Remember the ecommerce commercial that showed a small group hovering around a computer as they launched their new website? They cheered when the first order notification came through, and again with the second… and then freaked out as the order blips became a relentless torrent.
That’s what Adam Schwartz, CEO of Articulate, said it felt like last Wednesday when we launched their new Rapid E-Learning Blog. The blog attracted 6,312 subscribers in the 24-hour period following the launch promotion, and now has over 8,500 and counting less than a week later.
Existing businesses have incredibly valuable assets that others do not—customer and prospect lists. That being said, telling your existing customers about your new blog full of press release content and expecting them to come running is a recipe for mediocrity. If you don’t have an existing list, you can create an offer that is attractive to social media news site users and your results will be similar.
Articulate is one of the few companies I’ve continued to work with outside of my own projects in the last year, and Adam gave the green light to share the strategy we implemented. Here’s what we did, step-by-step.
- Positioning: Articulate sells software that allows users to develop flash-based e-learning and training courses based on PowerPoint, which has become known as rapid e-learning due to the ease of use of the tools. The goal for the blog is to provide valuable content related to rapid e-learning development (outside of the software) and to establish 15-year e-learning veteran and Articulate VP of Community Tom Kuhlmann as an authority in the field.
In other words, the blog is designed not to sell software directly, but to offer value to existing and prospective customers of Articulate. The halo effect of Tom’s tips over time can do nothing but enhance the Articulate brand as the definitive leader in the rapid e-learning space. - Cornerstone Content: Before the blog was made public, Tom developed some great foundational content in the form of a 7-part series called Rapid E-Learning 101 and a 5-part series called 5 Myths About Rapid E-Learning. A first-time visitor to the blog has plenty of well-organized and targeted content to dive into, which also acts as a motivator to get on board as a subscriber.
- Incentive: The next step was a free ebook that became the focus of the launch promotion. Tom put together the Insider’s Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro, which focused on the business end of e-learning, and I added a bit of editorial input. This content is unique and valuable to corporate instructional designers because it helps them see what the true role of e-learning and training is within the larger business context. The strategies in the book allow training staff to create courses that provide a true return on investment, and are also perceived as valuable to upper management and the learners themselves.
- Launch Email: I wrote a brief email formatted in HTML with a nice graphical representation of the ebook. This 72-word email was not designed to sell the subscription, but to sell the click through to the landing page, and was sent to a house list of both customers and people who had downloaded a free trial of Articulate software. The initial response briefly crashed the dedicated server that houses only the new blog.
- Landing Page: The landing page consists of an ebook graphic positioned just as in the email, a brief intro, 8 bullet points related to the content of the ebook, a statement that lets the reader know they are subscribing to the blog, a call to action, an email form, and a “no spam” statement.
- Delivery: The email subscription is powered by Feedburner’s email service, so new blog posts are automatically sent to subscribers. The ebook is delivered via the WP RSS Sticky plugin that Chris Garrett also uses. This means that people who subscribe via feed reader will also receive the free ebook.
- Start Blogging: The launch went very well, and Tom is now perfectly positioned to become the preeminent voice in the growing rapid e-learning space. Mission accomplished, but now the real work begins. Once you’re perceived as an authority, you have a responsibility to continue to deliver, and I have no doubts that Tom is up for it.
No Customer or Prospect List?
The above is an excellent game plan for any existing business to enhance their market position with valuable content delivered via blog. But if you don’t have an existing customer or prospect email list, substitute in a social media site like Digg, Reddit, Sphinn, Netscape or some of the other small niche sites as your launch pad. The key is to offer something that people really want, surround it with other valuable, targeted content, and then continue to deliver over time to maintain and grow your subscriber base.
P.S. For those scoring at home, the promotional email drew a 10% click through ratio, which was fairly strong given that the prospect portion of the opt-in list did not require email validation to download the free software trial (in other words, there was likely a lot of junk on the list). The conversion rate on the landing page opt-in was right at 54%.
84 comments... add one
#1 Adam Schwartz → 08.21.07 at 1:48 pm
Brian - So you had to go ahead and write a post about this too? You already crashed our servers once. :-)
#2 Chris P. → 08.21.07 at 1:50 pm
Personally, I would have changed the overall subscriber count to an odd number…
Then again, I’m an attentive Copyblogger reader.
