Choosing Your Opt-In & Relating It To Your Goals

First and foremost, let’s talk about what an opt-in is. An opt-in is what you offer, for free, in exchange for an email address. I haven’t mastered the Internet (yet) or anything, but I do know that email addresses and your list is… well it’s everything. It’s how you ‘do’ the Internet if you want to be an entrepreneur. It’s your people. Your tribe. Your crew.  You want an opt-in if you plan on monetizing. Heck, you want multiple opt-ins.

For example; in the past on The Crown Fox, I have had a resource vault opt-in, a free email course opt-in, as well as a newsletter opt-in. An opt-in seems like something you just throw on your sidebar, but in actuality, it needs to be specific and niched. It needs to work for you, for your brand, and for your goals.

What does that mean? Well, let’s step back and look at your BIG goal and then we can work backwards to your opt in. For me, my BIG goal is to offer courses on topics like cohesive branding and design tutorials. When it comes time to sell said courses, who am I going to reach out to first? All those email addresses I’ve been collecting.

Sounds awesome, right? Totally! But… what if those subscribers have no interest in branding or design tutorials, and therefore would never even consider buying my course? What if those subscribers initially connected with me over a newsletter where I promised tons of DIY holiday decorations and recipes? They’d be like “Woah, what’s this branding stuff she’s talking about? I thought we were going to make pumpkin pie!” And I’d probably lose subscribers and not have a successful launch.

That would suck. Totally, completely suck. So, I want to avoid that and make sure the audience and subscribers I’m collecting care about the things I care about and care about the things I eventually want to monetize. If you feel like that sounds money hungry and shallow, then think about this: do you want to waste your subscribers’ time and make them go through the hassle of unsubscribing when you don’t deliver what you promised? It’s vital to choose an opt-in that comes full circle with what you actually want to see happen long term for your business. Here are a few tips to figuring that all out:

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WHAT'S YOUR END GOAL?

First and foremost – what do you plan on collecting these email addresses for? 

You have some vague, distant, hopeful dream. Do you want to get amazing clients for a service-based career? Do you want to teach others at huge conferences for your industry? Do you want to build a company that has 10 employees and a brick and mortar establishment? Okay, whatever it is – how do subscribers help you accomplish that?

Do they become your tribe? Do they become your buyers? Do they attend your conferences? Once you know who these people are to you, you can begin to give them content that is appropriate for helping build that relationship. If you want them to be potential attendees for your conference, maybe your opt in is a free video recording of you talking about whatever your niche is, like a sample of what you would be talking about at a conference. If you want them to be potential buyers of your e-course, then maybe your opt-in is a less intensive version of the course.

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WHAT DOES YOUR TARGET LIKE?

So here’s an important tip – don’t send stuff to your target that they don’t like. Let's just say that I am your target client - you know what I don’t like? Really, really long newsletters. Reading exorbitantly long emails gives me a headache. I want big headers and subheaders and you to bold the vital parts, so I can skim easier.

If you really understand your target client, you really understand what appeals and what doesn’t appeal to them. More isn’t always better. Value is better. More doesn’t necessarily mean valuable. So give your target audience what they will value.

If your target client is someone who bakes vegan and gluten-free recipes, then send a fun weekly recipe. Don’t send them an e-course on turning vegan. Don’t send them a video of you talking about the perks of being vegan. They are already vegan – they get it! Just give them awesome stuff to make.

On the other hand, if your target client is someone interested in becoming a vegan, then yeah, give him or her all the material about becoming a vegan – but don’t send him or her recipes with ingredients like kala namak – they aren’t a vegan yet! That sounds like someone’s name, not an ingredient! (Can you tell I am not a vegan – I have no idea if you use kala namak in baking?)

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WHAT ARE YOU ACTUALLY GOING TO DO?

When I first launched, I immediately threw up a newsletter subscribe option. I had no idea what I would ever write a newsletter about, but I thought it was “what you did.” I don’t have a statistic on this, but I’m going to go with a rough estimate that 99% of bloggers start off with offering a newsletter in exchange for email addresses. It’s easy, your viewer expects it, and it requires no extra effort (in actually offering it, following through on the other hand…). Do you know how many newsletters I’ve sent? Like a half of one. I tried to send one for November and it was kind of crappy. I’m not a newsletter kind of gal; I don’t ‘get it.’ That’s not bashing newsletters at all, a lot of people are awesome at newsletters. I'm just making a point that they aren’t for me.

I say that to then turn around and ask you: what are you actually going to do? I offered an e-course for a lot of reasons – but a big one is that I could do it easily. I had the blog post content to transform into an e-course. I had the outline of a course in my head already. I was excited about it. I don’t offer a newsletter anymore because I am going to put off writing that until the last second, and then it’s going to suck.

So if you are set on offering a resource vault – are you going to keep it updated and relevant? If you are going to offer a weekly recipe – are you going to write it, take a picture of the end product, and send it? If you are going to do monthly tutorials on something about your niche – are you going to take time and plan, record, edit, and send them?

