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After yesterday’s advanced steps of setting up an affiliate program, I’m ready to go back to a basic set of steps to optimize my list process. Today, I’ll be working on a customized confirmation page.

Specifically, I’m going to:

• Create a new thank you page (i.e., “confirmation page”)
• Link to the new page from my web forms in Aweber
• Add an image of the download page to the confirmation page
• Add a video to the confirmation page

Let’s get started…

Create A New Thank You Page

Until now, I’ve been using the default Aweber thank you page. It has an audio player and does a good job explaining what the subscriber needs to do to continue. However, it’s not my voice, and I want to maintain more consistency throughout the process.

I also want to use the opportunity to further add credibility in the eyes of my new subscriber.

So in my Blogi360/Quansite system, I’m going to add a new Marketing PRO page, and turn on the header, but turn off the navigation and the footer. This way, the focus is still on the steps they’re taking right now.

I’ll add in some text that explains how the confirmation process works. I’ll make sure to include the email address they’ll be getting the confirmation email from, as well as the subject of that email. This way it should be super easy for them to see the message as it comes in.

This may sound like a “duh” process, but don’t overlook the power in its simplicity. People get distracted easily, and perhaps are in a rush. Make it as step by step as possible to increase the confirmation process. After all, if they don’t confirm their request for your lessons/gifts, then they aren’t a subscriber!

I’ll add my photo and signature to the bottom of the confirmation page for consistency.

Connect Confirmation Page In Aweber

At this point, the page is ready enough (you know I’m a take action, revise later fan!).

So I log in to Aweber and go into each of the webforms in my list and change the thank you page to the new URL. I have quite a few webforms now, so I need to do it for each one.

I notice that my subscriber count is up to 500 at this point, and remember that I can add the subscriber chicklet to the form. However, I’m going to wait to do that until I can get a new split test going to measure the effectiveness of that.

Once done, I could call it a day. But there are a few things I’d like to add to my confirmation page to make it even better.

Download Page Image

To give them a bit of a taste of what they are going to get, I’m going to make an image of the download page that includes the free audio program. This reminds them of what they’re going to get (in case they leave their computer and come back later), and shows that I’m organized and will deliver what I’ve promised them.

To make this image, I take these steps.

1. I simply go to the download page in my own browser, and take a screenshot of the page. You can use fancy and expensive software to do this (SnagIt from Techsmith – the Camtasia people – is an example), but I prefer to use free tools when possible. And one of those tools is Paint, which comes standard on all PCs.
2. Above the Backspace key is a PrntScrn key. So clicking SHIFT+PRNTSCRN is the next step. Nothing happens, and the screen doesn’t actually print to your printer. Instead, it’s on your “clipboard”.
3. Open up Windows Paint (or any graphics program), and CTRL+V or Edit/Paste in the menu. You’ll see an exact replica of your screen is now an image to be edited.
4. There’s a selection tool (a dashed-square) in the toolbox. Click and drag the area of the screen you want to use for your image. You’ll see the dashed line highlight your selection.
5. Then right-click and choose crop, and your image is now cut to the area you wanted.
6. I’m going to reduce mine down a bit so it’s obvious that it’s an image of the download page, and not the dowload page itself. I change the Image/Resize by 80% both horizontally and vertically to maintain the “aspect ratio” – avoiding fun-house mirror looks.
7. Next, I save the image, and go to my blog’s file manager. After uploading the image, I can get the file URL to use in my confirmation page to call the image.

Add A Video For Credibility And Community

I want to go one step further with this confirmation page and add a video. You can do this with YouTube or whatever you like, but I want to use a video I made in Animoto.

This is a cool (free and paid) online software tool that takes your existing photos and mixes them with royalty-free music to make a music video slide show. I made my first video a short time ago to show the pictures of people I’ve met at live events.

Since this list is in part an attempt to centralize and solidify the community of people who want me to teach them, it’s a perfect fit for the confirmation page.

So I add a bit of text on the page to get people to watch the video while they wait for the confirmation email to arrive.

This does a couple of things:

• It gives them something to do while they wait
• It keeps them engaged while they wait
• It shows them that I’m a real person helping out other real people (adding credibility)
• It plants the seed that we should meet in person at live events as well.
• It paints a positive picture of the community they are joining.

I get the embed code from Animoto, and put it on my confirmation page.

Now I’m all set. You can see my finalized confirmation page here.

That’s it for today’s steps. Remember, you can keep your confirmation page as simple as you wish, or even continue to use the default that Aweber sets up. But I encourage you to use words, images, and even video to take advantage of this point in your relationship with your new subscriber. Get them excited about their decision to join your list. Sounds goofy, but this is a first date after all :)

Bob Jenkins
DiscoverAutoresponders.com

p.s. Need a video walk through of today’s steps? Check the Discover Autoresponders 30 Day Challenge Video for Day 25.

p.p.s. Be sure to post a comment below letting me know your questions or ah-has about today’s steps! If you see an increase in confirmations as well, let me know.

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