Pre-S: I posed a marketing puzzle in my last post. Out of all the answers I received, only [one] subscriber solved it correctly. So let me give you a hint in today’s email before The Big Reveal...
"It's not that they can't see the solution. They can't see the problem." - G.K. Chesterton
I was hanging in this private online group the other day when an entrepreneur named Simon piped up and asked:
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“I’m really struggling to convince visitors to sign up to my email list. The hard part is having an exciting enough opt-in offer that provides value to the subscriber. Any words of wisdom?"
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It’s the PERFECT question to ask.
But not for the reason you think.
Read through that question again, this time out-loud.
I bet you emphasised either “exciting” or “value”.
And that’s why your opt-in offer probably doesn’t convert very well.
Because you’re answering the wrong question.
And as one of my favourite writers, Ursula K. Le Guin, points out:
"There are no right answers to wrong questions."
Even if you make the opt-in exciting enough to induce a sugar high with your copywriting...
Even if you cram a PhD’s worth of value into the freebie content...
People still won’t queue up outside your inbox.
Read through Simon’s question one last time.
Right about now, it might be the word “struggling” that stands out…
But that’s not the keyword either.
The secret lies nestled inside the humblest word of that sentence:
Enough.
So the right question to ask is:
“How do I make my opt-in offer exciting enough?"
The keyword being… “enough”.
WTF - right?
Can an offer ever be “too” exciting?
As it turns out.. yes.
(more next time)
PS: Now that I’ve given you a big clue, have you managed to spot exactly what was wrong with the opt-in offer in this post?
Leave a comment and let me know. We’re opening the floor to bets.
