Launch Your Waitlist Blueprint

In this step-by-step guide, you're going to learn how to create and launch a simple waitlist to begin collecting warm leads ahead of launching your offer -- the easy way!

Let's get started!

My favorite email newsletter platform at the moment is Convertkit!

Convertkit is an email marketing software that allows you to collect your potential customers' name + email addresses so that you can send email blasts and keep in touch with them outside of social media.

In the marketing world, your potential customers are called "Leads". Systems like Convertkit help you to collect and communicate with your Leads.

With Convertkit you're able to :

• Create opt-in forms that can be embedded in your existing website
• Create pages that allow you to collect your customers' email addresses even if you don't have your own website (these are called "Landing Pages". Here's an example. This page is not on my website, but instead, it's a stand-alone page that I created using Convertkit)
• Tag users so that you're able to send targeted emails to specific groups of customers on your email list
• Set up automations and email sequences so that you can pre-set your emails to send at a certain time, or based upon specific actions (This is a paid feature.)
• Integrate with many different platforms so that your systems can communicate with each other. See this page for the list of programs Convertkit can integrate with.

Convertkit is super easy to set up, intuitive to use, and you can get going in just a few minutes! If you prefer not to use Convertkit to manage your email list, you can follow the general principles I share in this Blueprint, and build your waitlist on the platform of your choice.

Now that you understand what Convertkit is, the first thing I want you to do is create your Convertkit account.**  Once you sign up through this link, you'll be able to get your first 1000 subscribers for Free! That's HUGE!

Click this link, then watch this video for instructions on how to create your Convertkit Account:

**IMPORTANT** While you can create your Convertkit account with any email address, in order to properly send emails from Convertkit, you must use an email address that's hosted on your own domain. In other words, Convertkit will not allow you to send emails from Gmail, Yahoo, AOL email address.

However, getting your own email address and domain is super easy!

If you do not yet own your own domain/email address, watch this video for instructions on how to get set up in less than 5 minutes :

*Note : A Landing Page is different from a Sales Page. Your sales page has one job - to sell your offer. However, a landing page is designed to get potential buyers to sign up for your email list or waitlist so that you can sell your offer to them in the future.

**Full disclosure, I'm a Convertkit Affiliate, and the link I provided is an affiliate link. I receive a small commission if you sign up for a paid account through my link.

Now that your Convertkit is all set up, it's time to create your opt-in!

Watch this video for a walkthrough of how to navigate Convertkit and set up your first Landing Page :

If you prefer to embed an Opt-in Form on your own website instead of using one of Convertkit's landing pages, follow this video :

1. Header - Title Of the Page

Join My VIP List
Something BEAUTIFUL is coming soon!

2. Sub-header - Why should they opt in? 

Make your description sound prestigious and aspirational, like something they'd want to be a part of!

If you use a photo of yourself, choose an image with you looking straight ahead, or towards the content

The next step is to take the long, ugly URL for your form and turn it into a short, memorable one! The tool I like to use for this is bit.ly.

Watch this video for instructions:

Note : You can skip this step if you're embedding a form on your own website, or if you'll be adding your link to your LinkTr.ee on Instagram.

Once your link is set up, and you've double-checked your Opt-in and Thank You pages for proper grammar and spelling, it's time to test your opt-in to make sure that everything is configured properly.

Here's how to do that : 

Next, you're going to update your IG bio and add your Waitlist link. Here are some tips for that :

There are no exact "rules" when it comes to writing your bio, but I recommend that at minimum, you include your contact info (i.e. your booking email), followed by a short description and call to action that drives people to click the link in your bio and sign up for your waitlist. Be sure to #TeaseAndEntice so that your potential leads know why they should click your link.

Here's an example :

I personally prefer to only have one "top-level" link in my bio at a time, especially when I'm preparing to launch an offer.

However, you can still use this same exact strategy if you prefer to use LinkTr.ee (or a similar link aggregation tool). In other words, you should still update your bio to #TeaseAndEntice your waitlist, but simply add your waitlist link to your LinkTr.ee.

Now that everything is set up, it's time to announce to your audience that something is coming! Let's start with Instagram : 

When choosing the photo or video that you're going to use to announce your waitlist, I recommend that you repurpose a piece of content that did really well in the past (i.e. a selfie or photo/video of my work).

However, there are no limits! Feel free to get creative here!

For example, if it resonates with you to post a video but you don't want to re-post a previous piece of content, feel free to record a new video of yourself speaking directly to camera, talking about your waitlist.

Or, you can go live to talk about your waitlist and post the video in your main feed -- the choice is yours! 

The most important thing, though, is that you choose (or create) a piece of content that will make your followers stop scrolling and pay attention to what you have to say in the caption or in the video itself!

COMPOSING YOUR CAPTION

Let me share with you a caption that I might create to announce the waitlist for an upcoming class for everyday women :

Can I share a secret with you? I've been working on something REALLY, really special for the past few weeks! I'm not quite ready to spill all the beans, but if :

You've been struggling to apply your makeup

You're T.I.R.E.D. of watching Youtube video after Youtube video

All you want is to learn how to do a SIMPLE everyday makeup look that doesn't require 50-leven products or HOURS in the mirror (because who even has time?!)

This IsForYou! 

I'm going to officially drop the details later this month, but if you want me to personally reach out to you with the tea ☕️click the link in my bio to join my brand new VIP Waitlist!

