Okay your subscriber numbers are frustrating. Your site’s subscription list is so tiny it fits on the back of one of your hands.
While this is true every Blogsite you visit seems to say something like:
- Join over 2,500 readers by subscribing today
- Be a part of more than 10,000 satisfied, happy people already signed up
- 100,000 subscribers but who’s counting
You’re always wondering – are these numbers true?
How do these Blogger’s achieve this?
Why do people sign up happily to these lists but are reluctant to sign up for mine?
A Simple Reason Why People Are Not Signing Up To Your List
Today the average Blogsite visitor will not just give their Email Id to just anyone. They could be opening themselves up to a flood of SPAM mail, phishing attempts, identify theft, and a ton of other annoying (frightening) assaults via their mailbox.
It’s not only about privacy and security, site visitor’s mail boxes are often stuffed with newsletters that they just do not have the time to read.
Site visitors have fixed free block of time each day to read newsletters. Unless they – See Real Value – in signing on to your mailing list, they will not invest any of that time signing up to receive your newsletter in their already over-crowded mailbox.
This is always the main reason why people are not adding their Email Ids and growing your list.
The solution – give them an irresistible reason to sign up.
A reason so powerful, so valuable, that it outweighs all their reasons not to subscribe.
Translated – Bribe them with a terrific offer.
The Hallmarks Of An Irresistible Sign-Up Bribe
You’ll have seen identical promises made on every optin form displayed to you.
- Sign-up for my informative and helpful newsletter and download your free eBook . . .
While it does look like a selfless offer of great free content, this is a bribe. Plain and simple.
Do something for me and I’ll give something of value to you in return.
In this case, the bribe is – give me your Email Id and I’ll give you something that is not freely readable on my site.
That said, creating an effective (powerful) bribe is not as simple as it sounds.
Site visitors are bombarded with free downloads, eBooks, white papers, YouTube videos, you name it, it’s on offer somewhere.
To get your site visitor to sign up you have to offer something genuinely tempting. Something of – Real value. Something that they would be willing to pay for if you were not so generously giving it away in exchange for their email address.
Your incentive can be:
- The source of much needed inspiration when stuck at a roadblock
- The promise to solve an urgent problem or soothe a nagging pain
- The chance to rapidly expand existing knowledge on a topic of strong interest and relevance
- The direction needed to achieve a much-desired goal
- Access to a library of awesome eBooks
- 20 tutorials delivered to their mailbox over the next 20 days on a subject of immediate interest
If your site visitor thinks – your bribe–is something they simply must have, you’re home and dry.
Most Bloggers get stuck is deciding exactly what their bribe should be.
They don’t want to create a lame – me too type eBook – that looks just like a blog post wrapped as a PDF, they want to offer something more distinctive.
BUT
They don’t know where to start.
9 Sign-Up Bribes To Create A Tidal Wave Of Subscribers
The sign-up bribe is such a common thing that the smart Blogger must be a little more creative to stand out from the crowd.
Fortunately, there are a number of different bribe formats are available that are much more valuable and enticing than the average – Free white paper – or – Free eBook.
The following nine signup bribes will get your creative juices flowing and get your site visitors falling over each other to sign up.
#1 – The Welcoming Email Series
The welcome email series, is a technique used to welcome new subscribers by delivering to them important aspects of your Blog in bite sized pieces. These newsletters are delivered to their mailbox at regular intervals over several days (or weeks).
Each newsletter contains, one (or more than one) segment that specifically adds value to the recipient.
These could be a free:
- Theme or template
- eBook covering a special interest subject in-depth
- 1 hour of on-on-one consultancy via Skype
- 2 hours of specific tech help for free
- Webinar(s) on a subject of mutual interest
The goal of the newsletter is to engage the interest of the new subscriber, lead them through the huge value add your site has on offer, instead of leaving them waiting for your next Blog post or hoping they will explore your site under their own steam.
Each offer, made in each newsletter, MUST ensure the recipient is driven to make a trip back to your site. This increases your site traffic which in turn catches the attention of search engines.
Delivered on autopilot (via MailChimp, Aweber, Constant Contact and so on) the reader is automatically sent such emails, at regular intervals, with each email building on the one before.
Minimum requirements: Useful and engaging content, whether unique to the bribe or already published on your blog, that you can easily break into bite sized pieces. Delivered by a stream of timed newsletters.
#2 – Time-Saving Cheat Sheets
Cheat sheets are a terrific way of ensuring that key points of a specific topic, that easily be overlooked or missed, are not.
