There are many different techniques you can try to increase your subscribers; if you plan to have a large list of subscribers and continue to grow that over the long-terms then you do need to have an auto-responder or email marketing system that will allow you to connect with your readers in a more dynamic way than RSS feeds does.

My favorite happens to be Aweber. Aweber allows you to easily personalize emails to subscribers. If you look to the right you’ll see that I ask for your name and email using an opt-in form or web forms as they are often called. Aweber recently unleashed new fancy looking templates for web forms that you can customize without needing to know any HTML code at all.

One of the great things about those forms is that you have the choice of posting them to your website like I have done here but you can literally send a link via twitter, facebook, email, etc. with just the web form. *No need to create a new web page to get susbcribers on yourlist! *How cool is that right? Here’s a video that demonstrates how it works:

Now back to helping your grow your list of subscribers…

Really one of the best ways is to increase your subscribers is to offer something valuable for FREE. I know you probably give tons of great information for free already in your blog posts. But let’s face it, don’t we all like free stuff especially when they’re valuable? For example, one of the things that have really worked for me is  offering free teleseminars and online workshops where people who are interested to sign up provide their name an email address. You can do the same or offer things like coupons, special offers, free reports, audio recordings, etc. for your website or blog. It’s really up to you and what your audience is interested in.

You can do all of this with Aweber. In fact, it’s a great system to have as part ofyour marketing strategy because it helps you to stay in contact regularly with your subscribers; you can send out customized newsletters, broadcast messages, links to your blog, and even RSS feeds to your readers. You can use this same system for an endless amount of email lists for any number of websites. What I especially like about it is the analytics, you can see what the open rate it, click-through rate, etc. and even conduct testing to see what images, headlines, etc. works best.

The Aweber team is also very resourceful and they teach you a lot about email marketing, they’re one of the best if not THE best in the industry. While setting up RSS feeds are free, Aweber will cost you, $19/month but in my opinion it’s worth the investment. What do you think?

P.S. To try Aweber out for $1, go to http://www.thecurvycoach.com/aweber scroll to the bottom of the page and you’ll see the special offer.

Guest Post by Adriana Copaceanu

If you are in the process of starting an online business, you need to do your research before anything else. Your research needs to include all types of metrics: what services/products you will provide, where are you going to get them, what business model you’ll be using (drop-shipping, affiliate marketing, your own products), how you’ll reach your target market, etc.

But one of the most important things you need to do before thrusting into the online business, is keyword research. You need to make sure people are searching for what you want to offer. You need to make sure there are enough searches daily to make it worth your while.

So today, I’ll do the research for you, so you can see how it’s done: of course, when you build a business you’ll need to do more in-depth keyword research, but this is a start. Today’s free niche research will be for plus size wedding dress.

Resources

You’d want to check out some wedding magazines, and even fashion magazines. You should set up a Google Alert for each of your keywords to give you a starting point for your content.

Also, if possible, find a couple wedding forums, and you’ll sure find some plus size brides discussing/planning their wedding. Get involved, as much as possible in those forums.

Possible Affiliate Programs
Amazon.com has plus size wedding gowns, plus size wedding dress, plus size wedding dresses under 100, and more.

CJ.com & shareasale.com are alternative places to find merchants offering affiliate programs. You can also go to Google and search for “plus size wedding dress” + “affiliate program” and you may find some merchants that offer their affiliate program in house.

Monetization Suggestions

AdSense is not very strong for this niche, but you can always add it in for more revenue. If you create a product site, I suggest you don’t add AdSense on the product pages: you can always add it to the informational pages of your site.

Affiliate programs are perfect for this niche, and of course, if you want to have a brick and mortar store you can do drop shipping. Again, make sure you research all the options before you make your final decision as to what you’ll be doing.

Here are some domains available for this niche at this time:

PlusSizeWeddingDress.biz with 40,500 exact searches/month.

PlusSizeWeddingGown.org, .biz & .info: with 2,900 exact monthly searches

PlusSizeWeddingGowns.biz & .info with 8,100 exact searches

CheapPlusSizeWeddingDresses.net, .org, .biz & .info: 40,500 exact searches monthly.

