Form Build It! Library

Forms on your Web site can be powerful tools. And Form Build It! has been designed to provide you with extreme flexibility and power. There is no limit to how or why you can use th FBI! module...

1) You can build forms for a variety of usages... referrals, courses, info-gathering to learn more about your visitors, their attitudes, etc.

Please note, however, that you cannot use it to collect subscriptions for a Mailout Manager newsletter. Once you set up your newsletter, you can add an Opt-in Subscription block to any page to collect subscriptions.

2) View reports of the data each form gathers, helping you learn more about your visitors (which, for example, can help you market to them).

3) Respond to every submission of data through AutoResponders... anything from a single, simple Thank You Page to a 7 day course in the Mating Habits of Sea Lions. Keep your site and your offerings in front of your customers -- a critical element for online success.

The basic Form Build It! process is as follows...

1) You build/edit the Form here (in the Form Build It! Library)
2) You place the Form on your Web site (using Form Block or directly through your HTML Editor)
3) Visitor fills in your Form
4) Visitor sees Thank You Page (customized by you)
5) Visitor receives AutoResponder E-mail from you (customizable, up to a sequence of seven messages, double opt-in if more than one)
6) Data is sent to you and/or others via e-mail, too (Notification optional)
7) Data is stored into your database
8) You review and analyze a report of the data accumulated, and react accordingly.

Whether you want to merely provide a convenient way for a visitor to contact you, register with you, or make reservation...

• Create complex visitor surveys or simple polls
• Collect sweepstakes entries
• Allow targeted prospects to request more information regarding your product or service
• Allow targeted prospects to request more information regarding the product or service of a partner (usually operating an offline business, with you acting as representative/promoter and earnng a referrer or finder's fee)
• Collect applications for employment
• Collect first name and e-mail address for 5-7 day AutoResponder E-courses
• Deliver a free "Special Report" via AutoResponder
• Send visitors to specific businesses (offline businesses, especially), to earn referral or finder's fees
• Create a registration or reservation form

... it all begins in the Form Build It! Library. This is where you create/edit/deactivate/delete each Form, as well as the rest of the process that follows the submission of that Form, including the...

1) Thank You Page -- the page your visitor sees after successful submission of that Form

2) AutoResponder E-mail (optional) -- the message your visitor receives after successful submission of that Form

3) Notification E-mail (optional) -- the data that was submitted through the Form, sent by e-mail to you or anyone else you choose to cc.

The Form itself, of course, is just the "front-end"... the data-gatherer. So think of Form Build It! as the module that creates the entire process, from data-gathering to responding (via Web page, AutoResponder, Notifications). It even includes the later analysis of data collected. The combined effect is extremely flexibile and powerful.

A simple example...

Contact, Registration, and Reservation Forms, followed by an AutoResponder message, all serve as simple, effective ways to both learn more about your visitors and to start a relationship with your site's visitors. Data gathered can be analyzed and acted upon.

SIDEBAR: Each Form, no matter what its intended function, should have its own MWR (Most Wanted Response), and, if appropriate, one or two Backup Responses as well. For more on determining the MWR of your Form, please click here!

The Four Categories of Forms

Although there is no limit to the way you can use Forms on your Web site, they all fall into one of four categories...

1) The "Contact Us" Form

2) The Single/Sequential E-Mail AutoResponder Form

3)The Visitor Survey or Poll Form

4) The Finder/Referrer Form

1) The "Contact Us" Form...

Creating a "feedback" Form on your Web site allows your visitors the opportunity to contact you, while eliminating the need for a posted e-mail address. This prevents spam bots from harvesting your e-mail address and adding it to various lists.

Feedback Forms can be as basic as a simple contact Form, or as involved as a detailed registration Form or request for information/services Form.

You can even use such a Form for the basis of a pay-per-lead monetization model, where you collect prospects for an offline partner.

With the creation of such a Form you'll have the option to receive a notification e-mail each time your Form is filled in, and even to send a confirmation e-mail to the visitor who filled it in! This is especially handy if you are using this Form to collect registrations or reservations, or as just mentioned, to collect leads for a partner.

