How to setup an online registration and payment form

{NOTE: As of February 1, 2018, JotForm has changed their pricing structure. You can only accept one payment per month with their free program. For projects with more than 10 payments per month, you’ll pay $39/month. I’ll update this post with alternative solutions shortly. There may be more affordable options for projects requiring 10+ payments per month.}

Question: How do I create an online registration and payment form for my event, workshop, retreat, class?

Answer: Easy! I know there are a lot of steps here. Watch the video first, then get started on setting up your own online registration form!

I made the mistake of joining a yoga retreat that was being run without a registration system or website… never again. It should have been a giant red flag indicating the level of organization of the event hosts. Akk….. awesome teachers….not awesome when it came to admin, communication, logistics, etc. ?

It KILLS me to see people trying to run programs without an online registration system. It is especially upsetting because I know there are free (or very affordable) options to automate this process. As the business grows, details get harder and harder to manage.

Are you asking people to EMAIL you to join your programs?

Are you expecting people to pay via check?

Let’s make a plan to stop this amateur behavior right now. Seriously. Set aside some time to go through the tutorial below and step up your game.

Win-Win

• Your prospects will have fewer hesitations registering for your programs using a web-based form
• Being organized will save you time. Time = Money
• Better communication will result in repeat business and referrals
• You’ll require less admin help to manage all the details
• Once you set up a form, it is SOOOOO easy to duplicate for your next program
• Decreased stress levels will leave you feeling more energetic

Let’s get started!

For this example, I’ve created a summer mountain bike camp registration form. Use this as a guide for your camp, workshop, clinic, training session. You can adjust details for your business as needed.

Sharing is caring! Please share these instructions with friends who host or teach workshops, camps, clinics, retreats.

NOTE: This video shows an older version of JotForm. They’ve made some excellent enhancements. Most options are the same, just organized in different areas of the page/builder. You should be able to follow the suggestions in the tutorial to create your own form! Good luck!

GET PREPARED

• Turn on your favorite music. Make some iced coffee. Do a few pushups. Get pumped! Take some deep breaths. You can do this!
• Get your brand logo or event image ready. Horizontal format is best, no wider than 600px. Use this free site to edit your image: https://www.picmonkey.com/

• Make sure you know all program details BEFORE you set up the form. This isn’t critical, making a bunch of changes later is a hassle…
  • Event title and description
  • Event date and time
  • Price
  • Location
  • What elements will you need for registration?
    • Student’s Name, Grade, Any Specific Preferences
    • Parent’s Info, Emergency Contact Details
    • Legal disclaimers; medical releases, photo releases, etc
    • Address might be nice so you can send a handwritten thank you note before/after the camp!
  • What elements will be required for the registration confirmation emails?
    • Event date(s)/times
    • Event location, link to map, instructions on parking
    • Packing List. What should people bring? IE: Bike, Hydration Pack, Sack Lunch, Helmet, Rain Jacket
    • Your contact info or day of event emergency contact details
    • Instructions about how your customers can help spread the word for you!
    • Links to your social accounts, website or email signup form
    • Links to your upcoming programs, event page on your site, etc. Encourage people to register for the next session(s)!
• Setup a FREE PayPal account to collect form payments
  • Both personal or business accounts will work: https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/account-selection

  • Note: If you sell physical items and need to scan credit cards regularly, request this FREE credit card scanner from PayPal here: https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/credit-card-reader

• Go to JotForm, create a FREE account: http://bit.ly/28M4JE0

  • Note: The free version will allow 10 payments per month. If you exceed 10 payments they’ll send you an alert to upgrade to a paid account. The paid accounts start at $19/month. You can switch between the paid/free accounts if you are only collecting registrations during a few months of the year. They run specials around the holidays in December for greater discounts.

SETUP UP YOUR REGISTRATION FORM

• Log into JotForm your account: http://bit.ly/28M4JE0
• Click “Create Form”
• Three options will appear: Blank Form, Use Template, Import Form
  • For this example, we’ll use “Import Form”
  • Select Import Form, then “From Web Page”
  • 
Paste in this URL: https://www.JotForm.com/form/61725416826156
  • 
Hit the green “Continue Button” to create a copy of my template
  • 
In the future, feel free to create your own or search from all of the awesome pre-created templates! There are over 5,000 incredible free templates for all sorts of things; job applications, client intake forms, volunteer signup forms, etc
• 
Now the form appears. Within the form, click on any of the boxes to edit, adjust, duplicate or drag in elements into place.
• You may want to include a field for any additional notes or comments the parent may want to share.
• On the left sidebar there are options for other fields or elements you can drag over to your form. Get wild! Test a few things, you can always delete what you don’t need.
• Be sure to click on the registration/payment area and update to add your PayPal email address and product details.
  • 
Note: If the system is giving you trouble w this step, delete the Payment Module. Then go over to the left and choose Payment Fields. Dray in the “PayPal” option and follow the instructions to setup.
  • 
As you are getting familiar with JotForm, limit your registration options to one session at a time. (IE: Create separate forms for registering for Session 1, Session 2, etc) This will keep your email lists for event follow up simple. As you get more comfortable with the registration systems you can add additional sessions simultaneously.
• At the top be sure to review the following (in the Setup & Embed tab)
  • 
Click “Thank You” to add a custom message or link back to your website. I strongly suggest you create a “Thank You” page on your website and link back to this. Don’t worry if you don’t have a site yet! Just setup the standard message.
  • Click “Emails” to create, edit, adjust the customer confirmation email
    • I’ve setup templates for both a confirmation to YOU and to your customer.
  • Click “Publish” to get your form link (or embed code to add into your website)
  • 
Optional: Click “Integrations” choose “Google Spreadsheet” this will setup Google Spreadsheet with all form data. This is especially helpful for sharing with your admin team. Give them access to view and/or edit this spreadsheet via the sharing options within Google sheets.
  • Optional: Click “Integrations” choose MailChimp and tie into your email account to easily message people. NOTE: You may setup a FREE email account with MailChimp, info here.
• Almost Done! DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP – TEST YOUR FORM
  • Have a friend (**If possible find a really non-tech savvy person) help review and test the form, payment system, auto-responder emails
  • 
I like to adjust the product amount in the PayPal area to $1, then run the test w/o charging yourself (or your friend) the full price
  • Run tests on both computer and mobile devices
  • Make final adjustments as needed. Do this before sharing publicly so the form works properly when you share with the public
Refund payment from PayPal when complete
  • Re-adjust the product price from $1 up to the full price value
  • Your customers may find something that is confusing. (This almost always happens to me!) As questions come up, go back into the form, emails, etc and make adjustments based on their feedback. This will help improve your setup for future forms.

