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Lead Magnet Advice

10 Opt-In Email Marketing Offers

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Opt-in email marketing refers to the process of inspiring someone to join (or opt-in) to your email mailing list.

A simple opt-in email form to “receive your newsletter” is likely not going to inspire people to share their email addresses with you.

You need an opt-in email marketing offer (also called a lead magnet).

A good lead magnet will:

  1. Attract the right leads to your mailing list and business.
  2. Grow your online business automatically.
  3. Give you time back for your family and friends (because the process is on auto-pilot).

Opt-In Email Marketing - Family

An opt-in email marketing offer can be of many different types.

No matter the lead magnet type, the incentive has to be offered at no extra cost to your email subscriber (other than the personal cost to exchange an email address for the benefits of the lead magnet and subscription).

10 Opt-In Email Marketing Offers

Here are ten common lead magnet types to inspire you to create that perfect opt-in email marketing offer to your business leads:

  1. Discounts (Coupons)
  2. eBooks
  3. Resource Guides (e.g. Checklists, Quick Reference Sheets, Reports)
  4. Audio Files
  5. Online Assessments / Quizzes
  6. Video Training
  7. Software Trials
  8. Swipe Files (Communication Templates such as Email Messages)
  9. Free (but Short) Consultations
  10. Email Autoresponder Series (Automated Series of Emails About a Specific Topic)

FREE Lead Magnet Guide

Which Lead Magnet Type is the Best?

Take the 3-minute Lead Magnet Survey to share your own experience and to discover what other entrepreneurs recommend.

Your family is waiting for you to put your business growth on auto-pilot.

Opt-In Email Marketing

Other Resources for Your Online Success

  1. Lead Magnet Project (an interactive online project for professionals)
  2. Lead Magnet Examples (Graceful Resources email subscribers can add their own web address for free)
  3. Recommended Website and Email Software Resources (you’ll also discover why these resources are recommended)

Cheering for your online success – one project step at a time!

Brent

What to Ask For in Your Email Opt-in Form

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An email opt-in form on your website, landing page, or advertisement is the front gate for people to join your business email list and then receive the corresponding email welcome message you sent out automatically to new subscribers.

At a minimum, your email opt-in form has to ask for an email address.

Everything else you ask for on your email opt-in form is up for a (heated) debate – as this Leadpages interview on what to include on an opt-in form demonstrates.

It is often said that the more information you ask for on an email opt-in form, the more reasons you give people to not join your email mailing list.

Even in this era of social media transparency, people are still protective of their personal contact information starting with their email address. A professionally designed lead magnet helps overcome the resistance to share an email address, but even a great lead magnet can’t overcome opt-in forms that ask for way too much.

Email Opt-in Form FAIL

The United States Postal Service (USPS) recently sponsored an advertisement on Facebook that had all the marks of a great lead magnet. The ad (pictured below) promoted a “surprising study” on direct mail vs digital mail:

Email-Optin-Form

But when you clicked on the USPS advertisement to simply access the study, you were redirected to this extensive opt-in form:

Email-Optin-Form-USPS

That’s right…

There are fifteen (15!) fields on this opt-in form to simply read the study.

As you probably guessed, what this Facebook sponsored ad from the USPS did receive was ridicule and laughter in the advertisement comments.

What to Ask For in Your Email Opt-In Form

Your email opt-in form is an entry point for a relationship with a future customer.

That being said, your opt-in form should not be designed to record a relationship that doesn’t exist yet.

Keep it simple.

Here is what to ask for your opt-in form:

  1. Email Address
  2. First Name (but make this field optional)

The benefit of a person’s first name is that it allows you to personalize your email message for the subscriber, but do not make first name a required field to opt-in to your email list.

Remember the rule of thumb: Every additional opt-in form field creates extra resistance.

Here is an example of an opt-in form from this site that asks for both first name and email address, but labels the first name field as optional:

What-to-ask-for-Email-Optin-Form-GracefulResources

If you would like to access this actual opt-in form, simply click here to trigger the opt-in form pop-up.

If interested, this opt-in form was created with OptinMonster – one of the tools taught to participants in the Lead Magnet Project.

Other Resources for Your Online Success

  1. Lead Magnet Examples (Graceful Resources email subscribers can add their own web address for free)
  2. Lead Magnet Survey (share your own opinion about opt-in incentives and discover what other entrepreneurs recommend)
  3. Recommended Website and Email Software Resources (you’ll also discover why these resources are recommended)

Cheering for your online success – one project step at a time!

Brent

5 Email Autoresponder Tips for Your Welcome Message

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When people join your email mailing list to receive your lead magnet (see also Domain Name Advice: 3 Tips for Your Lead Magnet), the welcome message they receive from your email autoresponder – short for “automated response email” – is a critical next step to grow your business.

While the welcome message is automated, it is personal to the person who receives it.

Treat any email autoresponder with the same level of care as you would an in-person conversation with a potential customer.

It can be the start of a long-term relationship with a professional.

It can also be the quick end to one as well.