Limit the number of fields required for contact to as few as possible -- in general, people are hesitant about giving out any sort of personal information, and are more likely to fill out a small Form than a large one. Here's the process...

a) Build your contact Form (click the Create a New Form button): After reviewing the online help, select the appropriate fields and data entry selections which will appear on this Form.

b) Customize the Thank You page: A Thank You page will be delivered to your visitor upon the submission of any Form on your Web site. This is not an optional feature -- if you do not customize the Thank You page, SBI! will present your visitor with a default page.

c) Activate AutoResponders: After customizing your Thank You page, you'll be presented with the option to associate an AutoResponder e-mail (or a series of AutoResponder e-mails), with this Form. If you are creating a simple "Contact Us" Form, you may wish to send your visitor a simple confirmation e-mail, verifying that you received his/her request. On the other hand, you may decide this Form may not warrant an AutoResponder e-mail at all... either way, the choice is yours!

If you are creating an involved registration or reservation Form, it's a good idea to activate a single AutoResponder message, and send your visitor's information back to her as a Form of receipt (don't worry, this option is built right into SBI!).

d) Set Up E-mail Notification: This optional feature allows you to receive an e-mail notification every time this particular Form is filled out on your Web site. You may select two other e-mails to receive this confirmation message as well. If this Form contains important or time sensitive information, you may want to activate this feature.

Special Note: Keep in mind that you can always return to edit, modify, activate, or de-activate any of the functionalities associated with any of the Forms you build in the Form Build It! Library. In other words, nothing you do in the creation of your Forms is set in stone. You can always change your mind later.

2) The Sequential E-Mail AutoResponder Form

Providing a free e-course delivered over a series of days is a great way to maintain sustained contact with a new visitor, keeping your site, and your offers in the forefront of your visitor's mind. e-courses also go a long way towards establishing the credibility and trust required to build a successful relationship between you and your potential customer.

Here's the process for building a 5 or 7-Day e-course using sequential AutoResponders, a great Backup Response to complement your site's MWR (Most Wanted Response)....

a) Build your contact Form (click the Create a New Form button): Select the appropriate fields and data entry selections which will appear on this Form. In this case, all you require is a first name and an e-mail address.

b) Customize the Thank You page: Thank your visitor for subscribing to your e-course, and inForm her that the first segment will be arriving soon. Also, it's a good idea to remind her that she will have to confirm her subscription in order to receive the remaining segments of the course.

c) Activate AutoResponders: Activate sequential AutoResponders, and follow the instructions to build each of the e-mails your visitors will be receiving (you do not have to complete all the e-mails in one session). Then stipulate when these e-mails are to be mailed (i.e., once per day, once per week, etc,.).

d) Set Up E-mail Notification: If you wish, you may opt to be notified (with a "cc" to two different addresses), whenever someone fills in a Form.

3) The Visitor Survey or Poll Form

With SBI!, you can create custom Form fields (text, radio buttons, check marks, etc., etc.) to create a small poll or advanced survey of your visitors. All submitted data is stored in YOUR database, and if you wish you can present your visitor with all the compiled so far (a strong motivator to complete your poll!) -- the current results, if you like. The process is identical to the ones outlined above -- just follow the instructions and select the features appropriate to this Form.

4) The Finder/Referrer Form

Information publishers can further monetize their traffic by developing "pay-per-sale" or "pay-per-lead" referral programs with related offline merchants. This Form collects information specifically related to the service your merchant provides, and forwards that information to the merchant who follows up with your lead from there. Of course, make sure you send a "cc" to yourself, so you can check up on your partners now and then.

Set up your Form as usual, and be sure to Set Up E-mail Notification for this Form, and include your merchant partner's contact e-mail in the "cc" field.

You may decide to utilize one or more of the above strategies on your site. There is no limit to the number of Forms/AutoResponders you can use with your Site Build It! account, but don't go overboard... don't bombard your visitor with offers! Do feel free, though, to experiment in order to determine the strategy that best fulfills the needs of your customers and your business.

Please note: FBI! is not fully explained in the Action Guide, so be sure to click on all the question marks throughout the process for detailed help and strategies for managing your Forms.

Special Note: After you build your second and subsequent Forms and return here, you will see all of your Forms in this Library. You can return to the Form Build It! Library at any time to edit, revise, or deactivate any of your Forms as you see fit.

Ready to begin building another Form/AutoResponder? Just click on the Create a New Form button at the bottom of the page.

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