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You don’t have to look far in the IM world to see people touting how powerful email marketing is. How “growing subscribers” is a crucial aspect of building a sustainable internet business. I’ve talked about it myself on countless blog posts. Smart bloggers are catching on to the idea that their sites can act as an effective funnel for building their email lists.
Yet even though everyone wants to grow their audience, few people are prioritising that conversion from visitor to subscriber. In October 2011 I wrote out the specifications for a WordPress plugin that would let bloggers of any skill level add attractive opt-in forms and social share boxes to their blog, in seconds. There’s more…
Not only did I want to easily customise forms that I could put at the bottom of blog posts or in my sidebar (or anywhere else), I also wanted to test them. Since growing my email list is a huge focus of this sites design, and I know that changing just one word can create a 200% increase in conversions, surely I should be testing the box that gets those subscribers.
I want to know if more people opt-in when I use the text ‘FREE INSTANT ACCESS’ on my submit button or if ‘GET YOUR EBOOK’ works better. With my audience. I want to know which eBook cover works best. I want to know if a blue opt-in form would entice more people than a black one.
I have been asked over and over and over again how I add that little yellow box to the bottom of my blog posts. Well, now, you can add that little yellow box, or maybe a little blue one, or even one with a ribbon. And then see which style converts more visitors into subscribers.
We’ve made it really easy to do.
There are different hacks and ways to achieve the most basic aspect of what we’ve done with OptinSkin, but nothing comes close to what we’ve been able to develop over the last few months.
I created OptinSkin because I needed it. And since I’m a total perfectionist when it comes to design and I love looking into stats and data, we added everything you could possibly need in a solution like this. Don’t believe us?
The first cool feature of OptinSkin is simply called, Fade. It’s the most basic thing you can think of yet it does exactly what you want it to do. Our Fade feature will allow your ‘Skin’ to fade onto your page when a visitor scrolls to the part of your site that it’s on. So you can put it at the bottom of posts, or right of your second paragraph, or in the middle of your blog post while they’re fully immersed in your content.
The box then fades in, shuffling your content around it, and gets peoples attention (without annoying them like a pop-up would).
We also have a sticky feature that allows you to – for example – put an opt-in form (skin) as the last thing in your sidebar. Then when a visitor scrolls down your page, the form will scroll with them. Always remaining in view.
OptinSkin includes a really powerful editor that lets you customise our default forms to an insane degree. Make sure you check out the basic version of it on our interactive launch page.
Every single Skin you create has its own page for detailed analytics data, and our advanced impressions tracking will only increment statistics when a visitor sees your form, keeping your split-tests highly accurate. We even threw in a clever way to make money for those of you who think your own readers might be interested in something like this.
Final Answers from the Developer
The other day on my developing web apps article I included some interview answers from the main developer behind OptinSkin, Graeme. I had initially asked him a few more questions I couldn’t include on that original post, so here they are…
In developing OptinSkin specifically, can you mention what were some of the more challenging aspects technically, when making the plugin?
Before working on OptinSkin I was heavily immersed in doing Artificial Intelligence research, so it was a dramatic shift for me in terms of languages and concepts; however, I didn’t find the latter less challenging! There are a lot of challenges when designing for the web, including cross-browser functionality (which is progressively becoming a bigger problem), and also integrating your designs into WordPress themes. Since each theme is different and has its own instructions for how things like textboxes, buttons, tables, and so on, are displayed, it takes a huge effort to keep things looking consistent.
With the amount of time we’ve both spent on this, the plugin is clearly more to you than just some specs that you want to get out of the way. You genuinely care about making it a great offering, evident with a lot of the extras that you have added along the way. Which features are your favourite?
That’s a difficult question! I love the statistics. I think that it’s going to be great for bloggers to be able to create two designs that are exactly the same except for some small difference, and then see empirically which one is more effective. Obviously you need quite a large reader-base to be able to test that thoroughly, but it’s very exciting for optimization. I would love to get feedback from users about what they found to be effective during optimization.
I also love that we included a wide variety of designs that people can customize. I think that OptinSkin is unique in that we decided to create different foundations for designs, unlike other “customizable” opt-in plugins, where each design inevitably follows the same pattern because you’re essentially customizing just one foundation. There really are more possibilities with OptinSkin than any other plugin like it available today, and I’m glad we achieved that. I’m ecstatic to see the kinds of things that people will create when they spend time playing with it.
