How to Get People to Opt In to Your List (and 100 More Marketing Insights)

Hubspot, a company specializing in inbound marketing, compiled 101 marketing charts and graphs which is worth a look, but there’s one slide in particular that I want to highlight:

What does this mean to you and your speaking business?

Earlier this year, I wrote the What Is Your Website Doing for You? special report, and a major focus was on the importance of capturing leads on your site — getting people to opt in to your list, giving you permission to market yourself to them over the weeks and months ahead.

One of the keys to getting people to opt in is to offer an “ethical bribe” — give them something for free in exchange for their name and email address. The higher the perceived value of your offer, the more likely someone is to opt in. (Surprise!) Well, now we have some insight into what kind of offer has the highest perceived value.

So, what exactly is a “downloadable kit”? Here’s one example (not from a speaker). If you were a sales speaker, you might create a “2011 Sales Booster Kit” that is nothing more than a few articles, or it could be as involved as the articles plus an audio program plus a handful of your key presentation slides plus a certificate for a free 30-minute coaching session. That’s just an example. It’s up to you!

If you don’t want to put together a downloadable kit, notice that an ebook is seen as being just slightly less valuable. What is an ebook? It may be nothing more than one chapter out of your published book… or again, just a collection of articles on a particular topic.

The point is, as a speaker, you’ve already got the raw materials. Now just assemble them in a format that will be meaningful to your website visitors (aka prospective clients and customers) and start collecting leads!

If you haven’t already read the 2010 Speaker Website Report, grab a copy here: