Table Of Content

1. Creating A Lead Magnet

2. Optimize Your Opt-Ins

3. Use Entry Pop-Ups

4. Provide Upgraded Content

5. Social Proof

6. Ask For Less Information - K.I.S.S

7. Use Different Text On Your Buttons

8. See What Tools Your Competitors Use

Chapter 1: Create “Carrot” Content Or

“Lead Magnet” As It’s More Commonly

Known.

Welcome to the guide. I want to show you simple yet super effective

ways to increase your list and get more subscribers by apply the

following techniques.

None of these technique take that long to do but the results can be

extremely impressive for your overall list growth which means more

money in your pocket for a minimal amount of effort!

In this section I will discuss the different methods on how to create a

lead magnet. Creating a great lead magnet isn’t hard but once

created will super charge your list building and opt-in process.

I’m excited to show you these methods so let’s dive in!

The term carrot content simply means information used to inform,

engage and inspire the subscriber and get them to opt into your list

so you can market to that person via your autoresponder follow up

email campaigns.

You provide this content for free in return for the opt-in, it’s a win

win situation!

The days of pumping out “crappy” lead magnets that don’t have any

value are long gone so I can’t stress enough that the content you

provide, even though it’s “free” needs to be of a good quality,

engaging, add value and have the ability to make the person reading

it want to join your list.

There are different ways you can create this content so let’s take a

look at the options available.

You can of course write it yourself, there is a wealth of information

out there you can research which will provide you with everything

you need to produce a great piece of content.

This method can be time consuming but for those of you who really

can’t or don’t like to write, you can get someone else to do it for you.

The down sound of that is, it can be costly but if you have a budget

for this part of your marketing then it’s a good option. Head over to

the following websites to find a writer:

https://www.upwork.com

https://www.freelancer.com

http://www.guru.com/

https://www.peopleperhour.com/

https://www.fiverr.com/

You will find lots of writers who can put together exactly what you

need, just remember to check their experience and ability and

provide detailed instructions for each job you hire them for.

The other way to create lead magnets is to use already published

content and curate it.

Make sure you do this in the ethical way by always linking back to

the original source and you won’t have any copyright or legal issues.

The fastest and easiest way to do this is to seek out already proven

content that you know people like and there are a couple of tools we

can use to do this.

One of my favourites is http://buzzsumo.com/ . This site is great and

it will provide you with a mass of information regarding what’s

popular and what’s being shared online right now.

There is a free version as well as a paid version but the free version is

fine and will give you enough information for you to work with.

Head over to the site and enter your keyword:

You will get results for your keyword showing you popular content

and how many shares it’s had across the main social platforms.

The more shares a piece of content has the better, its showing you

that this particular content is very popular which is great to use for

our lead magnet.

Find all the articles and posts on you niche topic that have high

shares (anything over 200 or 300 shares is good … anything over

1000 is great!) and use them to gather the content for you to

construct your lead magnet.

Another site that is similar to buzzsumo is https://lumanu.com/

Head over to the site, it’s free so simply click on the “join the beta”

button and then fill in your details.

Once you have done that you are ready to start searching for

content. Simply type in your keyword in the search bar and then hit

enter to get your results.

You can use the filters to narrow down your search depending on

what you want. The total shares from Facebook, Pinterest and

Linkedin for each piece of content is shown along the bottom of each

segment.

You can click on any segment to open up the content to have a good

look and decide whether it fits your requirements.

At this point you can use the content as it is and link back to the

original author/source or you can use this information and write it in

your own voice.

Either way it will save you heaps of time for creating your lead

magnet and you already know it is content that people love to share!

Lead magnets can also be created from a post on your site allowing

you to use your own great content in a different format, usually as a

PDF, to get either sales or traffic back to your site. It can be difficult

to create a quality PDF from your posts but there are both free and

paid options.

The first option is a site called printfriendly and it’s free to use for

converting a website post into a PDF format that can then be used as

a lead magnet.

This option is very limited in what you can do and doesn’t allow you

to edit the post other than being able to delete sections or images.

Yes you can convert your posts into PDF’s but they will not look as

professional and of a high quality or perceived value to your

subscribers which can affect the opt-in rate considerably.

The other option is to use a service that can take your posts from

your site and create a professionally designed and edited PDF Ebook

that can then be used as your lead magnet.

