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3 Occasions Email List Building is a Poor Use of Your Time

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Many online entrepreneurs have an obsession with email list building.

Thousands of websites (this one included) strive to inspire you to submit your email address to a mailing list – often with an email opt-in incentive – also called a lead magnet (see what is a lead magnet).

Depending on your surfing habits, your Facebook feed may already be inundated with sponsored ads to sell you a course to teach you the secrets of email list building.

FYI: Did you know when you keep Facebook open in a browser tab, Facebook tracks the pages you visit on other tabs (to then share this information with its advertisers)?

While this site does not pay for Facebook sponsored ads at this time, it did throw a lead magnet project into the mix of email list building schemes.

LeadMagnetProject

Email List Building isn’t Necessarily Bad

Email list building is a legitimate online business strategy – and with good search engine optimized content on your site, email list building can be on autopilot to a degree.

As the old adage goes, it’s a numbers game.

The more people you add to your email list, the greater chance you have to sell your products or services to people on your email list.

But what if email list building is the wrong current strategy for your online business?

Here are three notable occasions email list building may not be your best marketing strategy.

3 Occasions Email List Building is a Poor Use of Your Time

1. Client Work to Do

The most valuable form of marketing you will ever have is word of mouth.

You have probably heard this adage too: People prefer to do business with people they know, like, and trust.

If someone doesn’t already know about your business, they will lean on the advice of a friend they do know, like, and trust.

That friend may be your client.

Before you invest more time in email list building schemes, don’t overlook the marketing power of an existing client.

But that marketing influence is lost if you do not follow through on agreed-upon commitments to that client.

2. Your Service is High-End Work

If your market niche is more service-oriented (e.g. consulting, project management, technical design) for only a few clients at a time, you don’t need to focus on building a big email mailing list.

You need to focus on attracting your target client through lead generation forms on your website.

Two lead generation forms used and recommended by this site are Typeform (see 8 Typeform Examples and a Typeform Discount) and WP Forms (see WP Forms and a WPForms Discount).

These two lead generation web tools allow you to create customized experiences for your site visitors.

After all, if you can make online forms or surveys kind of cool, you stand a good chance of getting a response from your target client.

3. You Have Products or Services to Create

It’s a catch-22 with email list building if the purpose of your email list building is to sell a product or service that you don’t yet have available to sell.

You need an email list to help communicate your product or service, but you need to actually create a product or service. Your offering doesn’t have to be perfect, but it has to be at least as good as the expectations you are setting.

In the end, email list building takes time.

Blogging is a sound strategy to generate organic traffic to your site, but the results happen through repetition not one-time inspiration.

If you find yourself focusing more of your available time on your email list building and not on your unfinished product, email list building is a poor use of your time.

 

Resources for Email List Building (if email list building is a good use of your time)

  1. Lead Magnet Guide (5 essential characteristics of a lead magnet)
  2. Lead Magnet Survey (share your own opinion about email sign up incentives and discover what other entrepreneurs recommend)
  3. Lead Magnet Project (an interactive online project for professionals building email lists)
  4. Lead Magnet Examples (Graceful Resources email subscribers can add their own web address for free)
  5. 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

Discovered: Great Online Lead Generation Guide

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Online lead generation refers to the automatic processes in place on your website, landing page, or advertisement to attract relevant leads to your business.

For many entrepreneurs, online lead generation represents an email list opt-in and this online lead generation guide from Typeform is a treasure.

Online Lead Generation Guide Title:
Lead Generation: Nearly Everything You Need to Know

Online Lead Generation Guide Outline:

  1. Build Your Funnel
  2. Hack H.E.R. Brain Maps *
  3. Swap Value for Email
  4. Optimize Landing Page
  5. Approach Your Audience
  6. Track Led Gen Metrics
  7. Parting Words

* H.E.R. refers to three influencers or systems in your brain:

  1. Habit System (The Searchlight for Stimuli)
  2. Executive System (The Project Manager)
  3. Reward System (Where Feelings are Born)

The article was written by Eric Johnson, a cognitive psychologist and a member of Typeform’s Marketing and Growth team.

But don’t let the brain lingo deter you from this 16-minute online lead generation guide.

It is a fun and engaging read.

Lead-Generation-Guide

Section 3 (Swap Value for Email) of the online lead generation guide is all about the importance of lead magnets to grow a relevant email list.

Free Lead Magnet Guide

Typeform Online Lead Generation Guide

Typeform is an online software company, based in Barcelona, that allows customers to create engaging and conversational online forms, surveys, quizzes, and landing pages called typeforms.

