How to create your first Opt-in Freebie

How to create your first Opt-In Freebie to grow your email list.

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Introduction

What is an Opt-In Freebie?

An opt-in freebie or lead magnet is something you offer for free in exchange for an email address. People don’t just hand over the email addresses for free anymore. Those days are over.

To grow your email list, you need to create something that you can give away for free, to entice your reader to be willing to give you their email address.

The what’s in it for me card comes into play here. The more addresses you collect, the more potential leads you will have in the future when you create a product to sell.

Decide what your freebie is about

Make it as simple as possible. Since it is your first freebie, you don’t want to create a 30-page eBook.

A simple but valuable checklist, cheatsheet, or roadmap will do. Your audience wants quick actionable guides that will solve their immediate problems.

A 30- page ebook might be helpful, but it’s too long and your reader might not finish it. And that could lead to them not connecting with you, which eventually means they will forget you.

Make sure it’s what people want/need.

Your opt-in freebie needs to be connected to the content that is related to your niche or blog post, that ties in with their interest. It should be what they want and need.

Offer your freebie based on the next steps they should take to get them from A to B.

From problem to Solutions.

Create a freebie or two for each category

For every category that you have, you want to create freebies. To help with different problems and offer various solutions to each one. That way you grow every category and increase your email list growth.

But it’s also wise to create one opt-in freebie that you can promote in all your categories. That leads to more eyes on your blog, leading to more opt-ins.

Think outside the box

Try to think outside the box and create something different, with a twist. Everything that is being done has been done. Nothing is really original.

But we can still try to make it unique with our own expertise, ideas, and opinions. Take what has been done and upgrade it. Make it better by offering more of everything.

Use canva

I like canva because it makes me feel like I can design. (cough)

It’s easy to use once you get the hang of it. Just play around with it and start familiarizing yourself with it. This will also get your creative juices flowing.

Once you know the basics you can start creating beautiful lead magnets, pins, and other fresh graphics for your blog.

Design eye-catching Opt-in Freebies

Create beautiful eye-catching freebies. People are visual creatures. We love and are attracted to beautiful things. So give your audience what they want.

Try a few different ideas. Experiment. Don’t be afraid to be bold and try out-of-the-box ideas.

Make it so good they’d be willing to pay for it

Over-deliver. You are trying to get subscribers to know, like, and trust you. Show them that you can provide value to them. That you can help solve their problems.

Give it away for free. Everything. Give a lot of value so they become raving fans that keep coming back for more.

Use Convertkit or Mailerlite

Use Convertkit or Mailerlite Email Marketing service for landing pages etc. I use Mailerlite for my email service. It’s a great free option when you build a new email list. And it offers email automation on the free plan.

Create great blog content

In order to lead people to your free opt-in. You need to make sure that you hook them with your great quality content first.

Content that solves a problem your audience has. They need to see that you have value to offer them. But before that, they need to be able to find you.

Write content with SEO in mind.

Social media traffic is great, especially Pinterest. But it takes a lot of work. Constantly. When you include SEO in your posts, Google will start to rank you higher up on its pages.

Your blog will get more traffic and you’ll get more eyeballs on your lead magnet. Which will grow your email list.

When you’ve done all that hard work of getting people to your email list. You don’t want to lose them again. Make sure you nurture your list. Email your subscribers on a regular basis. Provide them with free helpful content.

Extra posts to create your first opt-in freebie https://www.meerakothand.com/what-opt-in-freebie-to-create/ and https://applecartlane.com/opt-in-freebie-design/

Mention it 2-3 times in your blog post.
Create eye-catching horizontal images, adding a call-to-action to sign up for your freebie.
Set up a landing page on your blog.
Create 4-5 different images to pin on Pinterest. Promote it with different titles.

Related: How to start a Blog

How to choose the ‘Perfect’ Niche

11 Mistakes to avoid when starting a Blog

Start a blog with Bluehost

Conclusion

How to create your first opt-in freebie is not as difficult as we think. It can be as simple or as hard as you want it to be. The huge task usually puts people off from starting an email list.

Pick a simple yet effective checklist, cheat sheet, or roadmap.
Pick a lead magnet that ties in with your content. That solves your audience’s problem.
Use canva to design your freebie. Make it beautiful and intriguing.
Over-deliver. Make it so good, they’d be willing to pay for it.
Solve the problem. Give them an answer to their question.

How to create your first Opt-in Freebie