Jakob Nielsen is still churning out Alertbox, his e-newsletter on Web usability… after 9 years. This is one of those oldies-but-goodies you should definitely be reading. This week’s issue talks about linking directly – and obviously – to related products from informational articles. As Nielsen puts it, “Don’t just chummy it up with your customers… explicitly ask them to buy your product.” Specific tips on how to do this are in an article I wrote for WordBiz Report: 5 tips to make your e-newsletter sell. It’s based on an interview I did with publicity expert Joan Stewart, aka the Publicity Hound. The secret to selling with content? Equate your product with a problem that your reader/customer has. Then pair a low-key promotion (“Want to learn more?”) for that product with an article on the problem.
Popular articles
- The Big List of Big Brand Corporate Blogs
- What Is a Badge and Why Do You Need One?
- How to prepare an Ignite or TED talk
- Not a Full-Length Book? Write a Kindle Single Instead
- Million Dollar Consultant Alan Weiss Says Social Media Is a Waste of Time for Consultants
- IBM’s Employee Blogging Guidelines
- It’s free, it’s viral, it’s Seth Godin’s The Bootstrapper’s Bible
- Microsoft’s Employee Guidelines for Successful Blogging
- The Lost Art of Writing With a Fountain Pen
- Reflections on My 65th Birthday
Recent articles
- Your Gap Year – What’s Stopping You?
- From Stomach Doctor to First-time Author: the Inside Story
- Protected: 5 Writing Strategies That Crush Writer’s Block and Guarantee Success
- Acting “As If” Your Writing or Speaking Makes a Difference
- When Depression Creeps In Like the Fog
- Reflections on My 65th Birthday
- Running the New York Marathon vs. Writing a Book
- Why Your Blog Is the Hub of Social Media Marketing
- The Big List of Big Brand Corporate Blogs
- Only 12% Are Corporate Bloggers, According to Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere Report