#3 Brian Clark → 08.21.07 at 1:52 pm Copyblogger
Ha… Chris, don’t think I didn’t complain to Adam that his 24-hour total was inconvenient for my headline. :)
#4 Chris Garrett → 08.21.07 at 2:04 pm
Great going, congratulations! One of the best things about doing this kind of project is they now have a more focused list :)
#5 Mike → 08.21.07 at 2:36 pm
Thanks for pointing this out.
Great case study.
#6 Matt Jones → 08.21.07 at 3:04 pm
I would vote but I was just banned from digg. I’ll be publishing a post about it tomorrow.
#7 Shane → 08.21.07 at 3:24 pm
Damn Chris P, I just laughed out loud (real loud), startling my 5 cube mates! I needed that.
#8 Paul Bradish → 08.21.07 at 3:29 pm
This is a great post. I’ve never heard of so many subscribers, so quickly. That is truly amazing and definitely an inspiration.
I see how many of the techniques listed above could be very useful. Feedburner’s email service, seems especially interesting to me - Thanks!
#9 ilker -=- The Thinking Blog → 08.21.07 at 3:38 pm
Impossible
#10 Michael A. Stelzner → 08.21.07 at 3:54 pm
Brian;
Can you explain where the initial list came from that you targeted with the ebook offer?
How big was the list?
Mike
#11 Brian Clark → 08.21.07 at 4:02 pm Copyblogger
Hi Michael, as I explained in the post (see #4), it was Articulate’s customer list combined with prospects who had opted-in to download a free trial of the software. I don’t know exactly the size of the list, and like I said, some of the list was a bit tenuous on the prospect side.
I think you can work backwards with the numbers… it was a fairly sizable list. Your mileage may vary. :)
#12 Steven Web → 08.21.07 at 4:18 pm
Phenominal results in such a short period of time. Your advice about having a customer/prospect list and converting them to readers is spot on… now I need to brainstorm ways to take action on this :)
#13 Gabe Anderson → 08.21.07 at 5:34 pm
This was a really exciting launch for us (and I can attest to the accuracy of all the numbers). Great work on your role in helping to make this so successful, Brian!
I was involved mostly behind the scenes on the technology infrastructure side. A few other tidbits about the launch:
* All our lead & customer data reside in our CRM, salesforce.com, which is how we capture new leads from our site and all customer details from orders.
* For the promo mailing, we used VerticalResponse, which has great salesforce.com integration (we’ve used it for years) - from right within salesforce.com we can even track who’s received, opened, clicked on, or unsubscribed from the mailing.
* As we watched our server buckle under pressure, I was observing more than 100 new email subscribers per minute (according to Feedburner).
And we’re now up to a whopping 8,662 email subscribers!
-Gabe (Articulate Director of Customer Support)
#14 chartreuse → 08.21.07 at 6:45 pm
More proof you are the man Brian. Congrats!
#15 SharePoint Consulting, SharePoint Installations, Microsoft Technologies → 08.21.07 at 7:53 pm
[…] How to Get 6,312 Subscribers to Your Business Blog in One Day | Copyblogger The above is an excellent game plan for any existing business to enhance their market position with valuable content delivered via blog. (tags: blog marketing) […]
#16 Blogging Articles → 08.21.07 at 8:00 pm
[…] How to Get 6312 Subscribers to Your Business Blog in One Day by Brian Clark […]
#17 Chuck → 08.21.07 at 8:47 pm
Very cool. Sometimes when I get to feeling accomplished, an article like this reminds me what a small little sandbox I’m playing in. ;)
#18 Naomi Dunford → 08.21.07 at 9:37 pm
Chuck, I was going to say that I love playing in your little sandbox but then I realized how wrong that would sound.
I guess I’ve said it anyway now. :)
#19 Chuck → 08.21.07 at 9:43 pm
Ha! That’s pretty funny…
#20 Sonia Simone → 08.21.07 at 9:48 pm
Chuck, your comment makes me feel like the 3-year old looking at the first graders with envy. “Oooh, some day I’ll be a big boy and wear underpants.”
(If only I could resist the urge to write the word “underpants,” I could be so cool . . . )
Anyway, you do have a cool sandbox.
#21 Thomas Bourne → 08.21.07 at 9:52 pm
Hey you didn’t post my comment, what was wrong with it?
#22 Chuck → 08.21.07 at 9:53 pm
I guess there’s always bigger and better territory to which to aspire. I bet someone could write a funny post comparing bloggers to toddlers.
