How to Create an Opt-in That Gets You Coaching Clients

Do you have an email list?

If not, let me tell you—a high-quality email list is still one of the most powerful ways to get new coaching clients in 2021.

But if you’re like most coaches, you may be finding that your opt-in isn’t getting many subscribers, and the ones you ARE getting aren’t becoming clients.

Well, what if you could revamp your opt-in to become irresistible to your people, and turn it into a lead-nurturing email system that works on autopilot—something you only have to create once, that scoops up highly-targeted leads from your website and warms them up to become paying clients?

In this article, I’ll show you exactly how to create a system that does this for you!

But first, you’ll have to forget what you think you know about email marketing and open your mind to a method that’s a little bigger, a little bolder, and guaranteed to bring more clients into your coaching practice.

Ready? Good… let’s dive in.

Step 1: Choose the right email marketing app

The first thing you’ll want to do is choose an email marketing service that’s aligned with your marketing strategy: from what happens after they sign up, to keeping leads categorized for specific marketing campaigns, as well as tracking conversion rates.

The lead-nurturing system I mentioned above requires an automated email feature, which allows you to create a series of emails sent at specific intervals after someone signs up for your mailing list.

This feature comes with a premium account in most email marketing apps like Mailchimp, MailerLite, and ConvertKit.

Other items to keep in mind when choosing the service that’s right for you is cost and ease of use.

Each service comes with its own pros and cons when it comes to cost, features, and how easy the interface is to use. You’ll want to think about your current needs, but also what you might need—and how much it will cost—later on down the road as your email marketing needs evolve and your mailing list grows.

Step 2: Create a must-have lead magnet

Your lead magnet is what motivates your people to sign up for your email list.

It’s a useful freebie related to your coaching work—something your ideal client would be willing to give you their email address for, because:

• it helps them solve a problem they have
• it gives them exclusive or insider information they want
• it gives them a helpful insight or tool

This could be a guide, a worksheet, a template, a video, or a quiz.

An effective lead magnet gives your ideal client a “quick win” — something they can consume in a short amount of time, with an instant benefit.

This means you’ll want to stay away from lengthy ebooks and other time-consuming content they might never get around to.

Why? Because the purpose of your lead magnet isn’t just to get their email address—its job is to give them a taste of your expertise, and to form a positive association in their mind about you (which comes from the “quick win” they get).

Think of something they’ll find irresistible!

Once you have your idea, there are all kinds of ways you can create your lead magnet:

• Create a document in Word or Pages and save it as a PDF
• Create a Google Doc and make it available to anyone with the link
• Create a quiz using TypeForm (or some other quiz making app)
• Create a video, upload it to Vimeo, and put it on a special page of your website

Once you’ve got that done, you’ll be ready for the next step.

Step 3: Create a high-value drip campaign

A drip campaign (also known as an automated email campaign, an autoresponder, or a marketing automation) is a series of emails your subscriber will receive over a pre-defined course of time—usually 5-7 days.

The purpose of your drip campaign is to introduce yourself to your subscriber, and warm them up to the idea of working with you by providing them with lots of value over the course of the campaign.

Now, there are a few ways you can do this:

You can create a lead magnet that acts as a stand-alone info product, which you then follow with a drip campaign that builds on what you’ve shared in the lead magnet.

Alternatively, you could create a drip campaign that acts as its own lead magnet—for example, a 5 day training in which your subscriber receives 1 email per day for 5 days. Each email would offer some bite-sized nugget of information, building on the others to help your subscriber achieve a valuable end result.

The power of a drip campaign lies in you giving away some of your “secret sauce” — this will demonstrate your personality and expertise, making it possible for your subscriber to achieve a desired end result, but they’ll soon realize that working with you as a paying client will get them the BEST results.

After seeing you in their inbox for several days, getting to know you and your personality, and getting a taste of how much you can help them with their problem, they’ll be primed to set up a consultation call with you.

Now, you may be thinking: “But I don’t want to give away too much information!” …and this is natural! After all, what’s stopping them from just taking the information you share and never contacting you again?

Well, that’s the trade-off. Many folks will do just that.

But some will realize that they really do need your help. And these are the people who will become paying clients.

See, the people who take your free training and run were never gonna become clients anyway.

But the people who WILL become clients are the ones who visited your website, were inspired by you and what you can help them achieve, but need that extra push to actually set up a consultation call.

Your drip campaign is that extra push they need.

And because it’s set up to run on autopilot, you’re successfully nurturing these would-be clients into paying clients without any effort beyond initially creating the campaign!

With this in mind, a good drip campaign is one that provides tons of value, shares some of your secret sauce, and gets your people well-acquainted with your personality and what they can expect working one-on-one with you… while also leaving them wanting more.

