A part of any good event or conference blog strategy is the list… the people that actually take the time to subscribe to your email newsletter or RSS feed.
These people are actually easy to come by if you produce great “insert your industry here” content.
The list is money, it is cash. These are the people that will be the first to sign up, the first to register and the first to spread the word. These are your die-hards, the people that love you and the people that believe in you enough to say “Yes, send me something anytime you want because I trust you enough to know you won’t spam me or send me crap”.
These are the people that you should be aiming for because, hell, the lowest hanging fruit gives you the energy to climb higher to get more. I would hope that they take the lowest hanging fruit as a compliment because I am one of those people for websites and events that I believe in.
How do you think I am able to get some information out on Twitter so fast? I am not psychic, I am just a subscriber to some of the best websites out there.
The problem most event and conference marketers make is not calling out how to subscribe, although there are plenty of plugins for your WordPress conference website.
OK, I will say this one last time, if you are not using WordPress for your conference or event website, you are slowly slipping into dufus territory; fix it now while you still can!
The reason that many conference and event marketers do not call it out is that they are afraid too. They are afraid; it seems pushy, their content is not good enough, no one would bother and I GET IT.
I USED TO BE THE SAME WAY…. Then I realized I was never going to get anywhere by believing that my content was going to get SO good that people would search out how to get more.
You are what you are and people will like you so stop with the excuses and enough with the feel good crap.
Today, I will just pick just one Plugin that is easy to use, takes 5 minutes to install and will go to work right away helping you get more subscribers.
WP Greet Box –
From their website:
This plugin lets you show a different greeting message to your new visitors depending on their referrer url. For example, when a Digg user clicks through from Digg, they will see a message reminding them to digg your post if they like it. Another example, when a visitor clicks through from Twitter, they will see a message suggesting them to twit the post and follow you on Twitter. You can also set a default greeting message for new visitors (not matching any referrer URLs) suggesting them to subscribe to your RSS feed. Professional bloggers know that having these targeted suggestions on their blog increases their blog exposure and loyal readership. Best of all, this plugin is compatible with various WordPress cache plugins so you do not have to sacrifice speed. Even Smashing Magazine is using this plugin. Take it from the pros and download it!
I love things on websites that greet me that are not a pop up, pop under or otherwise disrupt my flow of reading.
Huffington post has been pissing the heck out of me lately because every time I click on something, I get an annoying pop up that cannot be disabled. I have to wait for the little fucker to open then hit the X and that makes me want to scream or just leave the page which I usually do (I have noticed that all of the ads are for MSNBC which has smart marketers so they must be getting value for the pop up).
Enter WP Greet Box which is not a new plugin by any means, but it is still one of the best. It falls into a creepy category that both amazes, dazzles and frightens me all in the span of 10 seconds.
It knows how someone enters your site (via Google for example) and puts a nice message at the top of the post that encourages readers to subscribe to your RSS Feed (or you can set your email sign up). Enter through Digg and it encourages you to dig the post. Enter through RSS and it can encourage you to be a Facebook fan……..
Here is an example of the plugin in action from a post a wrote earlier this week:
There it is, right below the headline (you can also position it other places).
Do you see the power in this simple tool. It takes what it knows, and allows you to suggest something that they would like to do. (I love diet coke, so my local bartender would be wise to suggest a little rum when I sit down, not a Chianti or Margarita).
The Plugin knows how you got to the destination and can make recommendations on a next step for you to become a bigger fish in the pond by being even more in the know…
Not bad for something that took you 5 minutes to install.
