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"Free ebook" or "Free Newsletter" for squeeze page?

by Curtis2011
22 replies
I am setting up a squeeze page for a new website. Basically my plan at the moment is to give away an ebook (that I'm currently creating) in exchange for the opt-in.

My question is: how do I position the squeeze page to best be able to market to the people in the future? Do I just advertise the free ebook, or do I say "get this free ebook when you sign up for my newsletter" or what? Do I say "get this free ebook now and receive updates from me in the future" ?

What is the best positioning to display the offer from? I don't want them to think that it is just a one-time free download and that I will never send them another email again, since I will be marketing to them in the future (and sending useful content as well).
#free ebook #free newsletter #page #squeeze
  • Profile picture of the author GaryBurke
    Be honest and tell your subscribers what they are getting
    "get this free ebook when you sign up for my newsletter" which is what you are doing so say so
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  • Profile picture of the author mamadou douka
    People already Know if you tell them or not because if not you would not be asking for their email.Keep it simple don't over complicate it and waste time and energy on such things.
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    • Profile picture of the author RogueOne
      Originally Posted by mamadou douka View Post

      People already Know if you tell them or not because if not you would not be asking for their email.
      This is not always true. A lot of people don't realize they've subscribed to a list, especially outside the IM, MMO niche.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by mamadou douka View Post

      People already Know if you tell them or not because if not you would not be asking for their email.
      This isn't right at all. Most people don't know. As far as they're concerned, you're asking for their email address to send them a download link for an e-book or whatever it is you've offered them. If you're going to be sending them a newsletter as well, you definitely need to say so, and preferably tell them something about it, too.

      (Hopefully, the "free report" will also clarify what's coming up in the first newsletter, and tell them when to expect it, too? ).

      What matters is to start setting their expectations correctly and to begin your continuity-process before they opt in, so that they know exactly what they're going to be getting. Otherwise your open-rate may not be worth talking about, let alone the subscribers' interest-rate, attention-rate and click-through rate.

      And it's not easy here to add much to Joshua's excellent post above (#4).
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  • Profile picture of the author jamesrich1
    Put the best benefit as your headline and that should get you well over a 30% conversion rate.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joshua Rigley
    Banned
    Here's how I would do it:

    I would start off with a headline (doesn't have to be big and red) asking my reader a question about their biggest problem. For example, if their biggest problem was getting traffic to their websites, it would say something like "Do You Need More Visitors to Your Website?".

    Next, I would have a brief paragraph introducing my newsletter/ecourse (not ebook) as a solution to their problem.

    Then, I would create a series of bullets, but instead of benefits, I would tell them exactly what days I'd be emailing them and what the subject line would be. Like this:

    • Day 1: How to get free traffic in as little as 24 hours
    • Day 3: Can you get 1,000 free visitors with only 1 hour of "work"?
    • Day 5: The true story of how I got 122,887 visitors for $100...
    • Day 7: "Top Secret"

    After that, I'd add a couple of sentences explaining which days my newsletter would be sent to their inboxes, and at what time as well (Every other Friday at 5PM EST, for example).

    Finally, I'd have a nice, strong call to action telling them to opt-in to my list, followed by an opt-in form, and then a little P.S. reminding them why I'm so awesome. Or something like that.

    I'd only include a free report if I felt like it, and even then it'd probably be an afterthought.

    The most important thing to remember though, is that testing is king in marketing, so don't just take my word for it. Test this against a more "traditional" squeeze page, and see which one does better.

    Here's some more info to get you going:

    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post6123982
    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post7939758
    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post5475859

    Hope that helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    Yeah, advertise the free ebook.

    You'll get subscribers using either method (free ebook vs free newsletter), but the free ebook approach will get you more subscribers. In some of my other affiliate niches, including an ebook cover of your free ebook has shown to boost response. So you will want to test this also.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jeff Lenney
      Free e-book, but don't forget the OTO (one time offer) - this will help you build a separate buyers list within your freebies list

      Good luck

      Jeff
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      • Profile picture of the author GlenH
        I'd be letting your prospects download your free ebook offering without first having to optin.

        Then, when they open your free ebook, and start reading, after a predetermined time (say 2 minutes) an optin form and message from you opens right inside the PDF ebook.

        The strategy is they then have to give their name and email (or whatever optin data it is that you want) before they can continue reading the ebook.

        It's a big twist on the original 'squeeze page' method, and it's worked gangbusters for me.

        This has proven to be a lot less intimidating to prospects.
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        • Profile picture of the author PotPieGirl
          Originally Posted by GlenH View Post

          I'd be letting your prospects download your free ebook offering without first having to optin.

          Then, when they open your free ebook, and start reading, after a predetermined time (say 2 minutes) an optin form and message from you opens right inside the PDF ebook.

          The strategy is they then have to give their name and email (or whatever optin data it is that you want) before they can continue reading the ebook.

          It's a big twist on the original 'squeeze page' method, and it's worked gangbusters for me.

          This has proven to be a lot less intimidating to prospects.
          With all due respect, that would piss me off. Someone offers info for free and THEN decides about 2 minutes in, that it's not free ( ie, no requirement on my part whether monetary or "just" my email address).

          That said, if it's working well for you, your "free" guide must be awesome. Otherwise,why would it convert so well for you? Hats off to you

          All that said and out of the way.... to the OP - Offer them something awesome on the front side. Unless you already have an amazing following, it will be hard to get them to opt in without getting something on the front side.

          I have opted in for many a lists because I just wanted what they were offering for free.

          Jennifer
          ~PotPieGirl
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          These 15 simple tips worked wonders for my Amazon affiliate earnings =)
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        • Profile picture of the author Curtis2011
          Originally Posted by GlenH View Post

          The strategy is they then have to give their name and email (or whatever optin data it is that you want) before they can continue reading the ebook.
          Hah. That is sneaky.

