Email Course Project: Introduction and Competition
I’ve developed a home study course on the usage of StumbleUpon to drive traffic to your website. This project is the account of my progress in developing and marketing that course. The course is now LIVE, is called Traffic Rush and you can enroll right now at http://www.traffic-rush.net/.
Introducing the Email Course Project
This is a spur-of-the-moment project idea inspired by the review that I did yesterday of an ebook about generating traffic with StumbleUpon. I felt that I couldn’t recommend the book to my readers because there was not enough information contained in it that couldn’t easily be found elsewhere to justify the (admittedly small) price tag. As I read the book I kept thinking to myself, I could write this better…
So I am! But instead of an ebook, I wish to deliver it as a multi-part email course.
It’s Another Freebie
As I alluded to in my review of Matthew’s book, you can find an absolute ton of information about StumbleUpon completely free on the Internet. Really, there is no need to pay for it so I am not going to charge for this course. Also, I can’t think of any way in which I could directly monetize it with affiliate links so I am doing it for a different reason:
- to build a list
*Gasp* Yes, I am going to build a list and shamelessly demand email addresses in return for information! I have been thinking about list building for a while and I was going to use a newsletter on this blog as my first experiment with list building but I’ve decided to start this project first as I can focus on delivering good content and not worry about trying to sell stuff so that gets the sleazy angle out of the way.
How Will I Use The List?
To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure! Traditionally marketers build a list with the intention of pitching some product to the list members in the future. At this moment in time I do not have any products to sell. I think it will be nice to simply have a list and then just see what happens. Recently I discussed the value of building assets and skills and list building is a skill I would like to master so this project will achieve that. Not everything has to have an immediate financial motive.
Why a Course, Not an Ebook?
I can see several benefits of releasing this information as a course and not an ebook. Some of them are benefits for me, and some are benefits for the consumer:
Digestible Information
There is an information overload of StumbleUpon posts and articles on the Internet. Yesterday I linked to a roundup article that had 65 posts in it and I have another two roundup posts like that bookmarked as well as a ton of other StumbleUpon related material. Whilst this is all freely available to anybody with access to Google, it’s a lot of stuff to wade through and there’s so much repetition.
If I release this as an ebook I fear it would be a long one and I just don’t think people would read it so they wouldn’t really get much benefit from it. By releasing it in weekly chunks that are easy to digest the content is more likely to be put to use.
Actionable Content
The second problem that I have identified in StumbleUpon related posts is that there is rarely any call to action. You read the post, think “hmm yeah that’s interesting” and then move onto the next post. When you boil it down to the essentials, use of StumbleUpon involves nothing more than clicking a couple of buttons and its this simplicity which trips people up.
By putting this information into a course format which has action steps at the end of each installment people are far more likely to follow the steps, actually do something and see a tangible benefit from the course.
It Requires an Email Address
Seeing as I cannot monetize this content directly, my primary goal shifts to the collection of email addresses. If I release the content as an ebook that can easily become circulated in a viral fashion thus circumventing my opt-in list. By delivering the material as a course, it forces people to sign up to the list.
I Can Start Now!
Writing an ebook can take a while. My WordPress one didn’t take very long but there is a lot more to say about StumbleUpon than there was about setting up a niche site. If I had to write a book I would have to invest a lot of time up front. Instead I can easily map out a plan for the content and start releasing it once I’ve got the first couple of installments written.
Also, I can setup the website and opt-in list before I’ve even started to deliver the content and just begin collecting emails for those who are interested.
You Can’t Sign Up Yet :-)
I’ve added this section a few hours after publishing the original post. I had a whole bunch of people email asking me “where can I sign up?” so obviously I didn’t make myself very clear. The StumbleUpon course isn’t live yet – it is merely an idea in my head. The purpose of this project is to document how I actually set about creating the course, publicising it and so on.
Keep reading this blog and of course the moment the site is live and taking signups I will let you know!
Aweber Affiliate Competition
I intend to use AWeber to build my list as it is one of the industry standards and there are loads of resources out there to teach me about it. Currently AWeber offer affiliates a 20% (bit sucky really) commission on all signups and this is a recurring commission meaning that you get paid for every month that the person you refer continues to use them.
So my competition is quite simple – the prize is that you get to refer me to AWeber and I can guarantee that I’ll be a customer for a long time so hopefully it is a relatively lucrative prize.
To win all you need to do is write a blog post related to list building / Aweber in some way and link to this post. Also make sure you put your AWeber affiliate link in the post so that I can sign up under you if you win! I’ll judge it simply on the post I like best for whatever reason – surprise me!
The competition is open until Friday 14th March, 6pm UK time.
Want to Make Money Blogging? My free course, The Bloggers Bible contains everything you need to know about building a highly popular and profitable blog from scratch!
Just fill in your email below to get your first lesson immediately:
@Liz, actually I have pondering some ways to add a little monetization to the course – more details next week :)
Caroline;
So now you will have the three basic formats of ‘how to’ info products – your wordpress ebook, your blog series on twitter, and an email course on Stumble – quite an interesting case study between the three formats.
