By Jessica Albon

Just recently, a good friend and colleague, Justin Hitt published a report on lead generation strategies in his newsletter, Inside Strategic Relations. It got me thinking about what a great tool a newsletter can be for lead generation, if you do it right.

So, what’s involved with using your newsletter to generate leads? Three things: 1) Qualifying; 2) Serving; and 3) Engaging.

Qualifying Leads Through Your Newsletter

This first step is subject to lots of debate. There are many out there who argue that since sending an email newsletter is practically free (per subscriber, anyway), you might as well collect as many names as possible.

They argue against asking for anything on your subscribe form beyond an email address. And it’s true that this approach will get you the highest percentage of conversion from website visitors to subscribers.

But, does this approach really serve your audience?

Raise your hand if you’ve ever subscribed to a newsletter just to get the freebie they were offering. That’s what I thought :-). I know I’ve done it.

And what does it get you? A cluttered computer desktop with pdf files piled high and no time to read a single one of them. Worse, it gets you a flooded email inbox as people try to convert you from casual subscriber to customer.

In short, you wind up with less time and more computer clutter. Not good.

And that’s what you do to your subscribers when all you ask for is an email address. They sign up just to get the freebie (or because they’re visiting dozens of sites on the same topic to do research). And then they get overwhelmed with information.

It’s your job to serve your subscribers, not indiscriminately add them. You may think it’s up to your subscribers to protect their email inboxes. But, face it, you know more than they do–they’ve come to you, in fact, because you know more than they do. So, they rely on YOU to tell them whether or not they should subscribe.

And one of the ways you tell them is by qualifying them.

If you have a relatively well-niched newsletter, you may not need to do much qualifying. For instance, when people visit The Write Exposure’s site and sign up for Newsletters in Focus, they’re clearly interested in newsletters as a marketing tool–which is a pretty small audience.

But, if your newsletter covers a topic of more general interest, you’ll need to help potential readers decide if your newsletter’s right for them.

You can do this in a variety of ways. You can ask personal questions (household income, that sort of thing), you can offer an assessment, you can write a “If you meet these criteria, then you’ll enjoy our newsletter” list.

You can also add questions to your form that you don’t strictly need answered, but that make readers pause before blindly entering their email address and clicking “subscribe.”

For instance, at The Write Exposure’s site, we ask for your first name and general location. We don’t absolutely need this information (though we do require it), but asking for it makes potential subscribers hesitate a moment to make sure they really do want to sign up.

Now, how does protecting your potential subscriber’s best interests (and preventing them from recklessly jumping on to your list) make them into better leads for you?

Serve Your Subscribers to Your Utmost Ability

By qualifying your subscribers well, by protecting them from more inbox clutter, you’re demonstrating that you value your time. And that’s a powerful statement in a world that’s cluttered by constant advertising.

So, by simply going about the qualification process right, you’re already well on your way to serving your readers.

How else can you serve readers?

It starts by giving them information they truly need. That they can’t find elsewhere (or at least, not easily).

For some audiences, that means conducting surveys and sharing the results. For other audiences, that might mean running case studies. For still others, writing from your personal experience about what works, and what doesn’t.

You also serve your readers by being fully present. When you ask for feedback, and readers deliver, how do you respond? (Or have you already forgotten your request?)

You serve readers by checking in with them regularly. And by answering their questions when they write you. Each month, I spend about 10 hours answering NIF readers’ questions. Unpaid.

And I cherish that time.

Not only does it keep me in touch with what my readers most want to learn about, but it also helps me connect with you on an individual basis. To see you, not as reader number 12,348, but rather as a specific person.

And that’s crucial in the impersonal world of email.

You also serve your readers by giving them gifts. Whether that’s your time throughout the month, extra reports, special discounts, or even photos of your kids. Letting readers into your life and sharing parts of yourself can be a powerful way to serve.

Finally, you serve by creating products and services that address readers’ needs. And by charging for those products and services (after all, if you don’t charge, you’ll be hard pressed to find the time to continue to create :-)). And it’s this final level of service that leads us to the final step in using your newsletter as a lead generation tool: Engagement.

Engage Your Readers to Convert Them

One of the steps in the Newsletter Coach program is to create your absolute, most powerful, best, knock-me-over-with-a-feather-it’s-so-good offer. This offer must be so powerful, so perfect, that your readers can’t resist it.

By creating such an offer, you’ll get your readers responding. Even if they just write to offer feedback on what else they’d like added (as several of you responded to the Newsletter Spa program).

See, readers can’t resist an irresistible offer. Even if it’s not quite what they’re looking for.

So, make sure you close the loop of lead generation by creating truly powerful offers and OFFERING them to your readers.

Other (equally important) ways to engage your readers include asking them for feedback. Responding to their questions. Asking them questions of your own. (Do you occasionally visit new subscriber’s websites? Share some positive feedback!)

With an email newsletter, it’s easy for you to feel like you’re not really talking to anyone in particular. Especially as your list grows. But the reality is, your newsletter is a highly personal message delivered to just one person–your reader.

So, engage that reader. Strike up a dialog. And keep it going.

Following these three steps will help you generate a higher quality lead from your website. Give it a try and let me know how it goes!