Offering something for free is a great way to get prospects to give you their emails and build your reputation. There are loads of different things you could offer.
Let me share some ideas:
#1 – Cheat Sheet
A brief document with useful tips is usually perceived as a valuable reference by many prospects. My eBay cheat sheet is a great example.
#2 – Checklist
A quick win and easy to create, which can affect prospects’ perceptions of their own needs. My website checklist is a good example.
#3 – Guide
A document that ‘guides’ prospects with a process or action. If you want prospects to complete an action, can you guide them? See my website start-up guide as an example.
#4 – eBook
A great way to be perceived as an expert in a field, but can take time to create and may not be perceived as a ‘quick’ win due to the long time it takes to read.
#5 – Template
Something that can be used to complete a task. One of my most effective lead baits which can be extremely effective! Check out my eBay template as an example.
#6 – Toolkit
A list of resources and tools that may help a prospect. This can also influence how prospects complete tasks.
#7 – An Infographic
A visual piece of art that contains useful ideas that can be referenced to. See Pinterest for ideas.
#8 – Coupons
Offering money off items from something like discount codes or vouchers is an indirect way of paying prospects to sign up and encourage expenditure. It’ll more than pay for itself as you’ll be able to re-sell to them more effectively.
#9 – Webinar
Offering access to content in the form of webinars is a great way to personally connect with prospects and is becoming increasingly popular.
#10 – Course Access
If you have valuable content that can teach prospects something useful then it’ll incentivise them to sign up. Many sellers offer a limited ‘free’ course or part of a paid course in the hope that they’ll choose to buy the paid version.
#11 – Competition Entry
You can make signing up to a newsletter an entry requirement to a competition or prize draw.
#12 – Reports
Access to data that’s perceived to be valuable can encourage sign-ups. A data breakdown about the most popular devices people use to view websites would encourage web developers to trade their emails for it.
#13 – Case Study
Details of a working example of something that relates to prospects may be of great interest to them. A good example would be of a success story resulting from your product or service.
Influence your Audience
Note that what you provide can also influence prospects’ behaviour in your favour – for instance, including a product on a checklist may affect prospects’ perceptions of their needs, and including links to somewhere increases traffic. I’ve given away thousands of freebies which have seriously grown my list and promoted my brand.
Thanks for Reading
I hope you’re now intrigued about getting down and creating some free list building incentives to drive traffic to your email list. I’m sure you can create something for free that’ll help your business!
You might want to grab a copy of the Free Email Marketing Cheat Sheet to discover further ways email marketing can help your business.
If you’ve found this email marketing post helpful, please share this page so others can create more signup incentives.
Cheers! Good luck.
Nick
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