Today’s episode is all about how to create a lead magnet to grow your email list! First of all, I NEED to point you to the list-building expert, Amy Porterfield. She has INCREDIBLE resources on list building. This episode is a starting point. If you want more resources, definitely follow Amy!

Don’t Overthink it!

This doesn’t need to be difficult. I promise it is easier than you think. To grow your email list, having a lead magnet is a great idea. It’s going to get people in the door so that you can start serving them up your weekly content week after week after week. It helps them know like, and trust you. Once they know, like, and trust you, you can sell to them & they will buy! An engaged email list will make you money!

Decide What Type of Leag Magnet You Want to Create

First, figure out what type of lead magnet you want to create. This can be a cheat sheet, a checklist, a guide, or a quiz or an email challenge.

Pack in a ton of value!

Put a TON of value into the resource. You want people to download it and say “Oh my goodness, I can’t believe this was free!”

Make it Easily Achievable & Not Overwhelming

At the same time, you don’t want to overwhelm your audience with something too long. Keep it short & to the point. Make it something they can easily achieve! If you have a longer type of content you want to use as a freebie, consider making it an email challenge where you deliver steps to them day after day for 3 days or 5 days.

Get to Know Your Audience

Above all, your lead magnet should be something your audience wants to hear. Check out episode 45 on how to make your message impactful for help with that. Is there anything your audience keeps asking you? Make a freebie about it!

Consider What People Need to Know Before They Work With You

Is there anything people need to know before they work with you? Your freebie could help them with that! For example, my current lead magnet is the five common mistakes people make when setting goals. And I talk about each one. That’s because the main product I’m pushing currently is a $30 resource where I talk them through my five-step framework for crushing your goals consistently. Some people may have never heard of these five steps. It walks through each of the five steps that my minicourse talks about to get them ready to buy it. By the time they buy it the mini-course, they have everything they need to achieve the course objectives.

Create Your Content

Once you know what you’re going to create, it’s time to create it! If you are doing a checklist, a guide, a pdf, a chart, or anything visual like that, you can create it in Canva! Canva has amazing resources. If you’re doing an audio file or a video file, you can use Zoom or Audacity or Zencastr to create an mp3 or mp4 or .mov and record it that way.

Create your Opt In Page

Next, you need to create your opt-in page. An opt-in page will help to grow your email list as people have a landing site to will sign up to receive your lead magnet. You can create an opt-in page on your website, but you’ll need a way to deliver the file to them. This is where an Email Service Provider comes in. I recommend Convertkit (they have a free plan) or FloDesk. If you want to create the opt-in page on your website, you would create an inline form from your ESP and embed it onto your website. Your ESP will have tutorial videos telling you how to do that. Or, you can create a standalone page. Both Flodesk and Convertkit have templates you can use.

Set Up Your Delivery Funnel

Once your opt-in page is created, you need to make sure they will actually receive the freebie once they sign up! This is through your delivery funnel. In Convertkit, you can connect the pdf right to the standalone opt-in page. In Flodesk, you’ll create a workflow. The trigger for the workflow will be when a subscriber is added to a segment. For my freebie, my segment is called Goal Setting Mistakes. So once people are added to that segment, Flodesk will send them an email with the PDF attached. I write some copy thanking them for signing up & what they can expect from it. I also let them know I’ll be showing up in their inbox a few times a week. Then there is a button to download the resource.

What To Do Once They’ve Downloaded? Send a Welcome Sequence then they’ll be on your regular list

Once someone signs up for your lead magnet, you can set up a workflow that delivers a welcome sequence to them. I have a few podcast episodes all about a 3-email Welcome Sequences. The first one is at christijohnsoncreative.com/2, the second one is at christijohnsoncreative.com/15, and the third one is at christijohnsoncreative.com/16. Once they receive the welcome sequence, they’ll be added to your regular email list to receive your weekly content.

Promote Your Lead Magnet

Now that your lead magnet is finished, you need to promote it! Talk about it everywhere! In your weekly content, in your podcast episode or your blog, or whatever it is that you do. Talk about it on social media. Put it as the link in your bio. That link should go directly to your lead magnet or to a link tree with the lead magnet at the top. Refer to it constantly in your stories and refer to it on your Instagram posts. You really do need to talk about it more than you’d expect. It takes people a few times of seeing something before they take action! So promote it like crazy!!!

If you have any more questions, you can talk to me! Email me at christi@christjohnsoncreative.com or send me a DM on Instagram.