The truth is, no matter how much information you share, it simply can’t compare to working directly with you—and by the end of the drip campaign, your people will realize this.

Step 4: Create an irresistible opt-in box

Let’s be real here: “Subscribe to my newsletter” won’t get you a large, high-quality email list. Neither will promising “insider tips” or “updates”.

While YOU may know how valuable your emails are, your people won’t automatically know this. They need a solid, upfront reason to give you their email address.

This is where a must-have lead magnet comes into play—but in order to get your potential lead seeing the value in it, your opt-in box has to be compelling.

Its purpose is to sell your offer.

An irresistible opt-in consists of 3 parts:

• A benefit-rich headline
• A short, benefit-rich description
• A strong call-to-action button

Your benefit-rich headline

Remember: your people will be continually, subconsciously asking themselves:

What’s in it for me?

A benefit-rich headline answers this immediately. What’s the benefit your lead magnet can offer them? Write your headline around that.

Here are some examples of high-converting opt-in headline templates you can use:

• X Easy/Simple Ways to [Desired Result]
• Discover Your [Relevant Thing] Type/Archetype (great for quiz lead magnets)
• The Essential X: [Things] That Every [Audience] Needs
• X-Point Checklist for [Desired Result]
• A [Desired Result] Starts with [Thing you specialize in]
• Get the [Desired Result] Free Training
• Want to Know Exactly How to [Desired Result]?

Once you have a great headline, follow it up with…

Your short, benefit-rich description

This will be 1 or 2 sentences that build on your headline to demonstrate value.

Your headline is the what—use the description to tell them how your lead magnet will improve their lives, with specific benefits.

If your lead magnet is a free training, checklist, or how-to, tell them exactly what it will help them to achieve and why that matters.

If it’s a quiz, tell them how it will help them get closer to their desired goal.

Keep your description brief and power-packed.

Then, seal the deal with…

Your strong call-to-action button

Give your subscribe button a strong, enthusiastic call-to-action, like:

• Yes! I want this!
• Tell me more!
• Get instant access!
• Get/Grab/Download your free [guide/worksheet/etc] now!
• Send me my free [guide/worksheet/etc] now!

Avoid “Subscribe” as a call-to-action and think of something that will make them really want to click that button. Align your call-to-action with the excitement generated in your headline and description, and make it specific to what they’re getting.

Step 5: Strategic placement

So, you’ve got a must-have lead magnet, you’ve mapped out a high-value drip campaign, and you’re selling it all with an irresistible opt-in.

Now’s the time to think of where to place it for maximum visibility and engagement.

Ideally, you’ll present your opt-in at multiple places throughout your website. However, you want to do this in a way that feels natural to the overall experience, and doesn’t feel annoying or disruptive.

There are many ways to accomplish this, but they’re not all ideal for you as a coach.

For example, I’m not a fan of pop-ups that appear midway down a webpage, because while they do work, they also interrupt the emotional connection you’re trying to build.

Instead, focus on placement that allows for a smoother, more natural experience.

The first place I recommend for your opt-in is “above the fold” on your homepage—in that first section your visitor sees, before they scroll down. Here, your first website headline and block of text will be devoted to generating a lead.

In this case, don’t make the name and email fields visible at first. Instead, use your call-to-action button to generate a pop-up that contains these fields and the actual subscribe button. This will keep your intro looking streamlined.

When going this route, it’s important that your headline and description are not only effective in generating a lead, but also as an introduction to you and your coaching.

This means that even if your visitor doesn’t click anything, the headline and description still serve to create the emotional response you want them to have. This will take some thought and creativity, but it’ll be well worth it!

Another good place for your opt-in is at the bottom of every page of your website.

Now, this footer opt-in will look different from the one you place above the fold on your homepage. You’ll want a different headline and description to get their attention and keep the website experience feeling dynamic.

Once you have these elements I’ve outlined set up and working together in harmony, you’ll have a truly effective opt-in that builds your mailing list much faster… filling it with the kind of people you’ll want as clients, and warming them up to want YOU as their coach!

Need some help?

I know there’s a lot to do in order to create an opt-in that works. And it does require getting cozy with some tech that you might not have the time or the bandwidth to dive into.

Instead of adding something big to your plate that you might never get around to finishing, let me handle the heavy lifting for you.

I can help you figure out the perfect lead magnet, design it for you, handle the tech side of things, and get your opt-in up and running on your website. That way, you can focus on what you do best: coaching your clients!

I’m an experienced brand + web designer who knows marketing. I work exclusively with coaches who have big goals, and are motivated to achieve them.

Would a powerful marketing machine that works on autopilot 24/7, generating high-quality leads and nurturing them into clients help you achieve your goals?

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