This means all you have to do is provide them with the details of the

post and they take care of the rest without you having to lift a finger.

This service does exactly that for a great price producing quality lead

magnets that you can then use in your marketing campaigns.

Chapter 2: Optimize Your Opt-Ins

To double opt-in or not to double opt-in that is the question? So is it

better to only have a single opt-in when people subscribe or should

you go for the double opt-in? If you do use a double opt-in you can

be losing up to 25% of your subscribers!

The reason for this is that sometimes the “confirm your subscription”

email can get trapped by their spam filter and they don’t even see it.

Another reason for this is they simply get distracted by everyday life

and just forget to hit the confirm link you sent them.

Either way it’s not good for you to lose a high percentage of the

subscribers that you work so hard to get.

But there is a simple solution, optimize your opt-in page and you

won’t lose many of your subscribers at all. Here is a great example

from Brian Dean author and owner of backlinko.com it’s super

simple but really effective at retaining a high opt-in rate whist still

getting that confirmation click.

source

It works well for three reasons:

1. He re-enforces the benefits of why you should subscribe:

“Before you can receive your free updates, link building

strategies and SEO tips, you need to confirm your email right

now”

2. He has a very strong call to action “you need to confirm your

email right now”

3. He shows you visually exactly what you have to do to confirm.

So not only does it make it very easy for you to confirm, but it

makes the author/sender of the email seem extra helpful which

people really like and respond to positively …. win win!

Chapter 3: Use Entry Pop-Ups

So what is an entry pop-up? Well in simple terms it’s a box that

appears on the screen when someone visits a website (usually

after a few seconds from 5 to 30) that asks for an opt-in from

the subscriber.

This can be a really simple format, just a box that looks very

similar to an opt-in form that asks for the subscriber to fill in

their details (name and email) to either join a newsletter or get

a free report/download.

It can also be in the form of a quick quiz asking the subscriber

two or three very simple questions before they then fill in their

details (these are called micro commitments).

Pop-ups come in all shapes and sizes with different designs and

colours depending on how they are put together and which

platform is used.

You can also create a double opt in using pop-ups. In the

example below you can see with the first pop up it’s asking the

subscriber “Need a blog monetization game plan?”

Then points out the problems most marketers have and offers

a solution (the content). This is the first part of the opt-in

process.

Once the subscriber clicks on the “Yes, show me the model”

button, they are then presented with the opt-in form to fill in

as you can see below:

Here are a couple more examples of pop-ups:

There are many different types of pop ups and many different

methods you can apply, I could write a whole Ebook on this

topic alone (that’s a future project to add to my to-do list!).

But let’s finish this chapter with tools you can use:

Free:

Intro pop-up

Social pop-up

Facebook Page Promoter Lightbox

WP Social Pop-up

Yeloni

Sticky Popup

Popup Maker

Jazz Popups

Easy Popup Announcement

Alligator Popup

Icegram

Sumome

Paid:

Optinskin

Optinmonster

Popup Pro

Bloom

Thrive Leads

Chapter 4: Offer An Upgraded Piece Of

Content To Get An Opt-in.

So you have written a great blog post that your customers love

but how do you then get them onto your list without having a

pop-up appear or a side bar sign up box next to the content

(both great methods for getting additional sign ups on your

website by the way!).

Is there another method we can use?

Well yes there is and the beauty of this method is it’s super

simple but still extremely effective at getting more subscribers.

You have your blog post and within that content you offer a

Bonus upgrade of that content.

Here is a great example from Brian Dean:

source

So as an example you might offer a done for you style check list

of the post as you can see above.

This works very well if the post is a long one, people can struggle

to take in a large amount of content and the check list provides

an easy to digest format.

You could also offer an audio version of your post (people love

to listen rather than read) as well as video walk throughs or PDF

versions.

All these options are a great way to give your customer more

value whilst at the same time getting them on your list.

And because you have provide more great content your

customer will love you for it!

To optimize this method find out which of your posts get the

most traffic and create a bonus piece of content for those

pages with a sign up box.

Chapter 5: Social Proof

Social proof is an important way to show customers that your

content is being enjoyed and valued by others (good reviews

are a great way to boost your presence and authority within a

niche).

But what if you don’t have plenty of social proof yet?

Well that’s ok because you don’t need thousands of “likes” or

“shares” (although they are fantastic to have obviously) to get

people to like your content.