#23 How to Successfully Launch Your Blog | KristaMBaker.com → 08.21.07 at 10:23 pm
[…] Clark writes a great overview of the steps software company, Articulate, took last week to launch their brand new blog. They had a lot going in their favor (a large mailing list) but also did a lot of things right to […]
#24 Promotion Can Help your Business Blog Launch - After that It’s up to You → 08.21.07 at 11:12 pm
[…] Clark published a case study of an e-learning blog that converted the company’s existing contacts into thousands of […]
#25 lawton chiles → 08.21.07 at 11:21 pm
I guess I’m not there yet…having followed a lot of the copyblogger method of value-driven, incentive based content, I’ll admit that it floods me with insecurity when I see someone being so successful…
I guess it makes me feel like I cannot do that same thing- but at the same time I am putting steps together to do the very same thing- to provide quality content that people need and are clamoring for. Thanks for the encouragement, I truly appreciate it Brian- you are a voice in the copy wilderness that sometimes is my life :)
Sometimes the view clears though, and it’s awesome.
#26 Keith → 08.21.07 at 11:53 pm
It has been one of my to-do list to boost the traffic of my site. Thanks for your advice, and I will try that out. Most importantly, I still believe in quality content. Hopefully things will work out eventually.
Cheers!
#27 33King → 08.22.07 at 12:15 am
good article
#28 Michael Dorausch → 08.22.07 at 12:19 am
Great post, especially the info on the sticky plugin! Nice to see the Diggs.
#29 Yves → 08.22.07 at 1:56 am
We are doing just that in French on our site, and it works fine too. In the end, what matters the most is to have really good content.
Nous faisons exactement ca en francais sur notre site, et ca marche tres bien aussi. Finalement, ce qui compte le plus c’est d’avoir du vraiment bon contenu.
Thanks :)
#30 Universe_JDJ’s Blog » How to Get 6,312 Subscribers to Your Blog in One Day → 08.22.07 at 3:21 am
[…] read more | digg story […]
#31 Tech Thoughts → 08.22.07 at 6:15 am
While reading the post, i have a habit of select the text which I’m reading. But I noticed that you have prevented users from selecting the text. Is it to stop users from copying your content? If so, simple technique of Ctrl+A and Ctrl + C is allowing to copy.
#32 Successful company blog launch — Small Business Lessons → 08.22.07 at 6:26 am
[…] his article, How to Get 6,312 Subscribers to Your Business Blog in One Day, he describes the whole process of a successful blog launch, including positioning, content, […]
#33 Fremtidens Relationer » Blog-arkiv » Hvordan laver man en blog der får 6312 abonnenter på én dag? → 08.22.07 at 7:03 am
[…] over denne artikel, hvor en blogger fortæller hvordan hans firmas blog opnåede det. Svaret er, ikke overraskende, at […]
#34 James Riley → 08.22.07 at 7:27 am
I am doing most of the things yo said but its just not working out for me!
:(
#35 Bill → 08.22.07 at 8:50 am
Newbie question - Where do you get book icons for your ebooks?
#36 Coffee Break - August 22, 2007 → 08.22.07 at 9:21 am
[…] How to Get 6,312 Subscribers to Your Business Blog in One Day - Copyblogger […]
#37 links for 2007-08-22 | The Marketing Technology Blog → 08.22.07 at 10:22 am
[…] How to Get 6,312 Subscribers to Your Business Blog in One Day | Copyblogger Remember the ecommerce commercial that showed a small group hovering around a computer as they launched their new website? (tags: blog marketing elearning rss tips) […]
#38 Brian Clark → 08.22.07 at 1:38 pm Copyblogger
Bill, there are Photoshop templates that many web designers have that make those cool covers. There are also services on the net that do nothing but ebook covers, boxes, cd jewel cases, etc.
Do a Google search for ebook cover design.
#39 Mason Hipp → 08.22.07 at 3:52 pm
Brian,
I’m quite impressed with your results. Now, after doing the math, that was a really big list you guys had (compared to mine at least); but the results are still excellent. I think 6k subscribers in 24 hours may be a record.
Anyhow, back to work on my cornerstone series and my e-book offer…
- Mason
#40 Daily Links | Akkam's Razor → 08.22.07 at 7:24 pm
[…] How to Get 6,312 Subscribers to Your Business Blog in One Day | Copyblogger (tags: Marketing blog blogging business tips howto blogs) […]
#41 links for 2007-08-23 « Simply… A User → 08.22.07 at 7:40 pm
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#42 krillz → 08.22.07 at 7:41 pm
Ow my 6000+ subscribers, that’s like a fantasy for me haha amazing!
