One common question is whether businesses should publish full or partial RSS feeds.

In a full feed, RSS readers can read entire articles in their reader without having to click a “Read More” link that takes them to the full article on your blog.

In a partial feed, obviously, only a small part of each article is posted in RSS readers, and readers must finish reading on your blog.

Proponents of partial feeds are concerned that 1) web traffic will be reduced if they publish full feeds, and 2) full feeds make it easier for content thieves to republish their articles.

They also argue that clickbacks to articles on site are instant feedback — you learn which articles resonate more with readers.

Answering the question is a function of whether you want to spread influence or drive web traffic.

Influence Versus Website Traffic

If you want to spread influence, then publish a full RSS feed. Give your best content away, and piles of it. The more the better.

If you want to bring traffic back to your site, go with a partial feed.

But understand this: The influence approach will generate more traffic and market buzz for you in the long-term.

We’re major proponents of full feeds because we understand the power of influence on the web.

Sure, you’ll have a few knuckleheads that will skim your content. Sure, your RSS readers may not come back to your site as often.

But, as the music industry has learned the hard way, trying to control content online is a losing battle anyway. What’s more, you should pray that people start spreading your content.

Sure, you want to be attributed, but most people will give proper attribution. And the people who don’t have lame sites, audiences, and business models, so you don’t need to worry about them.

And so what if RSS readers don’t come to your site? Are you worried about banner ad advertising revenues? Don’t — they’re too paltry to worry about. Unless you’re getting 10,000 hits per month or more, advertising shouldn’t even be on your radar as a viable income stream.

Generate high-quality, relevant content. Get it out into as many venues as possible. Publish the heck out of it.

You’ll develop a reputation as an influencer and it will come back to you exponentially over time.

Recommended Reading:

• “Full Or Partial RSS Feeds — The Great Feed Debate” by Darren Rowse
• “Full Vs. Partial RSS Feeds” on “The Wrong Advices” Blog
• “Why Publish Full RSS Feeds Instead of Partial Summary Feeds” by Amit Agarwal

Stephen Palmer is a marketing consultant and writer with KGaps Consulting. His firm uses their methodology Hub Mentality to help small businesses generate more leads, sales, and referrals while making their marketing budget more efficient.

Stephen is the co-author of as Hub Mentality: Shifting from Business Transactions to Community Interactions as well as the co-author of the New York Times bestseller Killing Sacred Cows: Overcoming the Financial Myths that are Destroying Your Prosperity.

Their first mistake was to automatically subscribe me to their email newsletter when I made my purchase. No permission.

Their next mistake was to email me 10 times in one month.

The only reason I haven’t unsubscribed is because I’ve been saving their emails to exploit them in this case study.

Speaking of which, check out the headlines of their emails since September 8th:

• Sept. 8: Two Days Left to Save on Exclusive Offers
• Sept. 9: Hurry! Your Exclusive Offers End Tonight
• Sept. 13: Our Best Omega-3 Fish Oil….YOURS FREE!
• Sept. 16: Hurry! 24 Hour Sale – $10 Off Your Order
• Sept. 20: Try Dr. Perry’s Anti-Aging Miracle FREE!
• Sept. 22: What Doctors Take to Stay Healthy – Discount Inside
• Sept. 24: Save $20 and Receive Free Shipping. Limited Time Only!
• Sept. 27: 3 Days Left – Save $20.00 & Free Shipping!
• Sept. 29: Hurry! Your Coupon Expires Tomorrow [$20.00 off + Free Shipping]
• Sept. 30: Hurry! Sale Ends Tonight – $20.00 off AND Free Shipping
• Oct. 4: Our Best Omega-3 Fish Oil….YOURS FREE!
• Oct. 9: Exclusive Online Offers For You!
• Oct. 11: Hurry! Your Exclusive Offers End Tomorrow!

