Do you feel lost when entrepreneurs applaud email marketing as the best form of marketing? Is your email list as long as the Queen's list in Rumpelstiltskin?

Whether your list is large or small, do you feel as if you don't gain maximum value from your email marketing lists?

If so, then something is wrong. While bigger audiences should follow up with more impact and more returns, even small audiences but highly targeted audiences can provide big value.

But, like many things in business, email marketing is a skill that most entrepreneurs don't have. It's one thing to have a large audience and another to keep them interested in what you have to say.

Keeping that interest is where most businesses run into problems. It's not just about writing a marketing copy and hitting the send button. There is a lot more to email marketing than that, and we would explore that together in this article.

First, let’s take a look at how to make the most out of your long list. There are several things that are so important in email marketing; they can't be ignored. The first of them is the welcome sequence.

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The Welcome Sequence

Congratulations, we have succeeded in adding a subscriber to our email marketing lists. Now, it's time to send them that very first email that begins the virtual relationship we hope to have with this person.

In every relationship, you need to make an excellent first impression. So we have to make this good. This is where most entrepreneurs make a mistake. They usually send an email that says, “welcome, and thank you for subscribing."

After the welcome email, they begin to send their regular emails to this subscriber. In doing this, they forget something fundamental. The welcome sequence isn't just a single email; it's a series of emails that keep your grabs your subscriber's attention.

Depending on how great your welcome sequence is, your subscriber might find themselves signing up for other services and becoming a raving fan.

Let's face it, the average person with an email is a subscriber on at least fifteen email marketing lists. With this statistic, the goal is to stand out, to be the one whose email is anticipated every day and responded to.

The Welcome Sequence is the place to make a lasting first impression. This email campaign should have about 3 to 6 emails in it. You can begin by sending three emails in quick succession once they subscribe. The other emails we can send spaced out over days or weeks.

The first three emails have to be carefully structured to say more with fewer words. No one wants to read a term paper. The goal is to structure our email in such a way that we welcome our subscriber while giving them an overview of whom we are and the services we offer.

We would also them know what to expect from our emails such as how often they would get an email from us. For better success with the welcome sequence, see what digital marketing strategist, Meera Kothand has to say.

How often is too often?

Now that we have gotten these subscribers hooked on our emails, it's time to keep their interest. In email marketing, this is one of the hardest parts. The marketing copy isn't a problem at this point, rather the frequency at which we send emails is.

How much is too much? Remember that in part of your welcome sequence, you did tell your subscriber what to expect in terms of the frequency with your emails.  

Firstly, with this very new and interested subscriber, we don’t want to disappoint. We want to keep to our word, so if we said once a week, we keep it at once a week until we are ready to change things up.

Although this subscriber knows what to expect from us every week, we still need to find out what works. It isn't just about sending emails; it's about getting a favorable response.

Several studies have been carried out to find out what level of frequency per month brings a maximum response. From the results compiled, 2 to 4 emails per month seem to be the sweet spot.

But if you have more information to give to your subscribers, then you need to send them additional emails. Two to four emails per month aren't the standard. The frequency should depend on the subscribers' response.

When is it time to let a subscriber go and why

In relationships, there comes the point when either partner can see no future.  It's possible that they have tried their very best to breathe back life into this relationship. But nothing seems to be yielding results. At this point, it's time to step back.

This principle also works for the relationship between you and your subscribers. For an active email marketing list, you need to carry out periodic weeding.

We did a deep dive on Cleaning Your Email List here.

Weeding doesn't sound so good, but you have to. So, when and why do we need to let go of some subscribers.

You undergo a weeding exercise on your email marketing list when you notice that your click-through rates are not growing in direct proportionality with your mailing list.

This weeding exercise is one of the red flags that tell you that some people need to go. It could be anything.

It's possible that the old timers aren't too interested anymore and haven't opened our emails in over a year. Or maybe your emails have been sent to the Spam folder and your audience isn’t even seeing them anymore.

Sometimes, it could be that your subscribers have tried and failed to unsubscribe for one reason or the other. Following their failure, they now keep your emails in the spam folder or worse delete them. Ouch! Either way, it's time for a massive cleanup.

You don't need to won't worry about having so many people on your list go out if they aren't contributing. Having a long email list is excellent, but having quality subscribers is better. It's quality over quantity.

But what about the reasons? When you weed your list periodically, you will see better click-through rates and more returns. You're not going to get that if we don't carry out periodic weeding. Just as the analogy implies, getting rid of the weeds allows for more vibrant blooms to grow.

By occasionally weeding your list, you’ll see better results with less effort.

Segmentation

Everyone knows that a more targeted approach yields better results. This approach is where segmentation comes in. Segmentation is nothing more than arranging your email marketing lists based on specific criteria.

Why should there even be segmentation? If you're going to send targeted emails to people, we want to have them in groups. Even if you tried, you can't send specialized emails to every single person. No doubts, it's exhausting and time-consuming.

So arrange your mailing list according to specific criteria. It could be based on demographics, age, or primary interests. The main thing is to send out specially targeted emails to people in an easy a way as possible.

This targeted email gives it a more personal approach. It seems as if you're dealing with issues that affect them personally and not the entire world. The personal approach always works wonders. So a little segmentation now and then would help you achieve that personal angle you're aiming for.

Audience

The audience is the most crucial part of email marketing. Writing the best marketing copy in the entire world makes no sense until it is directed to an audience. In some instances, marketing copies cannot be written until you target a particular audience.

Your audience is the subscribers. The thing about building an audience is that you need to target a particular demographic. This depends on the type of content or services you offer. For instance, we reach out to business and life coaches based on the services we offer.

If we send out marketing emails to pregnant moms in part time jobs, we won't get any response.  This is because the audience does not care about building an online business.

Knowing your target audience and understanding what they need is therefore very important.  Also, you need to create content that impacts your audience and keeps your audiences interested in your emails.

There are several benefits to focusing on your target audience.  One of them is that you save yourself the time that would be spent trying to tailor your copy to reach another audience. Focusing on your target audience also gives you high and improved click-through rates. And that is something you need.

In Summary

To get the most out of your email marketing, start with a robust email welcome sequence. One email alone won’t do it. Then make sure you are consistent with your emailing frequency. It’s also important to clean your list on occasion and make sure you are targeting the right audience.

Like I said before, email marketing is a skill. When you learn its fine points, you can begin to enjoy maximum benefits. Remember, you and your subscribers are in a relationship.

This relationship would help you relate better with them and give you a better chance of keeping them happy and interested in you. And if you can’t manage your list, let Virtual A Team help you get the job done.

Virtual A team does it all, from content creation and managing emails to full management and strategy. We will help make your email list work for you, not the other way around. To learn more about our services, click here.

Do your eyes glaze over when you hear terms like email marketing lists, email opt-in, subscribers, click through rates, and so on. To know them is one thing, to use them successfully is quite different. If you have a business, and I assume you do if you are reading this, then it’s important to have a solid understanding of how to use email marketing.

While email marketing is important to businesses, many people still struggle with it. Why? One reason is that they dislike getting email themselves. And, if you don’t like something, you are less inclined to use that method to market.

Another reason is that people don’t like to write, or they don’t have time. So the idea of creating consistent content for email marketing is daunting.

And finally, there’s the challenge of getting people to subscribe and to be active subscribers.

Are you one of those people who struggle with your email marketing list? Do you get frustrated by the low rate of subscribers your email opt-ins are getting? Is your business one of the few that email marketing doesn't seem to work for?

If you belong to any of the categories above and are ready to throw in the towel, wait just a bit.

Read through this article before making any decisions. In this article, we will look at email opt-ins and how to use them to gain more subscribers.

First, let's take a look at what an email opt-in is and why it is essential to your business.

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What is an email opt-in and why are they important?

An email opt-in is a request. It’s how a business asks permission to send a person email about the business.

This request usually ends up with the business getting the person's email address and their consent to receive emails from them.

