Francy True, a reader in our Facebook Group recently had questions regarding opt-in free offers. In particular she was wondering:
- How long do you think a freebie for my email opt-in should be?
- How many pages is a reasonable length for a free article (or is it a guide/report/booklet)?
- Is there such a thing as too many pages for an opt-in?
- Can you give too much value away for free?
She went on to say that she has a 22-page report that she has never published and is wondering if she could use the first chapter (or specified number of pages) as the opt-in and reserve the rest of the report as an upsell. She went on to ask if that okay to do or if it is a bad practice?
In response …
We would like to share the following advice in regard to opt-in offers …
The length doesn’t matter. What your freebie should do is solve 1 specific problem, so it just needs to be long enough to do that and no longer.
Your upsell should make it easier/faster/more effective to solve that problem. Or it allows them to take their basic newfound skills on how to solve the problem to a higher level, etc.
So in regard to a report or book, taking the first chapter isn’t necessarily a good strategy unless the format lends itself to that, i.e., the customer feels like they can do something about their problem with your first chapter freebie.
It help clarify things if you put yourself in the mind of the prospect who will …
– See your free opt-in offer that promises to solve a problem for them.
– Read the freebie and then see the upgrade offer.
Then ask yourself these three questions:
1. Will they get real and complete value from that freebie. Did you deliver as promised?
2. Will they be excited about the upgrade?
3. Does the free offer naturally lend itself to being a “no brainer” making what they want to accomplish much easier?
If the answer is not “Yes” to these 3 questions, then you should go back and look at your opt-in offer again. By the way, you can pick up our free email marketing class + templates here.
And of course, we've got plenty more help for you to grow your audience, build and nurture your list below….
If You Need Some Help With Your Opt-in Offer
In our Big Growth Shortcuts and Templates Club we have 20 different guides and fill-in-the-blank templates. One shortcut and template pack you may find interesting in is “Creating a Free Opt-in Offer That Turns into Paying Customers Quickly“.
In this pack is an action guide, fill-in-the-blanks promotions, funnel tracking sheets, and various templates that help explain the funnel process and much more.
To your publishing success,
Yusef Kulan and Alice Seba
Your Partners in Easy Product Creation at EKitHub.com