Wahoo! I was just chatting with Bob Thompson, Publisher and Editor of CRMGuru.com, and he said that he changed his home page after being inspired by a Case Study we ran last Fall on Reader's Digest's new console-style home page. I was dying to know how that idea would work for another publisher, because it's heavily influenced our own site redesign, which is now underway. Bob said that his changes improved his visitor opt-ins by 30%!!!
Bob currently gets about 5,000 new opt-in subscribers per week. Most are mid-level managers in corporate America. Despite losses from corporate lay-offs, his circ is at 115,000. He thinks it's kind of funny that as a self-described "shy guy who's not really a journalist" that he's becoming one of the most influential business journalists around. His motto: "Speak softly and carry a big email list."