Using an email opt-in is important to businesses for several reasons. However, there are two significant reasons.

Email is one of the few things you own in your business. You don’t own your content on social media. And social media can change in a flash. Remember the days when businesses paid to get fans on their Facebook pages? And then Facebook said you’d have to pay to get those same fans to see your posts?

With email, you own that email address until someone opts out.

By using an email opt-in, you are getting permission to send your contact email. This is as opposed to buying lists of email addresses and sending unwanted emails, otherwise known as spam!

Having contacts opt in to your list means they are more likely to read your emails, more likely to engage and far less likely to send your email to the spam folder.

Keeping your emails in the primary inbox is the goal here, and an extensive email marketing list is no good if half of your emails are in the Spam folder.

How does Email Opt-in Work?

At its most basic, an email opt-in is a simple form where your contact adds their email address and clicks submit.

Generally speaking, visitors to your website will see the email opt-ins as a call to action, either a button or pop-up. What they are being called to do is give over their email address. Think of it like those little notes you send to your crushes in grade school did.

This time, instead of a “Would you like to be my girlfriend" note, you have a “Would you like to receive emails from me" message. Email opt-ins also come with a yes button.

All email opt-ins will contain at least two things:

•    A Call to Action Button
•    A request for the subscriber's email address

However, to get even better results an email opt-in should also contain some type of a free gift, also called a lead magnet or freebie.

What is an email opt-in freebie and why is it important?

Look at your email opt-ins as a fishing adventure. When you go fishing, you always have bait with you. That's what email opt-in freebies are -- bait.

We use them to gain people's attention and give them a reason to take action. It’s a form of currency. You give me your email address and I’ll give you something of value.

It works because people love free things and great deals. It's easier to get someone to consent if they know that there is something in it for them.

Having a free offer in your email opt-in really isn’t optional. If you want to grow your list, you have to give something away.

The bigger question isn’t whether or not to have a freebie. The bigger question is, what will I offer as a freebie? Not all freebies are created equal.

Three years ago, I was on a mission to create one freebie a month for the entire year. Out of the 12 freebies I created, only 3 of them performed well. The other 9 received very few (if any) subscribers.

The lesson I learned? It's not just any freebie that works; you have to have the right freebie for the audience you want to attract. You need to have something too irresistible for subscribers to pass up. This brings us to the next step.

How to create a freebie that people will want to subscribe to

A lot goes into creating a freebie for your email opt-in. This is chiefly because it is your ace in the hole - your one chance to lure in a prospective subscriber.

You have to make it so catchy that prospects wouldn't be able to pass it up. The more irresistible your freebie is, the more chances you have of getting a higher turnout.

Remember that email opt-in freebies are your hook and bait all rolled into one. You need to make it too good to pass up.

There are steps to follow in creating a kick-ass email opt-in freebie.

Research Your Audience and Know What They Want

Before you can offer your audience a freebie, you have to know what they want. You can't go fishing with a carrot as bait. You won't catch any fish.

It's essential to know your audience very well so that you can tell what would interest them. The first and most crucial step in creating a great freebie is to know your audience.

This is where the research comes in. Find out who your audience is. Most importantly, find out what are the common problems they deal with?

Armed with this knowledge, you can do more research into the difficulties they face. Use every means available to gain first-hand information that will pay off when your number of subscribers begins to rise.

You can create short questionnaires, carry out polls, or even find out from your subscribers. The bottom line is that you get all the information that you need to know about your audience. Then we plot.

Plot out ways to solve their problems or tips to help them deal with whatever they are going through. These tips and solutions would make up your freebie.

What is more irresistible than the solution to a problem that I've been dealing with for so long?

It's important though that you pick a problem that is common and central. That way, you can have that personal effect where your audience feels as you're focused on them alone.

Keep it useful

While you brainstorm on ideas for your freebie, remember to keep it useful. People are not going to subscribe to an email opt-in with a freebie that isn't beneficial to them. No matter how great the freebie is, if it does not cater to the people's immediate needs, then it's going to be a dismal failure.

