Baberinos!

We’re off and running with the Business Success Series and up to fabulous number 5!

Missed one of the previous ones? Want to refresh your memory? Easy!

  1. How to Work Out Your Ideal Client
  2. Online Networking & Masterminding
  3. How to Sell More with Blogging
  4. How to Grow a Mailing List

We’re talking opt-ins today, but before we get going…

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What is an opt-in?

An opt-in or lead magnet is something you give away FREE in exchange for an email address. Once you’ve got that email address, you can then add to your mailing list and continue to send marketing emails to.

If you ask me, free opt-ins are a business staple. They have soooo many uses; they’re a brilliant tool to help you:

  • grow your mailing list
  • increase sales
  • introduce peeps to your work without them having to spend a cent.

If I haven’t already been clear enough: free opt-ins are the bom diggity.

Why they are the bom-diggity:

  • it builds your know, like & trust factor
  • they are an irresistible incentive to join your mailing list
  • a way to sample your work
  • a way to upsell people into buying from you
  • people think: “if you’re giving this away for FREE, how great will your PAID stuff be!”

46 Types of Free Opt-In Offers!

There’s so much possibility in what you can use as a lead magnet. It’s only limited to your imagination!

  1. discount (i.e. 10% off your first order)
  2. free shipping coupon
  3. an e-book or PDF
  4. checklists
  5. worksheets
  6. templates
  7. scripts
  8. sample document
  9. printables (posters, colouring in pages etc)
  10. resource list
  11. challenge
  12. membership site
  13. calendar
  14. e-book
  15. a video (or video series)
  16. plan  (i.e. a 5 day plan)
  17. prompts
  18. 100 ideas to…
  19. an email course (i.e. a program that is sent to them via email over five days or a month)
  20. teleseminar
  21. calculator
  22. forum (you could use a self-hosted one, a Slack channel or Facebook group)
  23. tutorial
  24. quiz
  25. planner
  26. toolkit
  27. calendar
  28. vault or library of free things
  29. spreadsheet
  30. website app (i.e. a tool that people need to log in to use)
  31. audio workshop
  32. recipes
  33. report
  34. gated content (i.e. share part of an article publicly, but they need to sign up to read the rest of it)
  35. meditation or affirmation track
  36. a webinar or live workshop
  37. a physical CD (with free or paid mailing)
  38. a physical DVD (with free or paid mailing)
  39. waiting list
  40. a sample of your product (with free or paid mailing)
  41. free 7, 14 or 30 day trial
  42. some people even have printed books they use as opt-ins (with free or paid mailing)
  43. sample book chapter
  44. free coaching session
  45. cliff’s notes or illustrated notes of books, conferences, workshops etc
  46. anthology of guidance from you & other teachers in your field

Let’s take a look at some of my freebies…

Alright, let’s break this down!

You’ll see there’s a graphic for each of these opt-ins. For every single opt-in I offer, I’ll do a mock-up of some kind.

For example:

  • downloadable audio shown as a CD
  • digital planners as binders
  • eBooks on iPads or as books
  • digital posters as…. well, posters
  • digital wallpapers shown on computers

Even though all my freebies are digital downloads, using mock-ups has MAHOOSIVELY increased download rates.

And just because it’s free, doesn’t mean you don’t have to market the shiiiiit out of your opt-in… Whenever I release a new freebie it usually gets a blog post about it, added to my freebie page, emailed to my list & we’ll create some kind of pop-up on my website using OptinMonster.

Plus! When someone downloads any of these opt-ins via the forms (either from ActiveCampaign or OptinMonster) they’re automatically added to my mailing list and added to my welcome sequence (which has several emails sent out across a two-ish week period)!

I also have opt-ins that funnel people into an automation marketing a relevant paid product of mine. MAMA LOVES A WELL OILED MACHINE!

Are you starting to see how opt-ins can be used to increased sales + grow your mailing list?

Case Study: Goddess In 10 Minutes Kit

Just in case you think opt-ins are a new, shiny thing businesses have only started using, I want to share with you a case study from waaay back when I started my business.

In one of my earlier incarnations of business, a lot of my work was about helping every woman see the goddess inside herself – divine, creative and joyful (long time fans will recall “goddess” was a major part of my branding).

To encourage people to join my mailing list, I would say they would get “FREE GODDESS GOODIES” when they signed up. And I’d email them a couple of the free resources I’d already created (like a meditation, video and e-book).

It did okay, until I had an epiphany one day. Instead of just calling it “FREE GODDESS GOODIES” I would package it as the “Goddess in 10 Minutes Kit” as the perfect starter for someone to be introduced to my work. This would work in beautifully because one of the most popular questions I was asked was “How do I start feeling like a goddess? Where do I start?” Just rebranding the package meant it now appeared as a direct solution to someone’s problem.

Not only did I rename it, I also created an image to go with it to show them exactly how much value they’d get out of it, and what they’d receive in it. When you convert something from just being words to being an actual image of what they receive, it changes their perspective immediately.

Results From Rebranding My Free Opt-In

When I introduced the new branding and image for my free opt-in, daily mailing list signups multiplied by 10! The same amount of people were viewing the offer, but ten times the amount of people were saying YES to it!

It was a HUGE lesson for me that just by tweaking the branding, adding a good image of what they would receive, and positioning + crafting it into something that people were already asking for could have massive results.

You need to still sell the ever living shit out of your opt-in offer EVEN THOUGH IT’S FREE.

You need to convince people that:

  • It’s for them
  • It’s worth their time to pop their email in
  • They will get something valuable out of it
  • It will give them something they are already looking for

You could also test your opt-in offerings. See if one holds more resonance with your market than another.

Don’t forget: SEED throughout your free offering.

What do I mean by SEED?

This is when you mention your other programs, services or products throughout the free opt-in.

For example “One of the things I teach during our 40 Days to Create + Sell Your eCourse training is how to avoid getting stuck on the tech side of things and get your eCourse out there and making you money STAT. Our graduates report that by doing these three simple steps, they have seen great results…”

You don’t hold back from providing useful information, but SEEDING makes sure readers know what the next level of working with you involves.

More ways to market your free opt-in:

  • Include testimonials or “case studies” from previous clients/customers highlighting the change they’ve had from using your thing.
  • Include why you are an expert or why your business is better than everyone else’s. What’s your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)?
  • Don’t do a bait and switch. As in: say the e-book is awesome, and then give shit all content in it. You really want it to be a taster of your work, and you want people to have an amazing experience with it!
  • Tell people at the end how to dive deeper into the work with you (i.e. what they should buy first, or your list of offerings and how to purchase). Tell them what they need to do next to get the results they want (i.e. hire you or what product of yours to begin with).
  • Consider having worksheets as a bonus for your opt-in. It encourages people to engage with the work more, and they will see it as more valuable.

Want a handy dandy worksheet to help you optimise your opt-ins EVEN MORE?


IT’S TIME TO GET OPTING IN!

Bottom line possum blossoms, opt-ins are defo a giant asset to your business.

If you want to grow your mailing list and increase your sales beyond your wildest dreams, opt-ins are lookin’ straight at ya.

Plus, the creation process absolutely does not need to be massively complicated. For example, you could use Canva to create eBooks & mock-ups. Got a phone? Use that in a small, quiet room to record a meditation. Whack together a spreadsheet template.

Don’t get your head stuck up your ass, my loves.

Take the first step, get the ball rolling. You’ve got this.

All my love,

FREE GOODIES:

BOOKS:

COURSES: