How to Make Sure They Double Opt-in to Your Email List

In our last article, "How To Get Your Visitors To Opt In To Your List In The First Place", you learned how to use 8 things to build a landing page we called the teeny 6x6 room. You even got to see an actual, living, breathing landing page!

You put these 8 things to work on your own special landing page - and now your list is growing! Bust out that champagne!

You're done, right? Not yet -- cork that champagne bottle. Why?!

You log into your VerticalResponse account and check your list twice like Santa:

There are lots of single opt-ins. Way too many!

You need double opt-ins to send emails. What do you do now?! Pick one:

1. Phone each single opt-in that you know personally and harass them for not completing the signup process
2. Conclude getting double opt-ins is just too hard and give up
3. Persist like a winner until you throw the lead into the hopper!
   

You first sold them on opting in. You now sell them on confirming their signup. Let's close that second sale! Here's the easy-as-pie, 2-step strategy:

1. Tell them boldly to check their email on the redirect page
2. Resell the easy one-click action and the goodies they get for taking that action

1. Tell them boldly to check their email on the redirect page:

In your Vertical Response account, go to:
Lists > Opt-In Forms > Select Your Form > Pop-up or Redirect? > Redirect: http://www.yourwebsite.com/subscribers/confirm-now.html

Once visitors sign up and click "Join," they get a new webpage: the redirect page. You do two things on this page:

1. Sell the easy one-click action needed in the email sent to them
2. Resell their signup: All the bonuses you want to give them (in our last article, you read about bribing your visitors to sign up with bonuses) and all the amazing benefits they'll get, the value they represent, and the absolute zero cost to them

Here's a screenshot of an actual working page - so you can see some of the language that sells the easy action and resells their signup: Ripper Marketing Confirm Your Email page.

(see larger actual web page in new window):

Okay, you've worked them over hard so they go check their email. But it's not champagne time yet. Not even Miller time. Next up:

2. Tell them boldly to click that link within their email:

At the same time the redirect page appears, your visitor gets the confirmation email. Since you write it, use selling language in it:

1. Use the same subject line you just told them to look for
   RESPONSE REQUIRED: Confirm your request from Your Company now
2. Resell the easy one-click action and the goodies they get for taking that action:

So there you have it: A simple "1-2" strategy to boost your percentage of signups who double opt in so you can actually mail them. All using tried-and-true methods endorsed and used all day long by trained professionals in their own marketing efforts.

With this knowledge in hand, it's now time to uncork that champagne bottle!

Add your comments, thoughts, and opinions. 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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