What’s Next…
As I’ve said, OptinSkin was created to fill my own need to easily split-test forms anywhere on a website. I’ve been using it far more than I thought I would on my own sites lately and it has far surpassed the original vision I had for this tool.
And now it’s time to add your vision.
The really cool thing for me now about the plugin is that we can add new designs for all users so easily. We’ve included tons of different styles in the default designs, and since they’re all customisable, it shouldn’t be hard to match one seamlessly with your website. However, there’s no reason we can’t take that further.
Any time I come up with a new idea I can just add it to the members area and anyone can add them to their blog in seconds. If there are different style ideas that you have, let me know.
With things like the social share boxes, we’re also constantly thinking of new things that our Skins can power. I’m not sure I should be announcing this but one feature we’re working on right now is once again very simple, but shows how creative we want to let people be with this plugin. The feature will let you add testimonials and quotes from people who have talked about you or your email list specifically.
Those quotes then elegantly rotate underneath the form, giving you social proof and enticing people to subscribe. Oh and of course, you would then be able to test opt-in forms with testimonials versus those without them 
.
I’m really proud of what myself and Graeme have managed to develop. We would both love for you to give our creation a try.
Finally, if you have any questions about OptinSkin, I’ll be live on Skype with the username ViperChill for the next few days, so feel free to get in touch.
P.S. If this isn’t for you, no problem at all. Normal posting will resume next week. As always, thank you for your support!
111 Comments
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first – spot for sale
this is legit. glen is legit. buy right now before the server gets overloaded and crashes and explodes in a riotous stampede caused by your competitors doing everything they can to not get left behind.
well done brah
As of now, Aweber is down. I wonder is this had something to do with it.
I noticed Aweber being down too and what you suggest makes me go “hmmmmmmm?!”
Nice Plugin. Thanks!
Wow glen, this seem like an extraordinary plugin. I will be sure to give it a try once i get back home from school. I’ll leave some feedback as well =]
Awesome!
Thanks for the support Ray
Ssiicckk! This looks great Graeme and Glen.
Thanks Jon!
Awesome, it’s finally here!!!!
I can recommend this plugin to everyone, it’s going to make the blogosphere more beautiful and bloggers have more subscribers and be richer.
Congratulations Glen, on getting this out there!
Hah!
Thanks buddy!
Nice work.
Thanks Tom!
Awesome work Glen and Graeme and rest of the team. I’m sincerely impressed and I’m a big fan of the work you guys do! Great launch and lots of fun anticipation building up to it.
Look forward to using this!
Thanks Jordan,
Appreciate the support as always!
Love the fade feature Glen, will be picking up the plugin shortly!
I’ve been looking for something just like this ever since I saw the fade in subscribe box on Neil Patel’s quicksprout blog. Good to see someone finally made a plugin that does that and more.
Thanks Jed,
I haven’t seen that; I’ll have to take a look
Appreciate the support!
looks great, gonna try it!
I was literally like a kid at Christmas this morning, holding my breath as I typed in http://www.ViperChill.com to see what the new plugin would be. I’ve already purchased and can’t wait to implement it on my site ASAP!
You are the best!
Jena
New Orleans, LA
Thank you for the support Jena,
I hope it was worth the wait
- G
It works on Thesis!! Awesome.. gotta work out and then I’ll be back to dive in..
Looks great at first glance.. as long as it doesn’t interfere with Thesis goodies? I bought a skin one time but it got so much in Thesis’ business that I have to take it off because it overrode features I liked.
dee
Nope, we work great with Thesis!
Thanks for the support
love it, will def buy it for our site.
Thx
Thanks Gael!
Fantastic. It’s finally here, Glen. Totally love the plugin, you did fantastic work man.
Gonna use it for my upcoming blog
Keep up the rocking work, dude.
Thanks Devesh,
Appreciate the support
I have left a comment in SPI but I have to say thank you here Glenn. Your plugin is top-notch! I can’t express my feeling now! So excited!
Thanks for the support Tung,
Always good to see you here!
Some feedback; the box is not displaying properly with your mobile theme (I’m just an iPhone).
Thanks, I had been meaning to disable that for a while. Will update now though to make sure we’re WP Touch compatible
- G
No fluff, this is the best optin plugin I have ever seen!!!
