I was on a website the other day and was asked to sign up for the webmaster's ezine. Having a subscribe page and a way to get people's email addresses on your site is fine and, of course, good marketing. But the webmaster made it sound like the newsletter was worth $399, but that I was one of the lucky ones who would get it for free.
Well, I make a newsletter that I think is pretty good, so what would I value it at? Certainly not $399, and I wouldn't know what to value it at, since only the subscriber knows how much the ezine they get is worth to them. So how is it that this other ezine is worth $399?
And what about all these ebooks that seem to be worth $47, $97, or more when resold? Who will buy these ebooks when the same ebooks are given away for free everywhere you look? You know the ones: "Million Dollar Emails," "Scientific Advertising," "Magic Letters," and so on.
Many websites and sales pages will try to get you to buy their product by giving you a bunch of bonuses that are worth hundreds of dollars but are just the same ebooks over and over again. Even though some of these ebooks are worth reading, they no longer have any real value because you can get them for free everywhere.
If you want someone to sign up for your newsletter or buy your product or service, you need to give them something of real value—something they can't get anywhere else, or at least not for the price you're asking.
If you make a newsletter or report, don't give it a fake value that you can't back up. We're so used to getting free stuff, bonuses, and extras that they don't really work anymore. If you want to stand out, you need to be different. Stick to real quality and real value, and you will get subscribers, sales, and signups.