For example, let's say you have a website that focuses on therapeutic ways to manage stress. It would not be a good idea to offer an email opt-in freebie like “10 Ways To Live Your Most Adventurous Life".

It won't give you the turnout you want since adventure can often be equated with stress. Your audience is on your website because they need help with managing stress. They are not looking for adventure; they want to manage stress.

However, a freebie that offers them “The one thing you can do right now to manage your stress” is more likely to get them to subscribe. And, by offering them an immediate solution they need to manage stress, you also help them get to a place where they are able and willing to hire you for additional services.

Come up with a solution and create it

The research is the easy part. Coming up with a solution to solve the problems is the tough part. But if you want those subscriber numbers to climb up, then you have to do it. You have to find answers to the questions that your viewers have.

The solution might come in so many different ways.  It could be an ebook that explores several topics, or it could be a document containing a few tips.

There are many tried and tested forms in which your solution can be arranged. Let's take a look at some of the ways you can arrange your solution.

Ebooks

Ebooks or Guides are a common freebie to offer your audience. Just make sure they are short and offer a win.

Webinars

A free webinar, which offers a solution to a general problem, is a great idea. In order for someone to attend, they must first subscribe. Webinars can be a little more work but may be a great option if you love to speak or present.

Tips and Cheat Sheets

Creating a document containing tips or a checklist is another great idea for a solution. These are sometimes the simplest options and create some instant wins. A stress management coach might list the top 5 tips to reduce anxiety. A travel agent might offer a Packing checklist.

Surveys

Another great option is to create a survey or quiz. Let subscribers answer a series (no more than about 5 or 6) questions and share with them the results. For the fitness trainer, this might be what type of fitness would work best for them.

Don’t Skimp on Detail

Your freebie is the first impression your business makes. It should be on brand and well designed. Sending out an unformatted word doc just won’t cut it if your goal is to convert new email subscribers to clients.

Be creative with the wording

After designing your freebie, now it's time to put it out there.

By putting it out there, I mean putting it on your email opt-in page or landing page.

For example, let’s say you are offering your subscribers a pdf document that contains information on how to grow their email marketing lists.

You need to find an engaging way to word your gift so that your target audience would be prompted to click on it. You can have a great email opt-in freebie, but if your wording is clumsy, you will still find it difficult to get subscribers.

The reaction you should expect from your target audience is a “Wow, just what I've been looking for. I need to have this."

Just like the entire email opt-in, the freebie should be short, sweet, and concise. More than that, it should prompt action.

Following the example above, would say; “Having trouble growing your email marketing list? Find out what you're doing wrong".

This can be followed by a call to action button. From the example above, we managed to highlight their problem while offering them a solution to it.

In Conclusion

Email opt-ins can be a great way to grow email marketing lists. This is because they are very successful in converting your traffic. An email opt-in doesn’t just generate subscribers; they generate interested prospects.

Knowing how to use this tool is a must if you want to convert your website traffic successfully. The efficacy of a great email opt-in lies in the freebie.

Before you give up on email marketing, follow the steps outlined in this article. Come up with a great, irresistible freebie and design an email opt-in. You would be surprised at how many people would sign up.

And now that you have your opt-in and lead magnet, you'll want to know what's next! Check out our article, I Have a Lead Magnet, Now What?

To know more about email opt-in freebies, hit us up with your questions. Here at the Virtual A Team, we are dedicated to helping your business grow.

Whether you’ve been working for years to grow your online presence or you’re just starting out, written content is bound to make up a huge percentage of the work you’ll be doing to promote your website. But do you really need to be writing every word or can you hire a writer?

Hiring help online is easier now than it’s ever been before. In this article, we’ll go over the pros and cons of outsourcing your websites written content to freelance writers. Check out these pointers to see if taking on help from a freelancer or content management team sounds like the right move for you. We’ll take a look at the negatives first:

The Potential Downside When You Hire a Writer

Outsourcing can damage your brand if it’s not managed effectively

If you've been running your blog or website for some time, you've probably spent countless hours pumping out glorious content, honing your voice and steadily building a readership that connects with your work on quite a personal level. It'll be very hard to find another writer that'll match your tone a style precisely. So if you have a blog and its main selling point is the unique character and tone of voice in your articles, then letting someone else take the rains is going to be a hard pill to swallow.

