An email address is currency.

That’s one of the lessons I’ve learned in my years a web marketer. Just like a $5 bill, if you want someone to hand over their addy, you’ve got to give them something valuable in return.

The problem is, most newsletter sign up form are all take, and no give.

Consider the Burgers
I want to make you a challenge. The next time you go into a restaurant, try to find a hamburger on the menu.

Not a Bacon Ranch Burger, not a Mushroom Swiss Burger, not a Larkburger, Smokehouse Burger, Veggie Burger or Buffalo Burger.

Just a hamburger. A plain, old hamburger.

Chances are you won’t find one. And why? Because hamburgers are so non-specific and boring (what will be on it?), it won’t sell. So, instead of saying, “give us $5 and we’ll give you a hamburger”, the restaurant gets specific and describes something interesting enough to pay [double or triple] for.

Consider Your Newsletter
Now, put that in the context of your newsletter. I’ve written about this before, so I’ll pick on Whistler with their opt-in form again.

Essentially, we are asking visitors to buy a dry, plain, boring hamburger of a newsletter. We don’t list toppings, we don’t list reasons, we simply say, “Give us an email address and we’ll give you a newsletter.”

Oooh, tantalizing isn’t it.

Not so much.

The Tweak
Instead, take a look at your last few newsletters and pick out specifics things that someone might be interested in knowing before they “buy” into you newsletter. That may be:

• What you send them
• How often you send it
• Why people sign up

And then, slap those suckers onto that dry hamburger of an opt-in form and see what happens:

If I had to wager, I’d guess that this small tweak alone would take about 15 minutes to write and would likely triple the opt-in rate of the form (if not more).

Remember, an email address is currency. Show me the value or I won’t buy.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.