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What is an Ethical Bribe? Here’s Another Perspective

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An ethical bribe is a fancy term for an opt-in incentive to join an email mailing list.

In other words, it is a lead magnet (here are some lead magnet examples for your reference).

A Form of Business Exchange

A lead magnet or ethical bribe is a form of exchange.

You gain someone’s contact information (e.g. email address) and the other person receives your ethical bribe.

For example, the person who signs up for your mailing list receives the benefits of the ethical bribe (such as a free resource guide) and the additional benefits of the email subscription. Your business, in exchange, receives the person’s contact information (typically an email address) to stay in contact and build a relationship with the person.

A good ethical bribe will:

  1. Attract the right leads to your mailing list and business.
  2. Grow your online business automatically.
  3. Give you time back for your family and friends.

Another Way to Look at an Ethical Bribe

Long before the information age, an ethical bribe had a very common name and that is…

Free samples.

Chances are, if you walk into a local bakery or café, you will still be treated with a delicious sample from the chef.

Ethical-Bribe

Why do these small businesses give away food for free?

The reason is obvious.

The free sample demonstrates their expertise in food preparation.  If the sample is delectable, you will likely pay for more of it.

You will also feel the need to reciprocate the free offer.

In the digital world, your online ethical bribe is your free sample.

Keep it simple and related to your area of expertise.

Just like a bakery chef shouldn’t offer free wine tastings of someone else’s wine, you shouldn’t design a lead magnet that is unrelated to your line of work.

The gesture may be appreciated by someone, but the connection is lost.

Give your leads a free sample that builds trust in you and has them asking for more from the ethical bribe chef!

Ethical Bribe Example

For your additional reference, click here for an ethical bribe (lead magnet) example that outlines the other four characteristics of an essential lead magnet.

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Cheering for your online success – one project step at a time!
Brent

Rainmaker Platform Review: Is Rainmaker Right for You?

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The Rainmaker Platform is a complete online turn-key solution from Rainmaker Digital (formerly Copyblogger Media) for entrepreneurs who are seeking a WordPress-based platform with a lot of out-of-the-box functionality for online commerce – such as a landing page designer, course builder, membership area, and checkout workflow.

Summer 2017 Update: The Rainmaker Platform software application is currently closed for new customers.

Is Rainmaker Right for You?

As is the case for any software application, it depends on your online business goals and preferences.

Think of the Rainmaker Platform like owning a fully-furnished vacation home or condo that includes all maintenance, security and cleaning services. It’s not inexpensive real estate, but it does offer peace of mind so that you can focus on a great vacation experience for you and your guests.

Your property, whether we are talking about real estate or a website, can also grow significantly in value over time if operated professionally.

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Rainmaker Platform Review

If the thought of patching together multiple pieces of technology (aka WordPress plugins) – and then testing security patches for those plugins on a regular basis – would keep you up at night, Rainmaker is worth trying out for free.

Consider what is included with Rainmaker (and this isn’t everything):

  1. A library of professional StudioPress themes to use.
  2. Top-notch secure hosting for your managed WordPress website.
  3. SSL certification for secure customer navigation and transactions on your site.
  4. Unique WordPress interface that is relatively easy to navigate and operate (especially for entrepreneurs who have not used the native WordPress dashboard).
  5.  All technical maintenance for WordPress updates and built-in plugins.
  6.  Integrated Learning Management System (LMS) for online courses.
  7. Members-only features for your customers (e.g. access to digital downloads and courses).
  8. Landing Page creator (here’s why landing pages are important).
  9. Fully integrated email marketing (works seamlessly with AWeber, Constant Contact, ConvertKit (what I use and recommend – here’s why), MailChimp, and Infusionsoft. Rainmaker also now has its own integrated mail service called RainMail that is free for Rainmaker customers for up to 999 unique emails on your mailing list.)
  10. An extensive library of marketing and how-to resources to build your platform.
  11. Exclusive access to an online community of other Rainmaker users. This is a great forum to ask questions.
  12. Friendly and helpful customer support if you ever get stuck. Just submit a support ticket from your Rainmaker dashboard.