Using just one or two reviews that you can get either through

your newsletter sign ups or product sales, can be enough to

show people that your content is worth sticking around for!

When using these reviews make them prominent on the page,

use big images/text so they really can’t be missed and stand

out. Here is a great example:

Source

Chapter 6: Don’t Ask For Too Much

Information!

This may seem like a really simple tip, which it is, but never the

less it’s still very crucial when it comes to getting more opt-ins.

Whether it be your side bar “newsletter” opt in box, a pop up

opt in, the “contact us” form or any other opt in form you have

on your site (and there are many options!) keep it simple.

If your opt in form has so many different fields for the subscriber

to fill in they are more likely to move on, take a look at the

example below:

source

Try and keep it to a minimum, having one email submit box is

the simplest form, as you can see example below:

source

Some marketers use two fields, the name and email as this

allows them to be more personal when replying via follow up

emails.

There are also forms that auto fill meaning you simply click one

button and all the hard work is done for you!

Whatever option you use, always apply the K.I.S.S (keep it

super simple) approach and you will get a lot more people

signing up!

Chapter 7: Use Different Text On Your

Buttons!

The old type of button text may be something like this …”send

free report” or “download report” as well as “submit” or

“register”. Whilst these buttons may still work they tend to

make things all too serious and dare I say boring and can put

people off taking that final step.

Also including words such as “me” “I” or “my” personalizes the

button and converts better.

As with anything test out different button text to see which

convert the best. Here is a list of some great alternatives to try:

“I’m in”

“Let’s Do This”

“Get Started”

“Sounds Good”

“Gimme My Bonus”

“Let Me In”

Give your buttons their own bit of personality and I think you

will be surprised at the results!

Chapter 8: Find Out What Tools Your

Competitors Use So You Can Use Them

Too!

Discovering exactly what tools your competitors are using would

be great information right? If you know what’s working for them

then it makes sense that you would use the same tools and

techniques.

Well there is a website that can provide that information. If you

head over to builtwith.com and enter your competitors URL it

gives you all sorts of golden nuggets about what they are doing

on their site.

Once you click “look up” it will show you all sorts of interesting

information.

The free version will show you the following details for that

website:

Web Server

Content Management Systems

Frameworks

Advertising

Analytics & Tracking

JavaScript Libraries

Mobile

Widgets

Content Delivery Network

Aggregation Functionality

Document Information

Encoding

All this information is great to know as you can use it to your

advantage and apply it to your own site.

The one area that is super important to look at is the “Analytics

& Tracking” section as this shows you exactly what tools they

are using for both split testing and of course “List Building” on

their site.

Now that information is priceless!

This guide will allow you to increase your opt-in rates and get

more subscribers but I want to leave you with a way that can

take your list building to the next level.

What if you could get 114,485 leads in less than 30 days using a

tool which leverages a simple marketing strategy to get your

content all over the globe, without using paid advertising?

I’m talking about Viral Marketing, having your content turn into

a viral lead generator that will continue to get you leads and

sales for years to come … all from simple but effective

profitable viral marketing campaigns that can be set up in

minutes!

So if you are ready to take your list building to the next level

and achieve amazing results, then Upviral is well worth a look.

For more information on this tool you can visit: Upviral

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this guide and it encourages you to take

action and apply these simple yet super effective techniques to

improve your opt-in rates with very little effort. Although this

information is simple, it’s not worth “a thing” if you don’t use

it. So take what you have learned, apply the techniques and go

get more subscribers!

The only thing that’s stopping you … is you!

Take care and thanks for reading my report.

Dory H.

Resources:

http://www.jeffbullas.com/2015/04/14/how-to-grow-an-email-list-3-case-studies-on-how-silly-

online-quizzes-produce-serious-business-leads/

http://www.copyblogger.com/email-incentives/

http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2015/09/sign-up-strategies-email/

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2014/06/17/9-world-class-bloggers-share-their-1-email-list-

building-tip/

http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2015/09/sign-up-strategies-email/

http://optinmonster.com/16-ridiculously-simple-ways-to-get-more-email-subscribers-in-less-than-5-

minutes/

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/webinar-how-to-use-a-podcast-to-build-your-email-

list/156754/

http://optinmonster.com/lead-magnet-blueprint-how-to-create-a-lead-magnet-that-converts/

http://backlinko.com/list-building

http://builtwith.com/