Getting people signed up to your email list is important if you don't know why then Aby from YouBabyMeMummy has you covered with her post Why you need a blog newsletter. The best way to do this is to create opt-ins (or free downloads), where people give you their email address in exchange for something they want (a recipe printout, an activity sheet for the kids, a work book etc.)
The problem is before you are making a regular income from your blog, you don't really want to be paying out for stuff, but is there a free way? YES, Mail Chimp! and I'm going to show you exactly how to do it.
Create a Mailing List and Newsletter
The first thing you need to do is to create your mailing list and set up a news letter so your subscribers will actually get mail from you. There is no point grabbing their email if you are not going to do anything with it, you want to be taking this opportunity to give them reasons to come back to you.
If you are unsure how to do this, YouBabyMeMummy has The 5 Minute Way to Create an Awesome Newsletter, so go check that out and then come back right here for the next step.
Steps
First of all go to lists, select the list you want the freebie to go to (you will need a list for each freebie, but you can just merge them later), press the drop down arrow and go to sign up forms. You should be greeted with this page.
Next head into the general form section and select 'Final Welcome Email' from the drop down. We will talk more about the other options later.
Next, edit the details in this section. Your subject needs to tell your readers that you FREE download has arrived, you don't want them to miss it.
Use the main box to add text and images, really show your freebie off, let them know how much value you are giving.
Once your email looks amazing, press the link button to add your file.
Use the drop down box to navigate to 'file' and then wait until you are transferred to another page.
Use the 'Upload' button in the top right corner and add your file. (Depending on the file size, this could take a few minutes to upload).
You can use the advanced options to do things like open in a new window or create a title before you insert.
Next, you can use the 'Source' button to edit the code and change the link text to something like 'click here to grab your free download'. I've pasted the code below to make it simple.
<ahref="https://gallery.mailchimp.com/YOURFILEIDLINKHERE" target="_blank">
YOURLINKTEXTHERE</a>
YOURLINKTEXTHERE</a>
Once that is all saved, the last thing you need to do is make sure the 'Send Final Confirmation Email' box is checked. This will make sure the opt-in you have just set up will actually go out once they have confirmed their email.
The last thing you need to do is go to your list, then sign up forms and click the 'Embedded form code'. Edit the form to entice people to grab their download. Ditch the word subscribe, no one wants to do that!
Then pop the code onto the end (or middle) of your blog post and change this word in the code (To get rid of the subscribe button).
value='subscribe'
change to
value="submit"
change to
value="submit"
That's it, your download is ready to go!
Bonus!
If you want to make your emails look more professional and flow better, then use the 'forms and response emails' drop down to change the sign-up form, sign up form thank you page and the opt-in confirmation email. This will only take 5 more minutes but will increase the number of people who actually complete the sign-up and don't get confused!
Do you want to know what your audience will see with every email? Would you like a video walking you through how to make it work? Grab it below!