Opt-in pages are usually designed to encourage your visitors to provide their name, email & possibly their phone number for future marketing campaigns. This is known as building a list? in the internet marketing world. Having a list is the key to gaining financial prosperity and success in any type of marketing. It potentially gives you an untapped resource to promote all your products or services. Imagine being able to push an email or SMS blast out and instantly generate , thousands of dollars worth of sales. In order to build this list it is KEY to create effective, targeted Opt-in pages.

There are several pieces to an Opt-in page. They are the content, the design & the processor.

Resources:

PhoneFollowUp
GVO

The Content:

The content is composed of many things including the text, multimedia, images and even testimonials that pertain to an opportunity. Now it will take some work and practice to become an expert content writer but the few tips we include here will help get you going in no time.

1. Offer incentives. Think about how many offers or advertising campaigns you are exposed to daily. Now think about how many you actually remember? Not many huh? This is because they were of no value to you. I bet if Mc Donald's gave you a free cheeseburger, for a cheeseburger month promotion, you would remember it right? VALUE. Value is an important concept to learn when doing anything with internet marketing. If the incentive is of NO Value then it does no good, and in turn is not an effective marketing campaign. Some of the most reliable incentives are:
   • Special Reports
   • Software Trials
   • Tip/News
   • Promotional Discounts
   • Mini-Courses
   • E-zine Subscriptions
   Anything free is good right? WRONG!
   It needs to pertain to the opportunity you are trying to promote or people will look at you as another spammer trying to woo them over to the dark side. That is not a place you want to be. So now we have the incentive. What do we do next? Ok so we grab the person's name, email address and possibly cell phone number. After they submit their information they are instantly sent to a download link to obtain their incentive. This page should be very simple in nature, and not try to PUSH the lead into anything.
2. Multimedia. The internet is evolving and changing every day. Terms like social networking, mobile marketing, mlm, affiliate program and opt-in are everywhere. These words may be a little frightening but don't let them scare you. Soon enough you will be a pro creating your very own opt-in pages. OK now back to multimedia. When I am talking about multimedia, I am talking about audio, video, pictures, live blogs, live video streams or anything else that may grab your attention and sense of emotion, other than just reading text. Most Opt-in pages nowadays have a video or audio on them with the written content itself. Now I know what you are thinking, because I was the same way I don't want to get on camera and show my cute little face to the whole world. Just Do It. After the first few times it will feel natural and it will help you build Know, Like & Trust with your leads. This in turn will help you convert more sales & gain more followers.
3. Recap. Remember an Opt-in page is NOT a sales page. An Opt-in page is designed to get your prospects information without selling them a thing. The selling process will come in the future with targeted email, sms or telemarketing campaigns.

The Design:

The design is one of those things that differ from individual to individual, but there are a few key pieces to keep in mind.

1. Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS). The entire purpose of an opt-in page is to leave the prospect wanting more. Make them want to put in their information so they can get more of The Good Stuff?. So keep the layout simple. Generally 800 pixels wide, is the widest, that the page should be. Why you ask? Simple it is proven that when a column of text is wider than 800px, most individuals will stop reading and start skimming the content. Think about how many magazines actually have a full page width article with no columns or pictures, not many. Also 800px will make sure that your Opt-in page does not generate horizontal scroll bars, on MOST browsers.
2. Colors. The colors really depend on your personal preference but from MY experience there are two types of colors that work best.
   • Bright, Vibrant Colors: Bright colors will make you content almost jump off the page. They say Act Now?.
   • Pastel, Cool Colors: Pastel colors give a light, airy feeling. Almost like floating on clouds. Make a reader feel this way and you are sure to get their information. Pay special attention to make sure you use bold colors, where you need attention in the content.
   • Dark Colors: Dark colors can really make the content on the page POP? but you have to make sure that you use a mix of bright complimenting colors in the page. Light content on a dark background also cause fatigue very easily in a reader. So be careful when using dark layouts in your design. It is best to leave dark colors to the Professionals, but then again what deems a professional a professional? ;)
3. Recap. While you can most likely design a simple Opt-in page yourself, it is important to remember that nothing can beat the quality of a trained professional, when it comes to web design. Not that they are better than you, but they usually have already been there done that, learned the lesson. Opt-in templates are generally priced pretty low in regards to the income you could potentially generate.

The Processor:

This is perhaps one of the biggest and most important parts in an Opt-in page. The processor is what actually handles your prospects data after it is submitted. We will cover 4 or the most popular processors:

1. Processors:
• PhoneFollowUp: Phone followup is actually one of the newest and most innovative autoresponder systems out right now. Now to for warn you, this system CANNOT be used alone with the email ability. You must have one of the three email autoresponder systems listed below to have the email ability in phonefollowup, but it is one of the only autoresponder systems that also allow phone & sms (text) messaging messages. What does this mean? This means you have the tri-fecta of marketing. You can send an email, give them a quick call thinking them & send them a text reminding them of the link to your sales page. This holds amazing power. Better yet. Since they have opted in, now you can send a voice or text blast as you would with email. Can you say INSTANT BUZZ GENERATOR?
• GVO Eresponder PRO: Global Virtual Opportunities offers a supreme package of tools that every serious marketer needs. The best part is that PhoneFollowUp ties in seamlessly with it's Eresponder Pro. Eresponder Pro is GVO's email autoresponder product where you can setup all your email autoresponder messages to go out AFTER the prospect opts's in. This is where your sales funnel starts. It all begins with the very first email going out. Eresponder Pro is comparable to the industry leaders Aweber & GetResponse. What sets GVO apart? Well for the price you would pay for Aweber or GetResponse, you also get unlimited domain hosting, unlimited video hosting AND a LIVE 10 person conference room. YOU CAN'T BEAT THAT.
• Aweber & GetResponse: These two giants hold a large share of the market, mostly because they were the first On Scene?. There are many services now that replicate and perform just as well as Aweber & GetResponse.
2. Recap: While the choice is yours, I always recommend GVO & PhoneFollowUp be in any marketer's toolbox. Any of the products listed here are capable of performing the processing of your prospects in an effective manner.

Now that we have covered the basics of an effective opt-in page, you should be well on your way to building a large list of prospects to market all your opportunities. With great power comes great responsibility. Stay tuned for our next Special Report? on How to use your list correctly, and NOT lose subscribers?

Now GO SELL Something, And Start On The Road To Financial Prosperity!

Written By:

Dustin N. Ward
The Technology Guru?

***** The views expressed here, are the views of the author and in no way reflect the views of Ward Telecommunication Inc. or any of it's affiliates listed on this site. *****