List building - freebie or not freebie?

I am a full-time freelance artist and currently planning to switch to IM because I want a steady income plus free time for my true passion screenwriting. I'm down for the Email Marketing route as it's very professional and promising.

Okay, here's the problem...

According to my research, many people suggest (or suggested) that using squeeze page to "fish" subcribers with freebie as a bait is the best way to go. Well, it doesn't sound like "best" to me, because logically the people who opt-in for freebie will not want anything else but freebie. Take game pirates for example, I doubt anyone can persuade them to abandon the Gods (SKIDROW, RELOADED,..) and unpocket their money. Adding to that, it is very obsolete at the moment which gives me no chance to squeeze in. What to report? What to give away? It's just like dropping another drip into the ocean.

A few days a go I got a chance to have a conversation with Igor Kheifets (by pretending to buy his solo ads ). The guy was nice enough to bash my campaign away and slap a "big mistake" onto it as soon as he heard the word "freebie".

Here's a mistake I see you're making and that is giving away a free reportand making them go and check their email to get it... plus, you're not selling
anything.


If you drive $2,500 to this funnel, it's the same as pissing your money down
the drain, my friend.


With that said, I would hate for you to waste your money.


Do you have another funnel you can promote?

Click to expand...

To be honest, I'm lost. I have finally built my own squeeze page but rather than giving a so called "report" or whatever, I offer my service which they'll pay by buying my affiliate products, and the free stuff is just a small part of it. Yes, I know I will have terrible opt-in rate, but I think it will help to filter out freebie seekers, don't you think?

So freebie or not freebie?

My page:

That is one of these pages, that I wouldn't even read or go anywhere near the singnup box. It looks like every other shady offer on the web, I think you conversion would be way better if you stay away from these ready made landing pages and put some love into building the page. Use images, make it feel high quality.

Thanks rootz. So lucky that I'm not intending to use it eaither. I'll hire a designer to make a custom one.

Honestly, you should offer something for $1 or $3. Something cheap, thats REALLY good.
Or you can still offer a freebie, and over deliver on it by making it a lot better than how you're advertising it.
(Obv. you'll advertise it as something really good. Ex: 10 Tips for blah blah, when they really get 15 or more)

After that, you'll want to build a relationship with your list, make them trust/like you alot by GIVING them what they want for free.
Information, Videos, Giveaways, etc.

If you did the $1 or cheap offer method, then you already have a buyers list, and they trust you enough to buy from you.
But given that it was a cheap item, you'll still need to build some trust, though you'll have more trust to begin with if you gave out a freebie instead.

Your squeeze page is terrible. I wouldn't opt in even if it depended on my life

TIP: Create your squeeze page around an affiliate offer and have your leads re-directed to the affiliate offer

This way, the subscribers are super targeted to the affiliate offers and you don't need to create a lame freebie. It also shows you that the traffic you drove to the page is buyers traffic and not just freebie seekers (useful when dabbling in solo ads).



Hope I helped

All you need is a simple page with what you're offering and a sign up box. Study your niche and give them what they want, then on your landing page ask if they want " insert research" and make them sign up to get it

kissmetrics has some really good stuff on email marketing, i liked this article but you should read the rest of what they have to offer

https://blog.kissmetrics.com/beginners-guide-email-marketing/