I’ve been getting a lot of questions on this lately, so I think it’s a good time to talk about lead magnets and list building… and then getting traffic to your lead magnets.
Now let’s start off by talking about why you want to have email lists and lead magnets…
The fact of the matter is that all good online marketing businesses build email lists. It is the cheapest and most effective way to reach your prospects directly.
It’s more effective than social media, it’s cheaper than paid ads, and it gives you an opportunity to build actual rapport with your potential customers.
So, it’s important.
Now once people figure that out, inevitably the next question is…
“Well how do I grow this email list fast so that I can start making money with it?”
And this is where many times, things go wrong for them.
Here is the Real Secret Behind List Building
When you build email lists, you want those people to be a part of your audience. And by that, I mean, you want them to see you as someone who can help them accomplish their goals.
Sometimes people build audience before they actually put that audience on an email list, like with YouTube or a blog.
Sometimes they put people on the list first and THEN turn them into an audience, like with running paid ads to an opt-in.
No matter how you do it, you have to get the people on your list to see you as someone who can help them, someone they know like and trust, before you will see good financial results with your list.
And building an email list starts with a lead magnet (something you are going to give people for free in exchange for their email address).
This lead magnet can be a lot of different things.
I’ve seen people use everything from a free workshop to a simple cheat sheet to build an email list.
If you want yours to be effective and build you a big list that buys things from you, you should focus on these simple rules:
Lead Magnet Rule Number One – A Promise of Brevity
It must be consumed by the prospect for it to create impact and help you build audience.
So, don’t make it extremely long and drawn out. Save the 90 video workshop for something else.
You are better off with a checklist, cheat sheet, or short special report.
Lead Magnet Rule Number Two – Promise of a Specific Solution
It must offer a specific resolution to a specific problem.
For Example: “How to Earn Your First $1,000 with Affiliate Marketing in 30 Days.”
Notice how I am giving a specific dollar amount, a specific method, and a specific time frame?
It’s very specific.
Lead Magnet Rule Number Three – Give Them What They Want
When you are putting together a lead magnet you should be focused on putting together something you know that your target market wants.
In the internet marketing space, for example, I know my market is interested in traffic, list building, and conversions.
Make sure you know and understand your target market.
Lead Magnet Rule Number Four – Provides Immediate Gratification
This lead magnet is making a first impression. You don’t want to string them along here.
You want your lead magnet to provide immediate gratification with a solution to their problem.
Lead Magnet Rule Number Five – Creates A Relationship Shift
The best lead magnets do not just solve a problem for your prospects. It also builds some rapport and starts the process of getting them to know, like and trust you.
That is the relationship shift from stranger to someone who can help them. You want your lead magnet to do that.
So, think about, how could we accomplish all 5 of those things with a simple cheat sheet?
Well, we have the “promise of brevity” built in by doing a cheat sheet.
We can accomplish the “Promise of a specific solution” and “What they want” by being mindful of our title and subject.
We can get “The Immediate Gratification” factor by keeping the cheat sheet very actionable and high value.
And by “high value” I mean give them information that will actually help them when applied.
And the final one, “The Shift”, we can get by linking each step of our cheat sheet out to a simple video with the promise of more in depth information on that subject.
The videos will be simple to do and will give you a chance to not only provide more value for your prospects but also allow you the chance to build rapport with simple stories about your own online journey.
Even showing your face on camera can go a long way towards making you a real person that they can trust.
The great thing about linking out to the videos is that it is not necessary for them to consume the content and get the benefit of the cheat sheet.
However, if on each step you put a little note at the end that says…
“I made a video for you with even more great info on this step!”
…most people will click on them.
Now, we’ve been talking about creating a lead magnet to start building an email list. It’s important because you can use that lead magnet to build your list in several different ways.
In the next couple of steps I am not going to go into massive detail on, because we have a lot to cover, and it’s fairly basic technical stuff, but I do want to give you the map.
Using Your Lead Magnet to Build Your List
Step 1 – Autoresponder
So, after you have your lead magnet what I want you to do is create a list in your autoresponder to collect people that will sign up to get that lead magnet.
Step 2 – Welcome Email
Create a “Welcome Email” for your subscribers to get as soon as they sign up for your lead magnet.
This Welcome Email is going to contain a link to your lead magnet.
What should it look like?
Just be nice, welcome them to the community, give them a link to your lead magnet, and let them know they can reach out to you with any questions they have at all.
Step 3 – Squeeze Page
Create a squeeze page with an opt-in on it that will put people on the list you just created when they sign up for your lead magnet.
What should that squeeze page look like?
I want you to look at the top 5 blogs in your niche and see what their squeeze pages and opt-in’s look like.
Model yours after what is working.
Step 4 – Affiliate Offer
Redirect the people who opt-in for your lead magnet to a congruent affiliate offer with a high conversion rate (10% or better is nice).
So, what will happen now when they opt-in is 2 things.
One, they will go on your list, where their lead magnet will be delivered, and Two, they will be redirected to a helpful affiliate offer that could potentially make you money.
Step 5 – More Emails
I want you to write 5 more emails for your autoresponder sequence. This will give you the “Welcome Email” and 5 more.
Don’t pitch in these emails. Their purpose is to help to build rapport with your prospects.
Include some entertainment value in the form of story and a lesson or actionable content or a takeaway for your prospects.
Step 6 – Drive Traffic
Drive traffic to your opt-in.
And here are 3 ways that you can use to start driving traffic to your squeeze page:
Traffic Way 1:
Start a simple YouTube channel in your niche. Publish no less than once a week on a helpful topic in your niche.
Focus on the same thing you focus on in emails. Entertainment value and actionable content. Pitch your lead magnet in every single video you publish.
YouTube is a social platform. The best way to grow your channel is to check in on other channels in your niche routinely and comment. Your name is a link and will drive traffic back to your channel.
Traffic Way 2:
Start a simple public Facebook group on the subject of your niche. You can pin a link to your lead magnet at the top of the group and you can advertise it in the banner space above.
Build your Facebook group with like-minded people who have an interest in your niche. You can do this by finding them in other groups and friending them (no more than 10 people a day).
Just be a part of the scene in those groups, publish about your group on your profile every couple of days and you will be surprised at how fast your group will grow.
Traffic Way 3:
Affiliate marketing bonus spots.
As you build your list a great thing to help build a little revenue for you is some affiliate marketing. You can not only use affiliate marketing to make money… you can also use it to build your list even more.
Here’s how.
When you are going to promote a product for someone, reach out to them and ask if you can have a bonus spot on the product launch. This is where they let you give away one of your products on their download page.
All you have to do is give them a link to your squeeze page and a name and/or cover of the lead magnet.
Now when customers buy their product, they will also get yours for free in exchange for an email.
This is a great way to build a responsive list of buyers.
Alright, that is a lot to get done, and a lot to think about when it comes to lead magnets and list building. So, I want you to work hard on this stuff and remember, it doesn’t matter the pace at which you are moving forward… it only matters that you ARE moving forward. I rarely see people fail who keep their businesses moving forward, no matter how slow. It’s when we stop… when we stagnate, that things begin to fall apart.
Now if you need some ideas for a good lead magnet, I do have a special report for you. This is a FREE resource called 10 Fast Ways to Build Your Lead Magnet, and you can grab it by going to IMProfitsCoach.com
