You’re currently reading Chapter 7 of The Ultimate Guide to Growing Your E-mail List.

Once you have an Epic Lead Magnet, how do you use it to convert your website visitors into e-mail subscribers (and get as many people as possible to download it)?

By writing Mouthwatering Opt-in Copy.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

• What is Opt-in Copy and how it can help you convert your website visitors into e-mail subscribers
• Why writing Opt-in Copy is one of the crucial skills for growing your e-mail list
• The only 3 types of Opt-in Copy you’ll ever need to write
• The 3 basic strategies for writing Mouthwatering Opt-in Copy
• 12 advanced Opt-in Copy writing techniques
• 16 examples of Mouthwatering Opt-in Copy
• Opt-in Rate: The metric for measuring the effectiveness of your Opt-in Copy
• How to write your first Opt-in Copy
• An advanced Opt-in Copy strategy for established entrepreneurs

What is Opt-in Copy?

Opt-in Copy are the words you use to describe what your Lead Magnet is and how your readers will benefit from it, so they’ll subscribe to your e-mail list and get download your Lead Magnet.

Every word on a landing page would be considered opt-in copy:

And every word of an opt-in pop up would be considered opt-in copy:

All the words, the headlines and the bullet points would count as opt-in copy.

Why Writing Opt-in Copy is One of The Crucial Skills for Growing Your E-mail List

Writing Mouthwatering Opt-in Copy is one of the most important skills (along with creating World-Class Content which we’ll cover in the next chapter of this guide and creating an Epic Lead Magnet, which we’ve already covered) that will help you grow your e-mail list.

That’s because the quality of your opt-in copy will determine your opt-in rate (the percentage of your website visitors that subscribe to your e-mail list).

Your opt-in copy can make a difference between getting 50 vs 200 e-mail subscribers from 1,000 website visitors. The more compelling your opt-in copy, the more e-mail subscribers you’ll get every day.

Take it from Jenni Waldrop:

“My opt-in copy was converting at 1-2%, so if 20k people visited my website I only got 1k email subscribers. When I fixed it, it went to 30%+. This was a big thing that helped me go from 150 to 4,000+ e-mail subscribers over a few months”.

You could be getting all the traffic in the world to your website, but without an Epic Lead Magnet and Mouthwatering Opt-in Copy, very few of those website visitors will become your e-mail subscribers.

Writing Opt-In Copy is a crucial skill that you’ll use to write:

• Your Website Homepage
• Landing Pages for Your Lead Magnets
• Opt-in Boxes on Your Website

You’ll use this skill every time you write a Guest Post or are a guest on a podcast. You’ll use it every time you write a blog post or record a YouTube video. You’ll use it every time you create a new Lead Magnet.

And in this chapter, I’ll show you exactly how to write Opt-In Copy that will help you get thousands of e-mail subscribers over the next few months and years.

The Only 3 Types of Opt-in Copy You’ll Ever Need to Write

There are only 3 types of Opt-in Copy you’ll need to learn how to write.

#1: Long-Form Copy

You’ll write long opt-in copy in places like your homepage or landing pages.

Here is a great example of long opt-in copy for Jenni Waldrop’s Ultimate Guide to Selling on Etsy:

If you take a look at this page, you’ll notice that it’s a LONG page with multiple headlines, bullet points, calls to action, images and opt-in boxes. It also converts 50%+ of the page visitors into e-mail subscribers.

Most entrepreneurs don’t use Long-Form Opt-in Copy as it can be hard and time-consuming to nail (and requires a lot of iteration and testing), but once you get enough copywriting experience, writing Long-Form copy can definitely be something you can try out to maximize your opt-in rates.

#2: 3-Bullet Copy

3-Bullet Copy is the most common Opt-In Copy you’ll see on the internet, the copy you’ll most commonly use, and the most important type of Opt-In Copy you need to learn how to write.

Here’s an example of 3-Bullet Copy for the Ultimate Spring Style Guide from Peter Nguyen:

If you take a closer look, you’ll notice that the 3-Bullet Copy consists of 3 elements:

• A Catchy Headline: The headline at the very top of the page
• Mouthwatering Bullets: 3 bullet points that make your Epic Resource look awesome
• Wrapper Copy: All the other words in-between (the subheadline, what The Ultimate Guide is…)

You can use these elements to write any type of Opt-in Copy.

To write Long-Form Copy, you can then simply add more headlines, bullets and wrapper copy, and to write Minimalist Copy, you can remove some of the bullets or wrapper copy.

You’ll use different variations of 3-Bullet Copy to write Opt-in Copy for your Lead Magnet Page and opt-in boxes on your High-Converting Website.