          On the one hand, I think it would work well to get emails. On the other, I think a lot of the opt-ins might be reluctant opt-ins rather than willing.

          I've seen similar stuff in the past happen to me, and the first thing I do is unsubscribe.

          Since most autoresponder services charge higher rates for more people on your list, I think I would rather have a smaller list of more interested people than a larger list of less interested people.

          Originally Posted by PotPieGirl View Post

          All that said and out of the way.... to the OP - Offer them something awesome on the front side. Unless you already have an amazing following, it will be hard to get them to opt in without getting something on the front side.
          That's the plan. I have an amazing ebook in development that I'll be giving away for free to the people who opt-in. Believe it or not, it's actually almost a $300 value, because I had to pay an artist nearly $300 just recently to begin work on creating the artwork inside of the ebook (the art is the primary component of the ebook and is exactly what the visitors are looking for, and it is very scarcely available elsewhere in my niche).
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        • Profile picture of the author twinkenterprises
          That sounds cool. Where do you get the software to do that?

          Originally Posted by GlenH View Post

          I'd be letting your prospects download your free ebook offering without first having to optin.

          Then, when they open your free ebook, and start reading, after a predetermined time (say 2 minutes) an optin form and message from you opens right inside the PDF ebook.

          The strategy is they then have to give their name and email (or whatever optin data it is that you want) before they can continue reading the ebook.

          It's a big twist on the original 'squeeze page' method, and it's worked gangbusters for me.

          This has proven to be a lot less intimidating to prospects.
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          Check out my blog and get a free gift!!

          Fly with Jaebek Lifestyle

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  • Profile picture of the author Tonylee93
    I've been redoing a few squeeze pages recently and this thread just reminded me of some of the simple but important ways of building one.

    As for making it mainly about an ebook or a newsletter. I've always went for both. Make them feel like they are apart of a "club" or group that gets this course that helps solve a problem and a newsletter that's going to provide value to them.

    Well Good luck and I hope that helped!
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  • Profile picture of the author edhuu
    Get the free ebook and say that you keep them updated with valueable informations in the future
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  • Profile picture of the author Igor Fridrihs
    Many people concentrate on advertising the content of ebook and sometimes your potential subscribers just skip it. Advertise advantages (learn how to, learn new tactic, improve something etc.) to read your free ebook and you get much more subscribers.
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  • Profile picture of the author Stuart Walker
    No squeeze page. No free ebook or newsletter (aka a bribe).

    Offer value upfront BEFORE asking someone to opt in and you won't have to bribe them with a free ebook that they will never read anyway.

    If you have a website like you say (presumably a blog?) then if you're offering them great content simply asking them to sign up for updates / to receive more of the same will be enough.
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    • Profile picture of the author Curtis2011
      Originally Posted by RockingLastsForever View Post

      No squeeze page. No free ebook or newsletter (aka a bribe).

      Offer value upfront BEFORE asking someone to opt in and you won't have to bribe them with a free ebook that they will never read anyway.

      If you have a website like you say (presumably a blog?) then if you're offering them great content simply asking them to sign up for updates / to receive more of the same will be enough.
      This is already the plan.

      The contents of the ebook are going to be spread out on the website itself. They will also be helping with my SEO plan.

      The ebook download itself is just an added bonus that I will be using to get the opt-in.

      It's kind of like if someone compiled the top 25 posts in the Warrior Forum and offered them for free in an ebook for an opt-in. Sure, you could find them yourself by looking through the forum, but having them in an ebook saves you a lot of time and thus provides some value.
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  • Profile picture of the author RogueOne
    With all due respect, that would piss me off. Someone offers info for free and THEN decides about 2 minutes in, that it's not free ( ie, no requirement on my part whether monetary or "just" my email address).
    Me too! Smacks of the old "bait and switch."
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  • Profile picture of the author Stuart Walker
    The ebook download itself is just an added bonus that I will be using to get the opt-in.

    It's kind of like if someone compiled the top 25 posts in the Warrior Forum and offered them for free in an ebook for an opt-in. Sure, you could find them yourself by looking through the forum, but having them in an ebook saves you a lot of time and thus provides some value.
    Having a freebie to sweeten the deal isn't necessarily a bad thing and it does usually increase opt ins BUT you'll get a lot of people who only opted in because they saw there was something free on offer and not because they actually want to be on your list or receive more emails from you.

    I'd rather I just had the people who wanted to hear more from me than those who wanted a freebie. If the content on my site is good enough I don't have to bribe people to join the list.
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  • Profile picture of the author MKCookins
    1. Create a benefit driven headline that will capture their attentions

    2. give around 3 bullets points telling them the key points they will lean about if they decide to opt in.

    3. have a strong call to action asking people to enter their email address.
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  • Profile picture of the author David Maschke
    I learned the answer to your question by accident.

    My squeeze page was so bad, my dog could have stepped on the keyboard and typed better copy.

    The one thing I did get right, though, was to let everyone know up front that I would inform them when new products hit the market. They saw it as a valuable service when I put it that way.

    When I tried to act like a know-it-all, I had unsubscribes. When I just sold to them, they had no problems with my emails.
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    I

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  • Profile picture of the author aarthielumalai
    Well, they will be getting more valuable mails from you in the future right. So, why don’t you just say that? Tell them that by giving their email address, they’ll get their free ebook and more valuable and helpful content in the future (phrase that however you want).



    People in the IM niche know that by joining a list they’ll get future mails too, but people in other niches might not know that. So, be upfront, and by telling them that, you would be increasing your chances of getting them to subscribe.
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