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Ask the Readers

Ask the Readers: Refunds… How Much is Too Much?

Posted on May 5, 2013 | In Ask the Readers

When you work online, and you sell digital products, providing refunds is a fact of life. A vital and necessary one, at that! The “refund” in an online business serves several purposes: Offering a genuine and impressive refund policy connected to a guarantee of success makes people who are hesitant more willing to give you [...]

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Ask the Readers: Charge People… to Email You?!

Posted on April 7, 2013 | In Ask the Readers

Okay, first of all, don’t worry, because we aren’t planning on doing this…

…but apparently, some folks are considering charging people to send them email.

Can you imagine?

I read this article on Slate a couple of weeks ago, and my jaw almost hit the floor.

Yes, I thought – it IS crazy to charge people to send you email.

The very idea is antithetical to just about everything we do here at Firepole Marketing.

And yet, I can imagine it happening.

I can imagine big companies cutting down on their labor hours. I can imagine busy solopreneurs asking that that people value their time differently. I can imagine that the custom of free communication might someday be a memory.

The interesting point made in the article above is that an email from a stranger adds something to your “to-do” list without your consent – an interesting way of looking at things, and one that just might be worth a good ponder. (If only for the mental gymnastics!)

But of course, it may never happen; people may reject the concept out of hand, and we’ll never hear of it again.

What do you think?

Should people be able to charge other’s for the privilege of sending them email? Would *you* pay to email someone? How much? Is this whole idea nuts?

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Ask the Readers: Should it all be Free?

Posted on March 10, 2013 | In Ask the Readers

The most controversial price in the world is… free.

If you’ve ever read a blog about blogging and list building, you know that one of the very first things you do is create an awesome piece of content and give it away for free in exchange for an email address.

And the free giveaways don’t stop there. All or most of the content on your blog will be free, as well your newsletter content, and possible trials of your products and services.

These days, a lot can be got for free.

Is this the way it should be?

Look at it this way: Once a piece of content or other digital product is created, distribution costs almost nothing , it’s a matter of making something available to download through a link. You set it up once and then there is unlimited download potential. How much should an item of this nature cost?

On the other hand, bloggers and other business owners making a living online need to be compensated, and an income that accrues whether or not you’re actively spending time on something is the golden apple that bloggers are looking for.

Of course, free products and samples can be a great way to get people interested in physical products or services, for example – but when people get something for free – often they have no desire to pay for something down the line. They just want more and more for free.

So what do you think? What does giving something away for free cost you? Is it worth it? Should bloggers start charging for more of their digital giveaways?

What is information really worth today? Please leave a comment and let us know what you think!

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Would you Pay to Submit a Guest Post?

Posted on February 10, 2013 | In Ask the Readers

This is an issue that came up a little bit before the holiday season.

In my December Project ABC update, I mentioned that I’d discovered blogs that charge other bloggers for the opportunity to guest post – sometimes – even to submit a post for review.

Obviously, this isn’t the way we do things are Firepole Marketing; we don’t pay for guest posts, and we certainly don’t charge for them! We consider it a fair exchange of value – guest posters provide us with content, and we provide feedback and an audience.

Other bloggers do pay for Guest Posts, Carol Tice wrote a wonderful justification for doing so, and several commenters on that Project ABC update stated their intention to do the same. This is basically treating a guest poster like a freelance writer who does a job that they have a right to payment for.

And then there are those sites that charge for the privilege. They have fee structures and word/link limits and consider a free guest post “free advertising” for the writer. A big, engaged audience is a valuable resource, and maybe it’s a part of their business model to charge people for access to it.

What are your thoughts? Would you ever pay to submit a guest post? Have you been asked?

What would you do on your own blog? Please leave a comment and let us know what you think!

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Ask the Readers: Can You Automate Engagement?

Posted on January 13, 2013 | In Ask the Readers

It’s Ask the Readers time, and we’ve got a great one today.

We’re right smack dab in the middle of the Awesome Engagement Strategies Contest, and we’ve been getting tons of amazing tips, tricks and vice and tactics that we can use to increase our audience engagement.

Engagement is a hands-on business, and no matter how seriously you take it – keeping it up as your business grows is a challenge.

So it begs the question – can you automate engagement?

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What’s the Best Way to Thank Your Clients?

