3 Resources to Create Your Next Opt-in, Grow Your List, and Make More Sales
Episode 404: Show Notes
Hey, Friends! Let’s talk about email, opt-ins, lead magnets, freebies, and everything else you worry about in your efforts to grow your email list. While you can move a business forward without an email list, you will hit a point where your growth slows down quite drastically, so leveraging email as a platform to engage your audience and remind them about your awesome product or service is a smart move.
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In this episode of Strategy Hour, we break down exactly what an opt-in is, the resources you need to set it up, and what kind of value they can bring to your business. We dish out opt-in ideas for a variety of business types and give you the best practices for introducing a new audience member to you, your business, and what you can offer to help solve their problems. Knowing the steps newbies typically go through as they convert from an opt-in to buy-in is super important as it will help you to be intentional in designing the sequence that gets them there. We also tackle the common question of what to do with those who have opted-in but who are not purchasing anything and give you plenty of all-round great advice for optimizing your email.
What An Opt-In Entails and All the Resources Needed
An opt-in, freebie or lead magnet is a free resource that’s super valuable, designed specifically with your audience in mind. It could be an eBook, video, discount code, or basically anything creative you can offer in exchange for a prospective customer’s name and email address. They are essentially paying for the gift or freebie by providing their details. Once they are on your email list, you have additional opportunities to speak to them, add more value, and ultimately sell your products or services to them. The dream is for them to become a lifelong fan and enthusiastic customer! Now, we know what some of you are already thinking: I don’t have a design background, know how to set this up, or how to connect this to an email service provider, but don’t worry, we’ve got you! We’ve got some helpful resources for you inside our Creative Template Shop. If you become a member or grab our Opt-In Like A Boss bundle on the website, we not only give you a template that you can utilize to create this, but we’ll give you a course that goes into greater depth on opt-ins.
The Value of Opt-Ins and How Best To Use Them
When you start thinking about an opt-in, it’s important to know what your goal is first. There may be a time when you simply want as many new leads as possible, and we were there too. When we considered switching over to a new email provider, we got on a call with Nathan Barry, the founder of ConvertKit, and asked him a million questions. He told us that they used tags to organize contacts, and while he warned us about the mistakes he made, we ended up falling into those same traps. There was a trend where, every time you put out new content, you would have an opt-in specific to that one piece of content, so you ended up having to manage a ton of opt-ins. But this is a huge waste of time, so what you should do instead is identify what the end goal is. If the goal is to get them to buy a product or service, then your opt-in needs to do one of two things: it either needs to showcase their pain, thus highlighting your solution, or, you are getting someone in the right mindset or teaching them the step zero that is required for them to complete before your offer makes sense for them. Even though you can have a few different opt-ins, it’s useful to have specific ones because they tell you, for example, that someone is a photographer, thus allowing you to target them more accurately.
Opt-In Ideas for Different Types of Businesses
If you are a calligrapher, you know everyone always wants to know where you get your tools – pens, papers, suppliers, kits for beginners, so you can tap into these unanswered questions when thinking of the ideal opt-ins. Health coaches, on the other hand, might offer meal plans or recipes, and make them specific to certain groups, for example, lunchbox recipes, gluten-free snacks, meals for one, and so on. When a client then opts-in through one of these offerings, you know exactly who you are dealing with and how to target them. If you are a florist, you might give away a DIY manual on how to make your own arrangements. Graphic designers can get a hold of email addresses by offering a free design toolkit, and it’s a good idea to get specific about the kind of brands you target, such as the food, beauty, or education industry. If you are a course creator, you can identify ground zero: what is it your potential customer needs to do or know before they are ready to buy your course. Often, people would say they can’t buy your course because they don’t have the background or know-how to get started, and this is why offering this solution as a freebie is irresistible.