Customers can give Rainmaker a test drive for 14 days.  After that, the complete professional package is $145 – $165 per month (subject to change). If you add up all the costs of running a website (e.g. software, WordPress hosting, email marketing, landing pages), it can actually be a significants savings for your small business.

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If you are planning to offer online courses, then you can really come out ahead financially because Rainmaker has that covered too with its own integrated Learning Management System (LMS).

Most reputable LMS software services like Teachable.com, Thinkific.com and NewKajabi.com will run you at least $100/month for their professional plans. With Rainmaker, your customers never have to leave your site for a consistent and integrated experience and it is included in your account.

10 Benefits of the Rainmaker Platform

  1. Secure website hosting and performance.
  2. Design tools to create and modify a WordPress website that looks equally great on computer screens and mobile devices.
  3. Content creation tools for text, audio, video, and graphical messages.
  4. Search engine optimization recommendations (through the proprietary Scribe Content software – now called Content Optimizer). This feature is big (I once paid $47/month just for this SEO software).
  5. Lead generation tools via email integration and membership pages.
  6. Easy to access metrics about your site’s business performance.
  7. Extensive library of marketing webinars to build your business.
  8. SSL Certificate included for secure payment transactions with customers (another cost saving with Rainmaker).
  9. Integrated Learning Management System (LMS) to host your own online courses.
  10. Landing page creator for sales pages, opt-ins, and call to action opportunities. You can even set your Rainmaker site to display your own custom landing page while your site is being developed or under maintenance.

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Lesson Learned

This site called Graceful Resources runs on the Rainmaker Platform and is the fifth WordPress site I’ve designed for my own online business. I now professionally design and integrate sites for clients. Over the past nine years, I’ve learned a lot about setting up and maintaining business and community websites (and always learning something new every week!)

It’s a rewarding experience to do-it-yourself, but it is also brutally time-consuming. The online rules of engagement continue to change and you are forced to learn something new technically-speaking almost every week. It can be very hard work and frustrating.

The Rainmaker Platform launched publicly in 2014, and I now highly recommend it for clients and prefer to use Rainmaker (over native WordPress) when setting up their sites for long-term growth and impact.  When I hand over the keys to clients on a new site, Rainmaker makes the transition much easier because the technology side of things isn’t as cumbersome as it is with a self-hosted WordPress site.

Discover More About Our Project Work

Is the Rainmaker Platform Right for You?

Rainmaker was created by Rainmaker Digital (the same team behind the industry-recognized StudioPress Genesis framework and child themes, and the Authority content marketing training).

There is still a lot to be learned about blogging, content creation, product development and online marketing. Thankfully, Rainmaker allows customers to focus more on that business learning curve, and not on the technical one.

Give Rainmaker a Try

If you are the fence about Rainmaker, I encourage you to give it a try for two weeks for free so that you can make an informed decision.

This site runs on Rainmaker so I am a customer too. I trust it for my long-term growth and I think you will too.

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Savings Opportunity

If you prepay for a year of Rainmaker (click here to get started), you receive almost two months free of charge per year.

Full Transparency

Graceful Resources has an affiliate relationship with Rainmaker so if you decide to invest in Rainmaker via this link (or any of the Rainmaker links in this post), your use of this affiliate link helps support the growth of Graceful Resources. There is no extra cost to you.

If you start using Rainmaker, you are encouraged to set up an affiliate relationship with them as well.  You’ll want to spread the word too.  The software is that good, and I would use and recommend Rainmaker even if there was no affiliate program. But simply one referral per month will cover your software cost of this powerful platform.

Do you have other questions about Rainmaker?

Please let me know via response to the free Graceful Resources weekly email or my contact form.  I am here to help.

If you end up building your website through Rainmaker via this affiliate link, please drop me a note.  I am happy to take a look at your new site and to offer you free feedback to help grow your online business operation.