REVIEW SUBMISSIONS

• Log into JotForm
Click on “My Forms”
• Move your mouse over the form title, it will probably turn gray
• Click the “More” dropdown over on the right, select the “View Submissions” from the dropdown.
• There are a number of options for viewing and searching submissions using the “Search” bar below.
• You may also download files via Excel, CSV or PDF
• I like to setup the Google Spreadsheet integration to share the details with admin team. To do this, go to: My Forms/ Edit Form/ Integrations/Google Spreadsheet/ Click Authenticate/Follow Instructions
• 
ALWAYS, test the form and review the submission data before sharing publicly so you can catch any weird problems or confusion!
• 
Incomplete Payments: This will happen when someone fills out the form info but NOT the payment page. They may decide against registering or get confused about the PayPal vs. Credit Card Payment Options.
  • 
Review this page regularly so you don’t miss any potential customers. Go to: My Forms/Click on Form Name/More Button/View Submissions/Incomplete Icon at the top.
  • You’ll want to follow up asap with the customer to find out what is up. They may have decided NOT to complete the payment/transaction, may prefer to pay via check, etc. Use this as an alert to call or send a personal message to confirm.
  • Here are instructions to review the payment completion options: http://www.jotform.com/help/272-Paypal-Incomplete-Payments-FAQ
  • 
Here is a little more info about setting up Incomplete Payment alerts and auto responders. I haven’t used this feature myself but it looks promising! https://www.jotform.com/help/273-How-to-Setup-Incomplete-Payment-Notification-E-Mail

PROMOTE AND SHARE YOUR EVENT

• Go to: JotForm/My Forms / Select Form Title / Edit Form (to the right) / Publish / Get the link to your form
• Advanced Tech Points: Get fancy and use the embed code to paste the form directly onto your website.
• Share the form via:
  • Social Media Networks
  • Email Newsletters
  • Email directly to contacts, family, friends, schools
  • Create a Facebook event and add this link
  • Share on local event calendars for your community. You can search for “ event calendar listing your town” See what comes up. There are lot of places to help promote your events for free!
  • 
Set calendar reminders for yourself to share regularly:
    • 
Immediately upon setup
    • As you are nearing close of registration – IE: Hurry, last chance to register. We are closing the doors in 24 hours!

BONUS TIPS & IDEAS

• Sync form to a Google spreadsheet to share with your team. To do this go to My Forms/Click Form Name/Edit/Integrations/Google Spreadsheet/Authenticate
• Sync submissions to a MailChimp email account to send your event related emails. You might want to send emails a few days before the first session, any reminders during the camp, a feedback survey after the event, invite to future events. To set this up:
  • 
Create a FREE MailChimp Account: http://mailchimp.com/resources/guides/getting-started-with-mailchimp/html/
  • Then go back to JotForm and go to My Forms/Click Form Name/Edit/Integrations/MailChimp/Follow Instructions
• Want to hyperlink your email address into the form? Type your message, then select the text and find the “bike chain link” looking icon. Select text, click link, type in: mailto:youremailaddress@domain.com  Then this email address will automatically create an email message!
• Duplicating Forms for New Programs: Use this form as a template for your next program. My Forms/Select Form Name/More/Clone Form  Now you can adjust dates, times, email text, etc and get your next program up and running asap!
• Turning Forms OFF: When you close registration, disable the form so you can’t get any submissions after the due date. Go to: My Forms/Select Form Name/More/Disable
• Need a paper registration form? Go to: My Forms/Click Form Name/More/Create PDF form. Download and print. NOTE: People can fill this out online but it will not take them to the payment page. They’ll need to pay via check. Once you get payment you could manually fill out the form FOR them and skip the payment page. This will make their record show up as incomplete payment. Then you can approve that this is ok to get their data into the spreadsheet with everybody else.

PROBLEMS?!

• Don’t panic if something goes wrong. Try not to stress out about it!
• Go to: https://www.JotForm.com/answers/
• Review the JotForm forum to see if you can find any similar problems and solutions
• If you can’t find out a solution from other questions/answers, ask your question here: https://www.JotForm.com/answers/answer.php?
• 
Communicate with your customer/prospect if there is a problem. They are usually understanding. Blame it on technology. IE: Our registration system had a technical glitch, we are getting it sorted out. Thanks for your patience. How can we help make this easier or finalize the transaction for you?

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Sharing is Caring! If this info was helpful, please share it on your favorite social media network or pass along to a friend!

{ A B O U T }

We help clients save time and money using technology. For fun, we enjoy juicing vegetables, reading library books, and learning new software. We spend summers exploring mountain bike trails and working from our camper-trailer.

{ F O L L O W }

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