How to Place Your iContact Newsletter Sign-Up Form on a MySpace Page

Placing a sign-up form for your newsletter on your MySpace profile or blog is a smart move. While attracting visitors to your website can be difficult, getting viewers to take a look at your MySpace page isn't too complicated. As such, any business absolutely must have a sign-up form for their newsletter placed right on the top of their profile page. If you are using iContact as your newsletter or ezine publisher, the following is a quick, step-by-step tutorial on the process that will have your sign-up form up and ready in minutes.

First, sign in to your account on the iContact home page and, once signed in, click on the "My Contacts" tab. Then, click on "sign-up forms" under the "Add Contacts" section. Select the colors and text options for your sign-up form, and continue on to the final page of the setup process.

Next, copy the code for the "manual" sign-up form. When sign-up forms created on iContact are placed on a MySpace profile, they tend only to work when the manual codes are used. Also, you may notice that some pieces of the code are visible on your actual profile page. You can remove this extra code later and still have a working sign-up form.

Next, visit your MySpace home page and click on the "edit my profile" link. Go to the "About Me" section and place the code below any coding for your background but above coding for comments, videos, links, etc. This will ensure that your sign-up form is placed toward the top of your profile and will be easily seen by viewers.

Next, add an introduction to your sign-up form in the "About Me" section that explains who you are, what your newsletter is for, and, most importantly, how any collected email addresses will be used (and how often). Readers absolutely must know what they are signing up for and how often they will be contacted by you or any of your partners. Spam laws carefully regulate how newsletter publishers may obtain permission to send email, so make your message clear and in all caps. Also, center the message by typing "" at the beginning of your text. Do the same for your sign-up form code so that it will be centered and professional-looking when published on your profile.

Next, click on the "save all changes" button at the top of the page. If you neglect to do so, you will have to repeat the process once you have navigated away from the editing section, and you will receive no warnings or prompts before all information is lost.

Next, view your newly published MySpace profile and check out your new iContact sign-up form. Is it centered? Is the information above it centered, in all caps, and in a legible text? Also, what about that "extra" coding we mentioned earlier? If you notice pieces of your sign-up code that are visible on your actual profile, go back to your profile editor and simply delete the pieces of code that are visible.Finally, test out your new sign-up form, especially if any code was removed. Simply enter your own email address and contact information, permit MySpace to let you leave the site (you will see a prompt with a warning that you are being taken to another page not sponsored by MySpace), and check your email inbox. You should have received a notification of a new subscriber, and you should also have received a "thank you" message for signing up (you can alter your thank-you messages in the "My Lists" section of your iContact account). If each step is followed carefully, you should have a working newsletter sign-up form on your MySpace profile page immediately. Be sure to make those on your friends list aware of your new addition by posting a bulletin as soon as possible.