#43 6,312 Subscribers to Your Blog in One Day - eXtra For Every Publisher → 08.22.07 at 7:52 pm
[…] the full details about each of these points over at Copyblogger. If you enjoyed this article, please Subscribe via RSS and don’t forget to Monetize Your Site (aff […]
#44 links for 2007-08-23 | giancarlo.dimassa.net → 08.22.07 at 7:56 pm
[…] How to Get 6,312 Subscribers to Your Business Blog in One Day | Copyblogger (tags: marketing blog blogging business tips howto blogs advertising article cool design elearning) […]
#45 Social Networking, the advertising revolution → 08.22.07 at 8:00 pm
[…] How to Get 6,312 Subscribers to Your Business Blog in One Day A short but good-practice case study […]
#46 Brian → 08.22.07 at 11:01 pm
Thanks for the great tips and excellent examples.
#47 Almost, Not Yet - links for 2007-08-23 → 08.23.07 at 12:25 am
[…] How to Get 6,312 Subscribers to Your Blog in One Day Here’s a great 7-step case study on getting a large amount of blog subscribers right at launch. (tags: digg TechIndustryNews Technology) […]
#48 links for 2007-08-23 » Graham English Social Networking → 08.23.07 at 12:31 am
[…] How to Get 6,312 Subscribers to Your Business Blog in One Day | Copyblogger Articulate is one of the few companies I’ve continued to work with outside of my own projects in the last year, and Adam gave the green light to share the strategy we implemented. Here’s what we did, step-by-step. (tags: advertising blogging business entrepreneur marketing tips HowTo) […]
#49 Rama Polefka → 08.23.07 at 11:15 am
excellent article.
we are going to implement the advice and see if we can get 1/100th of the biz for our blog based real estate website.
#50 Mike Bijon → 08.23.07 at 12:58 pm
The click-through and opt-in rates are more impressive than the raw total of 6,312 subscribers. With a list of just ~117,000 prospects that’s a really impressive number.
Over 5% opt-in to a mildly-targeted list means not just copy, but everything about the campaign (design, usability, payoff value, etc.) was very well done.
#51 Just another WordPress weblog → 08.24.07 at 12:05 am
[…] How to Get 6,312 Subscribers to Your Business Blog in One Day | Copyblogger […]
#52 spidro → 08.24.07 at 3:32 am
very nice tips
#53 Rich Shea → 08.24.07 at 3:47 pm
Amazing launch. I hope you’re available for consulting again soon!
#54 This Week In SEO - 8/24/07 - TheVanBlog → 08.24.07 at 7:32 pm
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#55 Richelle Monae → 08.25.07 at 11:39 pm
Great advice on how to launch a blog. Thanks :)
#56 How to Get 6,312 Subscribers to Your Business… — Anti spam and Mail Cleaning Software → 08.26.07 at 2:36 am
[…] out as the order blips became a relentless torrent. Thats what Adam Schwartz, CEO source: How to Get 6,312 Subscribers to Your Business…, Copywriting 101: An Introduction to Copywriting […]
#57 jorge goyco → 08.26.07 at 10:38 pm
Well, this sure is impressive, and a great article. What I’d like to mention is that I was suspicious that this post was a paid advertisement. I’ve since read the comments and see that it wasn’t, but it sure had gotten me thinking. What a great way to promote an advertiser than to use them as a case study or in a story or something.
Maybe this has all been done before, I’m fairly new at blogging.
Anyways, thanks for the inspiration.
#58 Brian Clark → 08.26.07 at 10:49 pm Copyblogger
Jorge, no money changed hands over this. When you think about it, it was more of an advertisement for me than anyone else. :)
#59 lawton chiles → 08.26.07 at 11:37 pm
Brian, are there any other examples of effective landing pages that you could give me? Thanks!
P.S- thank you also for the hard work that you are taking to educate beginning copywriters like myself. It’s worth it to for me b/c you are teaching me about value-added and benefit-laden content- and how the customer must come first.
Their needs and desires are the reason I am paying my bills after all…
#60 John Lucas → 08.27.07 at 5:34 am
As a previous free trial user, I received the launch email. It compelled me to get the free ebook and subscribe to the blog. For me, it was the perfect validation of the content and techniques blogged here on Copyblogger.