And believe me -- you'll want to be on the list, Friend! Not only will you be the first to know about my special project, but I'll also be sharing with you bonuses and perks to help you step up your glam game that I won't be sharing anywhere else!

So, stop what you're doing RIGHT NOW and save your spot on my VIP waitlist by clicking the link in my bio!

LET'S BREAK IT DOWN : 

1. Begin your caption with a short, catchy hook

Use the first line of your caption to draw people in! Phrases like :

- Can I share a secret with you?

- Can I tell you something?

- I've been keeping a secret!

- Stop your scroll I have something to tell you!

Are a great way to begin your caption because.... people are nosey! 🙂 They're going to want to know more! Can you think about another hook? TRY IT!

2. Describe your customer's problems, struggles, or pain points 

Next, describe the pain points that your offer will address. Be specific! I tend to like to create a bulleted list, using emojis as bullets. This helps to break up your texts, and it keeps your customers' eyes moving downward.

It's important to specifically call out your clients' pain points, because it helps them to say "hey... that's ME!", and further entices them to not only continue reading, but it increases the likelihood that they'll click the link to sign up!

3. Tease your waitlist + include a call to action (CTA) for people to sign up

Now, you want to begin "tease" that the details are coming soon, then follow that with a CTA for them to click the link in your bio to join your waitlist.

4. Give reason for why they need to take action and join your waitlist

**This is important** Whenever you ask people to take an action, you must tell them why! What's in it for them?

Will they be the first to know? Will they get special access? Will they get extra bonuses or a discount that no one else will get?

People don't take action unless it's worth their while, so you need to specifically tell them why they should stop what they're doing and sign up for your waitlist!

5. End with one final CTA to click the link in your bio and join your waitlist

In addition to posting your waitlist announcement in your main feed, you also want to post in your IG stories, on your FB personal page, and your FB business page (if you have one). The intention is to cast the widest net by sharing your waitlist on ALL of your platforms!

Congratulations on launching your first waitlist! Be sure to post a screenshot of your IG bio in our #CompletionReceipts thread for this week so we can celebrate you!

Are you finding that you or your subscribers are not receiving your "Incentive email" to double opt-in to your list?

Unfortunately, this may be an indication that the email may have landed in their Spam folder or Promotions tab if they have Gmail.

Here are the two most commons reasons this happens : 

1. You are testing the Form using an email address with the same domain as your sending address.

It's very common to start testing your Form by adding your own email address to it. However, if your sending address is the same email as the one you just entered through the Form, or if they share the same domain, it's common for the message to go to the spam folder. 

This happens when your email server sees that it is receiving an email from itself, but it knows that it didn't send the message. Imagine opening your mailbox at home to see an envelope from yourself, but it's coming from another address. You would probably be suspicious! 

That's exactly what happens when your email server sees a message come in from your email address, but from ConvertKit's IP address.

The good thing is that your Subscribers will not see messages go to spam for this reason. The spam filtering is only happening because the sending domain matches the receiving domain during your test.

The Solution? Test your form with a different email address when wanting to see how your Incentive Emails will perform with real Subscribers.

2. You are sending from a freemail domain such as gmail.com, icloud.com, etc.

If you send from a freemail address, it's likely you'll see your messages land in the spam folder. For better results, send from your own domain that matches your brand.

Here's an article from Convertkit about why this is important here: Why do I need my own domain to send email?

Even if you do both of the above, there's still a chance that your emails will land in your customers' Promotions tab (if they have Gmail)

Rihanna recently announced the upcoming launch of her latest offering Fenty Skin, and guess what she did? Launch a waitlist!

Watch the video below for a breakdown of this "Real World" Case study of MMU principles in action!

Here's the post in her Instagram feed :

1. Notice, that she incentivized her CTA by saying that people on the waitlist get to shop early.

How might you incentivize signing up for your waitlist? Early access, exclusive VIP-only content, additional bonuses, etc. are all great incentives! 

2. Next, she included a short, easy-to-remember top-level link in her bio. While Linktr.ee is technically fine, I definitely recommend having ONE link in your bio while you're ramping up to an offer.

Rih-Rih didn't include any other information in her bio. But remember : you're not Rihanna So, I definitely recommend that you include your contact info and a line or two that tells people why they should click the link (See Step 5 of this Blueprint for more details)

3. Once you click the link, you're taken to a SIMPLE landing page with a 2-field form. 

While Rih requested a telephone number, I recommend that you collect First Name and email address only. This is because studies have shown that the more info you request, the more likely people will click away without opting in.

4. Lastly, after opting-in, you receive a confirmation email.

She did not require double opt-in. As noted in Step 2, there are pros and cons to requiring people to confirm their subscription. So, choose what you feel is best for you.

If protecting the integrity of your email list is your top priority, require double opt-in.

If convenience and having a seamless user experience where they don't have to click to confirm their subscription is your priority, feel free to set up your list so that your leads are auto-confirmed. 

Aaaaand that's all!

It's as simple as that! I hope this case study gives you a bit of inspiration for your waitlist and shows you that it doesn't have to be complicated, so don't overthink it!

If you come across any other real world examples of coming soon waitlists that you love, be sure to share a link to the announcement post and landing page in our facebook with #realworldcasestudy in the caption!