How to Get Your Visitors to Opt-in to Your List in the First Place

Have you ever gone shopping for a car (in the real world, not online)?

A sales professional guides you to the right car based on your preferences, budget, answers your questions, gives you a test drive, then brings you back into a teeny 6x6 room without windows to close you on the sale.

You have a similar situation with your opt-in box:

You got people to a page where they can subscribe to your list. So how do you close the sale and get them on your list? Two answers:

1. Okay Answer: If you're thinking about what to do with opt-in boxes on your web pages, your answer is: Place your opt-in box above the fold and on the right side of your page, as high as it will go.
2. Great Answer: You create a separate page: a teeny 6x6 room with no exit. It's called a Landing Page. Think of the Landing Page as a one-page website. Visitors can do only one thing: opt into your list. Its sole purpose is to sell opt-in subscriptions. Landing pages can convert 40% to 60% of all visitors!

Let's use a fictional informational product about growing better petunias. Here are the 8 things you need:

1. Help visitors know they are in the right place:

They came to learn about Power Petunias: Ancient Zen master secrets finally revealed. Make that your headline.

2. Keep them reading: acknowledge their problems and hint you're going to solve them:

• Have you tried everything under the sun, including singing to them, to get your petunias to blossom?
• Do you want an easier, proven way to grow petunias?

3. Show them you're like them, then happened upon or invented a solution:

My name is Pat Petals, and years ago, I was in the exact place you are now. No matter what I did, it had no effect. My petunias were puny. Then one day, I noticed that my petunias were popping up all over the place. And I had no clue why. Until I analyzed two short weeks that made a lifetime of difference, and tested my method to make sure it wasn't a fluke. Now, I'm delighted to share my tested and proven secrets with you.

4. Add personality: Add your photo.

5. Show them what they get:

• You'll go from purple thumb to Power Petunia Gardener - in two short weeks
• Imagine the confidence you'll have when you walk into the Garden Club – head raised high with your beautiful petunia pot in hand as the other members gawk and stare at your miracle transformation.

6. Bribe them with a bonus

They want "Power Petunias: Ancient Zen master secrets finally revealed." Your bonus contains what they want, which they can get only by opting in.

Even add a bonus within the bonus to kick them into high gear.

7. Tell them about others who succeeded with your Power Petunia program or who can attest to them:

This is where you use your customers' testimonials.

8. Close the sale: your call to action:

Ask them to sign up with a headline, promise not to share their information with anyone. And slip in the fact that they are subscribing to your list.

Your Landing Page (teeny 6x6 room):
Click to open a new window and see the actual web page:

So there it is: Power Opt-ins: Ancient Zen Master Secrets Finally Revealed. I know that in a very short time, you yourself will be a Zen Master revealing ancient secrets.

Add your comments, thoughts, and opinions below. I'll read them and respond to them!

About the Author:
Bill Henthorn is the President of Spiral Marketers LLC, a San Francisco-based company specializing in marketing consulting in exchange for a percentage of equity. His latest partnership, Ripper Marketing (http://www.rippermarketing.com), provides a wealth of free information on sales, marketing, advertising, and public relations.

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