Thank you Kevin!
We think so too
Great job Graeme & Glen! This product looks great and I’m sure works great as well! Cheers to your success, I look forward to working with this plugin on my blogs!
Thanks Paul!
Hope you enjoy it
It is a plugin like popup domination and premiumlistmagnet right? You should own the plugin: optinplugin.com as it will match your plugin. Thinking about this plugin and see how it works
I’ve just heard about this plugin on Twitter time line by Alex, well, it looks great Glenn, you’ve done a great work
Thanks Trung!
Wow. Nice plugin. The split testing option is pretty cool. Will it work with the WordPress Jetpack email optin form?
Btw, noticed your Copyright footer text is not up to date (2011).
Copyright on ViperChill? Looks fine on OptinSkin to me
Could you show an example of where that is. It will work, but not directly with the editor. We’ll have to show you how to customise the HTML / CSS of the design(s) of your choice.
Thanks for the support!
Footer-thingy: http://i.imgur.com/EvmsV.png
Cool. Will check it.
What’s up Glen and Graeme, first of big congrats! Even though I read your upcoming post about this plugin, I saw the release of it on Pat’s SPI first.
Had to come here and comment as well. I got this plugin for a few reasons.
1. It’s a No Brainer
2. It’s something well needed for my blogs.
3. Just to support for all the great info you provide here on viperchill for free.
Salute and here’s to great success with your launch.
- TRENDS
Saw Pat rocking this on his site, figured this was the secret project but it turned out to be so much more than just the footer opt-in.
Big stuff Glen, this kind of thing was definitely needed.
Thanks Gregory,
Glad you think so!
Nice work Glen, I have to admit that the viperbar made me lose confidence on two accounts.
1. You didn’t use it on your blog where you instead had lovely looking opt in forms.
2. It didn’t work on my site.
This however, is a no-brainer, I’ve spent hours coding and customising my own forms, let alone the headache proper split testing would do.
I think your forms are some of the best I’ve seen and it would be a please to use them.
It’s funny…a couple of weeks ago I contacted some bloggers to get to know how they created their optin forms (with nice design). I wasn’t happy with solutions they used, but this kind of plugin seems to be far more than I was looking for, good job guys. As I’m also crazy about design…I love it
BTW: Great sales page design – can you tell me who did graphics for you? Is it html/wordpress (if not wordpress, do you think I can do sth like that in OptimizePress? I ask because I’m about to buy it…). Thanks!
I did them
And thank you! Much appreciated
This looks fantastic Glen, definitely gonna pick it up, good job,
Alejandro
Hi Glen, the plugin really looks great but can you say when (and if) you plan to make it support GetResponse?
+1 for request for GetResponse integration(GR is becoming more and more popular because some active online marketers have experienced deliverability problems with aweber in comparison to get response)
Man,
AWOSOME.
As trends sad, it’s a no-brainer, and save you time so you can focus on your website content.
Cheers to your sucess!
The plugin looks awesome guys. I’ve bought everything you released regardless of need just to give back for all your helpful posts, but I will definitely put this to use.
Great job! Something like this is totally useful!
Hey Glen – looks excellent – I spend ages coding these things into my site abd fiddling round with the css to get them to look nice.
I use Office Autopilot (the next Infusionsoft, lol). Any plans to add it in as a supported mail service. Happy to help.
Ian
My partner and I have new blogs (just getting started). Do I need to purchase a plug in for each of the blogs?
Glen. You are a freakin’ GENIUS with this plugin! Easily one of the top 10 most needed plugins to ever be made for the wordpress platform.
OptinSkin is pretty much the equivalent of a money tree planted in virtual space.
Hah, that made me laugh!
Thanks Tim. We think so too
Glen, as always… unbelievably cool. Going over the top with formidable extras is what separates you from *everyone* else in this space. (not blowing sunshine here) I remember you giving me advice (same you gave Pat from SPI) about offering too many choices when trying to get users to opt in. And you nailed that within this offering. (nice)
Just watched the video and continued to shake my head and smile, thinking to myself, “no wonder this guy disappears for a few months at a time!”
I hope you make a *killing* with this latest offering.
Cheers,
//Dave
Dang Glen,
This is really top notch. I like this approach to opt-ins way more than obtrusive pop ups that we see far too often on sites; the little features really make it pop out. Might have to check it out once I finish up a design I’ve been working on – would fit perfectly.
