One of the most frustrating “facts of life: if you are trying to make money online: a significant percentage of visitors who sign up for your double opt-in newsletter will never confirm. (Of course this ignites the debate over single vs. double opt-in -- but that’s a subject for another article.) It feels like you are leaving money on the table…or if you prefer, it’s the equivalent of meeting a nice guy at a bar and then having him never call.

There are always going to be people who won’t confirm; you’ll never approach a 100% confirmation rate. But there are definitely steps you can take to improve your ezine confirmation rate significantly. Here are the four steps I took to raise my own confirmation rate by 50% in just 8 months:

1. Your thank you page: tell your subscriber what they need to do next. They’ve taken the first step -- filling in your subscription form. The very next thing they should see is your thank you page; use this real estate for three important messages:

A) Remind them of what they are signing up for, using most of the same language as on your signup page.

B) Remind them they have to click the confirmation link when they receive it in their inbox – otherwise they won’t receive the freebie they want (you are offering a freebie as incentive, right?)

C) Tell them how to make sure they receive the confirmation email by whitelisting; you can copy my whitelisting instructions if you like.

2. Use memorable language in the confirmation email. I’m not talking about clever wording or hype-y language; in fact, quite the opposite! You want the wording in the confirmation email to closely resemble the language on your signup and thank you pages, even lifting entire phrases word-for-word. This will mark the third time they’ve seen that language, making it much more likely that they will remember it and take action, i.e., click the link.

3. Deliver what you promise after they confirm. Once they click the link in your confirmation email, take them right to the page where they can access the freebie you promised. If your freebie is a downloadable ebook, for instance, put the download link right on the page, front and center; don’t make them wait to get a link in their email! Include download instructions; feel free to copy mine at the bottom of this page if you like. If your freebie is an audio or video, it’s a good idea to offer the option for them to listen or watch right from your webpage OR download for later use.

4. Tell them what you told them. On your post-confirmation thank you page, remind them one more time about your ezine title, frequency, etc., so they’ll recognize it when they get the next edition. Include a link to download or access the freebie, in case they didn’t see it on the thank you page or had trouble downloading. Include an email address where they can reach you if they need help or have a question. This is also a good place to remind them that they can unsubscribe from your newsletter anytime by clicking the link at the bottom (or top, depending on your newsletter design) of every mailing they receive from you.

Taking these steps is sure to improve your ezine confirmation rates (although your results may vary.) You may find that you don’t have to respond to as many “I didn’t get my ebook” complaints. And, you might even decrease the number of people who unsubscribe or mark your email as spam!

Terri Zwierzynski is a self-employed business strategist and marketing consultant to solo entrepreneurs, and a grassroots promoter of the solo entrepreneur lifestyle. She runs Solo-E.com, the resource website for the self-employed which attracts thousands of solo home business owners monthly from over 100 countries on six continents (and was recently named a finalist for “Website of the Year” in the 4th Annual Stevie® Awards for Women in Business). Terri is also the co-author of 136 Ways To Market Your Small or Solo Business.

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