Do you need a Free Opt-in gift? Then what the heck do you do with it?

The first in a series all about the Free Opt-in Gift, Free download, Freebie, Lead magnet, Lead capture whatever you might want to call it.

This series will include the following different pieces for your reading pleasure.

This one why do I need a Free Opt-in gift?
How do I create a Free Opt-in gift?
The nitty-gritty what the heck do I do with it?
Ther really nitty-gritty It’s on my website now what?

Throughout this series, we’ll use an example of a small boutique fitness studio, and the primary way to get people started is with an introductory package of 3 private sessions

Before we can get started with why you need an opt-in gift let’s take a moment to explain exactly what it is.

A free opt-in is anything you have on your website or whatever software you are using that in exchange for someone’s information you give them something. What you give them can be any one of the following things.

An electronic ebook
A video
A free pdf
A quiz that delivers answers
Access to a mini-course
Access to a live webinar
the list could literally go on and on…

The next big thing is what information are you collecting from them. This can vary depending on what business you are in and why you want their information. The information typically collected is

email address
name and email address
name, email address, and phone number

Now that we have covered what a Free Opt-in is it’s time to talk about Why in the world do you need one?

This is a loaded question. You don’t need one just to have it or because everyone said you have to have one. The primary reason is to collect people’s information, but you need to do something with that information. Below is my flow of what should happen when you have an opt-in gift.

The #1 reason you want people’s contact information is to stay in touch and have them be part of your audience.

If you are only on social media you are at the social media gods mercy if your important content is shared and let’s be honest there is a lot of noise out there on social media. If you collect their email address you have it’s yours forever and ever or until they unsubscribe from your list.

I get it can all be very overwhelming that’s why I’ve broken this into a multi-step process on why, what, and how to successfully implement an Opt-in Gift program

As I go through all of these steps keep in mind you don’t have to do it all at once. It might take you a while to refine your process, but what is key is that you start. The other key advice I would have is don’t spend all your time creating opt-in gift after opt-in gift if you aren’t going to get it visible and do something with those contacts.

➙ Step 1: Figure out what your goal is. For this, I mean what is the goal of your website or landing page. Is it to book appointments, sell a product, collect email addresses, make money on whatever it is you are selling.

➙ Step 2: How can I provide value with something that helps my goal? For example, say you own a small studio and you want people to book a free consultation with you, but they aren’t ready for that yet. If you can provide them with an ebook of 10 at-home workouts you're a bit closer to building a bit of trust with them (several more steps to follow)

➙ Step 3: Create your first free download. The next in the series will go over exactly how to do this including making sure it matches your brand, style, and so much more like where to create it, how to deliver it, what format to save it in etc.

➙ Step 4: Get this free opt-in gift on all of your platforms: Let’s be loud and proud you want it on your website, a landing page for it, a pop-up, share it often and regularly on social media, blog posts, and emails.

➙ Step 5: What to do after that opt-in: Make sure the person is added to your email list. If you’ve collected their phone number contact them via text or call within hours (we’ll dive into when and how to do this later in the series) Make sure they get the opt-in gift either immediately, and in their email. If you’re ready to be really advanced you can immediately send them to another page where you ask them to book an appointment or purchase something.

Using our example studio. We want to sell them our introductory package of 3 private sessions. Our free opt-in gift was a Free on the road workout guide for the traveling businesswoman. Once the potential customer entered the name, email, and phone number they are redirected to a new page that had two things on it.

#1 Access to their free gift
#2 An explanation of our introductory package and the ability to purchase those three private sessions. (you can sub an offer here, like a free consultation or whatever it is you want your potential client to do)

➙ Step 5 1/2: What to do after that opt-in: After all of the above getting them on your email list and start emailing them. This could be initial welcome automation (if you’re ready for this) In addition to sending these new contacts regular emails of value.

➙ Step 6: Ask for a sale!!!! This is so important. Go back to your why. Let us use our example studio and the why is to sell the introductory package of 3 private sessions. Once you have their contact info since it’s not your mom’s best friend you need to nurture this contact. That’s not just asking for the sale provide them with valuable information as well as asking them to make a purchase. We’ll get way more in-depth with this in the final edition of this series.

What to expect next in this Free Download series.

A. How to create a Free gift (including software, sizing, images, storage etc)

B. What to do with it. Specific details on getting it on your website, landing pages, sharing it on social media.

C. My freebie is on my website what’s next. Sending out emails, creating calls to action, how to use a landing page, How to keep talking about, sending out regular emails etc.

What’s your first step?

Figure out what you are trying to accomplish? After you figure out what your primary goal is take a look at your ideal client. Then ask what have they been regularly asking me about. Is it something like I need healthy recipes, how do I work out when traveling for work, I keep hurting my knees when skiing….the list is literally endless. Then when you come across something that really resonates we create your opt-in gift around that.

Always remember it doesn’t need to be perfect we just need to start someplace and it can always be changed!

Stay tuned to the next in this series.

How do I create a Free Opt-in gift

Ready to check out my Free Download?

Seriously I can’t tell you that you need to have one without having one of my own. Mine is a workbook on figuring out exactly what should be on your home page. This will provide a little bit of help to figure out what your website’s primary goal is.

If you’ve landed on my site my primary goal is for someone in need of a new website or website redesign to book a free consultation so we can discuss if we are a good fit for each other.

My secondary goal is to provide help to those that are managing their own site or want to create a DIY site. This help can be anything from working on your Squarespace site to setting up all those fun systems and processes.

Happy Designing!