Cheering for your online success – one project step at a time!

Brent

Questions to Ask About Lead Magnets

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To help other entrepreneurs build their email mailing lists, I am launching a directory to promote their lead magnets (often called sign-up incentives or ethical bribes). I announced this exciting plan in my previous blog entry.

The directory is open to anyone on my email mailing list as a creative way to say thanks for joining me on this Graceful Resources journey.

If you are not already on the list, click here to join in. It’s absolutely free and your email address will never be shared.

In addition to the directory, I am setting up a survey about lead magnets to find out which types of lead magnets perform best to grow mailing lists. I have a theory but I will wait until the results are in!

The survey and directory will be published here on the Graceful Resources website shortly and I hope you participate even if you don’t have a lead magnet or mailing list yet.

Your input about lead magnets is just as valuable!

The survey itself will only take about three minutes to complete, can be easily done via a phone, and the current results will be made immediately available for your professional reference.

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Questions to Ask About Lead Magnets

So I wrote out a set of survey questions on a napkin over Thanksgiving. I’m sharing them here first for your review.

Please let me know via email response or my contact page if you have any feedback. Thanks!

Here are the questions I have in mind to help you out (answers will be multiple choice based on the lead magnet types outlined in this earlier post) …

  1. How likely are you to be influenced by a lead magnet offer when joining an email mailing list?

  2. As a subscriber to other lists, what type of lead magnet is the most attractive to you?

  3. As a subscriber to other lists, what type of lead magnet is the least attractive to you?

  4. What type of lead magnet are you most likely to actually use after opting-in to a list?

  5. Do you offer a lead magnet to build your own email mailing list?

  6. What type of lead magnet do you offer?

  7. Based on your experience, what type of lead magnet is the most effective to build an email mailing list?

  8. Based on your experience, what type of lead magnet is the least effective to build to an email mailing list?

These questions will then lead into the following set of questions for survey participants who would like to add their lead magnets as examples for others to see by opting-in to their respective lists:

  1. Type of Lead Magnet

  2. Name of the Lead Magnet

  3. Target Audience for the Lead Magnet

  4. Web Address for the Lead Magnet

  5. Your Name

What Lead Magnets Work the Best?

I’m anxious to find out too and the survey results will continue to update in real time. I look forward to your valuable participation and your help spreading the word about this project!

Thanks,
Brent

Please let me know if you have any questions or feedback via my contact form or in direct response to my free Graceful Journal email mailing list.

As a certified project management professional (PMP) specializing in web design and lead generation strategies, I’m here to take away the pain of figuring out how to seamlessly integrate web and email software resources to grow businesses online.

One project step at at time.

What is a Lead Magnet (and 7 Names for Lead Magnets)

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I think I first heard the term Lead Magnet through software provider Leadpages, a company that specializes in landing pages. Lead Magnet is one of those marketing tech terms that seems to catch on within certain online communities but creates a degree of confusion for everyone else.

I had visions of physics experiments with… you guessed it, magnets.

If it’s a new term for you, no worries. You’re not alone.

The good news is that lead magnets are all over the web – so there are a lot of examples out there and you’ll recognize them (just by a different name).

What_is_a_Lead_Magnet

What is a Lead Magnet?

In the online commerce world for your own business, a Lead Magnet is simply an extra incentive or bribe to inspire someone to join your email mailing list. In essence, it is a form of exchange.  You gain someone’s contact information (e.g. email address) and the other person receives your lead magnet.

In short, a lead magnet is designed to attract leads to your mailing list and business.

If you produce helpful content through a blog or online journal, the person can also receive notification about your content through your email mailing list. As shared in this earlier post, blogging is an authentic and organic way to grow your mailing list because you are marketing your authority through content rather than through advertisements.

The lead magnet is what tips the scale for some people on the fence about trusting you with their email addresses.

What are Some Lead Magnet Types?