Hire someone without being careful enough and the work they produce could end up having a negative impact on your online presence. Did you put in all that work just to have it ruined by someone else's lesser contributions? No dice!

We regularly hire writers here at Virtual A Team. We’ve had stories where articles submitted wreaked with political commentary (a NO go for our brand). There were also the submissions that looked like a mishmash of other articles not relevant to our target audience.

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The Fix

Content management tools like Google Docs will allow you to collaborate with freelancers on projects and pieces of content to ensure you keep a firm grip on the level quality being produced. Google Docs allows people using different computers to access and work on the same document in real time. It makes it easy for editors to leave comments, make adjustments as needed, and share files instantly.

It can take time to find the right fit

This point leads on perfectly from the last one. When you hire a writer to take over your work, expect it to be more of a process than a one-time action. It takes trial and error to find the perfect writer for your project. Expect to have to hire and fire a boatload of prospects before you land one that really ticks all the right boxes.

Every writer tends to have their own style, so it can take a bit of time to train each new writer to understand your brand and write with the tone of voice you’re aiming for. However, most quality writers are flexible and can adapt to your voice with some guidance. In an ideal world, you’d be putting in this initial investment of time to then save bundles of time going forward once the writer is molded to your liking. Find the right writer in the first place and your return on this investment could be long-term and transformational for your business.

Freelancers move on

One of the best things about working with freelancers is how little you owe them. There are no employment contracts to deal with, no benefits to offer, and next to no responsibility on your part. When you need them, they're yours. As soon as you don't, they're gone.

This loose connection is also a double edge sword. You could end up working for months to try and find the right writer, only for them to suddenly decide your project isn't quite right for them anymore, or they could be lured by better options elsewhere.

When it comes to your constant need for content, this stop and start routine can become a new dynamic to worry about in itself.

The Fix

There are, of course, ways to reduce your freelance writer turnover as much as you can.

• Offer generous rates for the work you require,
• check the profiles of candidates to see if they have a knack for long-term projects,
• make sure you hire a writer that clearly loves your niche,
• review other projects they have written, and
• create a style guide to help onboarding when you hire a writer.

These are all important parts of keeping the good writers on board.

Even once you've found Mr or Mrs right, it’s still important to be prepared for the likely eventuality of them hitting the road. In the future, you may even find it hugely beneficial to hire an online business manager to handle your reoccurring recruitment and training needs.

Those are the potential issues, now let's take a peek at some of the best advantages of handing your content work over to a freelance writer.

The Upside When You Hire a Writer

Outsourcing saves you time

One of the biggest and most crucial advantages of hiring others is time-saving. Writing is a laborious and time-consuming part of digital marketing. When you're managing a blog alongside everything else, you'll no doubt find yourself on the verge of complete burn-out before long. Some people love being overly busy and see it as one of the best things about running an online business. But most of us long for a little bit more time, as little hassle as possible, and easier profits.

When you hire a writer, you free up more of your precious time. Maybe you wanna spend more time with family. Or perhaps you want to devote more of your working hours to other projects. For some, they just want to cut down on the list of things they need to do each and every day. Whatever your ambitions, your day-to-day lifestyle has to be manageable and having someone else do a huge chunk of your daily legwork can certainly play a big part in getting more done much faster.

Flexible costs to fit your budget

A steady flow of content is important for your website, but can you afford to take on someone full-time? When you hire a writer, you’re only hiring them to complete the level of work you need at any given time, so it’s easy to keep the cost perfectly in line with your needs. As things change you can simply order more or less depending on how your business evolves.

Taking on permanent contracted staff is more of a commitment, whereas freelance writers can be entirely flexible around your budget and production scale.