Thanks Murray,
Totally my thinking. Always wanted to increase conversions but never wanted to go the pop-up route.
Bloody fantastic Glen. I will be buying as soon as this months adsense clears!!!!!!!
Glad you like it Jamie!
Another hi quality plugin from Glen! I’m going to buy it definately!
Looks excellent – well done! Any chance this may intergrate with constant contact email provider in the near future??
Glenn for another time seems like you did a great job.. I will try this thing the soonest possible.. I will also promote this..
Thank you for your efforts helping us…
The testimonial thingy that rotates is something I have been trying to figure out how make myself so save me some work and keep pushing
GREAT PLUGIN
Glen,
Awesome. can’t wait to test it out on my blogs. Wrote you another comment on the SPI blog but yeah.. awesome.
I “get it” Glen! Impressive! I was so excited when I got wind of the plug-in. Just bought and installed. I can’t wait to see it working. Thanks guys!
That’s just beautiful: http://www.hsia.fr/interview-aurelien-amacker/
There is no way I won’t get more subscribers than before…
Thanks Glen !!
Looks great!
Nice to see it in French
Ling-en Are you using the new plugin for your top, homepage optin?
thx, dee
Me want free copy to promote to my readers.
Just kidding – I reckon I’ll buy this one.
Congrats on the buzz this morning bro. You continue to do things that I want to do but am not fast (or smart) enough!
Love it.
Tyrant
Thanks BT,
Appreciate the support!
Hi Glen, Doesn’t your plugin count Feedburner stats? I see no Signups
Yes, it does.
Please send us an email if you’re having issues.
Great plugin Glen. I’m writing an post about it at this moment.
I do got a question:
Does the plugin covers Google+ add to circles?
Hey RB,
That’s not included in our share boxes, no. There is a G+ share box though, None of them are really designed for ‘following’. Just sharing
There are hordes of plugins like this, some probably a lot better, what makes this one better apart from the hype?
Troll? Seems so, but I’ll answer anyway.
“There are hordes of plugins like this, some probably a lot better”
Show me one (not even two out of the ‘hordes’) in the next hour and I’ll Paypal you $100
100% serious.
Great plugin Glen — tell me, will it play nice with responsive css ??
Hey Glen the Plugin looks amazing and sexy
Is Video supported on it?
like can we embed a youtube video and next to is have the optin form all inside the square box (or will this be a feature added maybe later?)
also I am no designer or anything but can we use custom optin form designs (not in the plugin) and mainly use it for analytics and split testing?
Thanks and look forward to your answers
Hi Pedro,
Thank you!
None of the skins support video. I’m not entirely sure why you would want that? You can definitely embed the video separately and put it next to your opt-in form though if it’s on a page or something
And the answer to your second question is Yes!
Nice work guys! Thanks, this is great, just bought my copy. Can’t wait for the testimonials functionality though…
Thanks for a super plugin Glen.
I knew if I waited long enough that you would release this.
Saved me oodles of waisted hours trying to configure my own design.
Ta
Paul
You’re welcome Paul,
Thanks for the purchase!
Enjoy
Great plugin Glen… I like being creative and give the visitors the best first impression from my blog. Very good job and very nice – friendly blog here. Have a great day!
John Mak
Thanks Glen for another great product. please let us know when it works with constant contact
Version for blogger too, pleeeease!!!!
Damn…I was “thinking” about developing a similar plugin but your beat me to it:) but there is definitely a huge market for this, creating decent optin forms is painstaking to say the least.
Hi Glen, I asked this on Pat’s site but I guess you’ve been too busy to get over there – does your plugin accommodate GetResponse? Apologies if you’ve already answered this question.
Thanks indeed!
Joseph
Hi Glen, I have a question about the plug-in which I’m hoping you can help with. I saw an example on someone’s site and it had a “powered by OptinSkin” tagline next to the box but this isn’t the case on Pat Flynn’s site as I understand he is using his own skins. Is this tagline included with all the skins which come as standard with the plug-in?
I just picked this up and spent the last hour or so taking it for a test drive. All I can say is “wow”.
Very impressive piece of work Glen.
Cheers,
Jon
Perfect timing! Thanks for the post Glen.. Just got my copy. Loving the split testing feature. It’s gunna save so much time!
