The invisible blog (and why it might work)

In the last issue of THE EDGE, I talked about building up a premium subscription email newsletter. Essentially, email blogging… but done better.

But, we all know that building an email list is a pretty big deal. Thing is…

A lot of bloggers end up creating some of their best stuff and it sits there on the blog. Out in the open. Anybody can find it.

Not only that, but you’re going to have a LOT of people who will come to your site, check out the blog, browse around a bit and then…. leave.

So, here’s an idea that I recently came across somebody else doing. It sorta goes along with the idea of creating an awesome email subscriber community. And it is this…

Do not actually show the blog on your blog.

Hehe… I bet that deserves an explanation. So, here it is…

You can have a blog, but don’t actually show it to people who casually arrive on your site. In other words, no blog posts on your homepage. No “blog” in your nav menu. Instead, those posts would only be viewable via a direct link.

So, if your content is hidden like that, what is your site?

Well, the focus of your site would be the email optin. Essentially, you’re selling them on the benefits of being an email subscriber. Your homepage is an email optin page. Essentially, you’ve got the 4-page site that I mentioned in the last issue.

When you publish new content, you publish it to your blog. However, there are only two ways people would see it:

• Being an email subscriber.
• Being a member of your community on social media.

When you publish a post, you email it and share it. That’s it. But, your site has no public index page, no category structure, etc. Your blog posts are just… pages.

Every blog post ends with a solid call to action to opt in to stay connected.

If people share your content on social media, then great.

But, the focus on the main site will be to subscribe.

Now, if you want to give your email subscribers a reason to be subscribed and not just follow you on social media, then just give them a reason. It could be:

• Exclusive bonuses to email subscribers.
• Access to content upgrades to your content that social followers won’t get
• They’ll get access to it earlier than the social media community

So, you’re building a nice email list. You’re giving people a real reason to be a follower. It is a sort of low friction gateway to your content without them just being able to freely surf your stuff on your blog.

Always remember… a blog doesn’t always have to look like a blog.

It is OK to shake things up.