What’s wrong with their approach? Let me count the ways:

1. Constant “discounts” train customers to only buy when things are on sale.
2. Constant “discounts” scream to customers that their products are priced way too high, and their discounts are simply contrived and manipulative. It’s like the classic — and embarrassingly obvious — trick of listing a high price, then slashing through that price with a red line and showing a lower price.
3. Why do I need to hurry when they offer some exclusive offer with almost every email they send me? Their fabricated scarcity is devoid of any credibility whatsoever.
4. Not to mention the fact that a constant barrage of HURRY!! BUY NOW!!! messages is agitating. It reminds me of the “cranberry man” joked about by comedian Brian Regan. Back off, New Vitality man!

How New Vitality Should Shift to Hub Mentality

New Vitality, if you’re listening, here’s your free marketing plan:

1. Permission

First and foremost, cut the crap of subscribing people automatically without asking for permission. That’s the quickest way to make enemies fast online.

Set up a confirmed opt-in process to ensure that you have permission and no one can rightfully accuse you of spamming.

2. Scale Back on Contact Frequency

In most cases, once a week is overkill. You’re suffocating your readers with 10 emails per month.

In your case, twice per month would be plenty. Even once per week would be better than what you’re doing now.

3. Replace Discounts with Educational Content

“…just as the junkie never stops to consider how the drug is destroying his physical health, the business owner never stops to consider how ‘Sale! Sale! Sale!’ undermines his business health…Successful companies don’t spend their ad dollars training their customers to wait for a sale.” -Roy H. Williams

Stop trying to shove manipulative sales down customers’ throats. Instead, produce valuable, relevant content.

Don’t offer people 20% off a heart-health supplement — invest those dollars in white papers and videos that explain what the supplement does.

Become an educational resource for your database, rather than simply a discount product provider.

Use blog articles, videos, e-books, podcasts, and social media to provide health tips and highlight research. Build a database of every health topic imaginable that anyone can access with simple search terms.

In 75% of your emails, don’t even highlight a product to sell — just provide the educational content.

Your database will come to respect and trust you as a thought leader. You’ll be the first they’ll think of when they experience health issues.

4. Cut the “Hurry!” Silliness; Build a Brand

Honestly. You just look ridiculous. Knock it off.

Calmly, plainly, consistently demonstrate why you’re relevant to my life and why you’re the superior choice.

Take the time to actually build a brand, rather than snorting the cocaine of urgency.

“Brand essence is everything a brand stands for in the heart of the customer…The best branding campaigns ripple outward from a company’s core culture and non-negotiable standards….Your brand must be anchored to core values buried deep in the heart of your customer. To what values is your brand linked?” -Roy H. Williams

What are your core values? What do you stand for? What do you adamantly oppose?

Here’s a simple one: Become known as the healthy, natural alternative to prescription drugs. Then generate tons of valuable, relevant content to build and support that brand.

Then stick to that brand relentlessly. Build your success around your brand, rather than cheesy urgency.

And that, New Vitality, is Hub Mentality. Will you make the shift? I’m not holding my breath.

Stephen Palmer is a marketing consultant and writer with KGaps Consulting. His firm uses their methodology Hub Mentality to help small businesses generate more leads, sales, and referrals while making their marketing budget more efficient.

Stephen is the co-author of as Hub Mentality: Shifting from Business Transactions to Community Interactions as well as the co-author of the New York Times bestseller Killing Sacred Cows: Overcoming the Financial Myths that are Destroying Your Prosperity.

I’m obsessive about analytic data. I explore the tiniest details to maximize my open, click, and conversion rates.

According to this 2008 report, the average open rate in the industry is 13.2 percent, and the average click rate is 2.73 percent.

The databases I manage average an 85 percent total open rate and a 20 percent click rate.

So how do I do it? By religiously following the rules below:

1. Set Clear Expectations Up Front

On your webforms, make sure people know what they’re signing up for. Tell them how often they’ll receive emails from you and the type of content they can expect.

2. ALWAYS Use Double (or Confirmed) Opt-In

A common debate among online marketers is whether your email marketing database should be single or double opt-in.

With single opt-in, website visitors simply enter their name, email address, and any other data in a web form and they automatically receive their free gifts and are subscribed to your mailing list.

Double opt-in adds another step—people who enter their information on your site receive a confirmation email with a link. They must click that link in their email to confirm their subscription.