Therefore, plant your relationships carefully and professionally – starting with an email autoresponder welcome message.

What follows are five email autoresponder tips for your welcome message, plus an email autoresponder example from this site to quickly demonstrate all five recommendations.

email-autoresponder-welcome

5 Email Autoresponder Tips for Your Welcome Message

Email Autoresponder Tip #1: Personalize your gratitude.

If you capture an email subscriber’s first name – in addition to her email address – you are able to personalize the welcome message.

It’s recommended you include a first name field in your opt-in form, but do not make the first name field mandatory (you can view an opt-in form example in the sidebar of this web page – if viewing on a desktop).

Whether you are able to include the subscriber’s first name or not, start your welcome message with a word of thanks to the person.

Email Autoresponder Tip #2: Deliver your lead magnet.

Immediately after a word of gratitude in your email autoresponder welcome message, deliver the lead magnet you promised.

If your lead magnet is a downloadable resource like a guide, do not attempt to attach the file to the welcome message (it’s an email security risk and will likely be blocked by your email service provider). Instead, provide a link to the lead magnet within your message.

Additional Note: If you are seeking project guidance on the design, integration, and marketing of a professional lead magnet to grow your email list, you may be interested in joining the new interactive Lead Magnet Project. 

Email Autoresponder Tip #3: Set expectations with your subscriber.

Your email autoresponder welcome message is the perfect opportunity to set expectations with your subscribers about what’s next in terms of future messages.

Specifically, you want to be upfront about when they’ll hear from you again, how often, and what you will send them.

If you are planning to send out new content to your email list once a week, for example, it’s also recommended you pick a specific day and time each week to do so. That way, your subscribers know when to check their inboxes for your content.

Email Autoresponder Tip #4: Highlight your other resources.

Just like in your professional Lead Magnet (see the 5 Essential Characteristics of a Lead Magnet), it is appropriate to cross-reference the other resources you have available or planning to have available.

Email subscribers know you are in business (or starting one).

Do not be afraid to share resources that you feel will help people – just do so in a succinct and professional manner. 

Email Autoresponder Tip #5: Reinforce your expertise in your signature.

Lastly, close your email autoresponder welcome message with your email signature.

Specifically, you will want to include your full name, your professional credentials, and a short summary of what you do.

It is also recommended you include a small photo of yourself in your email signature. It further personalizes your welcome message.

Email Autoresponder Example

For your quick reference, here is a snapshot of the current email autoresponder welcome message sent to Graceful Resources subscribers from ConvertKit. The five recommendations are labeled accordingly.

email-autoresponder-example

If you would like to join the email list and receive this actual welcome message, simply click here.

Thanks,

Brent

Domain Name Advice: 3 Tips for Your Lead Magnet

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Domain name advice for small business websites is relatively common (see 10 Tips for Website Names), but custom domain names can also be a valuable marketing strategy for your email opt-in incentive (aka lead magnet*).

* A lead magnet is an extra incentive to inspire someone to join your email mailing list. Lead magnets are the starting point for online marketing and have become essential in the competitive online marketplace to grow email lists (click here for the Free Lead Magnet Guide).   

The Value of a Custom Domain Name

A custom domain name is a powerful form of branding and it is arguably the least expensive marketing cost you’ll have this year for your online business (it’s typically a $20/year investment through a registrar like GoDaddy.com if you avoid a premium domain name – a domain that is being resold by a third party – and you include private registration** for about $8/year).

** The advantage of private registration is that it keeps your public registry information (your full name, mailing address, email address, and phone number) off the public Whois database. Without private registration, you will get hit with unsolicited sales offers from around the world within minutes of your domain registration. Registrants like GoDaddy offer private registration at checkout for domain purchases.

Whatever it is you are offering, a unique trade name – and corresponding custom domain name – will help you connect with your target audience.

domain-name-advice

Domain Name Advice: 3 Tips for Your Lead Magnet

If you invest a few extra dollars for a custom domain name for your lead magnet as well, you’ll make another smart marketing investment.

A custom domain name for your lead magnet (or for other purposes) has two main advantages:

  1. The custom domain name is uniquely and legally owned by you.  Nobody else can use it for another web property.
  2. The custom domain name can be set by you to automatically forward to another web page (like a landing page or blog post).

To help you get started, here are three domain name advice tips for your lead magnet:

Domain Name Advice Tip #1

Select a custom domain name that helps describe your lead magnet.

For example, if your lead magnet is a guide, consider a custom domain name that includes the word “guide” (e.g. “HomeschoolBeginnersGuide.com“). If it is a quiz or survey, it is also easy to include the lead magnet type in the domain name (e.g. LeadMagnetSurvey.com).

If your lead magnet represents a specific market niche (e.g. LoveYourPetRabbit.com) or a special cause (e.g. NotchDolphinBook.com), a custom domain name is also helpful in your marketing efforts.

Domain Name Advice Tip #2

Use your lead magnet custom domain name both online and offline.

A unique URL for an opt-in incentive can be easily added to your social media profiles (e.g. Twitter, LinkedIn), email signature, and in your bio at the end of a guest blog post on another website.