Posted on November 16, 2012 | In Ask the Readers

It’s time again for one of my favourite features – ask the readers, where we take a break  and get you to do all the work. ;-)

This month’s ask the readers question is all about gratitude.

We know that the only reason we’re in business is because other people – our readers, customers, clients, and visitors – give us their time and attention – and sometimes, money. ;-)

Don’t get me wrong, we all know that we strive to provide excellent value for money and attention, and to over-deliver on our promises. But sometimes, we want to do a little more. We want to thank our customers for trusting us, buying from us, and developing relationships with us.

How to go about it, though is something else. What is the best way to do it?

The last thing you want is for someone to feel like there’s being buttered up for a bigger sale, however, so it can be a fine line to walk…

Free gifts? Extra information? A card? What have you tried, and has it worked the way it intended you to?

How do you thank your loyal followers, fans and supporters?

Please leave a comment and let us know what you think!

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Should Subscribers Choose Email Update Frequency?

Posted on October 19, 2012 | In Ask the Readers

A really interesting discussion about permission marketing and social media was sparked by last month’s Ask the Readers question, and we’re looking forward to an even better one this time around!

This month’s ask the readers topic is something I’ve personally been wondering about for a little while.

Have you ever been to a blog where, in the sidebar subscription box they offer you an option of different ways to receive content? Like posts as they appear, or a weekly/monthly digest of good stuff?

There are good arguments to both sides.

On the one hand, you want your subscribers to see everything you publish – what good is a subscriber list if they don’t bother reading everything? And further, don’t you have the right to decide what kind of relationship you want to create with them?

On the other, you’re here to serve your readers, and if they prefer to get fewer emails with more content in each one – shouldn’t you let them?

Should you offer your blog visitors a chance to subscribe for a weekly or monthly digest of blog posts instead of receiving them as they come out?

Please leave a comment and let us know what you think!

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Is “Pay With a Tweet” an Ethical Marketing Practice?

Posted on September 21, 2012 | In Ask the Readers

Note from Megan: You may remember a few months ago we ran an “ask the reader” guest post by Fiona Tankard. It was a huge success. Tons of people offered amazing insight and value- the comments section just lit up like a city at night. So instead of writing a long detailed post about an interesting topic, I’m going to ask *you* to do it.

(This is a new feature we’re trying out, so give it a shot and let me know what you think.)

You’ve seen it.

Someone’s got a cool piece of content available, totally for free… just so long as you tweet, like or otherwise promote it first.

There are a few ways this can be done; Content can be protected until an individual has shared it. We’ve done this several times, most recently with the Naked Marketing Manifesto. (And we think it went pretty well!)

Another method is that the owner can decide to release a piece of content if a certain number of social interactions are achieved. Olga Astakhova wrote about a bad experience she had with this in her post Get Vaccinated against the Viral Marketing Virus.

Obviously, people have a variety of feelings about this (and we’re not saying one method is definitely better than the other – not yet anyway!) – Some consider it a great exchange: share a link or like something and get free stuff. Other people have more of a problem with it: promoting something you haven’t seen yet? Risky.

So the ask the reader question of the month is:

  • Do you think it’s a good idea to ask your readers to pay with social shares?
  • If yes: why is it a good idea, and how would you go about it?
  • If no, why not? What might a good alternative be?

Please leave a comment and let us know what you think!

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Ask the Readers: Is Tarot + Marketing a Viable Niche?

Posted on June 19, 2012 | In Ask the Readers

Note from Danny: This is a different kind of guest post. Fiona emailed me with a question, and I thought it might work really well as a guest post where everybody had a chance to weigh in. So please read through it, and leave a comment, letting Fiona know what you think! :-)

Let me start by saying this is a different kind of blog post because I am not giving advice but asking for it.

I also hope to connect with people in the same boat, because I don’t think I’m alone.

They say that you can learn a lot from people’s bookshelves. The one in my office reflects my dilemma perfectly. Nassim Taleb’s The Black Swan props up The Divine Matrix by Gregg Braden. Margrit Coates’ Hands On Healing for Pets lies next to Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail. Marketing on the Internet is wedged between Putting the Tarot to Work and Horse Boy by Rupert Isaacson.

You can see the problem: I am a Multi Niche Person in search of solutions…

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