How To Get More Opt-Ins And Grow Your Email List
When building your business online one of the greatest assets you can have is a responsive email database.
Many people talk about tricks and tips for building a database of hundreds of thousands of subscribers but I would much rather have a smaller list of quality prospects who know, like and trust me.
I want subscribers who value my expertise and will actually open my emails.
So how do you attract people like that and get them to enter their information into your opt-in form on your website?
Once again you need to forget about what you want and put yourself in the shoes of a visitor to your website?
What are they there for?
What problem are they trying to solve? What desire are they trying to fulfil?
Giving away some valuable information or a free gift is good way to grow your email list and has worked for many years but these days 90% of the websites you visit are offering some kind of free report which usually isn’t worth the MB’s it uses to download it.
To really boost your opt-in rates you must start the process of building your authority long before asking for their information.
To practice what I preach here is one right now.
As part of your content strategy you must have a Blog and you must promote your post to your social media networks. This can be time consuming.
A great little Plug-in called “Digg Digg” by Buffer allows you to share your own Blog post to your Facebook, Twitter, Google + and also post into every Linkedin group you are a member of in minutes.
Simply download and activate the plugin on your WordPress site, post your new Blog update, making sure you are signed into your appropriate social media accounts. Then when you click the share buttons on the “Digg Digg” plugin a post box will a appear for each social media site allowing you to write a post which will appear on that profile linking back to your new post.
This is all done without ever leaving your own site.
There you go. When developing your free content to attract prospects to your site and build your authority give them information that is better than what other people are charging for, be the best, don’t hold back.
Now that they see how valuable the information you are giving away for free is they will want to join your email list simply to keep getting updates. But you still want a sweetener on the deal or something that will be valuable to cold prospects that have stumbled across your site without reading your content.
Here is a quick list of things that work great…
- Templates of reusable files that your target market can use: These can be so simple because most people are lazy just want stuff done for them.
- A free report that focuses on one very specific benefit your customers are looking for and gives them step by step instructions for implementation.
- A simple spreadsheet for tracking data and creating visual reports that your prospects will find very valuable. You can hire a contractor of elance.com for $5 an hour to create all sorts of amazing spreadsheets.
The last thing you need to do to increase your opt-in rate is really highlight the potential benefits of subscribing to your list. Don’t think because its free people will be sold easily.
You need strong headlines, offers and calls to action just like you for a products you are selling. As a business owner it’s very good investment to learn how to write copy that converts or if you don’t have time you could always hire a professional copywriter.
Following these guidelines will help you increase your opt-in conversions and build a database of people who are really interested in what you have to say and the products and services you provide.
To your future prosperity,
James Brine