Here are 10 of the most common free lead magnet types in the digital world:

  1. Discounts (Coupons)
  2. eBooks
  3. Resource Guides (e.g. Checklists, Cheatsheets, Reports)
  4. Audio Files
  5. Online Assessments / Quizzes (I recommend and use Typeform)
  6. Video Training Files
  7. Software Trials
  8. Swipe Files (Communication Templates Used by the Business)
  9. Free (but Short) Consultations
  10. Email Autoresponder Series

7 Other Names for Lead Magnets

Lead magnets have been around since the dawn of coupons, but in the digital world, here are 7 other popular names for lead magnets:

  1. Sign Up or Opt-In Incentives
  2. Ethical Bribes
  3. Killer Bribes
  4. Irresistible Bribes
  5. Freemiums
  6. Content Upgrades
  7. Free Gifts

Which Lead Magnet is the Best to Grow an Email Mailing List?

I find myself asking this question all the time.

My first response is… I’m honestly not sure.

My second response is… It probably depends on the type of the business.

For example, if a business is known for selling physical products, the logical or traditional lead magnet would be a product discount (e.g. sign up today to receive 20% off your next purchase).

But if you are operating an online business to sell digital products like courses or downloads and you’re just starting out or starting over (like me), what lead magnet works the best to grow your email mailing list?

Again, I’m not sure. But I’m eager to find out to help you.

I’m convinced some types of lead magnets perform better than others. I’ve now set up a lead magnet survey to find out.

Hope you participate!  And keep attracting leads to your mailing list through your ethical bribe (ahem, lead magnet).

Hope this helps,
Brent

Please let me know if you have any questions or feedback via my contact form or in direct response to the free Graceful Resources email mailing list.

 

What is a Landing Page and Why You May Need One

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In the previous post, there’s a strategic landing page suggestion for any broken link on your website. But to be honest, I did not discover what is a landing page until late last year as a student of Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula.

A landing page by most definitions is an independent web page with a clear and single call to action.

The call to action on a landing page is typically a form to capture the email address of a page visitor (or lead).  As a result, a landing page is also referred to as a “lead capture” or opt in page.

Landing Page Origin

According to this Wikipedia entry on landing pages, Microsoft first created landing pages to boost weak online sales of Microsoft Office in 2003. Whether they helped or not is debatable, but since then, landing pages have become a very popular marketing tool for online entrepreneurs like you and me.

And where there is demand, there is a marketplace of software providers ready to fill this niche! Two different software solutions alone are referenced in this post.

Landing Page Analogy

Think about a landing page like a flyer to see a band play at a local venue. The flyer essentially has just one purpose and that is to inspire you to go to venue at a set time.

Once there, you buy a ticket and enjoy the show.

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In comparison, the band’s studio is its website.

The studio is where the band creates music, just like a website is where you create content in the form of a blog, online courses, etc.

A landing page does not replace a website.

It promotes it.  It is your flyer.

Landing Page Examples

You can see landing page examples on this page.  In fact, the page itself is a landing page using the landing page creator of the Rainmaker Platform – the software that runs this website – here are all the reasons)

For comparison, here is a landing page example from Evan Michael Zislis, best-selling author of the book ClutterFree Revolution.

This example for Evan uses Leadpages software.  Leadpages is a Software as a Service (SaaS) company based in Minneapolis and they are recognized as the industry leader in this fast-growing marketing niche.  LeadPages lets customers create and host an unlimited number of landing pages for their businesses.

Here are some popular types of landing pages that Leadpages has templates available for customers as a starting point:

  1. Sales
  2. Opt In
  3. Webinar
  4. Upsell
  5. Thank You
  6. Product Launch
  7. Pre-Cart
  8. Page Not Found Error

For more information about LeadPages, here’s a comprehensive review.

What is a Landing Page and Why You May Need One

If you are planning to grow an email mailing list for your business, a landing page will help you statistically toward that objective.

Just don’t forget:

A landing page is a flyer for the band. It does not replace the studio!

Hope this helps,
Brent