#3: Minimalist Copy

Finally, there’s the Minimalist Copy. You’ll use Minimalist Copy in places like pop-ups where you want to get to the point quickly, like I do on my Ultimate Guide to Creating Content That Sticks:

As you can see, there’s just the headline, a brief explanation, and a call to action to download my Lead Magnet.

Despite it being super simple, this pop-up converts at a whopping 39% (which means that for every 1,000 people that see it, 390 of them will become e-mail subscribers).

The Minimalist Copy can often be pretty simple to write, especially if you created a compelling Lead Magnet that solves a Problem Worth Solving of your audience.

“Which type of Opt-in Copy should I use?”

One of my readers, Martin, had a question about this section of the guide, so I thought I’d clarify things a bit:

“One thing I’m a little confused about is the Opt-in copy.

I noticed that some people (like Peter Nguyen) have the homepage set up as a landing page with just Catchy headline, 3 Bulletpoints, and CTA.

But others ( like https://blog.fuzzyandbirch.com/ ) have a different opt-in copy on homepage and the landing page with her UG (https://blog.fuzzyandbirch.com/ultimate-guide-to-etsy/ ).

I’m not sure which approach is better for me and if there are any guidelines that would help me decide.”

This is a great question.

When you’re just starting out with your online business, I recommend going with the 3-Bullet Copy (similar to Peter’s example), which you’ll also learn how to write in this chapter of the guide.

That’s the safest option and should help you convert 10-20% of the people that visit the homepage of your website into e-mail subscribers.

Once you get there, feel free to slowly expand your copy into Long-Form Copy (like Jenni), while paying close attention to any changes in your opt-in rate.

If, like Martin, you paid close attention to Jenni’s Homepage, you’ll also notice that she leads her audience to different Lead Magnets. That’s because she serves different audiences (beginners and established Etsy entrepreneurs), and has different Lead Magnets created for them.

She created a Portfolio Homepage that links to different Lead Magnets in her Lead Magnet Portfolio. I would not recommend using this advanced strategy until you have 5,000+ e-mail subscribers, but once you get there, it’s a viable strategy to pursue.

And as far as where to use different types of Opt-in Copy on your website (including Minimalist Copy), we’ll cover that in the chapter of this guide about creating your High-Converting Website :).

The Basics of Writing Opt-in Copy

Writing Opt-in Copy is a craft that takes minutes to learn, and years to master. In this guide, I’ll cover the basics, formulas and templates that will help you write Opt-In Copy that will be “good enough” to get to thousands of e-mail subscribers.

I’ll also share with you a few advanced techniques and strategies that you can practice to further master the art of writing Opt-in Copy and maximize your opt-in rates if you choose to do so.

The 3-Part Opt-in Copy Formula

The great news about writing Opt-In Copy is that if you’ve taken the time to identify a Problem Worth Solving of your audience, created your Epic Lead Magnet that solves that Problem Worth Solving and talked to at least a few of your First 100 Fans via e-mail or Skype, you have everything you need to write Opt-in Copy that will help you get to your first 500-1,000 e-mail subscribers.

You already have all the elements that you can “plug and play” into this Simple 3-part Opt-in Copy Formula:

• A Catchy Headline: Talk about the Problem Worth Solving of your audience
• Mouthwatering Bullets: Talk about 3 Building Blocks of your Epic Lead Magnet, and the Tangible Results you can expect from them
• Wrapper Copy: Talk about what the Epic Lead Magnet actually is, and invite people to download it

If you’ve done the work from previous chapters, writing Opt-in Copy with this 3-Part Formula will be pretty easy.

If we look at the example of 3-Bullet Copy for the Ultimate Spring Style Guide from Peter Nguyen:

We can very easily identify the elements of the 3-Part Formula:

The Catchy Headline:

“Be the best-dressed guy in the office” is a Problem Worth Solving for Peter’s target audience (tech guys who want to dress well).

The Mouthwatering Bullets:

The 7 ultra-versatile pieces all guys should have this spring, how to add more colors and prints to your wardrobe and exact outfit recipes are all Building Blocks of Peter’s Ultimate Guide.

He makes the mouthwatering by asking himself “why does my audience care about these Building Blocks”, and uses the Tangible Results that he found through talking to his e-mail subscribers (you can wear these in the office and on the weekend, don’t look like an easter egg, from casual meetings to your best friend’s wedding).

The Wrapper Copy:

This is where he talks about his Lead Magnet (the Ultimate Guide), as well as some additional Problems Worth Solving and Tangible Results (look better than ever without having to scroll through endless style blogs or wasting money on wrong clothes).

He finishes off with a simple call to action to enter the e-mail address in the box below.

