Are you building your email list? What are some great bonuses to offer your audience? How can you create simple yet enticing designs to use for your email opt-ins?

In this podcast episode, Sam Carvalho speaks about 15 Email Opt-In Ideas for you to try.

Podcast Sponsor: Therapy Notes

Is managing your practice stressing you out? Try TherapyNotes! It makes notes, billing, scheduling, and telehealth a whole lot easier.

Check it out and you will quickly see why TherapyNotes is the highest-rated EHR on TrustPilot with over 1000 verified customer reviews and an average customer rating of 4.9/5 stars.

You’ll notice the difference from the first day you sign up for a trial. They offer live phone support 7 days a week, so when you have questions, you can quickly reach someone who can help, and you are never wasting your time looking for answers.

If you are coming from another EHR, they make the transition really easy. TherapyNotes will import your clients’ demographic data free of charge during your trial so you can get going right away.

Use promo code ‘JOE’ to get three free months to try out TherapyNotes, no strings attached, and remember, telehealth is included with every subscription free. Make 2022 the best year yet with TherapyNotes.

E-book

If you have lots of blog posts on the same topic then consider turning them into a free mini e-book that your audience can download.

You can make e-books using Canva or even Microsoft Word.

There is no optimal length for free e-books, as they can range from 10 pages to 100 pages. It is all about the value you provide within the e-book.

Guide

Similar to an e-book, a “how-to” guide shows your audience how to do something.

An example of this could be some calming techniques you share with clients in the therapy room.

Infographic

Humans process visual data faster, and visual learners will love that you are offering your content in the form of a downloadable infographic.

Try experimenting between infographics and guides to see which perform best for your audience.

Template

Customizable templates save people time.

If you are creating it yourself, you can create editable templates in Microsoft Word where your subscribers download the Word document and customize it on their computer. Canva also offers free editable templates. (Sam Carvalho)

Popular editable templates include:

• Business cards
• Resumes
• Flyers
• E-books
• PDFs

Email course

Putting together a full-blown course can take a lot of time [because] it includes videos, editing, scriptwriting, etc. So if that’s not something you want to do or don’t have time for, consider offering an email course. All you need to do is create the content for a few emails … set up the course using your email marketing provider, and you’re good to go. (Sam Carvalho)

Email courses can be automated so once you have created them, it is hands-off. Be sure to pack it with useful information and PDF freebies.

This is a good way to provide your audience with valuable insight without needing to film a course or teach live.

Quiz

Everyone has used a quiz at some point in their lives, which goes to show that quizzes are a great way to collect leads.

You can try using Try Interact to create quizzes for email list growth.

Swipe files

A Swipe File is a written copy you can reuse or tweak like emails, email subject lines, social media copy, ad copy, or landing page headlines.

If you have run a successful email series or social media campaign in the past, consider selling this copy to other therapists.

Checklist or cheat sheets

Everyone loves a good checklist to keep them on track with their goals.

These are easy to make in Canva.

Challenge

Challenges help keep people accountable.

Not only is this a great way to have people enter your email list, [but] it also builds a tight-knit community as people will be going through the challenge together. (Sam Carvalho)

Here are some challenge ideas to consider:

• Social media challenge to post for 30 days
• Writing challenge to spend 10 minutes engaging in writing exercises planned by you for a week
• Meditation challenge to meditate every day for a month through the guided meditation provided by you

Live call

You do not have to offer a free call to everyone who signs up for your email list, but you can offer one free live call a month and spin it as a contest.

Those who sign up for your list during that month are entered into the draw. You can also do things like bonus entries for sharing the signup page.

Experiment with this one … if you find it’s bringing you consistent quality leads that turn into profitable clients, keep it up. However, if it’s draining you and not benefiting you in the end, try another opt-in. (Sam Carvalho)

Resource library

Resource libraries are a great way to entice people to join your list and a perfect place to keep freebies.