While the Typeform Online Lead Generation Guide is technically a long blog post, it reinforces the company’s creativity.

Typeforms make data collection kind of a cool experience for users – which says a lot when you consider the bland experience most of us run into with Survey Monkey or Google Forms.

If you can make data collection seamless and fun for your leads and customers, you will set yourself apart from the competition in the digital economy.

Typeform_Cover

8 Typeform Examples and a Typeform Discount

Typeform is used on this site and will be taught as an online lead generation tool in the Lead Magnet Project if there is interest from participants.

If you would like to discover several examples of Typeform (plus a Typeform discount link), please reference 8 Typeform Examples and a Typeform Discount.

For your immediate reference, the Lead Magnet Survey was created in Typeform and it is the most successful online lead generation tool on this site.

Discovered: Great Online Lead Generation Guide

Whether you decide to add Typeform to your online lead generation toolkit or not, the company’s Online Lead Generation Guide is worth bookmarking.

Other Resources for Your Online Lead Generation

  1. Lead Magnet Project (an interactive online project for professionals building relevant email lists)
  2. Lead Magnet Guide (5 essential characteristics of a lead magnet)
  3. Lead Magnet Examples (Graceful Resources email subscribers can add their own web address for free)
  4. Recommended Website and Email Software Resources (you’ll also discover why these resources are recommended – includes Typeform)

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

Brent

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

Lead Magnet Example: Before and After

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Entrepreneurship at its core is about transformation.

Successful entrepreneurs are in the business of creating (and selling) some form of transformation for customers.

Elva Edwards is no exception and you’ll discover her inspiring story in a moment.  Her signature image below is heart warming:

Hands_w800

Whether you are a soon-to-be or active online entrepreneur, you have an amazing gift to share with the world that can transform other people’s lives.  You should also profit from your passion so you can serve more people.

To reach your online goals, you need to plan the work and then work the plan. The marketing strategies are constantly evolving, but with a solid foundation in place with the right web technology tools and processes, you can start the transformation you are offering others.

Transformation Starts with a Lead Magnet

For you, as an online entrepreneur, the transformation you offer starts with a lead magnet – an extra but related incentive for people to join your respective email mailing list. Once an email list is established, you have a direct communication channel to stay connected to your audience.

ElvaEdwardsPhoto

Dr. Elva Edwards is transforming people’s lives. She just launched a new platform called ChildhoodLoss.com to help adults heal from the loss of a parent when they were children.

Elva was born in West Texas and lived on a farm with her parents, grandmother, and sister until her parents were killed when she was only 19 months of age. She and her sister fell into the loving arms of their grandparents who moved to the farm to live with them.

She authored a book about her experience of healing from the loss of her parents as a child. It is called “A Texas Tragedy: Orphaned by Bootleggers.” Based on her book, Dr. Edwards is now planning to launch an online program to help other adults heal from a loss of a parent when they were children.

Lead Magnet Example: A Before and After Transformation

As a first step to build her email mailing list, Elva created her first lead magnet called “The Top Three Acts of Kindness to Heal the Loss of a Parent When You Were a Child”.

As you compare the two examples below, you can see that her lead magnet went through a transformation as well:

  1. Original Lead Magnet Document
  2. Revised Lead Magnet Document

(If interested in Elva’s platform, you or someone you care about can opt-in to her mailing list at ChildhoodLoss.com.)

Your Lead Magnet Example

Your first or next lead magnet is right around the corner too.

If you are not sure what lead magnet works best, this free 3-minute lead magnet survey may give you some insights.

If you are seeking project guidance to design and connect a professional lead magnet to your business email mailing list, don’t miss the interactive Lead Magnet Project.  It is an online community-based project environment for entrepreneurs. No tech or design experience required! 

And if you are seeking direct design help with a PDF lead magnet guide or checklist you’ve already outlined, layout designer Anas Abouzaradi at GoodLeadMagnets.com transformed Elva’s lead magnet and is highly recommended. Please feel free to let Anas know you were referred to him by Brent Peterson.

Anas also created the design for the lead magnet on this site: 5 Essential Characteristics of a Lead Magnet.

Anas will also be helping participants involved in the Lead Magnet Project and you can share your lead magnet concept and draft with project members for their valuable feedback.

Hope this helps,
Brent

p.s. You can discover other lead magnet examples on the Lead Magnet Examples Page – and you add your own lead magnet information free of charge if you are a Graceful Resources email subscriber.