Simple, right? You’ll be able to notice this very formula in many of the Opt-in Copy examples we’ll look at, as well as to write your own Mouthwatering Opt-in Copy.

How to Write Your Catchy Headline

Your Catchy Headline is the most important part of your Opt-in Copy. It either catches the attention of your reader and it doesn’t.

If your Catchy Headline is strong enough, your reader might want to subscribe to your e-mail list regardless of the other copy (or lack of it). If it isn’t that strong, your reader might just close the page and move on with browsing the internet.

Catchy Headlines can be the trickiest part of Opt-in Copy to write and can take some practice to truly master, but they can also be the most fun part of Opt-in Copy to write.

While copywriters would usually break down headlines into 6 types of different headlines (Great Leads is a great book that dives into that in more detail), we’ll simplify the Catchy Headlines into just 2 main categories for the purposes of this guide:

• The Problem/Solution Headline: This headline talks about the Problem Worth Solving (or a Tangible Result) that your Epic Lead Magnet provides a solution to.
• The Offer Headline: This headline talks about your Epic Lead Magnet

Both of these types of headlines can work equally well, especially if you named your Lead Magnet clearly, and in line with a Problem Worth Solving of your audience.

The Problem/Solution Headline is usually a bit more creative, while the Offer Headline is more formulaic (as you can just mention what your Lead Magnet is).

With the Offer Headline, it’s harder to “go wrong”, but the Problem/Solution Headline can convert higher if you get it right. Think of the Offer Headline as the safer approach, and of the Problem/Solution Headline as a riskier approach with bigger potential benefits.

Here are some examples of Problem/Solution Headlines:

• Are Your Etsy Sales All Clogged Up?
• Can’t get an animation job?
• Immediately understand 12 fast, everyday expressions in American English
• Look Stylish This Summer WITHOUT Breaking a Sweat
• Do You Want to Finish More Music, More Quickly?
• Get The Traffic Your Etsy Shop Deserves
• Get the best hacks I’ve used to make over $100,000 freelancing on Upwork in just 12 months
• Lose your first 7 pounds naturally and never feel deprived!
• What if you could get more traffic, more e-mail subscribers and more paying customers to your business by doing just one thing?
• 5 Secret Strategies to Write Your Book Quickly

And here are some examples of Offer Headlines:

• Don’t Do Another Coding Interview… Until You’ve Mastered These 50 Interview Questions
• What if There Was an Ultimate Guide to All Things Etsy?
• “Double Your Frenchness” Crash Course
• FREE – Download The Tabs to These 5 Songs
• The Ultimate Guide to Sentence Structure

In terms of writing your Catchy Headline, the Offer Headline is super straightforward. Just mention what your Lead Magnet is and you’ll be good to go!

For example, your headline could look something like:

• Download The Ultimate Guide to Growing Your E-mail List!
• FREE E-BOOK: How to get invited to speak at a TEDx event
• FREE COURSE: Learn my Top 5 Photoshop Editing Hacks

Or, you could get more creative and write some Problem/Solution Headlines.

To do that, you can pull some of the quotes from your Welcome Calls and conversations with your First 100 Fans that best describe the Problem Worth Solving (or the Tangible Result they want to achieve).

Since this part is more creative, I suggest:

• Sitting down to brainstorm 50 different options
• Creating a short-list of your best 3-5 options
• Sharing your 3-5 options with your First 100 Fans and asking them which option they like best

Then, you might come up with headlines like:

• Psst! Can I tell you the secret to getting invited to speak at a TEDx event?
• Want to FINALLY get to your first 1,000 e-mail subscribers (and never worry about growing your e-mail list again)?
• How to effortlessly edit photos in Photoshop in under 15 minutes

These aren’t amazing (as I came up with them on the spot), but you can see how they’re different from the Offer Headlines.

The more REAL the Problem/Solution Headlines you come up with are, the more likely they are to hook your readers.

Here are some examples I love:

• Lose your first 7 pounds naturally and never feel deprived! – I love the addition of “not feeling deprived”. That’s really exciting for Nagina Abdullah’s audience.
• Look Stylish This Summer WITHOUT Breaking a Sweat – I love the Major Headache of sweating that Peter Nguyen talks about – we all know how annoying it is.
• Get the best hacks I’ve used to make over $100,000 freelancing on Upwork in just 12 months – I love the specificity from Danny Margulies – instead of saying “make more money on upwork”, he shares a specific revenue number and time frame that makes the headline a lot more compelling.

How to know if your Catchy Headlines are “any good”

A great way to check if your headlines are good or not by “gut feeling” is to see if they trigger an emotion of you or your readers.

We usually don’t act on logic, we act on emotion.

