ClickBait: What to use, or not to use at all?

10 replies
Thanks a lot to all of the members who have been kind enough to share their wisdom and advice. Good on ya!

I am setting up some popups on my site so that I can get signups for my newsletter. I have 2 areas in which I am unsure.

The first is if I should even offer some clickbait to get people to sign up. Am I going to just get a bunch of mooches who want freebie stuff and really aren't that interested in my materials on health and personal growth?

In that light, I have thought of just using: "If you'd like to receive my weekly newsletter with great tips on how to be happy and healthy, please enter your name and email address below. You'll be glad you did!"

I do realize that if I use clickbait I have the opportunity to convert the person, and they did come to my site due to their interest in my topic, so I am thinking that some "freemium" offer is a good idea.

The second query is what to offer? I have hundreds of PLR's that I can give away, including some with video courses, etc. The dilemma is what to offer? I suppose I could do split testing, and see what pulls. Any suggestions based on your experience?

Thanks so very much for your time to read this and for your response.
#clickbait
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Personal growth is basically setting goals, so offer a quick guide for a short term goal and upsell on a long term goal plan, etc... That's a pretty simple sales funnel.

    You could even qualify traffic with a $1 price (example) on the quick guide. That at least tells you If they're buyers.
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  • Profile picture of the author webmarke
    Hi. I think that you have your terms mixed up. Clickbait and offering a freebie is not really the same thing.

    As I understand it...Clickbait is creating a controversial or outrageous headline in order to get people to click over to your site.
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    I think you may be confusing some of your terms.

    You say "clickbait" when I think you mean "lead magnet".

    Typically, clickbait is those headlines like "what does this child star look like now" or "what one food will kill you if you eat it", etc.

    A lead magnet is the bonus you offer in return for someone's email address.

    The way you avoid the "mooches" is to theme your lead magnet tightly with your content.

    Suppose you have a vegan cookbook. One possible lead magnet would be "7 Simple Vegan Recipes Even Carnivores Love". People interested in vegan cooking and recipes would want this. Anyone else? Not so much.

    Contrast this with "Sign up for my list and get entered in a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card". Who signs up for this? Yep, people interested in winning a gift card.

    Unless you're a bona fide celebrity, the days of "sign up for my newsletter" being effective are dead.

    Offering the right lead magnet will do two things for you. It will tip some people in your favor when they sign up for the lead magnet, and it will screen out the "mooches" and other people not likely to respond to you.
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    • Profile picture of the author KnowOneKnows
      Thanks for your great advice. May I ask one thing? My site is about fitness, goal setting weightloss, relationships, etc. (middleage.org). Any suggestions as to topic? (Of course, I will do multivariate testing) Thanks again!
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Originally Posted by KnowOneKnows View Post

        Thanks for your great advice. May I ask one thing? My site is about fitness, goal setting weightloss, relationships, etc. (middleage.org). Any suggestions as to topic? (Of course, I will do multivariate testing) Thanks again!
        Wow.

        I counted 10 different topics and two different services (group coaching and the online store).

        Since you talk about following those topics in a sequence, I'd start with something in the first section, Unlimiting Beliefs. What's the single most common challenge, question or complaint you see regarding this topic?

        Create a short (4-5 page) report addressing this topic and offering more content like it on your site and via your newsletter. Use the same language in your title that your current subscribers/students use. That will be the same language your prospects are using in their minds.

        You asked at a good time. Jeff Walker is running his annual Product Launch Formula Workshop as the run up to his annual launch of the $2k PLF course. Even if you have no intention of buying the course, Jeff packs a lot of value into the pre-launch workshop.

        (This is not the place for promos, so I won't post a link. But it isn't hard to find...)
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        • Profile picture of the author KnowOneKnows
          Hey John, thanks so much for taking the time to look at my site, and to give me your advice. BTW, I am updating the section, and have 13. If you check the "Sections" link at the top of the page, they will show up. I just added a new section a few days ago on Finding Motivation, and it is step 1. I have a 42-page eBook on motivation; how about that for a giveaway? Also, thanks for the tip on Jeff's course. I'll check it out.
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          • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
            Originally Posted by KnowOneKnows View Post

            Hey John, thanks so much for taking the time to look at my site, and to give me your advice. BTW, I am updating the section, and have 13. If you check the "Sections" link at the top of the page, they will show up. I just added a new section a few days ago on Finding Motivation, and it is step 1. I have a 42-page eBook on motivation; how about that for a giveaway? Also, thanks for the tip on Jeff's course. I'll check it out.
            Sometimes a longish lead magnet is too much. If you read my anniversary post, #5 is "One Message, One Idea." I'd have to count, but I know I have lead magnets I've downloaded and never opened or only read the first few pages and set it aside for 'later'.

            You might be better served to carve out one really good idea, even if it's only 1 page, and make the ebook into a low-cost tripwire product. A short piece they can take action on and get an immediate win will usually be more effective than a long piece that overwhelms.

            Make sense?
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  • Profile picture of the author TrafficFlow
    Rather than offer a freebie, you might mention in your pop up that people who sign up will get weekly access to premium articles that are not published on your site.
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