A couple of weeks ago I gave a short talk on building your newsletter lists with barter co-registration.
That is to say, when someone signs up for my newsletter, I list some other newsletters they might be interested in on my site's thank-you page. People can simply check a box next to the other newsletters they want to receive, click one button, and they're done.
The publishers I partner with do the same for me, listing my Excess Voice newsletter on their sign-up thank-you pages.
No money changes hands. And I'm careful about the publishers I partner with. I only want to recommend good content. I imagine my co-registration partners feel the same way.
Does it work? Does it ever.
Over the last year over 30% of my newsletter's new subscribers have come via co-registration.
Now for the surprising part: At the beginning of my talk I asked everyone in the audience whether they had any kind of co-registration program in place for their own newsletter.
Out of an audience of several hundred, maybe 10 people raised their hands.
Don't be shy about entering into partnerships
Newsletter co-registration is just one example of the kind of partnerships you can enter into as a Web site publisher.
It's a great way to start, but there's more you can do too.
How about some content swaps?
All the articles on the Excess Voice site are written by me, but over on my other site, FreelanceWritingSuccess.com, I regularly invite other writers to contribute.
Not just any writers. But writers who I feel have something valuable to add. One way or another, we figure out some way in which I can give something back to them. Like co-registration, it's a barter thing.
Separately, during my day job at MarketingExperiments.com I publish short pieces which I invite just a few other marketing sites to add to their own content pages. They get some free, quality content. And we get a few more links back to our site.
Even a careful linking strategy is a form of partnership.
The one common thread... choose your partners carefully
There are numerous ways in which to partner with other companies and organizations.
First, you have to establish that the barter makes sense for both parties. You need to offer each other a value that is more or less equal.
Next, you need to choose your partners carefully.
When you enter into a partnership, you are endorsing that partner. And that impacts your own brand... as an individual or as a company.
There are numerous newsletters written for copywriters with which I could form a partnership. But I don't, because I don't want to recommend those newsletters. They don't fit with my own feelings and values when it comes to writing and marketing. And their publishers and writers probably feel the same way about me and my newsletter.
Finally, if you can, partner with people you know. If you don't know them yet, get to know them. A good partnership will also involve ongoing communication, whether by email or phone.
Concluding thoughts
Partnerships bring you new visitors and new subscribers. There is tremendous potential here. But few companies seem to take full advantage of this opportunity.
The best place to start, in my view, is to form some newsletter co-registration partnerships, simply because it is so effective.
Then explore other ways in which you can barter with your most promising partners.
Note: For my own newsletter co-registration I use a company called Co-Reg Complete, which I reviewed a few months ago.