It’s worse to promise something and not follow through, than to not promise anything at all. If you are really lost, confused, unsettled about what to offer then throw a sign-up on your sidebar that says, “Want to stay updated with all things related to ______?” and when you decide on your real opt-in you can send an email to them announcing your opt-in and giving them the opportunity to stick around. Don’t follow my lead of being like “Yeah, a bi-weekly newsletter of AWESOMENESS coming your way!” and then never send one. Or rather, send one bad one. That’s not cool.

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CONCLUSION

In all, yes, you need an opt-in. It’s good for business, no matter what your business is. But, you need to approach opt-ins in a strategic and considered way. Put an emphasis on what you are actually going to do, what your target is going to enjoy, and what will get you closer to your end goals.

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6 Reasons to Freelance & be a Creative Entrepreneur

If I can be totally transparent with you for a second, I am writing this off of a hella inspirational Periscope #BizTherapy session that just happened. Listening to other entrepreneurs express their goals, their backgrounds, their lives, their struggles, their successes, and how it all led up to where they are right now blew my mind.

When I look back at myself over the years, especially in that awkward middle school age, I think it’s pretty obvious being an internet-based creative entrepreneur was always in the cards. This is a fun fact that only my family and boyfriend really knows, but I was a SUPER active member of an online forum (yes, about Harry Potter) in middle school, developed life long friendships and pen pals over the internet, and honestly, felt more connected to people there than I did in person. As I got older, I thought, “what a weirdo.” But now that history is repeating itself, and I’m a super active member in this creative entrepreneur, business blogging online community, I see how it all makes sense.

This also is why I feel so strongly that I am just not meant for a life at a 9-5. I remember having fits of depression and crying to mom, telling her I felt bored by everything related to school and routine, throughout high school. I mean, I did it “right” – I was a cheerleader, student body president, etc. But I wasn’t ever fulfilled.

Transition into college, I immediately chose a fine arts major, where I actually felt challenged intellectually and loved learning – but still terrified of what would happen next. I worked at a large ad agency the summer after graduating, and though the people were awesome, the work was… boring. Uninspiring. Then I worked for photographers, being their in-house designer, marketing strategist, and wearer-of-many-hats. That, I actually loved, but I think mentally I always knew it wasn’t a “forever” thing. I recently moved and started a job at a small agency and though the people are mostly nice, I began to feel bored, monotonous, uninspired, and depressed. That’s when The Crown Fox really kicked into gear and became less of a hobby and more of a lifeline.

I tell you this whole story, to lead into today’s blog topic, which is 6 Reasons to Freelance & Be A Creative Entrepreneur:

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A PRODUCT OR SERVICE YOU BELIEVE IN

I can definitely attest the reason that most of my jobs and paths have left me feeling utterly useless and depressed, is because I gave absolutely no cares about what I was doing. I didn’t care if it succeeded, or failed. I just showed up, fulfilled expectations (barely), and went home. For some people, that might be okay. I think for generations before ours, that was okay. But now, it’s just not. There are so many success stories of people taking their personal dreams and making them realities, that it’s impossible not to feel like “Why can’t I do that!?”

I know people, I have friends, that don’t think this way. Or if they do, they somehow manage to shut it down. They are content working on someone else’s dream for the rest of their lives. If that seems crazy to you too, you might have an entrepreneurial calling.

The thing about starting your own business, is that it’s YOURS. YOUR product, or YOUR service, and YOU make it, and YOU know it’s awesome. I worked in retail, selling cell phones, for two years. You know what sucks? Lying to people and trying to convince them something is fantastic and worth their money, when you truly don’t feel that way. When you are creating your own content, or whatever it is, and making an income off of that – suddenly you aren’t even selling. You aren’t trying to convince anyone, of anything. It’s yours, you created it, and you know it’s worth their while.  You can confidently stand behind whatever you are offering to the world, and when it succeeds and does amazing, you can reap the benefits.

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YOUR WORK, YOUR WAY

This ties into my last point. Working for someone else sucks. It sucks for a lot of reasons, but for me, it sucks because I tend to think my way of working is more efficient. I’m sure that anyone who has spent time being an employee has thought, “this is ridiculous” about some system that his or her boss puts into place.

You know what’s amazing? When you are an entrepreneur, doing your own thing, YOU create the systems. YOU create the workflows. YOU create the processes. If you decide it’s not working anymore, YOU can change it. If you think that part of your process must be that you work in your pajamas, you can enforce that policy. YOU ARE THE BOSS!

Another point that ties into this, is that when you are the boss, you decide who to work with. As a graphic designer, at my 9-5, I have absolutely no say in who are clients are. Yet, I spend day in and day out working for them. Creating their success. They could be selling products I despise, but oh well. They could be the worst people in the world, hiring child workers in third world countries, but I have to make their advertisements. That really bugs me! I mean, I’m being really extreme in my examples, I don’t think any of my 9-5’s clients are that terrible, but I am trying to prove a point. As someone else’s employee, you have no control over anything. As your own boss, you can determine which clients you work with.

Me? I have a really specific target client. I work with creative female business owners almost exclusively. If a company approached me, and they made cigarette candy that marketed to kids, I could easily, simply, and happily say, “no thank you, I don’t think we are a good fit.” Because I’m working for my business. My way. My rules.