How you create your resources library depends on your content management system like WordPress or Squarespace. Do a bit of digging to find out how to create a “members-only” page.

With many CMSs, you can create a password-protected page to house your freebies. When someone signs up to your email list, you can send them the password for the page so that they can easily access everything.

Spreadsheet

Spreadsheets can help someone who needs to keep track of something but may not have the time or the expertise to set it up from the start.

It can be a super simple spreadsheet, that is nice and organized, and it can end up bringing you a ton of new subscribers.

Video training

Consider adding downloadable training videos to your blog posts where you could further explain how to do something.

Facebook group

Private Facebook groups are great ways to interact with and get to know your audience better. People will need to sign up to an email list to gain an invite to the group.

Then, you remain in contact with people even after they unsubscribe from your email list.

Coupons and deals

If you have something to sell, create various offers that are exclusive to your email list.

Once you select which design you would like to make from Canva, your workspace will appear.

On the left-hand side, you can choose from different pre-made layouts, or you can create your own by going into elements, text, backgrounds, or uploading your imagery. When you have finished, click “download” and select “PDF”, and you are done!

Useful links mentioned in this episode:

• Use promo code ‘JOE’ to get three free months to try out TherapyNotes, no strings attached
• Learn more about Canva and Interact
• Check out the Practice of the Practice branding services

Check out these additional resources:

[SAM CARVALHO]
Welcome to the Marketing a Practice podcast with me, Sam Carvalho where you’ll discover everything you need to know about marketing and branding your business. To find out more about how I can help you brand new business visit www.practiceofthepractice.com/branding. If you’d like to see some examples of my design work, be sure to follow me on Instagram at Samantha Carvalho Design.

Hi, thanks so much for joining me today on the Marketing a Practice podcast. Today, I’m going to be doing a relatively quick episode on 15 email opt-in ideas that you can create either yourself or get a designer to create for you. These days, email lists are crucial part of business, and so therefore, growing your list with targeted subscribers should be one of your main focal points. After all, you don’t just want anyone joining your email lists. You want your ideal client to join. So creating email opti-ns, which are also known as freebie’s content upgrades or lead magnets is a simple way to supercharge your email list growth. For those of you who don’t know what an email opt-in is, an email opt-in is something free that adds additional value that your clients can get in exchange for the email address. So it’s a great way to entice people to sign up for your email list.

So without further ado, here are 15 email opt-in ideas that you can create. Number one is an eBook. If you have a bunch of blog posts on the same topic, you can consider turning them into a free mini eBook that your audience can then download. You can make eBooks using Canva or even Microsoft Word. What’s more, there’s no optimal length for eBooks. They can range from 10 to a hundred pages. It’s more about the value that you provide within the eBook than the length.

Number two is a guide. We all know that how-to guides are always popular. Similar to an eBook, a how-to guide shows your audience how to do something. So you can pretty much create a how-to guide around any topic. An example of this that might be more relevant to you guys is to include some calming techniques that you share with your clients in the therapy room, into a how-to guide that people can then download and practice at home.

Number three is an infographic. We know that humans process visual data foster and visual learners, therefore will absolutely love that you are offering your content in the form of a downloadable infographic. For those of you who enjoy being creative, you can have a lot of fun with creating an infographic and with putting the information in a really interesting way. So try experimenting between infographics and guides to see which performs best for your audience. Then obviously stick with the one that performs best. So with all these email opt-ins, you can kind of test and see which one performs best, and then you know what to use for future. Also, a note on the infographic is you can also use Canva for this. You can pretty much use Canva for all of these email options. If you are wanting to design it yourself, Canva has some really great infographic templates for you to play around with.

Number four is a template. In the busy lives that we lead, we know that customizable templates save people time. If you consider yourself design savvy, consider designing a template that people can then customize to their liking. Or of course you can outsource those tasks to a designer. But if you are creating it yourself again, you can create editable templates in Microsoft Word, where your subscribers then download the Word document and customize it on their computer. Canvas again also offers free editable templates. So some ideas for popular editable templates are business cards, resumes, flyers, eBooks, or PDFs.