Best Practices for Introducing Someone Who Opted-In to Your World
Given the chance to start over, we would create two to three different opt-ins that each target very specific people we think is going to form part of our audience. We would create one kind of opt-in but have three different categories of it. Take meal planning again for example: create meal plans for single people, ones for people with allergies, and ones for families. So, there will be three different automations speaking to those specific people. A vital thing to do is to deliver the opt-in immediately. Do not make them wait! If you can, make the opt-in available on your thank you page. In the first confirmation email, link that opt-in again. What you then might consider is having a five-day opt-in welcome sequence, which introduces you, your business, and talks about the pain points of the person who just opted-in. You can use the same format for each, just change to language to suit each context, and make a specific call to action. If you want to learn more about the nitty-gritty of email and opt-ins, be sure to enroll for our free Email Like a Boss Course.
Knowing the Step-By-Step from Opt-In to Buy-In
The powerful thing about this welcome sequence is that you are introducing yourself, but you are also priming this person to purchase. The ultimate aim is to convert those opt-ins to people who are buying your product or service, so you need to know what these steps are. How do people go from point A to point Z, the moment they invest or buy-in? This involves having a clear next step for each phase, such as knowing when and how to follow up and when to send a proposal. We also have resources for this step! Inside the Creative Template Shop, you can utilize Dubsado to take you through that client process. We’ve collaborated with them to bring you all the must-have tools to nail this!
What Happens After You’ve Set Up Your Opt-In?
Once you’ve got all your ducks in a row and have a clear idea of what steps you want to take prospective customers through, you need people to start opting-in! The two questions you have now are: how do I get more people on my list and what do I do with them after they come through my welcome sequence yet are not buying anything? The easiest way to get more people on your list is by utilizing social media; ensuring that the opt-in is clearly displayed on your website; writing content that supports that opt-in; talking about it on a podcast, YouTube channel or going live; and using all the platforms that you are already on. You can also go the paid advertising route, and you don’t have to spend a ton. But this is not where we would start. You can get so far with social and having content on your site that ranks well on search engines. Remember that most leads do not result in sales, and that’s fine – it doesn’t mean your model is broken. As long as you remember that getting started always demands a lot of time and sweat equity. Only start considering paid ads once you have already done all those other things for a while.
Approaching Those Who Opted-In, But Aren’t Buying
Gals, don’t get your hopes up, most people do not buy. This doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong – it’s just the way it is. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to converting your opt-ins; it all depends on what your people need. What you need to do is to pick an emailing schedule you know you can commit to and try it out. Whether that means once a week or once a month. Also, ask yourself when you want to be communicating with your audience. Succeeding with your email list does not come without a lot of effort; you’ve got to play the game to get the reward. But, whatever you do, do not ignore your email list or delay getting started with it because you are only going to slow down your growth. Don’t wait to have everything figured out before you start. The cool part is that you get to know your audience on an individual level when your list is still small, and they can feel like they have a relationship with you even if you don’t know them. Getting feedback from your audience is also super valuable because it allows you to keep refining your product or service.
Quote This
The thing that all of us have to give when we’re just getting started is time and sweat equity.
Highlights
What An Opt-In Entails and All the Resources Needed. [0:03:01.1]
The Value of Opt-Ins and How Best To Use Them. [0:05:45.1]
Opt-In Ideas For Different Types of Businesses. [0:13:30.1]
Best Practices for Introducing Someone Who Opted-In to Your World. [0:16:55.1]
Knowing the Step-By-Step from Opt-In to Buy-In. [0:24:50.1]
What Happens After You’ve Set Up Your Opt-In? [0:28:10.1]
Approaching Those Who Opted-In, But Aren’t Buying. [0:34:10.1]
ON TODAY’S SHOW
Abagail & Emylee
The Strategy Hour Podcast
We help overwhelmed and creative entrepreneurs break down their Oprah-sized dreams to create a functioning command center to tame the chaos of their business. Basically, we think you’re totally bomb diggity, we’re about to uplevel the shiz out of your business.
KEY TOPICS
Selling, Meetings, Strategy, Sequences, Templates, Education, Offers