Our stance is firm: We use double opt-in in every possible scenario.

There are extremely rare circumstances where we would recommend single opt-in for technical reasons, but they are so rare that they’re not even worth mentioning.

Confirmed opt-in ensures that you can never spam—and no one can ever accuse you of that. It increases your open rates and decreases the likelihood of your emails being caught by spam.

Proponents of the single opt-in method argue that many people don’t actually see the confirmation emails and therefore subscription rates are lower. We see this is a positive—it creates a higher-quality list of people who really want what you have.

Think of it this way: Would you rather have a database of 100,000 people with a 2 percent open rate, or a database of 5,000 people with a 50 percent open rate?

When it comes to email marketing, more names isn’t necessarily better—more people who legitimately want what you have and who stay actively engaged is better.

3. Make it Easy to Unsubscribe

Furthermore, assure people on your webforms that it’s easy to unsubscribe.

Don’t hide this in an effort to prevent people from unsubscribing. That will cause you nothing but trouble.

On many of our databases — including our own — we actually invite people to unsubscribe right at the top of the email.

Why? Two reasons: 1) it prevents people from marking your emails as spam and raising red flags with servers, and 2) it simply makes people feel comfortable with your correspondence.

They’re constantly reminded that they’ve given you permission to send them emails, and they know they can disengage at any point.

4. Deliver High-Quality, Relevant Content

This is your best assurance for high open and click rates.

Reserve your best content for your emails to your database. Don’t waste your database capital on skimpy, generic content that they can get anywhere else.

Spark new insights. Challenge assumptions. Reveal your secrets. Offer in-depth research and analysis. Make them feel like they simply can’t do without your emails.

Specific offers exclusive to your database can also be a good strategy.

5. Find the Right Contact Frequency

No matter how good your content is, if you hit your database too frequently, they may tune out, either because they feel overwhelmed and can’t digest it all, or because they feel they’ve learned everything they can learn from you.

For most of our databases, we find that bi-monthly contact is about right, which includes a monthly newsletter that they expect on the first of every month.

However, if your content is off the charts and you’ve built an extremely engaged following, once a week may be appropriate. Roy H. William’s Monday Morning Memo is a perfect example of this.

6. Guard Your Database Vigilantly

Put simply — if a bit crassly — don’t be a database pimp.

A lot of people get excited about having a large database, and they start opening it up to other people and random offers so they can make more money.

Joint ventures — where you offer other people’s products to your database, or vice versa — can work well and be appropriate, but they can also diminish your brand and erode your social capital.

Be extremely careful about to whom and for what you open your database.

Your database is a golden goose — don’t kill the goose for short-term profits.

Cultivate it as your most valuable asset and you’ll always keep your community engaged, and your open, click-through, and conversion rates will dwarf the statistics.

Stephen Palmer is a marketing consultant and writer with KGaps Consulting. His firm uses their methodology Hub Mentality to help small businesses generate more leads, sales, and referrals while making their marketing budget more efficient.

Stephen is the co-author of as Hub Mentality: Shifting from Business Transactions to Community Interactions as well as the co-author of the New York Times bestseller Killing Sacred Cows: Overcoming the Financial Myths that are Destroying Your Prosperity.

You are ready to begin the task of getting good at communicating with your customers on your blog.  But all you see is a blank screen taunting you.

Here are a few steps to get you started…

1)  Offer value, even if it isn’t directly tied to selling a product.  It can and should be generally related to what you do.  And that doesn’t mean you should never give your visitors a call to action, in fact you should do it, and do it often.  The point is that  you actually want to be a source of value to your reader FIRST AND FOREMOST, not a source of pushy ceaseless sales messages.  It is always ok to sell, as long as you are pulling, not pushing.  Try to err on the side of value rather than on the side of constantly reaching for the reader’s wallet.

2)  Use the word YOU instead of we.  Don’t chest thump or brag about yourself.  Let your readers know you are talking to them, not talking at them about yourself.  That is just boring and in bad form.  Try this trick: whenever you are tempted to write the word me, we, or I, try and replace that word with the word you.  So instead of, “At Anthony’s Shoe Hut, we offer the lowest prices on shoes in the city,”  write, “You can take advantage of…”

3)  Paint a mental picture.  Put your visitors at the scene.   Facts and figures are good and fine and needed, but if you can capture the imagination, you will build a much stronger bond with your audience.