DiscountPlusSizeWedding3resses.com .net, .org, .biz & .info, with 1,300 searches a month: how about that?

InformalplusSizeWeddingDresses.com, net, .org, .biz & .info, with 1,300 exact searches a month.

PlusSizedWeddingDresses.net, .org, .biz & .info get 590 exact searches a month.

WeddingDressesPlusSizes.com, .net, .org, .biz & .info get 590 exact searches a month.

CheapPlussizeWeddingDress.com, .net, .org, .biz & .info get 260 exact searches a month.

There are lots of opportunities for you to make some money in this niche, and some very good domain names. Even though the last few domains don’t have a lot of searches daily, they are very focused, and those searching are probably ready to buy. Have questions? Feel free to ask in the comments below, and I’ll do my best to help you.

Adriana blogs about her Online Business Journey and because she loves doing keyword research, she is offering this service at her site.

 1. Which area of the plus size market should I explore?

Maybe you already own your own online plus size clothing boutique and would like to determine if selling plus size evening gowns are a great addition to your business. Maybe you sell workout DVDs on your website and would like to identify if selling plus size workout gear is worth it. The key is to select a niche that you have interest in and would make sense for your business.

2. Are your customers looking for it online?

Now that you’ve selected your niche, let’s see if your leads and customers are already searching for this particular product. You can use Google’s Keyword Tool or the Free Wordtracker tool as outlined in this post. Type in the terms relevant to your niche and evaluate the number of searches for those terms. Don’t get too hung up on the numbers, a better way to think of what the numbers means to your business is “Based on the number of  searches, how many opportunities are there for me to sell this product? How competitive is it for me to sell this product?

3. What existing resources are available within your niche?

Are there articles, news topics, blog posts, magazines, etc. that are relevant to your chosen niche? I like using Google Alerts which aggregates content based on specific terms. If there are a few websites and content on your particular niche, that will help you to better understand what people are interested in and how it can potentially fit into your business. It will also serve as a reference for networking opportunities and content creation should you decide to commit to this niche. 

4. Is it profitable?

Next step is to figure out if the product is readily available and are already sold by different merchants and affiliates. If so, that’s a good indication that there is money to be made with those products. Another key thing to look for is the number of ads. If there are ads promoting those products of interest that is also a great sign. To test profitability, consider recommending or reviewing existing products to see if you can make a few sales.

5. Survey your customers

Last but certainly not least is to connect with your customers and see if there’s a need for that particular product or service. This is the best market research you can conduct by far; your paying customers are willing to tell you what their needs and wants are.  In fact, there are quite a few who don’t mind telling you their dislikes either
 
Knowledge is power, so now that you have done the preliminary research, it’s up to you to make the decision to build upon this niche and make it a part of your business development plans. In a follow up post, I will feature a special guest who will analyze a very intersting niche – Plus Size Wedding Dresses!

P.S. I invite you to contact me if you’re interested in working together to exploring and monetizing your plus size niche. My goal is to help you succeed in the plus size industry so leave a comment below or send me an email. Can’t wait to hear from you!

Eventbrite is one of the best event planning resources I use and many other solo-entrepreneurs and corporations like CNN and Best Buy use as well. It’s not just your typical event planning tool; it actually helps you to market your plus size events and shows. It has a marketplace that allows you to see events that are happening in a city near you and you can also share your events with the public as well! I searched “plus size” just to see what would pop up and there was a plus size shopping event at Macy’s in Austin, TX. Do you see the potential here?

So here’s the beauty of using Eventbrite:

• It’s FREE, you can plan free or paid events using Eventbrite. For your fee-based events, you only pay a very nominal fee based on the number of tickets sold, so no upfront fees. If you’re event is free, then you don’t have to pay to use their service.
• You can create a unique website for your event and even customize it so that it matches your brand. Equipped with a nifty widget, you can also sell tickets or registrations directly from your main website as well. Pretty cool, don’t you think?
• The meat of this tool lies in its promotional capabilities, you can get your events listed on search engines like Google and promote them on social media. It also allows you to send customized email messages as well which is great for email marketing campaigns.
• The intelligence behind Eventbrite is also impressive because you can track your registrations, track where your traffic is coming from, generate waitlists and much more…
• You don’t have to stress about handling payments either as you can collect money through PayPal, Google Checkout, and with major credit cards

It’s very user-friendly even if you’re not an event planning company. So if you’re planning an event or need a checklist of how to promote your next plus size event then take advantage of this free tool that is designed to “help businesses & organizations of all sizes manage, promote and sell-out their events.”

