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If you are anything like me or are anywhere where I was when I started blogging…

Then chances are you may feel that email marketing is kind of weird and also scary. 

That sending people emails might feel a little bit spammy, salesy, or just plain uncomfortable.

I know the feeling, I feel weird about it too!

But the truth of the matter is you don’t have to email your list right away!

I know that’s weird to hear because we all hear time and time again that we need to build a bond with our email list in order to grow our businesses or blogs.  

Here’s the truth, all you should focus on is creating as many opt in’s (what you’re going to learn within this post) so you can build a strong list for when you are ready to start your email marketing adventures.

That’s what I am currently doing AND I don’t believe in biting off more than you can chew.

In fact, I have also learned that the power of gathering your readers for your future email marketing strategy is such an incredibly smart thing to do especially if you do it from the beginning.

This is such a great opportunity to gather up your fans and readers, all while simultaneously building up your blog.

It’s basically like having all of your soon-to-be customers (all-in-one-place) and there is absolutely nothing wrong if you don’t email them right away.

Plus, as long as you give them a freebie (like you are going to learn today!) that’s really all they want from you. 

So let’s get things kicked off and learn how to create a simple opt-in (aka email freebie) so you can start growing your email list!

{this post contains affiliate links, see disclosure for details}

Important note!

If you don’t have a WordPress blog but would love to have one? I strongly urge you to take my blog challenge that takes you through an easy step-by-step guide here. You’ll have a WordPress blog set up in minutes! 

Now before we start, I’d like you to just imagine this…

If you start your email marketing strategy from day one, do you know how many email subscribers you’ll have on your list in a year?

• Just imagine in a year’s time that you have just launched your YouTube channel. If you email your list inviting them to come and join you, your email list will be your first subscribers, instead of organic traffic!
  
• Imagine that in a year’s time, that you just released your first eBook for $10, $20, or even $100… Again your email list will be the first people to get the heads up about it before anyone else!  And I am sure that some of them will purchase what you have to offer if it’s very enticing to buy. 

As you can see, having your readers all-in-one-place so you can easily email them at any time, will eventually be the lifeline of your blog in the future.

It’s basically setting your future self up for more success if you create a few opt-ins in the beginning and have those opt-ins collecting emails while you sleep!

Now let’s talk about your ESP next! 

How to Deliver Freebies to Grow Your Email List

Okay, let’s talk about an ESP because you need to sign up with one in order to grow your email list!

An ESP (email service provider) is a service provider that hosts your email list (aka your fans and readers).

It’s where you will be collecting your emails and sending all your freebies through. 

Now I have worked with a few email providers already such as MailChimp and MailerLite. These are okay but they are nothing compared to Convertkit.

Actually, if you are wanting to send your freebies out with no fuss? Or you would like to set up those fancy 7-day email courses? Convertkit will be your best option!

I think you will be absolutely thrilled with them and you can even start a Convert Kit’s 14-day free trial here.

And since this step-by-step guide below is how to make opt-ins with Convert kit? Go ahead and grab your FREE 14-day trial with my special link here before we start. 

Convert kit is super easy to use, it’s very easy to send out automation and email sequences and you’ll understand why shortly!

Now let’s dive in to see the step-by-step guide, so you can know how to send freebies so darn well!

Because once you know how to do one, you’ll effectively start doing this blindfolded. This is kind of like riding a bike, once you do it once you got it!

Here’s the best step-by-step tutorial, so you can do this all on your own in just a few minutes!

Step-By-Step Guide to Make & Send an Email Freebie

1. Start by going to Convert Kit.

First, go to convert kit.com. Create an account or log in if you already have an account with them. Once you log in you will want to create a form

2. Click ‘create form’.

You can do a landing page or a form, but for the sake of this tutorial, we are going to do a form.

3. Choose inline form.

Most people use forms that are inline with their page content that is related to what they are talking about on that page. Modal Forms are forms that pop up when a user scrolls down 20% of the page, or after 5 seconds, or when they click a link or are about to exit out of your page.

4. Pick your style.

There are three styles that you can choose from: Clean, Full, and Minimal. I am going to show you how to use the Minimal Form because this particular style blends in with your website more and it is great for opt-ins.

5. Hit ‘Preview’ to view your form.

This is a preview of what your form will look like…

6. Style your form and button.

Let’s go ahead and change the button color to go with your brand. You can easily do this by hovering over the wand icon in the same screen as the preview screen…

You should see a wand button like this one on the right of your browser screen.

7. Preview after styling.

Once you have styled your form (you can make yours look like mine, or follow your own branding. Totally up to you!) we are going to customize the button!

What we are going to do is we are going to customize the button so it will say ‘Yes, Give it to me!” (Or to match whatever your incentive is). Hover over the button and change the type. After you are done styling your button and form, make sure to save your form! 

8. Go to settings.

This is where you will be able to name your form, name your confirmation button (in the email) and write up a little description of what your readers will get!

Get familiar with this page, because this is where you will go a lot for sending out printables/freebies. Let’s now deliver your free download!

9. Click on Incentive Email.

(You should see incentive email just above the wand).

Now make sure that you click ‘send incentive email‘ and the ‘download‘ icon because this is where the magic happens.

The incentive email is the confirmation email that people send out to confirm their subscription, but what we already did was change the button name to ‘yes, give it to me!’ (or whatever you want your button to read like) so that it confirms our readers straight away and sends them the download ASAP!

10. Click download and choose a file.

We are going to upload our incentive download so that it can get sent out straight away to whoever signs up for it.

Find the file that is on your computer and go ahead and upload it. So whether that incentive is an eBook, a blogging course, or a shopping guide, this is where you will always upload it too!

11. Save your Form & Embed.

Once you save your form, click ‘Embed” and you will see the code to post in your HTML coding for your blog!

Now all you have to do is head on over to your WordPress blog, and when you are in a new post, click the text tab (not visual) and paste in your HTML code within the post you want it to show on.

To see your form, switch back to the visual tab and you should see your form when you click ‘preview changes‘ to view it in a new window. 

There You Have It! 

Your freebie should look like the pdf version below. 

And don’t forget to SAVE THIS PDF VERSION for future reference so you don’t forget!

Pro tip: Always test to make sure it works (I have three email addresses to test, 3x over). It will save you from having to troubleshoot it in the future.

There you have it! Now when you do this, whenever someone opts-in to one of your forms, they will get a confirmation email straight to their inbox and when they click the download button, they will be confirming their subscription to be on your list! Amazing right?!

ConvertKit is hands down the best, so if you haven’t already try ConvertKit free for 14 days here!

And if you found this post helpful, please subscribe to my list and share it with your friends so I know to write more posts like this one! 🙂

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