A few weeks ago I started the painful yearly task of cleaning up my hard drive. It’s a nightmare and I have to confess something.

Hello. My name is Jess and I’m a digital hoarder. 

OMG, seriously! Between all the opt-ins from lists I’m on and my own writing that isn’t finished and different things I download for creating art and digital goodies…it’s insane.

But as I was looking at all of these opt-ins I have from the lists I’ve been on joined this past year it got me thinking about my own opt-ins and one of the biggest questions I get when it comes to blogging and soul biz.

How do I make my first opt-in?  What should it be about and how do I get it started?

One of the reasons I wanted to share this is because if you’re a heart-centered blogger and you’re starting to expand into offering products and services, it’s a good idea to start getting your email list ramped up.  Having a highly targeted opt-in is going to bring you new subscribers and potential clients practically 24/7.

I’ve had four different opt-ins over the last few years and with each one I created I got closer to really get the whole opt-in thing down. The one I offer right now, Your Spiritual Toolbox, is by far my favorite.  Since launching this new opt-in six months ago I’ve quadrupled my list!  So that’s awesome!

 

What is an opt-in? Do you have to have one?

It’s the freebie gift that you offer to someone in exchange for their name and email address to get them on your list. Some people will join your list just because they love you but some people need a heartfelt bribe.  :smirk:  So you don’t have to have one but there are some really important and solid reasons for creating it.  It will help people get an idea of what you do, what your personality is like and how you share your message with the world.

 

What should it be about?

Your opt-in should be aimed at your potential client’s worries, problems or concerns while giving people a taste of you, your brand and what they would experience if they were to pay you for a product or service.  It should share tools, tips or step-by-step ways for your reader to create change in some area of their life with your wisdom. How you share it and the specifics of what you share should be individual to you.

Derek Halpern of Social Triggers gives a great example of this with a story about talking to a woman who asked him about creating an opt-in for her website where she offered coaching for women going through a divorce. He suggested creating an opt-in to the effect of “10 ways to tell your husband is cheating” and the woman got upset, feeling like it was too negative. She wanted to create an opt-in around “how to have a happy marriage”.

This doesn’t make any sense! If the service you offer is around helping people go through their divorce why would you want to give people information on how to have a happy marriage? Someone who is working on having a happy marriage isn’t someone who’s looking to get divorced {at least not yet} making your paid offerings useless to them.

Always tie your opt-in to at least one of your offerings or services. 

That said, if you don’t have a product or service yet focus on what you want to be known for by your readers and followers. Think about the kinds of things you might blog about and pick one topic that you really love sharing and create an opt-in around that.

 

What form can it take?

Your opt-in can be an ebook, an ecourse, an audio recording, an infographic, a manifesto, a video lecture or even a 1-on-1 offering. Just remember that it needs to convey your message, give actionable advice and value and be something that is sustainable for you. You might really want to give free 15 minute coaching calls to all your new sign ups, which is awesome but you need to be sure you can deliver on that.

 

Where can you get inspiration for your opt-in?

Look at your most popular blog posts for inspiration. What are the questions you get asked the most on social media, in blog comments or through email? What do you want to be known for? What were some of your own big questions that you would have loved to have answered or have a guide to deal with when you were getting started on your journey? Remember that your ideal clients and customers are people who were once you. Simply think of where you were even just a few years ago and use that as a guide to inspire you.

 

Keep in mind…

Be sure to give real value, giving them something actionable that they can really use to make some kind of change in their lives. Don’t think of it as a freebie or some kind of throw away product but as a gift to a new friend. Gifts have value where as free things tend to be forgotten quickly.  But don’t over give either. Giving too much right away can sometimes create an expectation for the future.

Many people never even read or use the opt-in they get. They often get it with the “someday” mentality. They’ll read it or use it one day. Make it compelling and juicy so they can’t wait to get it and read it or use it right away.

If you aren’t comfortable with the design aspect of your opt-in, it’s OK to farm that out to someone else. You might want to do an ebook but feel completely stuck with designing it which stops you from creating your opt-in. You can always check out Fiverr for some budget conscious help since designers can cost hundreds of dollars, even for an opt-in.

 

Now it’s time to make your opt-in!

Creating your opt-in is so much easier than you think. And once you do it you’ll be so glad you did! I want to help you make that happen so I’ve put together a 4 page worksheet with questions to help guide you on making it and a timeline checklist to follow.

Click Here To Get The Worksheet

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Want more rockin’ biz guidance?

Check out my Soul Biz Planner + Workbook! You’re get more goodness like this with mini-biz lessons, worksheets and more…plus a wicked cool bonus!

 

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