If I read a headline about making $100,000 in 12 months, I get excited about it (and I’m more likely to subscribe to your e-mail list).

If I read a headline about feeling deprived, I feel the pain of feeling deprived, and the relief of not feeling deprived. I want to know how to get that relief, so I’ll download the free e-book.

If I read a headline about breaking a sweat, I can imagine how embarrassed or uncomfortable I would feel if I arrived to a conference with big sweat pits under my arms, and I want to know how to avoid that embarrassment.

If I read a headline and I feel an emotion, it’s a better headline than if I read it and I’m indifferent about it (feel nothing). The more emotion I feel, the better the headline.

I’ll share more advanced strategies for writing Catchy Headlines later on in this chapter of this guide, but before I do that, let’s look at the other 2 elements of writing Mouthwatering Opt-in Copy.

How to Write Mouthwatering Bullets

You can write your Mouthwatering Bullets in a similar way as your Catchy Headlines. You can talk about what your Building Blocks are, and/or how they solve a Problem Worth Solving.

For example:

• “How to finally “get” what Dynamic Programming really is – no Ph.D required” talks about the Problem Worth Solving of understanding Dynamic Programming.
• “50 real-world interview questions that were asked in actual interviews… no more studying random concepts and hoping it translates to your interviewing” talks about the Building Block (50 interview questions), and about a Problem Worth Solving (studying random concepts).
• “The only 10% of information you need to know to ace your interview – forget all the useless fluff” focuses mainly on the Building Block of 10% of information you need to know to ace your interview.

To write your Mouthwatering Bullets, simply follow these 2 steps:

• Identify the 3 most compelling Building Blocks or Problems Worth Solving
• Turn them into Mouthwatering Bullets

Here’s what I mean.

Let’s say my 3 Building Blocks that I’ll use in a resource for people who want to speak at a TEDx event are:

• Show them what the process for getting invited to speak at a TEDx event looks like
• Mistakes most candidates make (that they’ll want to avoid)
• Specific strategies they can use to “pitch themselves” to a TEDx event

And that my Catchy Headline (from previous step of this guide is):

• Psst! Can I tell you the secret to getting invited to speak at a TEDx event?

This is what the Opt-in Copy could look like using the above Building Blocks (i added some Wrapper Copy as well, to make the copy flow better).

“Psst! Can I tell you the 3 biggest secrets to becoming a TEDx speaker?

Download my FREE 20-page guide and get access to…

-The SECRET process TEDx organizers use to pick and invite speakers to TEDx events
-The 5 common mistakes most speaking candidates make (and how to avoid them)
-The simple, proven script you can use to pitch yourself to your local TEDx event (without being pushy)

Just enter your name and e-mail address below and I’ll send you my free guide!”

Not bad, right? If I wanted to speak at a TEDx event, I know I’d give my e-mail address away without thinking twice.

Just like Catchy Headlines, Mouthwatering Bullets can take some practice. I encourage you to brainstorm 50 different bullets for your Epic Lead Magnets, create a shortlist of 5-10 bullets using your gut emotional response, and ask your First 100 Fans which bullets resonate with them.

You could do that by sending them a quick e-mail like this:

“Hey guys,

I’m happy to announce that I finished my [EPIC LEAD MAGNET] and that I’ll be publishing it next week. I can’t wait to share it with you!

Now before I release it, I’d love your help with wording the way I describe the resource.

Can you let me know which 3 of these bullet points you love the most?

[INSERT 5-10 BULLETS]

Just respond to this e-mail and let me know :).

Thank you so much!!

-YOUR NAME”

P.S. Don’t worry if the first bullets you come up with aren’t all that compelling. That’s why you’re brainstorming 50 of them, short-listing them, and choosing the best ones.

Even if they’re not perfect, they’ll likely be more than good enough to collect hundreds of e-mail subscribers (and if not, you can always tweak them later!).

How to Write Wrapper Copy

Wrapper Copy is the copy that you “wrap” around your main Opt-in Cop elements (the Catchy Headline and Mouthwatering Bullets).

In the example below, Wrapper Copy would consist of “Download my free guide to learn:” and “Enter your email below and get instant access to your free Dynamic Programming guide”:

This is the most straightforward part of your Opt-in Copy to write, and can be as simple as including:

• “Download my [EPIC LEAD MAGNET] to learn” (before the bullets)
• “Enter your e-mail below and download your free [EPIC LEAD MAGNET]” (after the bullets)

No need to reinvent the wheel here – just follow this template and make your Wrapper Copy simple and clear!

“What about Subheadlines?”

You’ll notice that some examples of opt-in copy include subheadlines, like my example below:

You can definitely include a subheadline if your landing page allows it and you feel like you have more to say, though it’s definitely not a requirement for writing HIgh-Converting Opt-in Copy.