Now, this is more of proclamation rather than a disclaimer, but Tareq Morad of SNAPWealth.Com is a client of ours, and he just started down this journey, and we are impressed with what we’ve seen so far.

In this post, Tareq does all three of the above, and does them well.

And since he didn’t push his own product on you, I will.  Tareq is humble and wouldn’t call himself a financial genius, but he is.  If you are Canadian, and looking for a path to build more wealth for yourself or supplement your current investments, he’s got a very unique solution for you.  I’d give him a call.

Vicki was traveling with a women’s ministry in the late ‘90s when she realized what she wanted to do – “make a difference in the lives of young women in relation to culture, faith, and life.” When she returned from her travels, she went back to the church where she had found her own faith during college and launched VMR with her credit card and a small staff.

Today, her ministry reaches 150,000 girls and mothers annually. This is accomplished through workshops, speaking engagements, events, Vicki’s books, and a warm and inviting online presence. I spent a little time on one of her sites this afternoon. Found a free e-newsletter for teenage girls. Found another one for parents and youth sponsors. In addition, the ministry maintains a blog; shares articles published in their teen issue magabooks; has a page featuring music artists; keeps fans informed of upcoming events; and offers a prayer board where followers can post personal prayer requests like this one:

I really need you girls to pray for my family. I’ve been getting sick on and off since July, my father and sister have been struggling with physical issues in their back and knees, my mother had a stroke last week, and my grandmother is battling cancer. Prayer would really mean a lot to us. Thank you so much. God bless.

Nice touch, don’t you think? Then I clicked a link to a second blog maintained at VickiCourtney.com, presented as “the rants and raves of an author mom smack-dab in the trenches of teen culture.” The vibe I get is one of authenticity and humility. There’s a recent post titled 12 Days of Christmas Give-away where Vicki encourages readers to share their favorite Christmas memories. The winning entries are promised free books and other gifts as well as having their names mentioned in the post. She gets the momentum rolling by sharing a favorite Christmas memory of her own involving the annual singing of carols at her grandparents’ home.

I counted over 125 replies from readers sharing their Christmas stories. Here’s one of them:

I am so excited about this! I read your blog constantly and your books. I am just entering this teen culture and I am scared to death. I hope I win!!

My favorite Christmas memory would have to be when I was a little girl. We lived in New Jersey and so it was very cold most Christmas’. My parents had an unusual tradition that most people can’t believe they did. But, they did! We would go out every Christmas Eve as a family and cut down our Christmas tree. Yep. We did not put up our tree until Christmas Eve. The best part though was that we would go home, get in our pajamas, make cookies and run to bed because Santa came to our house to bring gifts and decorate our Christmas tree. My sister and I went to bed with a empty tree in the living room and woke up to the most beautifully decorated tree and so many presents we could not even walk in the room!!! I do not even know how my parents did it. Now that I am a mom, I realize there is no way they slept at all. She said they would decorate the tree, put presents together, finish wrapping and by the time they went to bed, we would be begging to get up!!

Not sure what I would do if I got even half that many comments on one of these posts, but I’d definitely consider it a good thing. You should spend a little time getting a feel for the many ways Vicki Courtney facilitates a community and pulls her target audience closer.

Are you doing something similar? Leave a comment and share your most successful pull marketing techniques.

Remember the movie The Sixth Sense?  Do you remember the last time you were surprised by an ad or a blog post?  By using surprise, you have a better shot at being memorable and standing out amongst the cacophony of messages bombarding us daily.

Roy H. Williams , the Wizard of Ads, teaches about surprising Broca.  Broca is the part of the brain that anticipates the predictable and discounts it.  It’s like a filter that only wants to show you new and relevant information.

One way of using surprise is begin your writing by knowing how you want to end the story first.  Then actually start writing your message in an unexpected or unrelated place.  Then find a way to tie it in with your unexpected ending.  The reader winds up in a place they never expected.

