(First written 5/17/11) So Oprah says she's leaving.
I bet, like Arnold Schwarzenneger, she'll be back.
In the meantime, let's learn from what Oprah has done really well and how we can emulate her to grow our businesses.
If you visit her site, you'll notice plenty of photos, colors, and opportunities to both shop and sign up for her newsletter.
You should do the same.
Without getting into too many specifics on this quick post, focus on how she so eloquently and artfully invites you into her world. (I actually learned a few things from her this morning, and I've instructed my web designer to incorporate what I learned into the site here by next week. Stand by for more detailed instructions and reviews!)
Oprah knows the value of building a big list.
Even with her huge audience that views her TV show, she (and we) are in much more control when we have the full contact info of our viewers/fans/prospects. (Social media marketing expert Jay Baer agrees and gives great advice on email marketing in this episode of The Sales Podcast.
What are you doing to build a huge prospect list, and how are you communicating with them in a timely, relevant manner to engage them, build trust with them, and eventually earn their business?
For starters, I invite visitors to my site to receive my Weekly Whisper.
It's a simple email newsletter I send out with sales, marketing, and inspirational ideas, as well as reminders of upcoming training sessions, interviews, product launches, etc.
Affiliate marketing is one of the little-known secrets in the online community.
When you find a good company with a good product that you can stand behind, sign up for their affiliate program (all the good ones are free) and start earning 3%-100% commissions on things visitors to your site buy. (Become my affiliate here.)
If you're ready to grow your income, master the techniques of the Queen of Talk TV but get paid while you're doing it by becoming an affiliate of people you like and trust and implementing an automated lead generation and marketing platform like Keap CRM.
You'll be glad you did.
Market like you mean it.
Now go sell something.