So you've got a website and you've got a newsletter.

Now you want to get people to actually opt-in and subscribe to your newsletter. So how do you do that?

Well, this used to be as simple as putting a little box on your website that said subscribe to my newsletter. They didn't even need much prodding to subscribe – they just did because they thought it was fun to get email.

Unfortunately, those days are long gone. Now getting people to opt in to your newsletters is considerably more difficult, but it's still very doable.

People are now far more protective of their email addresses – they don't want to be spammed, and they're concerned that you'll sell their email to people who will bombard them with advertisements. People don't want that – they want valuable content from you.

Of course, just promising valuable content isn't enough either. You're likely going to need to bribe them to opt-in by offering a free report, tutorials, videos, podcasts, software – something that will legitimately give them value.

And are you ready for even more bad news? People are so skeptical these days that they don't even respond to bribes as well as they used to.

So just what the heck are you supposed to do? Prove yourself first. Give people a reason to trust you before asking them to opt-in.

Essentially, what you're building is what the famous Internet marketer, John Reese, calls a reverse squeeze page.

I'll admit that I've been using them for a couple years now even though I just heard the term reverse squeeze page a couple weeks ago, but I like the name reverse squeeze page and I can tell you from first hand experience that it works.

One way that I like to implement reverse squeeze pages is at the bottom of a blog post or article to offer a free report if they opt-in to my newsletter. At that point, they've already seen some of what I have to offer, and if they like the content I'm providing, they're likely to want more, hence the free report.

Now when you start sending them your newsletter, don't start bombarding them with promotions just yet. You need to provide them with valuable content in your newsletters. I like to tell stories, and eventually, if appropriate, I'll make an offer, but not in every email.

Yes, getting people to opt-in and to make money from those subscribers is more difficult than ever, but if you take the time to do it right and do it well, you'll still be rewarded with great profits.