The fifth idea for an email opt-in is an email course. Putting together a full blown course can take a lot of time. It includes videos, editing, script writing, et cetera, et cetera. So if that’s not something you want to do or have time for, you can consider offering an email course. All you need to do is create content for a few emails. It doesn’t have to be a lot. That can literally be a five-day email course. Then you can set up the course using your email marketing provider, and you’re good to go. This can be automated. So once you’ve created it’s hands off and you can pack it with useful information and PDF-free piece. This is a really good way to provide your audience with valuable insight without needing to film a course or teach live.

Is managing your practice stressing you out? Try Therapy Notes. It makes notes, billing, scheduling, and tele-health a whole lot easier. Check it out and you will quickly see why it’s the highest rated EHR on Trustpilot with over a thousand verified customer views and an average customer rating of 4.9 out of five stars. You’ll notice the difference from the first day you sign up for a trial. They offer live phone support seven days a week so when you have questions, you can quickly reach out to someone who can help. You are never wasting your time looking for answers.

If you’re coming from another EHR, they make the transition really easy. Therapy Notes will import your clients’ demographic data free of charge during your trial so you can get going right away. Use the promo code [JOE] to get three months to try out Therapy Notes, totally free, no strings attached. Remember telehealth is included with every subscription free. Make 2022, the best year yet with Therapy Notes.

Number six is a quiz. We’ve all sat completing Cosmo quizzes at some point in our lives, which just goes to show that quizzes are a great way to collect leads. You can try using Try interact, that’s T-R-Y and then Interact, I-N-T-E-R-A-C-T to create quizzes for email list growth. So definitely give that a shot. That’s an interesting way to entice people to sign up for your email list.

Number seven is swipe files. So a swipe file is copy that you can reuse or tweak; think emails, email subject lines, social media copy, ad copy, or even landing page headlines. So if you’ve run a successful email series or social media campaign in the past, you can consider placing all this copy into a swipe file and then selling that to other therapists. So that’s also an interesting way to get people to opt in.

Number eight is checklists or a cheat sheet. So everybody loves a good checklist to keep them on track. What’s more, these are super easy to make in Canva. So definitely check out the options that they have available in Canva for some easy checklist that you can put together and have people opting into your email list tomorrow.

Number nine is a challenge. Challenges help keep people accountable. So not only is this a great way to have people enter your email list. It also builds a tight-knit community as people will going through the challenge together. So the sky is really the limit when it comes to running any type of challenge for your subscribers, but some ideas to get you started include a social media challenge to post for 30 days, a rising challenge to spend 10 minutes engaging in writing exercises, which you can plan for a week or a meditation challenge to meditate every day for a month through a guided meditation that is provided by you. That’s also a great way to get people to opt in.

Number 10 is a live call. For this one, you don’t have to offer free call to everyone who signs up for your email list. Instead, you offer one free live call a month, and then you spin it as a contest. So those who sign up for your list during that month, or then enter into the draw and you can also do things like bonus entries for sharing the signup page. Definitely experiment with this one. Like I said you can experiment with all these opt-ins, but if you find this one’s bringing you consistent quality leads that turn into profitable clients, then obviously keep it up. However, if it’s draining you and not benefiting you in the end, then you’d rather try another opt-in.

Number 11 is a resource library. So again, like we mentioned with the eBooks where you may have a ton of blog posts flying around, with the resource library, if you have a ton of freebies that you’ve already created, but you don’t know what to do with them, then you can put them together in a resource library, which is then full of exclusive content and it’s a great way to entice people to join your list. Since your audience gets instant access to a whole bunch of amazing resources, you can quickly establish yourself as an expert in your niche.

