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…