Email Newsletter

Aim to impress and engage your email newsletter subscribers every time you arrive in their inbox
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Your email newsletter should provide benefit-oriented content that engages the reader … Continue Reading »

Ideas for an editorial strategy that re-purposes content for additional revenue streams
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How to increase revenue per thousand emails sent
The Mequoda Email Performance Report measures your split tests to help maximize email revenue and profit
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Why your email newsletter program may be leaving thousands of dollars on the table…
Economics is the measurement of any business enterprise. Profitability is the price of survival.

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A case study on aligning your email newsletter strategy with the goals of your online publishing business
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Mequoda unlocks archived landing page reviews

We are happy to announce the release of more free content. Yes, now everyone will have access to content formerly part of the members only Mequoda Library.

One of the most popular topics searched at Mequoda.com is “Landing Page Templates”. In particular, our landing page reviews have become timeless guidelines for creating successful landing pages. Over the last five years, the Mequoda Research team has reviewed over 40 sales letter landing pages using the 12 essential elements set out in the Mequoda Sales Letter Landing Page Scorecard. … Continue Reading »

An affordable link-building strategy: Use downloadable content to increase inbound links and build online friendships
Search engine optimized Rapid Conversion Landing Pages convert casual visitors into loyal email subscribers.
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Don Peschke, founder of August Home Publishing, discusses how his company is meeting its mission of “surrounding our customers with service” … Continue Reading »

Make sure your landing pages answer this question for your users: “what’s in it for me?”
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Glossary Index landing pages capture user’s interest with specific terminology

A landing page is the first page a user sees when entering your site, and a user can enter and “land” almost anywhere. Therefore, every page on your website is a potential landing page, even the glossary index.

The glossary index landing page, as the name suggests, is a glossary on a website that lists dictionary-like definitions of words, phrases or concepts. … Continue Reading »

Why an Email Newsletter is Essential for Ad-Driven Publishers

Think of your website as single-copy distribution when it comes to online adverting. You can optimize it, publish regularly, search engine optimize it and wait for readers to come, but that’s the depth you are offering your advertisers. … Continue Reading »

Article landing pages are search engine superstars

Article landing pages are most often associated with search engine optimization (SEO), but are also used for attracting any type of organic traffic. This would include any text link given by a webmaster or editor who is referencing one of your webpages as a source of good information on a topic.

Article landing pages are organic landing pages and contain narrative content, with the objective of being picked up by search engines, capturing the users’ interest and leading them to browse more content. … Continue Reading »

The Home landing page is your first opportunity to make a good impression

Organic landing pages are full of content that is designed to be attractive to both users and search engines. Essentially, an organic landing page is trying to be found by search engines.

Home landing pages are the first page someone sees when they type in your website address. The home landing page should tell your user exactly what you want them to do and how it will benefit them.

If your main goal is to get them to sign up for an email newsletter, the most important graphic, button or section of your homepage should be dedicated to collecting it. A floater can be a quick and easy way add unknown site visitors to your email database. … Continue Reading »

You know the drill: put on your link-building hat and drive website traffic! But why? … Continue Reading »

I suspect that 50 percent of Mequoda Daily readers should not be launching their own Mequoda Method periodical website and daily email newsletter…
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Maximize your subscriber file size with aggressive email conversion architecture.
Discover how to forecast and increase profits with the Mequoda Email Circulation Calculator.

Fundamentally, there are only two ways for any business to increase profits.

Want to make more money? Either increase the number of customers, or increase the average sale per customer. Or both.

The success of your online publishing business depends on the same two factors. The important variables are: … Continue Reading »

How to control what your readers see when they first open your email newsletter

The first screen of your email newsletter, which includes the preview pane, is another part of your email newsletter’s prime real estate. … Continue Reading »

How to get your email newsletter and promotion opened in half a second

We’ve done plenty of email subject line tests over the years, but as time progresses, people respond to different messages. Some may get accustomed to the direct “You won’t believe this” subject line and won’t fall for your tomfoolery. … Continue Reading »

Using email newsletters to lower the cost of creating online brand building. When the history of the 2008 U.S. Presidential election is written, the role of the Internet, and especially email, will be recognized for having revolutionized campaign strategy more than any technology since John F. Kennedy mastered using television in 1960. … Continue Reading »

What will you online publishing company do differently in 2009? Will you learn any lessons, or will you repeat the same mistakes? … Continue Reading »

This daily entertainment news update has a great footer and from line, but it’s first and preview screens aren’t exactly star studded … Continue Reading »

For most publishers, trying to find the right balance of free vs. paid content is difficult. Give too much away and readers won’t be willing to pay for what’s left. Keep it all behind a subscription wall and readers don’t have enough information to know if it’s content they want or need. … Continue Reading »

Creating websites that convert visitors to subscribers is the heart and soul of Internet database marketing

Making money online requires converting your casual website visitors into paying subscribers or customers. That means you must take all the traffic coming to your website and start relationships with those visitors that will eventually result in product sales.

