23 Opt In Freebie Ideas To Grow Your Email List Quickly

Are you looking for opt in freebie ideas that are guaranteed to make your readers want to sign up to your email list?

Of course you are!

Growing your email list is one of the most important things to do when you’re a blogger or online business owner, because as they say “money is in the list!”

Apparently you can expect to make $1 per subscriber per month.

So if you can grow your email list to 2000, 5000 or even 10.000 subscribers, you can expect to earn $2000, $5000 or even $10.000 per month!

This is great news!

Because it means that if you focus on growing your email list, your income will naturally increase as well.

So how do you get more subscribers fast? You give them something in return for signing up – a freebie!

So let’s have a look at these popular freebie ideas for small business, bloggers & coaches.

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I may earn a small commission for affiliate links in this post at no extra cost to you. Please read my disclaimer  for more information.

What is an opt in freebie

An opt in freebie, also called a lead magnet or content upgrade, is a free digital product that you send to your subscriber when they sign up to your email list.

Not many people give out their email addresses for free these days, so offering a free gift as an incentive, is guaranteed to boost your subscribe rate.

What makes a good opt in freebie

A good opt in freebie will help your ideal client with one of their most common struggles. It should be a quick fix to a problem they’re facing right now.

The blog post they find this opt in freebie on is ideally related to the freebie topic, so signing up to receive the freebie would be a logical next step for your reader.

Don’t think your opt in freebie needs to be an 80 page eBook, a short eBook or how-to-guide solving one particular problem will be better and less overwhelming.

The Best Opt In Freebie Ideas To Grow Your Email List

I won’t keep you waiting any longer. Check out this list of opt in freebie ideas that are perfect for small business owners and bloggers!

1. Planner

A planner is a great opt in freebie idea that will suit many blogging niches. So no matter if you’re a travel blogger or a permaculture blogger, you should be able to create a planner that will help your audience in some way.

Here’s a few examples of blogging niches and planner ideas:

• Travel – Itinerary Planner or Packing Planner
• Permaculture – Seasonal Planting Planner
• Homeschooling – Lesson Planner
• Finance – Budget Planner
• Pregnancy/ Birth – Birth Planner

And I’m sure there are many more planner ideas for other niches that will be perfect for creating high converting lead magnets.

You can create a planner for free with Canva. If you need a bit of help with this you could browse for planner templates on Etsy or check out my Digital Planner Template Kit here.

This planner template kit includes daily, weekly and monthly planner templates, goal planner templates, budget planners, income trackers and much more.

CHECK OUT THIS PLANNER TEMPLATE KIT HERE

2. Free Online Course

A popular opt in freebie idea is an online course. Help your audience overcome one of their most common struggles with a 7 day email course or set up a course on a course platform like ThriveCart Learn or Podia.

Email courses can be easily created as an automated sequence in MailerLite or ConvertKit. Just make sure you space each email a day apart so your audience will receive a new lesson every day.

3. eBook

An eBook is probably one of the easiest opt in freebies to create. It requires minimal design skills and can be created quickly in Word or Canva.

If you want your eBook to look a bit more professional, you can always look for Canva eBook templates on Etsy or you can use my Lead Magnet Toolkit.

This Lead Magnet Toolkit has everything you need to create an eBook or other lead magnet in Canva. It includes many different page layout designs, checklist templates, worksheet templates and even Call To Action pages to help you promote your product or service.

SHOW ME THE LEAD MAGNET TOOLKIT

4. Challenge

A challenge is a fun opt in offer idea. To create a successful challenge you have to make sure that there is a clear outcome for the participants. Be clear on what you will help them achieve, and how many days or weeks it will take for them to reach their goal.

The best way to set up a challenge is as an automated email sequence so your subscribers will get new challenge prompts straight to their inbox every day.

5. Checklist

Most people love a good checklist so a niche related checklist is a great idea for an opt in freebie. Checklists are quick and easy to create in Canva and if you want to make the process even quicker,  make sure to grab my Free Checklist Canva Template below (plus a bonus cheatsheet on how to make money with your email opt ins.)

6. Free Coaching Session

A free online coaching session is a great freebie idea for coaches.

You won’t even need to create a freebie, you just have to show up on Zoom or a similar platform and chat to your prospective client.

Offering your new leads some one-on-one time with you is a great way for them to find out if they would be interested in your paid offers.

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7. Templates

Templates are a great way to speed up your work flow, so offering templates is a great opt in idea, especially if your audience are business owners.

It’s pretty easy to create templates in Canva with the “share as a template” function. This creates a link to your template which you can share with your subscriber. When they click on this link it opens a copy of your design in their Canva account.

Some template example ideas are:

• eBook templates
• Instagram templates
• Pinterest pin templates
• Lead magnet templates
• Planner templates
• Sales page templates

8. Worksheet/Workbook

Help your clients to work through a planning or problem solving process with a worksheet or workbook. I offer my readers a blog planner workbook as a freebie and it has a pretty good subscribe rate.

