20 Badass opt-in bribe ideas writers can use to get people to sign up to their email list

This is a slide from the live masterclass we ran today on building an author platform, but we went quickly so I’m posting it here. These are opt-in ideas you can use: make something that appeals just to your ideal reader. For the the #1 best idea is “Signup for a summary of my favorite (genre) books each month” or similar – so you review bestselling books in your genre each month, write articles about them, then write a “best (genre) books of October, 2015” and email that post out to your list. That’s the perfect kind of content to attract your ideal readers.

If you like this image, share it on Pinterest/Twitter/Facebook/Everywhere!

PS) The other good ideas are “PDF lists” like the ones in green that appeal to your audience. And you can actually write a bunch of those numbered list top posts, see which are the most popular, then turn that into a PDF as an optin bribe because you know people like it. You should also be repurposing content, so if you write “10 best quotes from sci-fi literature” you should use Wordswag to put those quotes on images, add all the images into the one big post, and also share them on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook groups, Reddit boards, etc – each quote is one powerful piece of content, with a link back to the original article on your site.

You might want to have a “landing page” JUST for your special opt-in, so they click a button on your side bar that takes them to a page where you really sell what they’re getting or give a sneak peak. You should also post social proof (when you have it), like “join 500 other sci-fi lovers who are in the VIP club!”

The 3 secrets to book marketing, and a haunted castle tour.

Totally free. Get it here.

Derek Murphy

I’m a philosophy dropout with a PhD in Literature. I covet a cabin full of cats, where I can write fantasy novels to pay for my cake addiction. Sometimes I live in castles.