Landing pages are the driving force for any successful Internet marketing program. A well-crafted landing page will maximize the possibility that a user landing there will take the action you desire and not click away. … Continue Reading »

A wrap-up of the best ideas from SiPA’s 25th annual mid-year marketing conference that took place this week in Las Vegas

We love the wrap-up sessions at the end of SiPA conferences. They allow us to hear the best-of the best that we may have missed, as there are always great sessions running concurrently. Here are the tips, along with supplemental Mequoda Daily content that can help put you on path to more profitability and success online. … Continue Reading »

20+ take-aways from the Google Analytics “Seminar for Success” in Montreal, Canada … Continue Reading »

Think about every page on your site as a landing page and start converting all of your visitors into subscribers or buyers.
Many people think that a landing page is just one type of page. When you think of a landing page, what do you picture? A single page, long copy, highlighted text, lots of bolding and italicizing, strong headline?
Sure, that’s one design of a landing page, most likely a rapid conversion landing page or email capture page. Or maybe it’s a salesletter landing page selling a single eBook. … Continue Reading »

Listen to your audience when making an eBook by doing keyword research, tracking your user activity, observing your competitors and just flat out asking them what they need. … Continue Reading »

Marketers and Editors are jointly responsible for attracting and retaining a robust online audience

By now you should know that the definition of an online editor is not that different from an online marketer. In fact, if your online editors don’t have a little marketing in their blood, your online business could be at risk in the coming years (if it isn’t already). … Continue Reading »

Popular blogger Darren Rowse shows how floaters increased the number of subscribers to his newsletter from 40 to over 350 per day. … Continue Reading »

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The Mequoda Method is a comprehensive business system for making money on the Internet via the sale of information products, sponsor revenue and lead generation. Each Mequoda System is a unique reflection of the publisher’s audience and online business model. What follows is a sampling of the online publishing and marketing systems we’ve helped design, build and optimize over the past 15 years.

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If an email gets sent to an inbox and lands in the junkbox, does it make a sound? … Continue Reading »

How to design landing pages that convert visitors into subscribers and buyers … Continue Reading »

Being content-driven, google-friendly, email-centric and profit-minded makes for a best-practice website … Continue Reading »

The sessions you’ll attend at the Mequoda Summit aren’t your run-of-the-mill sporadic conference sessions. Each session at the Mequoda Summit focuses on a specific strategy that your company needs to master in order to be successful online.

Take a look at the seven strategies below and ask yourself the following questions:

Editorial Strategy: Do you understand how to effectively repurpose your paid content into other products such as blogs, membership websites and podcasts for new revenue opportunities? Do you know which platforms you should use as opposed to other publishers?

“Learn how the Web’s top publishers are using podcasts, webinars, book, and other new media platforms to build loyal customer relationships.”

Master the new media—websites, email, blogs, RSS feeds, audio programs, video seminars, conferences, workshops and more. Offer customers information and entertainment on multiple platforms, using a variety of business models and marketing channels.

We’ll show you how to offer users many products on many platforms, how to give them a free, robust online content, and a personalized marketing experience.

Plus you’ll discover how to use different platforms for distributing your branded content and how to determine which combination of platforms will work best for you.

Business Strategy: Do you know which business models you are running? What about which business models are complimentary to each other and make the most revenue when run together? Should your business have a social network? What about a membership website?

“Discover how to choose and use the right business model for your online business.”

Every website is not the same. Depending on your goals and the way you generate profits, your design should fall into one of ten different strategic designs.

Get real-world, practical guidance on the 12 media business models and how each generates revenue for publishers.

Website Strategy: Do you know how to make sure every page on your website is optimized so that every visitor to your website wants to sign up for your email newsletter or buy a product?

“Learn the 12 web page templates used by today’s top publishers to capture the most visitors.”

You don’t need to be a professional graphic artist or information architect to understand the secrets of an effective publisher’s website.

Your overall strategy must be to drive traffic to a primary online venue, capture visitors’ email addresses, establish a permission-driven database, market products to the database, and build loyal customers and repeat sales.

Just as in direct mail (postal) marketing, the money is in the list!