This workbook guides my reader through all the important questions that they should ask themselves before they start a blog.

If you want to check out this opt in freebie example, you can sign up with the form below.

9. Kids Activity Sheets

If you’re a parenting or home school blogger it can be a great idea to create kids activity printables. You can easily create kids activity sheets in Canva. There are plenty of templates to use and you can easily edit them to make them your own.

Make sure to save them as a PDF before you download them so your audience can print them out at home and keep their kids busy.

10. Colouring In Pages

Colouring in pages are a great printable opt in freebie idea for parenting blogs or even mindfulness blogs. If you’re a mom blogger make sure to check out the colouring book scene creator templates below.

More opt in freebie ideas…

11. Tracker

Is your audience into tracking their habits? Create a tracker for them that makes it easy for them to keep track of whatever it is they’re into.

Popular habit tracker examples are:

• Fitness tracker
• Budget tracker
• Calorie tracker
• Mood tracker
• Water consumption tracker

12. Stock Photos

Are you a photographer with an audience of online business owners? Why not offer free stock photos? Especially if you sell stock photos on your site, creating a free bundle of stock photos is a great way to introduce your audience to your work with the chance to convert into sales down the track.

13. Swipe Files

Do you know your audience is struggling with something that you have a blueprint of?

Then a swipe file could be the perfect opt in freebie idea!

A swipe file is basically a writing example that someone can use for guidance and inspiration.

Swipe files work well for things like:

• Email marketing sequence
• Application letters
• Sales page copy

14. Case Study

Have you tried a certain strategy in your business that your audience could benefit from? Why not show them exactly how you did it in a case study.

A case study is much like a swipe file but instead of giving people writing inspiration, you give them ideas on how to achieve certain results.

Make sure you clearly outline what you were trying to achieve and then go over all the steps you took to achieve it. Include screenshots or other data that can illustrate your point and also mention mistakes you made and how they affected the outcome.

15. Free Trial/Lesson/Chapter

Do you have an app or a course or an eBook? Why not offer your audience a free trial to your app, a free lesson or module to your course or a free chapter of your eBook?

Letting your audience try your offer for free, is a great way for them to see if they like it. So besides signing up to your email list, they’re highly likely to want to purchase your offer as well. #winwin

16. Social Media Calendar

A social media content calendar is a very useful opt in freebie idea if your audience consists of bloggers and online business owners.

Most people struggle to stay consistent on their social media accounts just because they have no idea what to post. Offering a social media calendar with content ideas and prompts will be super helpful to any online marketer.

17. Roadmap

Show your audience how to get from A to B with a step by step roadmap. A roadmap is unique freebie idea that you don’t come across very often, but it can work quite well for certain topics.

18. Coupon Code/Discount

Offering a coupon code or a discount in your shop is a great freebie idea for your customers. If they are interested in buying your product, they are sure to sign up to your list if you offer them a juicy discount!

19. Webinar

Do you have valuable tips to share with your audience? Create a webinar that brings awareness to a certain topic. At the end of your webinar you can offer your product or service as a solution for this problem.

20. Quiz Outcome

I’m sure you’ve seen them before, those online quizzes: What kind of spender are you?, or, what kind of friend are you?

A quiz is a great fun way to interact with your audience and possibly guide them towards a solution for their problem. To get people to sign up to your list, you can offer them the quiz results as an opt in incentive.

You can create quizzes for free with Interact.

21. Audio File

Audio files are another interesting opt in offer that could work well for many types of coaches.

Audio file examples could be a guided meditation, vocal lessons, affirmations or a motivational speech.

22. Patterns

If you have a sewing or knitting blog, sewing or knitting patterns would be a great lead magnet idea.

Your audience is most likely on the lookout for original patterns and would probably love a free pattern of one of your creations!

To add more value, you could even include an instructional video or How to Guide with tips to get the best results.

23. PDF Guide

Do you want to help your audience over a hurdle they’re facing? Why not create a How-to-Guide that they can download as a PDF.

This is similar to an eBook but it’s usually a bit shorter and offers guidance on one particular problem.

PDF guides are a great way to introduce and solve one part of a problem and then you can point your audience to your paid product at the end of the guide to help them further.

Using a Call to Action in your opt in freebie is a great way to to get more eyeballs on your paid offers that are likely to turn into sales without you having to do any extra work.

If you want to create a PDF Guide as lead magnet, make sure to check out my Lead Magnet Toolkit that will help you design a stunning guide in minutes with Canva.

These Are My Best Opt In Freebie Ideas

I hope you liked these email opt in ideas and you now have plenty of ideas for freebies to create yourself!

Which opt in freebie idea will you make?

Let me know in the comments below!

If you need some help creating a freebie in Canva, make sure to grab my Lead Magnet Toolkit here.

SHOW ME THE TOOLKIT NOW!