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FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE

If I analyze myself, and the reasons for starting this business, a huge factor is financial independence. I used to be the girl that thought, I’d find a guy and live happily ever after. Well no shade to those people, but I came to realization that I can’t do that. I’m dating a lawyer. I could weasel my way in there and figure out a way to be “set.” But… then what? What happens when he pisses me off, or when I think how he invests money is stupid? I would have literally no say-so in anything, because I’d be dependent on him, and he would know that.

And it’s not just relationships that make financial independence matter. Don’t you want to be in control of your finances? Know what’s coming in and going out, and have the power to say where you think it’s wise to invest? I do! I want to make sure I am making my money grow and last. I don’t want to be dependent on an employer that could up and decide one day he doesn’t like me. I don’t want to be worried about being fired, or divorced, or any of the issues that potentially could come up.

This goes back to point 1, but when you work for someone else, you’ll always be giving him or her some of your money. My boss makes money off of my work. When you really think about that, it sounds terrible. Someone is making money, skimming away the top layer, of something I earned. Uh, yuck. I want my money, please and thank you.

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UNLIMITED GROWTH POTENTIAL

I used to say, like 100 percent honestly, that I never would want to own my own business. I’d say, “That’s way too much work.” But now? Oh, bring on the work. I want to do it all. For myself. And learn and develop and grow so big and successful that maybe I can manage to block out those silly thoughts from my past.

If I stayed at my 9-5 now, the most I’d ever, ever, ever be is a graphic designer. Maybe I’d get the title of “Senior” at some point. I’d never become anything more than that though. I’d always report to someone else, pay someone else some of money, and be miserable.

With starting your own business, and being an entrepreneur, there are literally no limits. None. There might be obstacles, sure. There might be setbacks, and hard times, and challenges. But once you get past those, you can grow infinitely. You can have whatever title you want (again, you’re creating the rules). You can make unlimited amounts of money, you can work with unlimited amounts of clients, and you can write unlimited amounts of books or courses. You can collaborate with other people unlimited times. You can do whatever you want, because there won’t be a ceiling. There won’t be a boss standing over you saying, “well you are really fantastic, but you’re always going to be second in command. PS give me some of your money.”  Nope. None of that. Just open skies and unlimited paths and lots of fulfillment.

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MENTAL & PHYSICAL HEALTH

This definitely gets placed on the back-burner in people’s lives. Since I’ve moved, my diet has taken a plunge for the absolute worst. I actually had wine and popcorn for dinner, tonight. Mentally? I’m a hot mess. I wake up angry, because I’m dreading driving for forty minutes in bad traffic to get to work and deal with sexist comments and annoying clients. I spend all day stressed that I’m not working on The Crown Fox related things. Then I get home, and I’m stressed because it’s already 6:00pm and I want to go to the gym, but I also know I need to see my boyfriend a little bit or he’ll feel neglected, but I also need to write a blog post or do client work.

So I’m not saying that to make you pity me, I’m saying it because when we aren’t doing what we love, when we are trying to “do it all” it negatively affects our bodies and our brains.

I know, know, know, when I make that jump to full time freelancing one of the first things I’ll do is make time for the gym again. Want to know why I know that? Because I’ll be determining my schedule. I won’t be regulated by some “9-5” mentality, where I really spend TEN HOURS of a day (including commute) doing something I hate.

I know there are full time freelancers/entrepreneurs who still sacrifice their health for their work. I know that’s not a struggle that is limited to 9-5-ers. I think everyone, myself included, should pay way more attention to his or her health. For me, that transition into being a full time freelancer will allow me to make those adjustments and treat my body and brain better.

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LITTLE DETAILS

These points might seem kind of silly, but I think about these everyday I’m at work. You know what you get to control when you are a freelancer? The thermostat. The music. Lunch time. Break times. Doctor appointment times. Seeing your family on the holidays time.

I live in Florida currently, where the days average about 85 degrees still (this is Fall, here) but when I get to work do you know how cold it is? Cold enough that I wear long sleeves AND a jacket. And God forbid if I forget the jacket. Do you know what my coworker does? She plays scream-o, circa 2006, without headphones. Loud. Do you know what happens if I have a doctors appointment? I have to make up the time and stay late.

I KNOW. I KNOW I SOUND LIKE A BRAT. I know my parents had to work late for doctor’s appointments their whole lives. I KNOW. But I also know that it DOESN’T HAVE TO BE LIKE THAT. It doesn’t. Plain and simple. I can be successful and work from my home, or my own office space. I can be in control of the thermostat. And I can give myself an hour break in the middle of the day to go to the doctor. I don’t have to live the “expected” way, filled with misery, 5 o’clock road rage, and crappy scream-o music.  There’s a light at the end of that tunnel, and it’s called freelancing.

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CONCLUSION

I hope this motivated you to make moves in your life. Writing it out motivated me even more than I already was. If you ever want to talk about these sorts of things, I’m open ears! #BizTherapy

Happy Monday (I just realized this post was #MotivationMonday!) and Happy November, y’all! 

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