P.S. Plan your next plus size event with Eventbrite and let me know how it turns out!

Naturally as a Business Consultant, I see this gap as another opportunity for bloggers and writers in the plus size community. You’re blogging and writing every day, so why not create your own ebook or report?

For example, if you’re a plus size fashion blogger, put together a bonus report on “Top Trends in Plus Size Clothing & Where to Get Them”. Now wouldn’t that be something your readers would value and appreciate? Yes! You’re probably saying that you could write that in a blog post…I know. But there is something special about putting together a report whether it’s free or for $10, it typically has more perceived value than a blog post.

So the resource that I highly recommended to Vanessa is appropriately called Write That Report! It’s quick and easy to read, resourceful, action-oriented, and it’s only $7. I’m currently using it to get a few reports off the ground this month and it helps to keep me on track. The best thing about this guide is that you can actually become an affiliate and earn the $7 right back when you refer to others who purchase. Talk about the 100% ROI!

Still not convinced you should write a report? Let me give you just a few reasons to consider: 

• Your own report helps to position you as an authority in your niche, it’s a great platform to share your knowledge and educate your audience
• Your own report is a great way to stand out from all the other plus size bloggers out there
• Your own report will show that you care enough to provide additional value to your customers. Even if you were to compile some of your best & most popular blog posts so that your message can be easily shared in one neat package, it’s worth it!
• Your own report can be an additional income stream, you can put a price tag on it if you like, you can add affiliate links to the report, or you can recruit affiliates to promote your report as well.
• Your own report can be used as a way to build your contact list and generate leads. 

If those reasons aren’t good enough, then don’t buy. However, if this is something you would like to do then download this report and follow it step-by-step, it’s worth the $7 

P.S. Would you like to work together on a report for your business or blog? Comment below or Let’s Connect to make it happen!

As a plus-size business owner, you are positioned well as a great niche with lots of profit potential. While your existing products and services may be your main source of business income, one of the best ways to add an additional stream of income is through affiliate programs.

What is an affiliate?

An affiliate is also known as a reseller, or someone who promotes products and services for business owners, companies, or advertisers in exchange for a commission on leads or sales. The affiliate will display an advertiser’s link or graphic to their products or services on their websites, blogs, or email campaigns. So once the visitor clicks on the link or ad and takes action (i.e. make a sale, or submit their contact info.), the affiliate is paid a commission.

What are the benefits to having an affiliate program?

• You have the ability to leverage affiliates who are looking for niche products that sell well. For example, plus size dresses, plus size lingerie, plus size wedding dresses, etc. are quite attractive to the savvy niche affiliate marketer. They will gladly market your products for a commission (generally up to 15%).
• You don’t have to pay affiliates any fees upfront. In fact, they do most of the pre-selling for you. They have the ability to use SEO, keyword research, content marketing, product reviews, etc. for you!
• You can supplement or complement your advertising budget; the more marketing channels you have, the better.
• You can build customer loyalty by encouraging your buying customers to become affiliates. They’ve bought your products and hopefully are happy with it, so why not encourage them to earn a few extra bucks by referring your products to their friends and family?
• You can increase sales and reach markets that you may not be able to reach on your own. Plus size bloggers, community leaders, niche affiliate marketers, etc. have the ability to connect with potential customers in a way that you as a business owner may be not be able to due to unforeseen limitations.
• You can track which of your products and services are selling the best and modify your offerings based on real sales data!

What should I do now?

So if you have an affiliate program but haven’t been doing much with it, then I encourage you to get your affiliates motivated and riled up about your products, feel free to put together a special training session so that they can know the ins-and-outs of your offerings and how to navigate your affiliate center to get the appropriate links and graphics.

If you haven’t started an affiliate program then this is something you should definitely have in your Annual Sales & Marketing Plans.

For smaller plus size businesses with few products, I recommend http://www.e-junkie.com  They’re easy to use, affordable, and they’re application process is not as cumbersome as some of the larger affiliate networks.