I usually focus my subheadlines around 3 Problems Worth Solving or Tangible Results of my audience (in this case, I talk about traffic, e-mail subscribers and revenue, all of which are compelling to my readers),  and use one of the following templates:

• Learn how I got [TANGIBLE RESULT #1], [TANGIBLE RESULT #2], [TANGIBLE RESULT #3]
• Learn how to achieve [TANGIBLE RESULT #1], [TANGIBLE RESULT #2], [TANGIBLE RESULT #3] in [TIME PERIOD]

If you can write Mouthwatering Opt-in Copy without a subheadline, go for it. If you feel like a subheadline would make it even more compelling, add it in.

12 Advanced Opt-in Copy Writing Techniques

Ok, now that we’ve covered the bare-bone basics, templates and formulas for writing your opt-in copy, let’s look at the fun and creative part: Advanced Opt-in Copy Writing Techniques.

These techniques will help you step away from templates and formulas and write Opt-in Copy in your own unique voice that will maximize your opt-in rates.

They’ll also take more time to practice and master, but provide dividends for years to come if you choose to master them.

Technique #1: Use the exact words of your audience

One simple way to write Mouthwatering Opt-in Copy is to use the exact words of your audience that you noted down during Welcome Calls and conversations with your First 100 Fans in your Catchy Headlines and Mouthwatering Bullets.

For example, when I was doing research for one of my online courses, one of my readers said to me:

“I’m sick and tired of having a graveyard of unfinished blog posts”

And it instantly caught my attention. It’s a real phrase, clear, and easy to visualize. It’s sticky as well. That could become a great Mouthwatering Bullet for an Epic Lead Magnet about creating more content.

Another example would be something like “I’m so close to giving up on my business”. That’s a phrase I’ve heard over and over again in my business, and I could use it as a strong headline for one of my Epic Lead Magnets, if I wanted to attract more entrepreneurs who are on the verge of giving up.

Here’s one final example from Peter Nguyen’s Opt-in Copy:

“How to add more colors and prints to your wardrobe, without looking like an Easter Egg”

The “looking like an Easter Egg” is the exact phrase that one of his readers used to describe his fear of adding too many colors into his wardrobe.

When you’re writing Opt-in Copy, your research notes from your Welcome Calls will become your best friends.

Technique #2: Why should I care?

If you notice that your Mouthwatering Bullets are falling a bit flat and aren’t triggering the emotion you want to trigger by reading them, it’s likely that you’re focusing too much on the Building Blocks, and too little on the benefits or results from those Building Blocks.

A great way to combat that is to ask yourself “Why should I care?” as you write each of the Mouthwatering Bullets.

Think about why the Building Block is important to your readers and how it will change their life. Think of a Problem Worth Solving or a Tangible Result that it’s related to, and attach it to the bullet.

For example, if you currently say something like…

“In this e-book, you’ll get access to…

-The 5-minute Photoshop editing technique
-3 real-world editing examples
-My 3 favorite editing tools

Download the free e-book below!”

You’ll notice that the copy isn’t all that emotional. You’re telling your readers WHAT they are getting, but you’re not telling them WHY they should care.

Let’s improve this copy by attaching some Tangible Results and Problems Worth Solving to the bullets:

“In this e-book, you’ll get access to…

-The 5-minute Photoshop editing technique that will save you HOURS of editing time every day
-3 real-world editing examples that you can follow to learn how to create magazine-quality photos
-The ONLY 3 editing tools you need to create beautiful photos, that you can master in under 15 minutes

Download the free e-book below!”

Just by asking yourself “Why should I care?”, you can instantly make your Opt-in Copy more compelling.

Technique #3: Include specific details

Another reason why your Opt-in Copy might be falling flat is that it might be vague and general.

For example, if Danny Margulies said this in his opt-in copy:

“Get the best hacks to make more money with freelancing”

It wouldn’t be all that exciting.

However, because he made his Catchy Headline ultra-specific:

“Get the best hacks I’ve used to make over $100,000 freelancing on Upwork in just 12 months”

His copy is instantly more interesting, and I want to learn more.

In this example, Danny mentioned:

• A specific revenue number ($100,000)
• A specific freelancing platform (Upwork)
• A specific time frame for earning the $100,000 (12 months)

Which makes his copy more specific and compelling.