Freelance writers can deliver a variety of specialities

Are you wiz at putting together top class blog posts filled with the latest information and bags of personality? If so, good for you! How about website sales content, press releases or paid ad copy? Your online presence can require very different types of work that require specific expertise for best results. You could try and learn how to do all of these things but you’ve already got a million things on your ever-growing list, why add to it? If you wanna stick to what you do best while experts handle other areas, you can hire freelancers with specialities to get things done right.  

Some types of writing you may consider when you hire a writer include:

• In-depth, well-researched articles
• Shorter, informal articles
• Copywriting for web pages, landing pages, etc…
• Copy for social media posts
• Newsletters
• e-Books
• Press releases

You’ll be allowed to chase growth for your business

It's hard to pursue opportunities for growth when you're bogged down doing all the work it takes for your online business to simply survive. Letting someone else handle your content means giving yourself the freedom and focus to explore your business's path to bigger and better things.

If you run a blog and your target is to publish new content every day, you'll be spending the majority of each day creating tomorrow's piece. So how much time and energy are you then able to allocate to monetization, competitor research or user analysis? If you're doing all the writing yourself, probably not enough.

Every online presence needs to be managed as if it were a business, and business is all about profitability. If your ambition is to make as much money as possible from your digital projects, then most of your time needs to go into planning and executing the strategies that bring you maximum return on your investments.

In the vast majority of cases, growth only occurs when you have a very detailed and up-to-date understanding of your current market including all competitors, and you actively nail the moves necessary to place your brand in a better position relative to these rivals. This can take serious amounts of research and dedication.

Things tend to change very quickly in the online world no matter what industry you're in, so managing your business's growth strategy can prove to be a whole other full-time job. Is it possible to stay on top of all this extra work while your head is buried knocking out great posts day to day? Maybe, if you don't allow yourself time for things like sleep and food.

The Fix

When you hire a writer to take over your content duties, you put yourself back in the driving seat and can focus a lot more of your energy toward steering your business upwards. Whether you aim to spend more of your efforts hunting down prospects for sponsorship or advertising, researching gaps in the market or keeping your head wrapped around the latest market trends, with the right help by your side, the world is your oyster.

Quality freelancers can potentially improve the quality of your content

If you’re a literary ace and have a very particular style that you know connects with your audience, you’ll find it hard to let someone else take over. But if writing isn't really your thing, hiring help can actually be a great step in improving your presence. If you’re more of an ideas person, you’ll be able to concentrate on coming up with all the bright ideas while you let someone more inclined with the words get it all down nice and smooth.

Nervous about having to check through everything with a fine comb? There are a wealth of specialist apps out there designed to make proofreading and editing a piece of cake.

Grammarly

Grammarly is one of the world's most sophisticated spell check and grammar platforms. It's free and super user-friendly, so whatever level of writer you are, it'll make your editing duties a darn sight less draining.

Hemmingway App

Hemmingway App is another tool to use to verify that content is readable for your audience. Unless you are writing for a highly professional or technical crowd, your readability needs to be below a 7th grade level for maximum impact.

CopyScape

Plagiarism is another threat you'll need to look out for when others are doing your writing for you. Go for the cheapest writers out there, and you should be expected to come across more than your fair share of dodgy dealings. Copyscape is another world leading platform in the content management space that helps identify whether or not a piece of writing is genuine or copied from another source. This service isn't free if you want your scans to cover the entire world wide web, but since Copyscape launched their new price structure, checking every post that ever touches your site is more affordable than ever!

That’s a Wrap!

We hope you've found this quick guide to hire a writer helpful! Everyone's needs are different so the most important thing to do is work out the priorities for your business and plan accordingly. Think you have the patience to continuously scour the globe for the right talent? Then go for it! Otherwise, if you think it's best to keep the writing in your hands, you can think about outsourcing other tasks that you'd rather not face yourself. There's no better way to see if it's right for you than getting out there and giving it a good whirl! Stay objective and the right options are bound to pop up. Good luck!

