – and when you do, be sure it is relevant to the topic.
It is possible that some of your subscribers will skip the free series and choose a full-blown paid program, if you have one. Definitely give them the chance to bypass the freebie if they choose; but do not force it on them. The main thing is to make good on the promise offered with the opt-in box.
Conduct Interviews of Authority Figures in Your Niche
Interviews are a wonderful choice to attract a following and build your list that does not require a lot of creative work on your part.
Seek out an expert in your niche to interview. Don’t panic, it does not have to be someone famous. It just has to be someone who really knows what they are talking about and will be credible to your subscribers.
Up and coming people in your niche will be happy to be interviewed because of the exposure and the chance to build their brand.
You can conduct the interview in one of three ways:
- Use SKYPE or GOOGLE HANGOUTs to conduct a video interview. These are great because it allows your subscribers to see both of you during the conversation (makes it very real.)
- Do a telephone interview. With the permission of the interviewee, you can record the call and offer it as a downloadable audio file. You can also use someone on FIVERR to transcribe it for you and provide a PDF transcript along with the audio.
- Do a written interview. Create a list of questions that you email to the expert. They fill in the answers, return it to you, and you create a PDF file that can be downloaded.
Always include a bio and picture of the individual you interview.
If you find interviews are something you enjoy doing, you may want to complete a series for your opt-in freebie and post a different one each week. These could be of great value to your subscribers because they would be getting expert advice every week from an authority figure in your niche – a sure way to build your list.
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