Once again this week I find myself defending the use of a pop-up email capture on my blog sites. I have been sticking to my usual mantra – blogging is a business and not a charity, no one forces you to subscribe to anything that you don't want… If you use a pop-up you'll know the drill by now 🙂
For bloggers that are list building the email address is the holy grail, or so it would seem. Once you have someone's email, more likely to return to your site than a one-time visitor. Visitors today are much more reluctant to hand out their email addresses to just anyone, and who can blame them? Some internet marketers email you “offers” several times a week and you find yourself slowly resenting their emails if you were not 100% into them when you subscribed.
How do you get someone to trust you enough to give you their email address?
What's in it for me?
This is the most important question that a potential subscriber asks; “What do I have to gain, what's in it for me?”
If you are offering a 50% increase in income by being on your email list, no matter how many emails they're getting today they're probably going to sign up for your list – providing you come across as credible and authentic. Come across like a sleazeball and no matter what you promise the would-be subscriber you will still be waiting for opt-ins until the second coming with no success.
Your offer must be relevant – if you're offering lessons on hair weaving and they have no interest in hair weaving, it doesn't matter how good your marketing is: they're not going to sign up.
The technique to using this method successfully is crafting an irresistible offer. Make sure they know that the moment your reader subscribes, they'll get something valuable that'll help them in their business, and deliver it immediately to their inbox.
The higher the perceived value of this offer, the better. Some examples of offers that have worked include free digital reports, free audio interviews and even free shipped DVDs. That doesn't mean you should inflate a report to being worth $97 just for the sake of it, the offer really should be worth $97
Who Are You, Why Should I Listen?
With many people claiming to be experts on so many different subjects, it's hard for people on the web to know who to trust. I know, I see enough of them claiming to be couriers when they have just bought a van and crossed their fingers, it's no different online.
Why should they believe that you know what you're talking about? What sets you apart from all the other “experts”; and why should they sign up for your list rather than someone else's? In this situation, I differentiate myself by explaining to potential subscribers that I too am a small business owner, that my “income” doesn't come from selling eBooks or blogging training. It comes from using the techniques here to make my other businesses more effective.
To overcome this potential objection start by sharing your experiences, qualifications, personality and most importantly results. What have you done in the past that would impress your potential customers? I know we Brits like to hide our lights under a bushel, but we need to get over that, don't be shy about highlighting your skills – but only if they are skills.
Reassurance – What Will You Do with My Email Address?
Once you have your reader's email address, what will you do with it?
- Will you add it to a bunch of spam lists
- Sell it to internet marketers?
- Will you email them every day with sales offers?
- Will you give them high-value content, once or twice a week?
When it comes down to it, new subscribers just want to know that they're going to have a positive experience as a result of being on your list.
Okay just to get this into perspective here – you don't need to give them a detailed business plan about what you're going to use their email address for. What you need to do is reassure them. Many bloggers have found that just one or two lines explaining to potential subscribers that they won't be spammed, that they'll only be emailed great content once a week actually increases their conversion rates significantly. Adding a privacy statement helps too. Often your email list provider (I use Aweber) will offer to add that in for you.
These are the three things potential subscribers need to know before they'll feel comfortable enough to give you their email address.
If you do these things you build trust with your community and your email opt-ins will increase steadily.
Sarah
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