A lead magnet is a great way to advertise your business. With a good freebie, you'll have piles of contacts just waiting for you to follow up. Who doesn’t love free stuff? Seriously. Free stuff is great. So let’s throw up a freebie and start counting the dollars roll in. Oh, well, maybe it’s not quite that easy. Darn it!

What the HECK is a Lead Magnet?

Am I getting ahead of myself? Let’s step back. What the heck is a lead magnet? It's something that a prospect or lead is attracted to (hence the term magnet). A lead magnet is an opt-in page or box is an area that invites visitors to provide their name and email address in exchange for something. This something can be as simple as being added to a newsletter but often includes a bonus gift of some sort. And that’s the freebie.

Good lead magnets or freebies can come in the form of any of the following:

• E-book
• Workbook
• Strategy guide
• Quiz or assessment
• Audio or video training

There are a few examples and some great tips for designing your lead magnets here.

An effective freebie can do a lot to grow your business. But if done poorly, it may have no real effect whatsoever. You may end up wasting a lot of time and money, so before you rush into sharing your free offer, take some time to evaluate the entire process. This includes everything + the kitchen sink... Think driving traffic to your opt-in all the way through what happens after they sign up.

Will They Come?

How will you get people to find the opt-in? It’s easy to suggest that you can throw it up on your website and the leads will start flowing in. Unfortunately, you can build it but it doesn’t mean they will come. Some ideas for marketing your opt-in include:

• Videos on social media – Share a live video talking about your freebie and what they’ll get.
• Signature links – Add a link to your email signature inviting recipients to get the freebie.
• Links in social media profiles – Add a link to your freebie in your social media profiles.
• Podcasts – Be a guest on a podcast and share the link as a bonus.
• Guest post – Write an article for other websites and include a link in your bio.

And don’t forget to add a link within your blog posts so visitors know it’s there...

THEY’RE HEEEERREEE!

You finally have someone checking out your lead magnet. But what do they see when they get there? If you are simply adding a basic opt-in box with no details, you probably won’t get a lot of subscribers. OK, maybe your mom and your BFF will sign up. Woo hooo! That’s 2.

Landing page:

A landing page (also known as lead pages, squeeze page or capture page) is a single page on your website without a lot of other information. The sole purpose of this page is to get someone to take a single action. Without other navigation, there is nothing to distract your visitor from the goal you have in mind.

This is your “sales” page. Even if you are offering something for free, the cost to the visitor is their name and address. You have to sell them on why they want to pay that price.

There’s a great article (and free opt-in) for what makes a great landing page over at Hubspot.

Pop-up opt-in form:

 The second way to go is to use a pop-up to gather your opt-ins. Also known as an overlay, this variation is quite popular, fairly instant, and comes without any bells and whistles. It is a quick way to gain an email listing from viewers interested in your website, your content and the services you offer.

Each type serves a different purpose and both can be used effectively.

Just the facts

When designing your opt-in captures, here are a few pointers to keep in mind:

Do not overcrowd

A good opt-in design works with minimalism. There should only be one natural direction where your visitor’s attention goes and that’s towards your goal.

Keeping it simple, include the following and nothing more:

• A clear, concise headline
• A suitable sub-headline to follow expanding on the simple title
• Bullet points highlighting what they’ll get
• Directional clues like arrows
• An option to opt out of subscribing
• Creative call to action

Make a promise

Every visitor to your page will be looking for one thing only. “What’s in it for me?” And if they don’t get an answer right away, they’ll likely leave. We visitors are a fickle bunch. Wow us fast or forget it.

Make a promise to your visitors about what they’ll get if they keep reading on.

You want my first born son?

Don’t ask for too much information. Remember how minimalism is important? Ya, asking too much gets really pushy. Stick to that rule and just ask for the name which can be optional and email which is what you’re really after. Asking for anything more than that tends to turn visitors off making them skeptical and insecure.

Having said that, it’s still very important to point out what your visitors should expect in return for handing their emails to you.

What’s next?

You did it! There’s a new sign up to your list. Now go out and celebrate before the champagne goes flat. Too soon? OK, you might be right.