I haven’t read a better example of using surprise than this blog post in a long time.  I can’t get his message out of my mind.

Surprise is a tool that any marketer should know like the back of their hand.  It is one of the things we can teach you a bit about when you work with us.

It’s fun, but what is more fun is getting better results.

Topics for so much speculation. So many regrets. So many opportunities lost, realized, capitalized, squandered. Bubbles burst, new ones forming.

Seismic shifts in the financial world and along the communications fault lines have led many of us to wonder where we go from here? Not just with our retirement funds or mortgage payments, our message platforms or information-gathering, but in overall terms of business, which still remains the focus of our lives.

If we’re in business, we need to build business. With the shifting technologies, attention-span deficits, and the thousands of viral fingers trying to touch us, however, just where do we spend our marketing dollars? Where do we focus time and energy?

Hmm. Social media? Sounds good. But where? Twitter. Or yet another emerging growth platform?

Banner Ads? Maybe. But what’s the click-through rate? Are they passé?

Blogs? Who’s going to write them? How do I draw traffic? What should I say?

In effect: What should I do?  Should I outsource, should I not?  Should I write more, should I write less?  Video or no video?  What is the best strategy to get your message out in a BIG way?

Well, I believe the way to go is through collaboration and execution. That is, get clear about the information landscape. At Prosper Now, publicity maven Michael Drew will speak to the new information age, the way the world has changed in barely the blink of a cosmic eye.

Mike will tell you about where society has come from, where it’s been, where it’s going and how to get there. He’ll outline ways in which you can identify for yourself the valuable things within you and your company that you can deliver, which can have an impact not only on your own future, but your family, your neighborhood and your larger community.

Who’s Mike? Well, he’s a book promoter par excellence – and helped launch 64 books onto national bestseller lists. He’s also helped emerging thought leaders develop their message – and send it out there to build their business.

Once you know what is going on, we have a Strategy Panel led by Michael Gerber of E-Myth Worldwide that will give you step-by-step instruction to getting your message out to a targeted audience, and creating systems to outsource, build teams and grow.

Did you create a job for yourself?  Are you really an entrepreneur?  Or as Michael Gerber puts it, you have fallen into an “entrepreneurial seizure”?  The two Michaels will help you see the way more clearly toward realizing your strengths, crafting your message and making sure it reaches the right audience.

“Welcome to our little site.  Is this the first time you’ve visited?”

A lot of web sites ask such questions  of their visitors – even if not directly.  Some do it by routing folks to the same introductory page every time.  Which would be fine if all visitors were first timers. But if many aren’t, it’s redundant.  Its like a stupid robot.  Which just might bounce a hard-earned visitor.

But I’ll assume you know that.  It’s  why you probably cookie someone so you know to hit them with something different when they return.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  Altering your delivered content in cooler ways that anticipate the wants of your users based on prior activity can lower bounce rates, increase conversions and just plain seem smarter and more genuine.

For example, when I rewrote the Universal Studios Orlando site, I noticed that their big fancy website was treating all prospective online ticket buyers the same.  That’s was a real problem because unlike Disney World, Universal Studios gets a lot of twenty and thirtysomethings visiting to drink and party.  So we created personas reflective of the disparate parties, and others for the kids and families going on vacations, and delivered targeted content to each before we asked them to buy tickets.  We quickly doubled online ticket sales.

Why?  Because we anticipated the questions and concerns of different types of visitors and delivered targeted content based on their behavior.

Are you doing the same?  Probably not, huh?

Why?  I’m guessing its for one of a few reasons

1)    its too hard

2)    it s too time consuming

3)    its too expensive

The Internet is running amok, shattering book industry tenets faster than the steroid mongrels are shattering baseball records. Worldwide book tours are taking place from the comfort of home. Publishers are publishing authors they’ve never even met. First-time authors are self-publishing their way onto bookstore shelves.

Congratulations, fellow bookworms! You have officially been empowered!