We’ll show you how to establish a permission-based database and all the ways to drive traffic to your site. Plus, how to monetize these site visitors and convert them to paying customers.

Keyword Strategy: Do you know what your primary keywords are? Are the topics or categories on your blog optimized for search engines? What about your articles? Do your editors have a keyword list in front of them that guides their editorial strategy?

“Learn the SEO strategies every writer, editor and publisher needs to get found on the web.”

In 2008, no online publishing business should be hiring an outside SEO firm. The job of search engine optimization should be in the job description of every writer and editor. It is a logical extension of the editorial process. Hiring outside only doubles the work and expense and adds to the time putting out articles, blogs, and other website content.

You’ll learn how to choose keyword phrases, determine keyword popularity, optimize article headlines and subheads, measure keyword density, optimize your meta tags, optimize your URL’s and maximize internal and external linking.

And if you are not part of the editorial staff, we’ll provide you with all the information you’ll need to kick them into gear.

Email Strategy: Do your email newsletters and promotions get delivered? If they do, what makes the difference between someone reading them and someone throwing them into their junk folder? Do you know what best practice emails look like?

“Discover how to create email newsletters and promotions that get delivered, opened and read.”

While success or failure of an email newsletter or promotion should be directly tied to bottom line goals (sales, revenue, etc.), there are some things that can help—or hurt—a newsletter’s chances of achieving those goals.

No matter how valuable its content, an email newsletter is ineffective unless it gets delivered, opened and read.

We’ll introduce you to email newsletters that get the highest conversion rates and email revenue per thousand and show you how to design your email newsletter for the same results.

Organizational Strategy: Do you know the best way to staff an online publishing team? Do you know how to write accurate job descriptions in the new publishing environment and staff accordingly?

“Learn how to organize activities around your content and build an effective online publishing staff.”

Most publishers load more responsibilities onto their existing print staff but those in
the know are hiring dedicated staff to run their online business units.

Learn why it’s critical to isolate your online teams before you integrate and how to eventually leverage all your editorial assets, cross promote print, Web and email circulation and create synergies for sponsors.

Reporting Strategy: Do you know which metrics are the most important to your online publishing success? Do you have a key metrics dashboard in front of you every day that tells you exactly where your business needs improvement?

“Learn the key metrics every online business manager should know.”

In order to run an effective online business, you need to know what statistics you should be watching (both yours and your competitors).

We’ll show you the key metrics you should know at the end of every day, week and month in order to keep in control of your online business, make the right changes at the right time, and generate the most profit for your online business.

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1. Online Market Analysis — Getting to Know Your Online Neighborhood
TOOL: Sample Online Market Audit

Discover how to do market analysis research, then choose or change your website business model, plus which competitors represent potential marketing or content-sharing partnerships.

2. Search Engine Optimization — Mapping and Tracking your Keyword Universe
TOOL: Sample Keyword Benchmark Study

Discover how to know, with certainty, the keywords by which web surfers find your website. Learn how to use the Google Keyword Tool to do keyword research, and how to use the Google search engine to quantify competition.

3. Website Conversion Architecture — Converting Visitors to Email Subscribers
TOOL: Website Template Inventory Checklist

There are several tried and true webpage templates used by today’s top publishers that are built to attract lots of traffic and convert the most visitors. Learn how to design and implement clean and intuitive website templates that convert more visitors into subscribers, and more shoppers into buyers.

4. Online Content Management — Using Content to Sell ContentTOOL: Article Release Guideline Checklist

Determine the best practice guidelines for transforming previously published content — print newsletters, books, magazines etc. — into robust online content to maximize website depth and incoming traffic.

5. PR & Link Building — Marketing Free Reports to Build Links                                                   TOOL: Sample Inbound Link Report

Discover how to use free reports and search engine optimized rapid conversion landing pages to increase inbound links and build online friendships.

6. Email Newsletter Marketing — Testing to Maximize Email Revenue and Profit
TOOL: Sample Email Performance Report

Email is a publishing and marketing platform and is proven to be a significant source of revenue for many publishers. Discover how to create an email newsletter publishing schedule and testing plan that will increase revenue per thousand emails sent.

7. Landing Page Optimization—Multivariate and A/B Testing for Higher Conversions
TOOL: Multivariate Testing Checklist

Learn how to increase your landing page conversion rates by conducting multivariate and A/B testing using the Google Website Optimizer.

8. Digital Product Development — Increasing Customer Lifetime Value
TOOL: Digital Product Pyramid

You can maximize your email revenue per subscriber with a bigger and better assortment of product offerings. Discover how to generate more income with digital products, including webinars, downloadable PDFs and membership websites.

