How To Capture Leads | List Building Secrets
Ya know, I was getting all tongue-tied and twisted with this one, a touch of writer’s block even. Unlike me! LOL!
Thing is, I was gonna start putting up screen shots of how you set up a list and an opt-in form using Aweber… the usual thing you see.
Well, I don’t want to do that. Why? ‘Cause you’ve probably seen it before and you… err… might not be using Aweber. You could be using Getresponse. Fair enough, as long as you are using a decent autoresponder service. And they both have their own help files, etc and are pretty easy to use anyway.
Now, I will put some of that stuff in finished ‘List Building’ guide when I do it but for these posts I don’t think it’s appropriate.
Rather, I think we should talk more about strategy than the nuts and bolts. And, remember we want your thoughts and comments on this, OK?
Things like, where’s the best place to put your opt-in form, should you use pop-up forms, should you use double or single opt-in, different types of landing pages. That kind of stuff. Sound good? If not… say so!
Double or Single Opt-in: One of the things you first need to decide when creating an autoresponder mail list is whether you are going to go for single or double (also known as confirmed) opt-in. Double opt-in is the default when using Aweber. That means that when someone signs up to your list they are first sent a mail asking them to confirm that they really wanted to do that.
With single opt-in, people sign up to your list and simply start receiving your mail series. If you wish to take this route you must change the default list settings in Aweber before you have any subscribers. You cannot change it after that point.
Double opt-in is encouraged in order to cut down on the number of spam complaints you may receive. (We’ll deal with this topic more when we talk about setting up a mailing series.)
However, it can cut down on the number of people who are on your list as some people fail to confirm.
Thad and I use single opt-in for ANC but double opt-in in some of our other niches. Why? Well, we think in the IM niche people are pretty clued up about the whole process and therefore know full well that by opting in they will receive subsequent mails, etc. This is not always the case in other niches so double opt-in offers more protection.
Where to place your Opt-in Form: This will vary depending on exactly what you are placing your opt-in form on. Take a look at this blog. The opt-in form is placed predominantly at the top right hand corner. The top left corner can work just as well but bear in mind people scan web pages from left to right and then down.
The chances are you want people to first scan your posts and then let the opt-in form catch their eye. We use the same positioning on websites.
Landing pages are slightly different. By a landing page we mean a single page, with no main menu and often no sidebars. Have a look at the ANC sales page as an example here. The opt-in form is way down at the bottom. Why? Because it is a sales page. It’s designed so that people are not distracted but read through the sales copy and then either sign up and join or are interested enough to find out more by grabbing the free sample niche report.
If we were collecting opt-ins as affiliates on a review style comparison landing page we would again place the opt-in at the top right.
Squeeze pages are another option. They are simply single pages designed purely to collect opt-ins. Here’s an interesting example from MicroNicheFinder. It’s interesting because that is the default option if you promote the product via Clickbank. The alternative is the MicroNicheFinder sales page. I have spoken to James the owner and the reason he has the squeeze page as the default, is that he has found, over time that it converts better. That is, better for him, as he gets people on his list. (Currently, we are experimenting with pointing people direct to the sales page via our own links.)
Using Pop-up Forms: Have a look at that MicroNicheFinder sales page again. Boy, that pop-up form is annoying, right? It won’t go away. LOL! (I’ve spoken to James about that as well!). Thing is, as affiliate marketers we are all pretty jaded when it comes to viewing sales pages and seeing pop-up forms. Thad and I don’t use them for ANC for that reason. But they do work. Again James has said that the pop-up improves conversions.
We do use pop-ups in other niches.
Where you place your opt-in forms and whether you use pop-ups or not will ultimately come down to testing. Don’t just leave things as they are… test… and keep testing.
In the next post we’ll talk about using incentives as a way to get people to sign up to your list…
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Tagged with: automate list building • awber autoresponder • aweber • capture email leads • capture leads • double optin • get response • getresponse • getresponse autoresponder • how to capture leads • list building • list building automation • list building guide • list building secrets • list building tips • pop-up forms • single optin • single or double optin • using automatic responder • using aweber • using getresponse • using pop-up forms
lol i hate pop-ups as well but they definitely work in some niches I’m in
how come you don’t ask for a name on your opt-in forms
Thanks for the explanation on the different types of pages. I’ve had a problem getting my head around that.
If single optins are ok why does Aweber force you to use double optin. It seems likely you’ll get more on your list using single opt-in.
I’m using double opt-ins at the moment because I though you had to.
Can I change it?
I’ll be using single opt-ins for my next list anyway.
Hi Mike,
Well I wouldn’t just blindly do that. I think you need to be aware of the way things are heading vis a vis spam. There’s all sorts of crackdowns going on that moment and email marketing can’t be far behind.
There’s no doubt that double opt-in offers you that extra bit of protection from possible spam complaints so on balance we would probably recommend you stick with it.
Hi loki,
Soz, I missed the question on why we don’t bother collecting the name. Simple, less resistance for people to just putting an email in.
I’ll cover more about personalization in the guide itself because we don’t think it’s all it’s cracked on to be.
Ya know that ‘Hi, loki’ stuff automatically embedded in mails. Is it that personal?
Thad once signed up to one of my early lists as ‘Pussy Redboots’ or something like that so all his mails said ‘hi..P..’
Know what I mean. LOL!
There’s all kinds of squeeze page types now. Any insight on video squeeze pages? The ones with the video in the center and the opt in on the right with fancy pointers and stuff? I only use the traditional type of squeeze pages, double optin with both name and email fields.
That’s a great point Jay. Fact is we’ve never tried video squeeze pages so we can’t really say for definite how well they work. But I recall from our time running Destination Unknown that a lady had success using a video that demonstrated how easy a physical product was to use.
Frank Kern and Ed Dale use them all the time in the IM market and at one point I thought it was going to be the only way to go.
Fact is though, they can be very hard to do and some people don’t like them. I know now, if I get a ‘guru’ mail saying ‘come and watch this 10 minute video’, I don’t because I don’t have time.
Some people prefer the written word as well, so you scan back and forth… harder to do on a video if you want to just check a particular point.
Tiffany Dow suggested a ’solution’ to this the other week. Transcribe the video and include that as well. So people have the choice. Great idea for extra content on your site (that was her angle). Kinda depends how good you are at short hand though
Definitely worth a mention in the finished guide, so thanks for bringing that up.
I would also tend to agree now that double optin is the way to go. With all the ‘crackdowns’ going on at the moment it’s probably better to be safe than sorry.
Same with me when I get the ‘guru’ emails they usually have some 30 minute videos – I don’t have time for those. I think Tiffanny Dow has an excellent point with the transcription thing. You could always do a split test to see which one is performing better.
Yep, I think a balance has to be struck with videos. I think they are great for instructional type demos. I may do some for the final guide on the mechanics. No promises though!
I think if you are going to do videos for promotion you should at least add a summary underneath, perhaps not a full transcript.
Those ‘Inside WA’ videos work rather well when coupled with a written review.