Perhaps next you can sell the case study results as a paid for product, and include your ebook as a ‘free’ bonus in the ever popular One Time Offer!
Just kidding – I think you are doing fine. It’s quite refreshing to see someone say I earned a few thousand honest dollars (or pounds), rather than the usual ‘Make $1,000,000 in 24 Hours on the Internet Without any Work!’ hype.
Good Luck and I will be following your results closely …
@ArtDeco, yeah I am very glad that I started this blog right at the start when I wasn’t earning anything as hopefully when I am earning millions (!) there will be a clear path from 0 outlined on the blog.
[...] was inspired to get off my lazy ass and do something with my Aweber autoresponder after reading Caroline’s blog post about her own strategy for building a mailing list. Click here to read it. It’s [...]
Hi Caroline,
You inspired me to get of my lazy backside and plan an Aweber strategy since I’ve been paying $19.95 for it the past 2 months without even using it! Doh!
My Idleness knows no bounds sometimes. Anyway, I’ve done a blog post on it and entered your competition simultaneously. Howzat? Phew, time to put my feet up I think.
Keith Douglas’s last blog post..How to use a mailing list to enagage your tribe
Hi Caroline!
A great idea, I can’t wait for the course to start.
I take more notice of the information in smaller chunks (via email) than I do with having to read through a whole ebook.
Jon Baines’s last blog post..What’s the Buzz from Yahoo?
Maybe you should consider bum marketing for your email list. You could summarize the course in 300 words, and put a link to the list (or a squeeze page for the list) in your resource box in the article.
If you want to know more, take my free email course….
Mark Mason’s last blog post..Daddy Got a New Pair of Shoes
@Jon, yeah that’s one of the reasons why I decided to make it a course rather than an ebook. I suspect as an ebook a lot of the material wouldn’t really get read.
@Mark, yeah there is a lot of things I should be doing with article marketing but for some reason I just never seem to get around to it…
I have been using Aweber for several months – probably a year. Originally my partner used it to deliver an online class teaching SEO to a certain audience. I was using it to keep my consulting clients up to date.
I have recently started using Aweber for my newsletter which is can probably be seen an extension of the consulting updates. I find that it is really a wonderful way to keep in touch with clients and to spotlight a particular page on a site.
All too often people with limited online experience will only display their .com site, and not their feeds or a page specific to the content in question.
* Give people a call to action in the top, middle and end of each email.
* Give people reason to forward your email.
* Indirectly recommend forwarding the mail while offering advice “When you forward this email, make sure you delete the unsubscribe information at the bottom of this mail so no one can unsubscribe you.”
* Make your information box useful, include a call to action and a link. Change the info box when appropriate – do it more than most people do.
Be inventive.
Cindy King’s last blog post..New Blog Style
Hi Caroline,
I still can’t see the Aweber competiion mechanism, but here is my humble and lonely affiliate ID
This is the link:
http://reachfor.us/aweber.htm
My number if that’s all that’s going in the hat is 265164
And it’s only 1300 UK time Friday. Phew I met 1 deadline today at least ;-) You have to play to win!
Are you just going to throw 6 dice (di?), or have you taken time out to write an Excel spreadsheet visual basic macro to random pick the cell :-(
Peter
[...] Caroline Middlebrook is about to build a list. Besides finding her post a challenge to me, it did set me thinking about how I would go about this if I was to start to build a list from this blog. Many gurus say and teach that a list is essential to making money online. This is something I have shied away from, as it is a lot of those gurus lists who I have recently unsubscribed from. [...]
@Peter, it’s not Aweber running the competition, it’s me. The comp was to write a blog post but its closed now anyway :) I’ll be announcing the winner in tomorrows post. And I’ll pick the winner according the which post I like best – no randomness.
You’ve quit your job and thinking about building a list? And you don’t like the idea of sleazy selling? Geez, I hope your “lovely” reviews of maybe it’s ok, maybe it’s not, will give you sufficient income.
@Nick, well I hope so too. I seem to be doing okay so far.
[...] Register as an affiliate now and start to get all these free information you need sent to your email address. Free Internet Course Bonus – Free Stumble Rush Home Study Course: Once you registered as an affiliate I very much suggest you get yourself a free email based internet course that teach you all you need to know about using StumbleUpon to drive traffic to your website. What a waste is you have the best email service provider and no traffic to provide your signup form! This free traffic building course by courtesy of Caroline Middlebrook. [...]
Email marketing as a business marketing tool – that is how my blogpost read where I added my contribution to your free multi-part email course.
The fact that you quit your day job is amazing. Me? Oh, I just don’t work. :-) Actually I do but not according to my wife, my parents and anyone else that really knows me, I must seem to just waste my money and time on the internet. I do actually give computer classes and hope to find my internet success by helping others make money on the internet.
Hope they do better as I do though :-)
Gert Houghs last blog post..Business email list for sale – 5000 email addresses cheap cheap
Talk about a little to late… :-)
But then there is a very good reason for everthing :-)
[...] stats pages over the last couple of months you’ll notice that I have not sold many copies. When I first announced the course it was going to be completely free and only after I realised I had taken on too much work did I [...]