#61 Link Clout # 9 - How To Grow Your Blog Traffic → 08.27.07 at 6:58 am
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#62 The Persuasive Power of Specificity | Copyblogger → 08.27.07 at 10:31 am
[…] of us would choose the first as Brian did in his recent article. […]
#63 Nabil Feisal → 08.28.07 at 4:06 am
Thats very enlightening and very proven. I loved the article to bits. I’m now going to try replicating the effect on a site of my friend’s who sells online software for a really popular open source cms.
Thanks and keep up the great blogging!
#64 Links Roundup August 28th 2007 → 08.28.07 at 5:02 am
[…] How to Get 6,312 Subscribers to Your Business Blog in One Day - Brian Clark talks about how the Rapid E Learning Blog got over 6,000 subscribers in 24 hours! […]
#65 Beth Cole → 08.28.07 at 7:27 am
Cool process. Thanks for your expert articulation (no pun intended) of the traffic building steps. Congrats on another success.
#66 DanJNg’s Ramblings… » Blog Archive » How to Get 6,312 Subscribers to Your Business Blog in One Day | Copyblogger → 08.28.07 at 10:22 pm
[…] How to Get 6,312 Subscribers to Your Business Blog in One Day | Copyblogger […]
#67 Steve → 08.29.07 at 8:07 am
nice tips, few new ones. Congrats on that many subscribers in your first day
#68 How to Write a Social Media Press Release | Copyblogger → 08.31.07 at 11:02 am
[…] you look at Brian’s article from last week, How to Get 6,312 Subscribers to Your Business Blog in One Day, it’s not designed as a press release (nor was it paid for by anyone). Regardless, it […]
#69 Link Happy on Labor Day : Real Estate Marketing Blog → 09.03.07 at 8:10 am
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#70 LiveTheLife.tv → 09.04.07 at 11:04 am
Excellent Post Brian , It’s the second time I read it … as CopyBlogger is one of my top 10 resources for inspiration and I keep coming back for more …
Quality Content is what Blogging is all about. I will develop a PDF magazine to send all my new subscribers with this Funky Sticky RSS plugin … oh and yes I also use FeedBurner. Who doens’t …
SEO is fantastic but takes lots of time. SEM is great but takes a lot of money. But Google Adwords does the job perfectly for us although we all love to get Free Quality Traffic. That’s why I will keep reading your blog and keep working hard on SEO … with a burning desire and lots and lots of passion …
I’ve read all the comments and they make this article even better !!!
I wish you all a very nice day and lots of traffic …
Yves Van den Meerssche CEO LiveTheLife.tv
#71 » Copywriting Wealth Knowledge → 09.20.07 at 6:41 pm
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#75 Bryan → 10.04.07 at 11:43 am
Amazing! Gotta work on implementing these methods.
Thanks Brian.
#76 How to Get 6,312 Subscribers to Your Blog in One Day « Top Tech News → 10.12.07 at 8:01 am
[…] read more | digg story […]
#77 top-10-small-business-blog-features-opt-in-method | Prevail PR → 10.17.07 at 6:22 pm
[…] a free information product that is relevant to your business. Many blogs have used this tactic to astounding success, and there is no reason you cannot do the same. Our Information Product series will cover these […]
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#79 Want To Get $300 For Christmas? → 11.01.07 at 8:58 am
Yes, no doubt, the Rapid e-Learning blog is a quite interesting, unique blog in the bloggosphere world.
I wonder if we need marketing consultants to help us create a product from scratch and launch it with social media releases…
If you have any other suggestions
or comments, let me know :)
Cheers,
Codrut Turcanu.
“How To Succeed Against All Odds!” Break The Ice!
#80 Fred Wood → 11.02.07 at 7:35 am
Brian, this looks like a great game plan to gain blog subscribers. I’ll have to start planning and writing the e-book to use as the incentive. I’ll let you know how that goes.
We have created blogs for several of our clients to help complement their main sites. It has been working very well, but, I think we should start doing something like the above to jump start them.
Thanks,
Fred
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#83 Atlanta Wedding Photographers → 01.02.08 at 5:09 am
Finally something that I can apply to my business. I’ve always heard that the blog “thing” was something from the past but I think that it is just a little more focused than it was in the past. Like most business strategies it is more important to have quality before quantity.
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