As you’re writing Opt-in Copy, try to be specific whenever you can be:

• How long is your Epic Lead Magnet that you’re giving away? How many words or pages does it have? (“download this 16,000+ word e-book”, “get my free one-page cheat sheet”, “watch this 2-hour master class”)
• Include specific numbers whenever you can (“learn how I attracted 6,150 e-mail subscribers to my website”, “the secret strategy I used to get a 4.0 GPA score”, “how I went from 0-$157k with my business in a year”
• Include a specific time frame (“the 5-minute editing technique”, “declutter your closet in 20 minutes”, “how I went from 0-2,200 e-mail subscribers in less than a year”)

Danny is a master of using this technique, as you can see from this example:

He uses it almost in almost every element of his Opt-in Copy, from his Catchy Headline to his Mouthwatering Bullets.

If your copy is vague and general right now, adding in some specificity can instantly make it a lot more compelling.

Technique #4: Add an Unexpected Twist

A great way to get the attention of your readers is to throw an Unexpected Twist at them.

When you share (or hint) at something unexpected, your readers will instantly want to know more.

Here’s a great example from Peter Nguyen:

“How wearing LESS clothes can make you FEEL HOTTER! (and what to do instead)”

I don’t expect that wearing more clothes could make me feel cooler in the summer (or vice-versa), so I instantly want to learn more about this.

Try to think about how to apply an Unexpected Twist to your opt-in copy. If there’s something unexpected about your Building Blocks, strategies and frameworks, try to work it into the copy.

Here are some additional examples, from the top of my head.

• Why writing MORE content can result in LESS website visitors
• Why eating LESS carbohydrates can make you GAIN weight
• Why applying to TOO MANY jobs can KILL your chances of getting your Dream Job

These “cliffhangers” are a great way to get your readers interested and make them want to find more by subscribing to your e-mail list.

Technique #5: Hint at a “secret”

We love hearing about “secrets” that others don’t know about – so use that to your advantage as you’re writing Opt-in Copy.

Here are some examples of using secrets in your copy:

• 5 Secret Strategies to Write Your Book Quickly
• What opportunities open up for you with a book (and what you’re missing without one)
• Pro secrets to creating content for your book in less time
• The hidden culprit behind unexplained “processing” problems that’s often overlooked.
• Psst! Can I tell you the 3 biggest secrets to becoming a TEDx speaker?

If there is something secret about your approach (that most people don’t know about), work it into your copy as “secrets” your readers will get to learn about with your Epic Lead Magnet.

Technique #6: The 80/20 rule

You can also include a variation of “the 80/20 rule” in your copy:

• The only 10% information you need to ace your interview
• What you REALLY need to do to succeed on Etsy
• The most important element to include to turn readers into clients

We love the idea of not having to do everything, but just focusing on 1-2 key things (as it makes us feel relieved).

For example, if you told me that “I only need these 3 clothing items to look amazing this summer, rather than spending hours and hours reading style blogs”, I’m hooked.

If you told me that I only needed to do ONE thing to go from 0-1,000 e-mail subscribers, I’d be excited to learn what it is.

If you told me that I only need to use ONE editing tool in Photoshop (rather than learning the whole library), I’d feel relieved.

If there’s something “essential” about your approach, work it into the copy!

Technique #7: Paint a clear picture

The more visual you can make your copy, the better it will trigger the emotions of your readers.

For example, if you say “learn how to play your guitar better”, that’s not very visual. But if you said “learn how to jam like Slash from Guns’n’Roses”, that’s a lot easier for me to imagine and get excited about.

Great copy paints a clear picture in our minds when we read it (whether we want it to or not). And pictures automatically trigger emotions in us.

Here are some great examples from Peter Nguyen of copy that paints a clear picture:

• “Be the best dressed guy in your office”
• “How to add more colors and prints to your wardrobe, without looking like an Easter Egg”
• “How wearing LESS clothes can make you FEEL HOTTER!”

Technique #8: See the reaction of your readers

Remember when we talked about the technique of “gut-checking” your Opt-in Copy to see if triggers an emotion in you as you read it?

Well, you can do the same thing with your readers.

As you’re doing Welcome Calls with your readers, you can ask them to “read something for you”.

Share a document with your Opt-in Copy with them, and watch them as they read it. Do their eyes light up? Do they say something? Do they get really excited?

If they have a strong, emotional reaction, you’re nailing your copy. If they say “ok, I read it” and are pretty indifferent about it, your copy needs work.

NOTE: As you go through this technique, don’t ask your readers to give you feedback on your copy. Just ask them to read it.

That’s because when people go into “feedback mode”, they sometimes put on their walls and block out their emotions as they focus on every word in the copy, which isn’t what the experience of a reader would look like when they read your copy on your website.

Instead, you want your readers to be as relaxed as possible as they read through your copy to replicate the experience and give you accurate data.