Think of a cheat sheet as – The key to a box of secrets that makes your reader instantly more productive rapidly improving their skills.
A cheat sheet is a highly practical reference guide that outlines and shares valuable data and shortcuts, often in a visual format that makes the retrieval of key information as efficient as possible.
This sort of bribe is attractive to the reader because it delivers a lot of information in a tightly focused format, easily digestible, instantly useable and quickly proves its worth. Perhaps saving them hours of effort.
#3 – The Handy Template
The handy template is anything that serves as a model for others to copy. A template can be defined as is a framework for success based on what has already been effective for others.
This bribe is enticing because it’s easy to use (one only has to fill in the blanks) and can help the user quickly solve a problem or achieve a goal.
If yours is a career Blog that encourages readers to create a cover letter that’ll blow HR managers away, offer a cover letter template that readers can use as a model to create their own.
If yours is a digital marketing Blog perhaps you can offer a template that can be used to craft an effective social media strategy. Users can simply fill in details of social streams, date, time, and which content they want to release. Then this can be used as a blueprint to drive an effective social media strategy.
Such templates are very effective bribes. They help recipients master a skill (i.e. social media marketing) and add huge (measurable) value to their own websites.
#4 – The All-In-One Toolkit
If you already have some useful resources in your content bank – videos, interactive checklists, Blog post structures, Head line creators and so on package these together into a single resource such as an All-In-One toolkit.
Such a toolkit gives your subscribers the opportunity to tackle bigger site problems by giving them all the tools they require, in a single download.
When you do so, your recipients see the depth of your knowledge and skill and they experience first-hand the power of your approach.
The All-In-One toolkit is packed with a ton more value than the lighter email series or the single template.
This makes the All-In-One toolkit a terrific signup bribe.
#5 – The Persuasive Blueprint
A blueprint is a concrete plan that breaks down any major process into small, understandable and digestible chunks.
Usually in PDF or eBook format, this bribe is a framework which the reader can follow and which will deliver a specific result.
Each blueprint chapter describes specific framework concepts and reveals tasks that must be completed before moving to the next section.
Depending on depth of information that the blueprint needs to deliver its length may range from 10 to 20 pages. The blueprint must have a clear outline upfront, which help its readers and you create the perfect blueprint.
Creating a blueprint showcases your expertise in a self-contained, easily downloadable bribe, hence this is a terrific signup option. It’s a lot more intensive than an email series or a cheat sheet, but is less bulky than a toolkit.
#6 – The Sexy Video Course
You may be a person who prefers talking to writing, and signup incentives do not always have to be in written form.
If you are more of a visual person and thrive on verbal/visual interaction, creating video tutorials covering specific topics may just be the perk that gets you to shine.
A video bribe can be a single video that covers a topic in depth, or a series of videos tackling different subtopics.
The videos can be a live recording of you presenting specific information to camera, or a slideshow presentation with you providing the voiceover.
Whatever your approach, video training needs a different set of practical requirements. Make sure you’re ready to invest time, effort, on recording and editing and some money on equipment.
#7 – The Graphical Giveaway
If you Blog about graphics, User Interface design, Flat icon design, Flat theme / template design or anything at all to do with design, your signup bribe could relate to design as well. Your site visitors are fans of your creative ideas, aesthetics and style.
Hence, what better way to get them excited enough to sign up on your site, than offering a gorgeous freebie they can put to use immediately in exchange for their Email Id?
A business card template, website stickers, flat social icons for a WordPress theme, desktop wallpapers of various sizes, are all great options for your blog subscribers.
Use these to entice your site visitors to check out other bigger products you have for sale on your site, or to hire you for design services.
DesignGood.com is an inspirational blog for designers and creatives around the world. To encourage subscriptions, new visitors get free stickers to go with their weekly serving of design inspiration.
#8 – The Infographic Giveaway
Finally, irrespective of which topic you Blog about, one great bribe for sign ups is the Infographic giveaway.
There are a ton of great free tools on the Internet that can be used to create Infographics. Additionally, there are a ton of infographic templates that can be downloaded for free and modified to suit your specific Blog topic requirements.
NOTE: If you need to identify such tools simply Google for
– Free Infographic Creation tools
OR
– Free Infographic templates for download
Use these tools / templates and create visually engaging, information loaded, infographics that are easily understood by your site visitors. An infographic is the fastest way to deliver information to anyone in an engaging easy to absorb manner.
The infographic content must be stuff that they can use immediately for their sites which will be a value add to them almost immediately.
