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Please critique my opt-in form

by Richard Rago
11 replies
Hey All,

My opt-in form is in the right sidebar on every page of my blog. Please check it out at goodbyedailygrind (dot) com, and tell me what you think.

One of my concerns is whether or not I should ask for a "Name" as well as email address. If I didn't ask for a Name then the box would be smaller and might flow better on the site.

Thanks.
#critique #form #optin
  • Profile picture of the author Mike Hlatky
    Originally Posted by Reebdoog View Post

    Hey All,

    My opt-in form is in the right sidebar on every page of my blog. Please check it out at goodbyedailygrind (dot) com, and tell me what you think.

    One of my concerns is whether or not I should ask for a "Name" as well as email address. If I didn't ask for a Name then the box would be smaller and might flow better on the site.

    Thanks.
    Well if you don't ask for a name, you are probably going to get more signups. You would just have to do some testing to determine not only how many signups you are going to get, but the QUALITY of the subscribers.

    Personally, I think that 50 videos is way too many. I don't want to go through hours and hours of information to see if I can find something useful. I want some short report or one or two videos that is going to show me some cool trick. But, that is just my opinion.

    Your blog is very plain, so the opt-in box draws attention to itself just by having a box around it and red text. If you ever decide to change the theme, you should include some sort of picture, or something to make it stand out more.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      My first reaction was that the size of the headline graphic made it 'break' the theme layout. Then I realized that the box breaking out of the theme boundary actually drew my attention, which is what you want.

      My second reaction, to your offer rather than your mechanics, was "so what?"

      50 videos over 7 hours, watching purely online? I don't care how much I want to learn about something, I'm not investing 7 hours in staring at a computer screen to watch videos by (or at least from) someone I don't know from Adam's off ox.

      There's no benefit to me as the basic opportunity seeker in your offer. All I see is work, and at the end of that work, I'll have "information". Big deal!

      If all I want is 'information', I'll read your blog without subscribing. Or read someone else's blog. Or download an ebook from someplace free.

      I believe you'll do better to pick out one or two really juicy videos, and tell me how my life will be better from having watched them. How will that one or two juicy videos move me one step closer to saying goodbye to my daily grind?

      The let those videos be the springboard to consuming the other videos.
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  • Profile picture of the author Richard Rago
    Hey Mike,

    Your reply is incredibly helpful, thanks for taking the time. I'll take your advice and come up with something else to offer.

    Thanks again.
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  • Profile picture of the author daangertenaar
    You could use a video fake-out picture above your opt in form, and when people hover over that pic, they'll see a big red arrow pointing to your opt in form.
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  • Profile picture of the author Floyd Fisher
    Originally Posted by Reebdoog View Post

    Hey All,

    My opt-in form is in the right sidebar on every page of my blog. Please check it out at goodbyedailygrind (dot) com, and tell me what you think.

    One of my concerns is whether or not I should ask for a "Name" as well as email address. If I didn't ask for a Name then the box would be smaller and might flow better on the site.

    Thanks.
    There are pros and cons to doing that.

    The pro of this is you can personalize emails with the info you collect, for highre response.

    The con is asking for a name may (and you should test this) lower the conversion rate of the page.

    It depends on what is more important to you: Higher conversions on the page, or higher conversions of the emails you send out.
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  • Profile picture of the author Richard Rago
    Hey daangertenaar,

    When you say "video fake-out picture", do you mean something like the picture on goodbyedailygrind (dot) com / mass-money-makers-review

    And are you saying that on hover, the image should have a red arrow appear on it?

    Thanks for taking the time check out my page.
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  • Profile picture of the author donhx
    I'm with Mike on this... 50 videos is major over-kill. I think you would get a better response if you used a line like this: "The 3 most important money making videoes I ever saw...I want you to have them as a free gift."

    Otherwise, the opt in is good. Test it. Personally, I like them embedded as you have it instead of pop ups, however pop ups do better a lot of the time.
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  • Profile picture of the author steverich
    Hey Reebdoog.
    Just My opinion..
    Please don't take offense.
    I feel It would look a lot more professional if the text fit in the box rather than strayed out off the page......

    People are strange creatures....... may as well make it look right if its gonna put some folk off.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bill_Z
    It's very general, perhaps you could call it "Free Training Videos" and be more specific about what they will learn. I know you are going for the volume of videos to snag the opt-in, but as someone else said that might be overwhelming. Only way to know it to test
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  • Profile picture of the author Richard Rago
    Wow. Some great replies here. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to really look at my opt-in form.

    @Floyd Fisher - I appreciate your advice. I have questions about how to test an opt-in form, but I'll ask them in a new thread.

    @JohnMcCabe - I kept the theme minimalistic to ensure that the opt-in form would stand out. Thanks for explaining in detail why you think I should change my offer. Your reply was very insightful, and I'll work on it.

    @donhx - Thanks for your thoughts on my offer. That's very generous of you to suggest an offer, and I may very well use it or something like it.

    @steverich - The opt-in box itself is the full width of the sidebar - 200px. I like that it stands out. But I am using Google Chrome and the text fits in the opt-in box nicely. Which browser are you using?

    Thank you again, everyone.
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  • Profile picture of the author Richard Rago
    Hey Bill_Z,

    Thanks for taking a look at my opt-in, and I appreciate your advice. It's cool that you noticed the "volume" of videos to grab attention, and that was absolutely my strategy. It never occurred to me that it my be a bad or counter productive strategy, and that's why I love this forum.

    Thanks again.
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