Technique #9: Think of Katie

Here’s a technique that Jenni Waldrop uses to convert over 50% of her readers into e-mail subscribers:

“I make friends with Katie – I have one of my readers in my head I’m really connected with, and I picture her in my head. Wwhat does Katie need to know? What’s she worried about? I take THOSE things and turn them into something my readers love, addressing THEIR problems”

To make your copy more casual, personal and conversational, simply picture one of your First 100 Fans in your mind as you write your copy.

If you were talking to them about your Epic Lead Magnet, what would you say? What is it? How will it help them? Why should they read it now?

Use whatever words come to mind in your Opt-in Copy.

This technique will be especially useful once you start writing the Long-Form Copy, as you’ll get to really use your language in the narrative on your page.

Read through some of Jenni’s Long-Form Copy, and see how this technique works in action:

• Ultimate Guide To Selling on Etsy: Ultimate Guide by Jenni Waldrop
• Etsy Shop Critique Challenge: Challenge by Jenni Waldrop
• SEO Bootcamp: Bootcamp by Jenni Waldrop

I also highly recommend checking out her Homepage and About Page to see more examples of friendly, conversational copy that converts like crazy.

Technique #10: Iterate to perfection

Another thing Jenni Waldrop does that helps her come up with Mouthwatering Opt-in Copy is that she iterates her copy to perfection.

She comes up with a draft, and tests it how it does. Then, after a week, she’ll tweak it and compare numbers. After another week, she’ll tweak it again – and ultimately iterate her copy to perfection.

Then, she chooses her best Epic Lead Magnets and puts them on her Homepage, knowing that they’re the most likely to convert new readers into e-mail subscribers.

There are 2 ways of using this technique in your online business.

• When you’re just starting out, come up with copy that’s “good enough” and test it in the real world as soon as you can. Don’t spend 2 weeks writing Opt-in Copy! Put it together in a day or two, share it with your target audience, and see how it resonates – THEN tweak it a week or two later, once at least 100 people have seen it.
• When you’re already getting hundreds of website visitors every day, you can systematically tweak your opt-in copy week by week (and play close attention to your opt-in rates) to gradually maximize your opt-in rates.

Once you get to a number you’re happy with or hit the point of diminishing returns (which we’ll discuss in the opt-in rate chapter of this guide), don’t make any further changes and move on.

Technique #11: Master the 6 Great Leads

If you want to get REALLY good at writing Opt-in Copy, I have 2 more copywriting techniques you can use.

The first is to master the 6 types of leads from the book Great Leads. Read the book, the practice writing the following leads and using them as your Catchy Headlines:

• Offer lead
• Promise lead
• Problem-solution lead
• Big Secret lead
• Proclamation lead
• Story lead

We didn’t cover these in great detail to keep this guide as simple as possible (though you’ll notice that we do talk about the Offer Lead and the Problem-Solution Lead in this guide).

As you read the book, work through some of the opt-in copy examples in this guide, and you’ll easily be able to identify the other leads in the Catchy Headline examples as well.

Technique #12: Rewrite great copy

I learned this technique from one of my mentors, Ramit Sethi, who’s one of the best copywriters I know.

One of the ways in which Ramit learned to write great copy was by reading great sales pages from other copywriters and rewriting the same sales pages by tailoring them to his products or services he was trying to sell.

He never ended up using those sales pages (as that would be considered copying / plagiarism), but he did begin to understand how masterful copywriters wrote their copy.

You can do the same thing to write better Opt-in Copy. Take the 16 examples of Opt-in Copy that we cover in this guide and try to rewrite them for your Epic Resource, just to see all the different ways you could write copy for it.

Then, step away from writing Opt-in Copy, come back with a fresh set of eyes, and write your own!

16 Examples of Mouthwatering Opt-in Copy

To help you immerse yourself in the world of writing Opt-in Copy, I put together 16 examples of Mouthwatering Opt-in Copy that you can study and use as inspiration to write your own copy:

Opt-in Rate: The key metric for measuring the success of opt-in copy (and key benchmarks you need to know)

How do you know if your Opt-in Copy is good or not?

You share your Landing Page (which we’ll create later in this guide) with your potential readers, and see how many of them subscribe to your e-mail list.

The metric you’ll get by doing that is called the “Opt-in Rate”, and works like this:

You divide the number of e-mail subscribers over a certain period of time (i.e. 50) by the number of people who visit your website (i.e. 1,000) to get the opt-in rate (i,e, 5%).

E-mail Subscriber (50) / Traffic (1,000) = Opt-in Rate (5%)

This tells you that 5% of all of your readers become e-mail subscribers.