If you have a large e-commerce site then I recommend you use one of the top 3 most reputable companies:

Commission Junction

LinkShare

ShareASale

As mentioned, these 3 networks are a bit cumbersome and their interfaces are not very intuitive. There is also an application process for the big 3 and you do have to meet specific criteria such as annual sales, number of years selling online, etc. However, they do have lots of great information, support, tips, and tutorials to help you along the way. Please review each of their programs to see which is best for your business. A strong decision maker might be identifying other plus size businesses that are using a specific network.

P.S. What has your experience been with affiliate programs? Have questions or concerns? Please post below, I’m happy to help!

Caribbean vacations are especially enticing for women of larger sizes because it is well known in the islands, the more curves or ‘meat on your bones’, the more attractive you are. A woman who is a size zero would be teased for days and offered meals all day long

I say all this to point out that while there are some exceptions and a few stereotypes to spoil a small bunch, full-figured women are embraced more openly than our state-side counterparts. Combine that with the tropical weather, white sandy beaches, clear waters, and fruity drinks you have one of the most irresistlbe offers yet!

The Caribbean in general is a plus-size friendly place and there are great opportunities for any business owner to tap into a new market outside of the spring break 20 somethings. The plus-size market is  often overlooked within just about every industry you can think of but there’s a potential sweet spot in the travel business. Here are just a couple of travel events that are plus-size friendly:

USA Today recently reported that Hedonism II, a Jamaican resort decided to launch it’s first plus size friendly event “Big on the Beach” this summer where “Full-figured women who feel self-conscious on the sand next to skinny Minnies now can strut their stuff, even in the buff.”

I’ll be hosting a workshop at the Big Beautiful Women Empowerment Cruise coming up at the end of July where you can “leave your cares behind and sail to Grand Cayman Island and Ocho Rios, Jamaica for an excursion filled with informative seminars, fun, liberation and self awareness to help develop a stronger love and appreciation for the skin your in! ”

Business Opportunities: If you’re in the travel business, consider putting together vacations for the larger men and women who would like to frolic freely without being scrutinized or criticized for their size. Carnivals are a great time of year for people of all shapes and sizes to frolic and have a good time together.

If you sell summer clothing for big and tall men, this is a great opportunity for you to set yourself apart. For plus women, flattering and beautiful swimsuits, coverups, in addition to comfortable shorts are often hard to find in larger sizes. So ramp up your marketing for fun and flirtly summer dresses that are easy to wear and travel with as they will be in demand as well. Scuba diving gear in larger sizes could be a great niche as well.

If you’re a nutritionist or physical trainer then you can put together a guide of how one can enjoy the foods they love and participate in fun activities to stay healthy during vacations.

Thinking about applying these opportunities to your business, Let’s Connect to see what works best for you.

P.S.  What do you think of size-friendly vacations? Please share your thoughts below!

Lisa Price of Carol’s Daughter has been a household name for many years and her brand has expanded well beyond her kitchen table days. You can now see her regularly on HSN where her products are highly praised and always sell out. Her product lines are carried in Sephora, Macy’s, and many beauty salons across the nation.

The golden tidbits she shares in this short and sweet dialogue will give you insight on who Lisa Price is as a woman and as a successful business owner. Enjoy!

What is the best part about running your business? What keeps you going?

My favorite part of my business is making product.  I LOVE it.  If I could do that all day, I would.  My children keep me going.  Their love is so unconditional and all encompassing and they just make me smile at the end and beginning of every day.

What is the most challenging part about running your business?

Keeping up with everything.  There is so much going on that there are times when I feel overwhelmed and behind the eight ball.

What made you transition from being a kitchen table operation to a full blown company?

I grew my company organically for the most part and when I expanded I knew that it was the right time because I could not continue the way that I was at that particular point.  You get to a point where you grow or you die.

What were some of the fears you had to overcome to make that big leap?

I am still overcoming them.  The fear puts that fire in your belly.  The most tangible example I can think of is when I go on HSN and I am nervous about being called.  I have nightmares of the phones not ringing and the sound of birds whistling as people stare at the phones.

Who was your first employee?

