The fourth deadly mistake of home page design is not having a compelling opt-in incentive. Think of it this way: Your home page and opt-in box are the hook. Is there a nice juicy worm sitting on the hook?

Although I don’t fish myself, I do know that it takes the right lure … the right “juicy worm” … to catch the kind of fish you desire.

The same is true of growing your opt-in list.

You need to have the right kind of opt-in incentive to attract and capture the names and email addresses of your ideal clients.

Your opt-in bonus needs to be compelling on several levels:

• It needs to be a “free taste” of what you offer so that people who experience it will want more of what you offer.
• It needs to be in a format your ideal clients will want to consume … or they just won’t consume it.
• It needs to have an enticing title and virtual packaging so that your ideal clients will want to give you their name and email address in order to get it.

So, what is your opt-in incentive?

Is it a subscription to your newsletter? This no longer works … we all get way too much email these days. Who want yet another e-zine in their in-box? Your opt-in bonus needs to offer more.

Here’s a tip for creating a compelling opt-in incentive: Does your target market have one burning, all-consuming question that they would be combing the Internet to find the answer to? Answer that questions in your opt-in bonus and you’ll grow your list.

Of course, you’ll have to give your opt-in gift a compelling title, maybe something like this:

• The Number One Thing Your Marketing Message Must Have to Succeed
• The Best Kept Secret for Attracting Your Ideal Clients
• The Social Network All Authors Need to Use to Attract Readers & Raving Fans

You may be tempted to give more than one compelling thing … but stick to one and your free gift will be more effective most of the time. Of course, that said, always test your market and use the one that works best for you.

One last tip: Change out your opt-in bonus at least once a year and, as a token of good will and appreciation for their loyalty, give your current subscribers your new opt-in, as well.

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Want to know what all five deadly mistakes are? Grab a copy of my new book, Home Sweet Home Page: The 5 Deadly Mistakes Authors, Speakers and Coaches Make with Their Website’s Home Page and How To Fix Them! at BookMarketingClub.com/homepagebook. Stop by the website between March 15 and 19, 2010, to join the launch and housewarming party, and download a plethora of free gifts!