9. Social Media Marketing — Building Online Community and Engagement
TOOL: Social Media Metrics Report

Which social media sites make sense for your online business? Can you use them them for marketing? Customer service? Driving traffic? Market analysis? There are thousands of networks you can join. We’ll touch on the social networks that work best for different niches, and how to manage your online reputation by becoming part of the conversation.

10. Structuring Online Jobs — Hiring and Training Online Editors
TOOL: Online Editor Job Description

Online editors stand at the core of your online publishing and marketing efforts. The desired skill-set is different than what we used to look for in traditional editorial roles. Learn the metrics online editors are now being held to and discover how to hire and train an editor for your online business.

11. Key Metric Analysis — Managing Online Metrics by Exception
TOOL: Sample Key Metric Dashboard

Discover precisely how effective website publishers track operating statistics using the a simple Key Metric Dashboard. This high-level report keeps everyone in the organization on the same page and easily alerts them to problems and opportunities in their online business.

12. Business Plan Development — Creating a 5-Year Plan
TOOL: Sample Online Business Plan and Model

Every viable publishing business, whether contemplated or existing, needs a business plan suitable for senior managers, equity partners and venture capitalists. Learn how to create a publishing model, including key statistics and a five-year financial forecast for your market.

Bonus SEO Workshop (Optional)

Get trained in-depth on how to research your own keywords and related keyword universe using the free Google Keyword Tool and the Google search engine. Learn how to quantify volume and competition, plus discover how to identify and target potential keyword phrases that could be used to increase the amount of traffic you get from Google. Understand how to write SEO-friendly headlines, subheads and body copy and learn how to use a freemium-based SEO strategy to both attract traffic and to convert that traffic into email subscribers. Walk away with a list of keyword phrases that could be used to launch your first freemium-based SEO campaign.

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8 event websites that can get you listed in Google and extend your reach to the conference-going community … Continue Reading »

Can you really master Web 2.0 if you haven’t gotten the fundamentals of Web 1.0? Here are 6 steps picked up at the Web 2.0 Expo this week in NYC that will help bring your brand up to par before Web 3.0 approaches. … Continue Reading »

Email copywriting best practices for effective consumer email marketing … Continue Reading »

How Computerworld drives traffic from their print product and supplies enough content to satisfy both users and sponsors … Continue Reading »

Contributing Editor, Mequoda Group, LLC

Jeanne S. Jennings is an independent consultant specializing in email and online marketing strategy. She works with medium to enterprise-sized companies, helping them become more effective and more profitable online. She has over 15 years of experience in email/online marketing and product development, beginning with CompuServe in the late 1980s.

Jeanne was Director of Email Product Development for Reed Business Information (formerly Cahners Business Information), one of the largest B2B publishers in the country, where she developed over 150 unique email newsletter titles. She’s also worked with Congressional Quarterly, FDAnews, Hasbro, KCI Communications, The National Press Club, Network Solutions, Verizon and numerous other organizations looking to improve their email and online marketing.

Her first book, The Email Marketing Kit: The Ultimate Email Marketer’s Bible, was published by SitePoint in early 2007. The Jennings Report is a free email newsletter by Jeanne for online marketers; she also writes a twice-monthly column on email marketing for ClickZ.com. … Continue Reading »

How Mono Topic, Multi Topic and Promo Email Newsletter Templates are used in online publishing … Continue Reading »

Subscribers generally buy a paid product within 90 days…or else!

“In any 12-month period, one out of four subscribers to a free Agora Financial email newsletter eventually buys something”, Andrew Palmer, former Director of E-Commerce/Web Marketing for Agora Financial, LLC told us in our last interview with him at Agora. … Continue Reading »

Mitigate spam complaints by finding out who’s putting you in the junkbox … Continue Reading »

Choosing the Right Keyword Phrases to Attract Targeted Website Traffic and Using the Google Visibility Index to Track SEO Success … Continue Reading »

10 Criteria for Increasing Open Rates and Conversions on Your Email Newsletters or Promotions … Continue Reading »

Does your revenue per thousand come up short while your “white web” transactions seem curiously high? … Continue Reading »

Launching a blog on your Internet hub that’s loaded with content means that sometimes you’re so busy giving stuff away, you forget that your topics should still be selling something. … Continue Reading »

A special-interest user experience includes multiple platforms: online, offline, and in person; using all three guarantees you the most visibility and the best user satisfaction. … Continue Reading »