Official on the books employee and not friends and fam helping out?  Myself and my husband.

How important is it for you to have mentors for your business?

For me, very.  However, my mentors were not necessarily in my business nor people to whom I had access.  I had and have mentors from afar.  I study them, read up on them and learn.

It is said that starting a business is one of the best personal development tools; did you ever have to deal with size acceptance as you grew your business?

Yes and no.  I was accepted but I didn’t feel quite right.  I have recently lost a lot of weight.  I am still plus-sized but healthier and more confident.  It was standing in my way from an energy standpoint.  There’s a lot of work to be done and if you are not healthy, you can’t keep up.

What business opportunities if any, do you see for women in the plus size community?

Whatever they want to do.  We should never let size or someone else’s impression of us alter what we do in life.  If you are happy, do you.  If you are not, fix it and then do you.

You have a product line for Disney, products carried by Sephora, a segment on HSN, and celebrity spokespersons, how do you choose who to associate with your brand?

The person or venue has to be authentic and something or someone in whom I believe.

What are your goals for The Back Room Hand & Foot Spa? Will it evolve to a full-service spa with body massages, facials, etc?

One day, it may.  But for right now, I want to make those basic services we all need something decadent and pleasurable and not so perfunctory.

Where will Lisa Price the mogul be 5 years from now?

I don’t know about “mogul,” but Lisa Price will be an even bigger success on HSN, more of a household name and still creating new and exciting product that stays relevant.  And, my favorite place to be will still be the kitchen.

Would you like to share any words of wisdom to my curvy readers who are thinking about or have existing businesses?

Be strong.  Know who you are and what you bring to the table.  For the things you don’t know, don’t sweat it.  Get someone who does.  You can only do you.  You can’t do you and everybody else.

Lisa P.

Special thanks to Ms. Lisa Price for taking time out of her busy schedule to interview with me. I wish you nothing but the best in your future endeavors.

P.S. If you loved this interview, please share your comments below!

P.P.S.  Want to learn more about Lisa? Then you’ll enjoy this article on page 18 of  The Gemini Magazine, an online plus size magazine I contribute to.

The only major difference is, they’re not monetized or very rarely are they profitable. So as I was brainstorming, the first thing that came to mind was the ‘tribes’ concept made popular by best-selling author and marketer Seth Godin. Then my brain started churning some more…who is best at building a community AND making money? Can you guess? Celebrities!

So if your goal is to have a thriving community of people who are excited to invest in your products and services, then here are some strategies you can use to grow your plus size community and your income too.

Expose Yourself

• Celebrities are always making guest appearances on TV, radio, on social media sites. It seems like everywhere you turn, there they are in the limelight.
• You can do the same. Incorporate guest blogging, interviews, networking events, hosting your own radio show, etc. to help get the word out about you and your community.

Gather the troops

• Celebrities have fan sites, facebook fan pages, myspace pages, concerts, book signings, etc. where their fans can get a chance to come together and connect with them.
• You can do the same. Your blog, ning groups, facebook groups, etc. are a great way to have a place of like-minded individuals to connect with each other and you too. The key is to encourage communication amongst the group members outside of the typical 1-to-many and many-to-1 model. Be a resource but also be a connector.

Put the troops to work!

• Celebrities are always asking you to vote for them here, donate to this here, come out to this event tomorrow. You get the idea.
• You can do the same. Some of the most exciting communities allow the members to advertise, share their website, submit comments/videos, vote on a poll, etc. Make your group as interactive as possible and give them the tools they need to keep the momentum going. For example, make sure to have the link, directions, and rules when it comes to voting for a particular topic.

Launch Products

• Celebrities launch clothing lines, perfumes, DVDs, CDs, toys, etc. to add multiple streams of income.
• You can do the same. You can create t-shirts, caps, information products, bags, etc. that really helps to bond the group and also build your brand. Fraternities and sororities are a great example of what it’s like for a group of people to own products that represent the community they belong to.

This is a proven model that works well for celebrities but it can work for you too. Like I said, many entrepreneurs do this successfully today and have jazzed it up as growing your  “tribes” and “membership sites” but the essentials remain the same.

P.S. Do you need help implementing these strategies for your community? Then send me an email or comment below! I’m happy to help!