Cheers
Tiaan
Hi Glen,
I’ve bought the plugin, but it has a problem every time I try to install the plugin. Is there any chance you could get back to me… thanks a lot
Oh yeah – I use Headway for my site – could this be the problem?
Iain
Brad here – Just took the plunge and glad I did! Fantastic capability and changes are extremely easy. The analytics are extremely reliable as well.
If you want to see it in operations on a “different” site you are welcomed to check out http://www.rmsinternetmarketing.com/blog
We are experimenting with a number of the options we will use in the weeks ahead.
Great job Glen and company!!
Cheers!
Is it possible to use this with Optimize Press? Love all your work keep ‘em coming !
Susan
Glen, I found out about your plugin through Pat’s site. It looks like you’ve done a really great job with this latest project of yours. Kudos to Graeme as well. Being able to easily split-test forms anywhere on a website is a great idea. Being able to customize it to the extent you’ve provided is just icing on the cake.
This looks great! I saw this on Pat Flynn’s blog and may use it in the future!
Hey Glen, plugin looking gooooood!
Going to buy and post a review on my new site.
Ok if I send you over a few questions to answer please that I can add to my review?
Best,
Gordon
Hi Glen-
Incredible plugin – I bought it via Pat Flynn. Works great with my Aweber but one question though – I thought the sales page said it integrates with Infusionsoft but my Infusionsoft form is showing over the top of the optin skin and I need it for Infusionsoft.
Any chance I’m doing something wrong?
Thanks-
Keith
Hi Glen,
hows things man?
Loving the new plugin, it’s easy to use, configure!
Highly recommend it.
Talk Soon
Joe
Glen – Love the plugin but the CSS is always off. Where should I submit for support?
This is great plugin and I’ve said so much on Pat’s blog. But I am disappointed with two things:
1. There’s non-existent support. I’ve used the support form but received no reply.
2. There are no updates. Although you’ve mentioned in the latest post that the plugin has undergone many bug fixes, I’ve received no notification about updates. Even the file in the members area shows version 1.0
So the question is do you plan to develop the plugin further or leave us stranded?
Hey Ravi,
1. Hmm, that isn’t true at all. We try and clear our inbox every single day, and there have been at least 40 emails replied to (there were a lot because of the blog post yesterday) this morning alone. There isn’t a single email in our inbox that has not been replied to yet, so it’s more likely that your question did not come through to us (I don’t see it in spam). You’re welcome to send it again.
2. Yes, there are updates. We just haven’t announced it officially because there are more features we are adding. I would rather not annoy customers every time we add something little, and alert them once an overall bigger change has been made. The file shows that version number for the reasons I’ve just stated, and because the URL is protected with that file name from people who aren’t OptinSkin members.
My answer is that we’ve been developing it like crazy, and nobody has been left stranded.
Like I say, you’re welcome to send us an email
This seems like a good plug-in I could use for my web sites. Will definitely check it out and watch for the feedback then head on to buying after I finish my current tasks.
Spatch Merlin
More Web Site Traffic
I think it’s a great product & I’m going to use it on my blog for sure, sometime in future.
Very Happy for your success..Keep doing your great works.
This is realy a very good plugin.
I have a question regarding Feedburner.
I would like to use a skin with only email supscription and with the Optin Service Feedburner.
If someone leaves his email adress and clicks on Subscribe, it always opens a new Window with the subscription form from feedburner, where the subscriber has to put his email adress a second time in. Is there a way to avoid this?
Hi Sir,
Seems like a wonderful plugin. i am waiting for this for long time.
Thanks Again
Really looks like an amazing plugin.
I’m def planning on getting it one of these days once I get my sites up which would benefit from it.
I recently bought this plugin and really like it. I’ve spent tons of time trying to style an opt-in form on my site. Now I can simply start with one of the ready made templates and customize it.
I love the feature that lets it fade in after X number of minutes. I’m using that at the bottom of posts.
Thanks Glen for a much needed plugin!
Plugin looks fantastic. Have been using another premium plugin but this has way more useful features.
UNFORTUNATELY if you live in some countries of the world that aren’t favoured by Clickbank and Paypal who process the payments, you can’t buy the plugin! Found that out to my extreme frustration after trying to buy it this evening. Groan!
Great plugin, recently bought.
I’ve put my optins in seconds. Really easy to use and customize.
Good job Glen