Now that you’ve got another email added to your list, it’s time to deliver on your promise. Start off with a bang by offering big impact right on your Thank You page.

Once your visitor has filled out your opt-in form, guide them to a well thought out thank you page (see some great examples here). Meaningful follow up messages can be constructed along the following lines:

• Initiate with a message of gratitude as it confirms that the form went through successfully.
• Where applicable, instruct on how to access/receive the freebie offer.
• If suitable, add in a discount/coupon (preferably with an expiration date) giving them an extra nudge to keep coming back for more. The expiration date creates a sense of urgency and motivation to make a purchase quickly.
• You could also suggest additional content along with other related resources keeping up engagement with your company brand.
• It’s never a bad idea to put in a safety net such as an additional link in case the download doesn’t start automatically.
• Don’t forget to add in social share buttons that help them advertise your great offer.

Download our Ultimate Guide to Delegating for More Tips & Tools on How to Delegate as a Solopreneur

Post Action Nurturing

Once the deal is sealed and you’ve handed in your appreciation, do you want the relationship to be over? Please don’t say yes. Please don’t say yes...

This is where you work on retaining those interested parties or leads as permanent followers/customers/viewers or conversions. If anything, this is the critical part of staying alive and growing your business.

For this part of the process, an autoresponder or follow-up sequence is the way to go. This is a list of prewritten emails which are set up in advance and sent to subscribers automatically once they have opted-in. This can be as simple as three emails or more advanced nurturing with seven or more. Here is one example of setting up and writing follow up sequences:

Email 1 - Success

For freebies, the initial email should confirm the freebie download asking for email verification. When clicked upon, it should navigate to a thank you page where they can get their download. This is the valuable first email. Don’t waste it by being boring. Make sure you make this as on brand as possible.

This email is also a great time to offer something more. This can be a link to your free group on social media or a webinar that you’ll be hosting in the future.

Email 2 - Address their problem, why did they opt in to the email

The second email you send should address their specific needs/problems and how the freebie you gave them will help with that. Remind them to review the information if they haven’t already done so.

Email 3 - Ask a Question

By sending an email that asks a question of your audience, it helps them to get engaged and reduces spam complaints while increasing open rates. Make the question on topic and let them know (if relevant) that you read all responses.

Email 4: - The Promise/Testimony

Oh, if only I could live on a beach and sip Piña Coladas all day! No? Ok, what’s the actual value of working with you then? This email helps the subscriber to understand what life CAN be like if they choose to work with you. Sharing testimonials from your clients builds social proof. They help others know that what you do can work for them too. Include an invitation to a free call or to email you with any questions they may have.

Email 5 - Surprise bonus

Sending them an extra little something won’t hurt. Surprise them with a bonus they weren’t expecting such as a useful add-on, or a next step resource to give more meaning to their initial opt-in. This taps into what psychologists call Law of Reciprocity. If you do something nice for someone that they appreciate, they will feel inclined to do something nice for you; i.e. sign up for your paid program or offer.

Email 6 - Your Story

Sharing your story helps build authority and grows the Know, Like and Trust others have in you. Just make sure to keep it short. People don’t really care about you; they care about what you can do for them.

Email 7: - Invitation

NOW we are getting somewhere! Whether you are attempting to sell a program or simply getting a prospect on a qualifying phone call, this is the time to do that. Now that you have gotten your new subscriber to know you, trust you and start to like you, they will be far more inclined to convert to clients. At this point, you can send an email inviting them to take the next step.

Email 1, 6 and 7 can be used at a minimum while the others help to warm up and nurture the subscribers.

Takeaway:

A free offer isn’t free. Your prospect has to choose to give up their email address (something that is already over taxed) in order to get what you are offering in your lead magnet. The value has to be there for them to take that step. Once you’ve gotten their information, it is your time to prove that it was WELL worth the cost to them and prove that it is even more worth them taking the next step.

Do this right and your free opt-in can result in a lucrative sales funnel for you.

Need help designing your free offer or funnel? Yep, we can help. Schedule a time now to chat and learn more.