Custom domain names for lead magnets also work great if you are a guest on a podcast or webinar because of the audio communication format.

Offline at a conference, party, or reception, a custom domain name for your lead magnet that is easy to say (and spell) will help grow your email list too.

Domain Name Advice Tip #3

Embed another custom domain name within your lead magnet to promote your current or future product offering.

In the Graceful Resources Lead Magnet Guide (click here for a copy), there is a cross-promotion of the Lead Magnet Project.  Instead of a long URL, the custom domain name LeadMagnetProject.com is used as an automatic re-direct to a landing page about the project.

(FYI: Prior to this month, the URL re-direct was connected to a blog post about the project, but then the forwarding address was changed to a more formal landing page. You may have a similar transition for your next product offering as you go from concept to project.)

In another example, Associate Certified Coach Nancy Christenson is cross-promoting her upcoming course within her (soon-to-be-released) free lead magnet 7 Keys for Stability Through a Christian Divorce.

Since the web address about her course is subject to change, she invested a few dollars in the custom domain name HoldingontoHeaven.com to promote her course (by the same name) for Christian women living through divorce.

Final Domain Name Advice

The custom domain names you select for your website, lead magnet, and product offerings are only as valuable as you make them.

Investing about $20 per year in a custom domain name is a smart first project step.

After that, plan your work and then work your plan.

In 1886, Atlanta pharmacist John S. Pemberton and his bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson, started with a unique name too:

domain-name-advice-lead-magnet

Other Graceful Resources for Your Online Success

  1. Recommended Website and Email Resources (along with the reasons why)
  2. Lead Magnet Project (an interactive online project launching June 2017)
  3. Lead Magnet Examples (email subscribers can add their own web address for free)
  4. Lead Magnet Guide (5 essential characteristics of a lead magnet)
  5. Lead Magnet Survey (share your own opinion and discover what other entrepreneurs recommend)

Cheering for your online success – one project step at a time!

Brent

How to Grow an Email List (Professionally)

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Once you have a professional lead magnet in place, there are many online strategies to further grow an email list for your business.

How to grow an email list professionally though requires one critical mindset – more on that in a moment (along with two lists of supporting resources).

The Pace to Grow Your Email List

From a timing perspective, you can go for the sprint or you can run the marathon.

If you are seeking immediate traffic to your lead magnet and email opt-in form (the sprint), you can pay Facebook and Google for sponsored ads, for example.  This short-term strategy requires a greater investment of your money than your time.

If you are in it for the long haul (the marathon), you can generate organic traffic to your website through search engine optimized content. This long-term strategy requires a greater investment of your time than your cash.

Which Pace is Better to Grow Your Email List?

The short answer is … there’s not a right or wrong answer.

You may discover the right strategy for your business is a combination of both races.

But when you plan for and run at a marathon pace, you have greater opportunities to make business adjustments as you go along.

how-to-grow-an-email-list

How to Grow an Email List (Professionally)

Independent of the pace you select, the secret of how to grow an email list professionally is one of mindset.

This may sound counter-intuitive but to grow your email list professionally…

You do not want to try to be the hero.

Yes, heroes are winners in some aspect of life. They may have achieved success in business, life, or the playing field.

But they achieved success because they were mentored by others.

In real life, the coaches are the ones to hire if you pursuing similar success.

how-to-grow-an-email-list-guide

How to grow your email list professionally…

You want to be the guide.

(Additional resources supporting this strategy are included below for your reference.)

The truth is you already have:

  • Sufficient life experiences to be the coach for someone else.
  • Invested your own sweat and tears.
  • Succeeded and failed.

You have learned through the arena of real life.

Now it’s time to stop trying to reach some arbitrary form of success.

The world doesn’t need more heroes.

It needs more guides.

It needs you.

Maintain this critical mindset and you’ll grow your email list professionally.

Here are some additional resources that reinforce the value of being the guide over the hero:

  1. Be the Guide, Not the Hero (LinkedIn Pulse Article)
  2. Be the Guide, Not the Hero – How to Explain Your Story Better (Interview with Eric Hinson, Explainify CEO)
  3. How to be the Guide and Attract More Customers (Author Donald Miller – Interview with Dave Ramsey)
  4. Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content (Book by Ann Handley)
  5. How to Write Copy That Sells (Book by Ray Edwards)
  6. Marketing: A Love Story: How to Matter to Your Customers (Book by Bernadette Jiwa)
  7. All Marketers are Liars Tell Stories (Book by Seth Godin)

LeadersInviteOthers

Graceful Resources to Grow Your Email List Professionally

  1. Recommended Website and Email Resources (along with the reasons why)
  2. Lead Magnet Project (an interactive online project launching June 2017)
  3. Lead Magnet Examples (email subscribers can add their own web address for free)
  4. Lead Magnet Guide (5 essential characteristics of a lead magnet)
  5. Lead Magnet Survey (share your own opinion and discover what other entrepreneurs recommend)

Cheering for your online success – one project step at a time!

Brent