Opt-In List Building

I had a successful opt-in list building experience this last week that I thought I’d share with you today.

I recently took my new ebook, Profit the F.A.S.T Way and added it to a free giveaway event. The main reason for this was to add subscribers to my new list to help promote my latest product, Instant Money Reports. In the week the event was live I added over 500 subscribers to my new email list without much effort on my part.

Here’s a screenshot of the opt-in page I used. Click on it to see the opt-in page for the Profit the F.A.S.T Way ebook.

If you’ve been around the internet for long, you’ve undoubtedly heard the saying, “The Money’s In The List.” This definitely holds true for any online business. The reason for this is simple, it usually takes seven or more exposures to your product before your potential prospect will make a purchase.

That’s of course, if they’re interested in your product in the first place. That said, it makes perfect sense to capture their email information to continue the sales process beyond that first visit to your website. After all, with all the distractions online the chances that the prospect will return later to think it over are slim to none.

To capture the prospects email address you need an email capture page, also called a squeeze page. Here’s a link to the squeeze page I used to promote the opt-in for, Profit the F.A.S.T Way. This squeeze page resulted in an almost 45% opt-in rate for all visitors. This means out of every 100 people who came to the site, 45 actually filled out the form and subscribed.

Here’s some tips I used to increase my opt-in email rates.

One of the things that made this squeeze page so attractive to opt-in subscribers is the simplicity of the page. There are no external links or distractions here. It’s pretty clear that the big call to action is to enter your email address and receive immediate delivery of the product.

If you take a look at the report graphic you’ll notice that it is facing the opt-in box, which unconsciously moves your eyes in that direction.

The most important thing is the headline. Your headline should be easy to understand and speak to the readers emotions. I like to use fear of loss, curiousity, greed, free, instant, secret, exclusivity, automatic, limited, easy and status as emotional motivators in my website copy.

I like to call these emotional motivators, buying triggers. Buying triggers are the emotions that motivate people to buy products. These emotional motivators aren’t limited to reports. They explain why people purchase anything, such as buying $100 jeans instead of $30 jeans.

You can see in my squeeze page I use several of the motivational factors. At the top there is the limited motivator. I’ve also tapped in to free, curiosity, greed, instant and easy.

At the bottom of the squeeze page I’ve added the reason why. Just in case the prospect is not sold on giving their email address from the headline and graphics alone. This lists the, “What’s In It for Me,” so the prospect will know that they are getting something of value. Always remember when writing copy to keep your customers wants first.

Click the picture below to get a better look:

If your product has great features always transfer those features into ways they benefit the potential customer. It’s the job of the sales copy to convey to your potential customers that you’ve answered their burning questions.

Once you’ve got all of the factors for a winning squeeze page in place you just need to drive visitor traffic to the page. You could use social media sites like Myspace, Orkut or Facebook to funnel visitors into your list. You could also use payperclick advertising or paying to have your ad seen on another persons email list.

For the 500 subscribers I received in one week I used a giveaway event. These giveaway events all have different rules. Some require you have an established list to help promote the event while others require you promote the event by sending a certain amount of visitors. You can even find some giveaway events that only require you add a product to the ones available for download. Your success in participating in a giveaway event will depend on the one you choose, and your offer.

Here’s a link to one of the biggest giveaway events of this year. You might be able to get your product in and begin signing up subscribers of your own quickly. To get started building your own large opt-in list visit, Work at Home Gift JV.

Posted in Email Marketing, Internet Marketing