How you create your resource library depends on your content management system or CMS, which is whether you have WordPress or Squarespace or things like that. So you may need to be, you may need to do a bit of digging to find out how-to create a members-only page. With many CMAs, though you can create a password-protected page where you can then house all of your freebies. Then when someone signs up to your email list, you can send them the password for the page so that they can easily access everything.

Number 12 is a spreadsheet. Spreadsheets can really help someone who needs to keep track of something, but may not have the time or the expertise to set it up from the start. So if you’re like me and you are not an Excel wiz, you don’t have to worry. Essentially people are just looking to save time. So you can set up a super simple spreadsheet that just looks nice and organized, and that can literally end up bringing you a ton of new subscribers.

Number 13 is video training. I don’t know about you, but I love to learn by watching videos rather than trying to follow along with some text. So you can consider adding downloadable training videos to your blog posts, where you could further explain how-to do something, or even just summarize the blog post. Then people would have to enter the email addresses for you to then email them the video.

Number 14 is a Facebook group. Private Facebook groups are a fun way to interact with your audience and get to know them better. But because you don’t own the contacts in your Facebook group, you could get people to sign up for your email list, to then gain an invite to the group. That way you can also remain in contact with people even after they unsubscribe from your email list. This is a great way to have a second point of communication with people if they do unsubscribe from your email list, at some point.

Number 15, the final one is coupons and deals. Everybody loves a good deal. If you have something that you’re selling, you can create various offers that are exclusive to those on your email list. For example, a percentage of coupon for items you sell, or an upsell. For example, those who sign up for my email list will get a free item with any purchase over $50. So if you are selling something, then coupons and deals is a great way to get people to opt into your email list.

If you have been on the move while listening to this episode, we will have all of this in the show notes so you can definitely go back to the show notes and have a look at all 15 ideas. But just to run through them again, quickly number one’s an eBook, two a guide, three an infographic, four a template, five an email course, six a quiz, seven a swipe file. Number eight, a checklist, nine a challenge, 10 a live call, 11 a resource library, 12 a spreadsheet, 13 video training, 14 a Facebook group and 15 coupons and deals. Again, most of these you can do on Canva or even in Microsoft Word. If you do want to do it yourself, otherwise you can always outsource it to a designer or to me.

If you are looking at doing it in Canva, canva.com is a free and super user friendly tool that you can use to create many of these opt-ins. There are many pre-made templates available for you to pick from. Once you select which design you’d like to make your workspace will then appear. On the left hand side, you can choose from different premade layouts, or you can create your own by going into elements, text backgrounds, or uploading your own imagery. So there’s a lot of options for customization. Then once you’ve designed your PDF, you simply click download on the top and select PDF. That’s it. Again, feel free to experiment with these do-it-yourself and then see how they perform or feel free to reach out to me with your email opt-in design needs. Thanks for listening. I’ll see you in the next episode.

Thanks again to Therapy Notes for sponsoring this episode. Remember to use the promo code, [JOE] that’s J-O-E to get three free months to try out Therapy Notes for free, no strings attached.

Thanks for listening to the Marketing a Practice podcast. If you need help with branding your business, whether it be a new logo, rebrand, or you simply want some print flyer designed head on over to www.practiceofthepractice.com/branding. If you’d like to see some examples of my design work, be sure to follow me on Instagram at Samantha Carvalho Design.

Finally, please subscribe, rate, and review this podcast on iTunes if you like what you’ve heard. Talk to you soon.

Marketing a Practice podcast is part of the Practice of the Practice podcast network, a network of podcasts seeking to help you market and grow your business and yourself. To hear other podcasts like Beta Male Revolution, Empowered and Unapologetic, Imperfect Thriving, or Faith in Practice, go to practiceofthepractice.com/network.

This podcast is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regards to the subject matter covered. It is given with the understanding that neither the host, the publisher, or the guests are rendering legal, accounting, clinical, or any other professional information. If you want a professional, you should find one.