When we talk about Opt-in Copy, we usually have 2 key things we measure:

• Site-wide Opt-in Rate: This is the Opt-in Rate of your WHOLE website, which means you can take the number of all e-mail subscribers you got over a set time period (let’s say the last 7 days) and divide it by the number of all unique website visitors you got over that same time period.
• Specific Opt-in Rate: This is the Opt-in Rate of specific forms or pages that you’ll usually calculate in specific landing pages, blog posts, etc.

Here are some useful benchmarks for these 2 metrics:

• A good site-wide opt-in rate is roughly 5-10%
• A good opt-in rate for a landing page is roughly 20-40%
• A good blog post opt-in rate is roughly 2-5%
• A good pop-up opt-in rate is roughly 10-20%

If your Opt-in Rate is less than that over the course of a month, you need to further tweak your Opt-in Copy (or get a better source of new readers).

If you hit those benchmarks, you can focus on simply attracting more people to your website.

These are great starting numbers to focus on, and even though it is possible to get higher numbers than that, you won’t really need them to grow your e-mail list to thousands of e-mail subscribers.

In case you’re wondering where to find those benchmarks:

• You’ll find the number of your new e-mail subscribers in your e-mail provider
• You’ll find the traffic in a tool like Google Analytics or Jetpack (they’re both free)
• You’ll find specific opt-in rates for landing pages, pop ups, etc. in a tool like Leadpages or your e-mail provider

Your Turn: Write your 3-Bullet Copy!

Wow, we covered a lot in this section! Now it’s time for you to write your Opt-in Copy.

Even though we covered Long-Form Opt-in Copy, 3-Bullet Copy and Minimalist Copy, you only need to write your 3-Bullet Copy right now.

Use this chapter to write your own copy, and try to come up with something like this:

“Psst! Can I tell you the 3 biggest secrets to becoming a TEDx speaker?

Download my FREE 20-page guide and get access to…

-The SECRET process TEDx organizers use to pick and invite speakers to TEDx events
-The 5 common mistakes most speaking candidates make (and how to avoid them)
-The simple, proven script you can use to pitch yourself to your local TEDx event (without being pushy)

Just enter your name and e-mail address below and I’ll send you my free guide!”

You’ll then be able to use this copy as you create your Landing Page and your High-Converting Website.

Advanced Tip: Include Your Lead Magnet Portfolio on Your Homepage

Once you already have a few thousand e-mail subscribers and create your Lead Magnet Portfolio, you might want to tweak your Homepage to lead to multiple Landing Pages, like this example from Jenni Walrdop’s Homepage:

In this example, Jenni points the beginners into The Ultimate Guide to Selling on Etsy, while she leads existing Etsy entrepreneurs to the Etsy Shop Critique Challenge.

This helps her give her readers the best possible Epic Lead Magnets for the stages of their journeys, as well as segment her e-mail list of tens of thousands of e-mail subscribers into different segments.

I wouldn’t worry about this until you have 5,000+ e-mail subscribers, but when the time comes, a simple tweak like this can make your homepage connect with different groups of readers a lot better.

Summary: How to Write Mouthwatering Opt-in Copy

Congratulations on making it to the end of this chapter of Ultimate Guide to Growing Your E-mail List!

Today, you learned about what Opt-in Copy is, and why it’s one of the crucial skills for growing your e-mail list.

You learned about the only 3 types of Opt-in Copy you’ll ever need to write (Long-Form Copy, 3-Bullet Copy and Minimalist Copy) and how to write each type of copy.

We covered the 3 basic elements of Mouthwatering Opt-in Copy (Catchy Headline, Mouthwatering Bullets and Wrapper Copy), looked over examples for writing each of them and how to “gut-check” if your Opt-in Copy is any good.

We also looked at 12 advanced Opt-in Copy Writing Techniques:

• #1: Use the exact words of your audience
• #2: Why should I care?
• #3: Include specific details
• #4: Add an Unexpected Twist
• #5: Hint at a “secret”
• #6: The 80/20 rule
• #7: Paint a clear picture
• #8: See the reaction of your readers
• #9: Think of Katie
• #10: Iterate to perfection
• #11: Master the 6 Great Leads
• #12: Rewrite Great Copy

We then looked at 16 real-world examples of Mouthwatering Opt-in Copy and covered the “Opt-in Rate” (the benchmark for measuring the effectiveness of your opt-in copy).

Finally, you wrote your first version of the 3-Bullet Opt-in Copy and learned about the advanced “Lead Magnet Portfolio” technique.

Not bad for a single article, right?

In the next chapter of this guide, we’ll take a technical detour and talk about the best software & tools for growing your e-mail list (and put all the pieces together so you can start collecting hundreds of e-mail subcribers through your e-mail list).

Continue to Chapter 8: The Best E-mail Software & Tools For Your Online Business

Your Turn: What was your #1 insight from this article? Share it with me in the comments below!