So what will you do now that the (virtual) world is your oyster? Are you ready to reach in and grab your pearl? If so, here are a handful of resolutions (in no particular order) that you should consider making immediately, if not sooner:

1. Build a Website. They’re the business cards of the 21st century, and by not having one, you’re broadcasting to the world that you are behind the times. Millions of readers surf the “Net” every day, actively seeking out breaking waves of information and entertainment. Do you want to be the one to provide it, or would you rather it be someone else?

2. Start a Blog. Yes, I think the word sounds silly, too, but there’s nothing silly about seizing the opportunity to communicate via the most efficient word-of-mouth device in existence today. Show up with something valuable to say, and you’ll exchange more links than a Bob Evans grill cook.

3. Create a Gravity Well. If you’re not familiar with the concept, picture a tornado funnel lined with a descending staircase that wraps around and winds down. With each step, a person is pulled deeper into your world before finally arriving at your ultimate point of conversion. For example, a website visit that leads to a newsletter subscription that leads to a seminar attendance that leads to a book purchase.

4. Be Real. Plastic-coated phoniness is out. Consumers have been gorged on hype for so long that they’ve become ravenous for substance. Don’t hide behind hollow promises and regurgitated mission statements—give them what they want. You won’t believe how attractive your naked vulnerability is to today’s generation.

5. Have Fun. Need I say more?

Hey, it’s your world. The rest of us are just livin’ in it. Have a Happy Career Year.

Questions about how to use technology to build a platform may be directed to Michael R. Drew at the Austin, Texas, headquarters of Promote A Book: 512-858-0040. You can also contact Michael via email at michael@promoteabook.com.

First, both blog advertising and email advertising reach targeted audiences. A blog has a well-defined niche, as does a good email newsletter. They are both voluntary in that no one is forced to read a blog or sign up for an email list. This makes the targeted readers also willing participants. If your book is something that interests either the blog visitors or the email newsletter subscribers, then your ad has a good chance of catching the eye of your customer. Certainly, that is a better chance than persuading tough-as-nails bookstore buyers through pre-pub journals or actually reaching your reader through general newspaper ads.

BLOG ADVERTISING

If you have considered blogs in your marketing plan, good for you. Blogs just may be the most powerful way to market. There are lots of ways to market with blogs, but for now we’ll just cover advertising. If you read a blog and notice they have advertising, you can probably figure out how to advertise with them. If not, try these blog advertising options and in very short order you can have a blog ad campaign running.

b5media
With more than 290 blogs, 15 vertical channels and over 10 million unique visitors a month, b5media offers advertisers a large, loyal and growing audience for companies looking to promote their brands and products. For more information, click here.

Federated Media
Federated Media sites generate more than 365 million page views every single month across a small portfolio of hand-picked, leading independent sites. You can see rates right on the site and even launch your date-specific campaign by hand selecting on which sites you want to advertise. Find out more here.

Blog Ads
The original blog advertising service. Compare blog traffic and ad prices on 1500 of America’s most influential blogs or handpick blogs from among more than fifty niches. More can be found here.

EMAIL ADVERTISING

In addition to sending out your own email newsletter, you should consider placing advertising in other email newsletters. This is a great way to expand your audience. The best place to start is newsletters you already receive. If other folks are advertising in them, so can you.

If your book targets a business audience is in one of the following industries you should look into advertising in one of the SmartBrief email newsletters. Industries covered: Aerospace and Defense, Business, Construction, Distribution, Education (K-12), Energy, Finance, Food/Consumer Products, Health Care, Hotel and Lodging, Real Estate, Manufacturing, Retail, Telecom/Media, and Travel. It is not cheap to advertise here, but if you are reaching your exact B2B target audience, it may be worth it. Check into SmartBrief here.

Resource for Ad Design
If you need someone to design the ad graphics for you to use, I can recommend BannersMall.com. I’ve used their services before and they are very affordable, fast and the ads look amazing.

One Last Thought
Since you’ll be doing online advertising, the call to action in your ads will be to go to your website. A click on the ad should take them right to where they can learn everything they need to know about your book to make a buying decision. Your site must be selling books for you to see any results. Make sure that you have a strong conversion rate before launching an ad campaign. If you don’t know what that means, read this article to get started.