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Summary:
At the end of this episode you will:
- Understand what a lead magnet is and what it should accomplish
- Have ten lead magnet ideas that are working in 2021
- Know the type of pdf lead magnet you should avoid
Resources Mentioned:
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Full Show Transcript:
You’re listening to the Sweetlife entrepreneur podcast, simplified strategies to grow your service business and launch a life you love faster with business mental and entrepreneur activator, April Beach. Hey there. And welcome back to the show. This is episode number 234, and I’m April beach, your host. And I’m so glad that you have tuned in to hang out with me today here on the sweet life entrepreneur business podcast.
Today is a great episode and we’re diving back into some online business foundations. So for those of you who have been listeners to this show for over four and a half years, you know, especially in the very beginning, it feels like forever ago, we really dug into funnel building list, building lead gen all of these online business foundations. And since then things have changed.
And so I felt like it was really important for me to come back in here and for us to have a conversation so that you’re aware of what is changed, what has changed when it comes to lead magnets that are working right now in 2021. And so that’s what we’re going to talk about on today’s show, because I want you to be generating amazing high quality leads with the perfect ideal buyers.
And so we’re going to dive in here on this episode, just a little item of business. If you have not listened to this show before, thank you so much for hanging out with me. I’m April beach, I’m the host here at the show founder of the Sweetlife company. And we serve coaches, consultants, experts, and service based businesses who are ready to launch scale or amplify their business online specifically for high profit,
deep purpose, to make sure that business we’re designing for you is in fact going to equal the lifestyle that you want. So everything we talk about here on the show and all of our coaching services and programs@thesweetlifecompanythatcanbefoundatsweetlifeco.com are all for that purpose. And all the show notes can be found@sweetlifeco.com as well. And this is episode number 234. So if you’re listening to me,
it is July, 2021. Praise the Lord. The world is reopening. We are out as a family, a little bit behind the scenes for us headed up to Vail, Colorado. Like we do every single summer for a few weeks. And I hope that you have some amazing adventures planned on your end as well. So I try to keep these summer episodes a little bit shorter than most.
So let’s go ahead and dive right in this episode is for you. If you were in phases one, two or three of my start to scale up system, that’s a roadmap that entrepreneurs follow from the very beginning of deciding you want a business all the way through building a high profit business that equals lifestyle freedom. If you don’t know what phase of business you’re in cruise over to sweet life,
co.com forward slash quiz, and you can answer a five really quick questions and you will get a list of exactly where you are in your business and what you should be working on. So this episode is for those of you guys who are in phases, one, two or three, primarily two or three, if you’re in one, you’re still in the beginning,
but I want you to know these business foundations. And it’s great for those of you who want to generate high quality leads and build an audience of your ideal clients. And frankly, if you’re listening to this episode, you’ve probably been in business for long enough to know that traditional what I call old school lead gen really isn’t working that well in generating high quality leads is becoming more and more of a challenge.
So we’re diving into all that on today’s show. So let’s go ahead and get to business Okay. So let’s chat about what is a lead magnet for those of you who are new, a lead magnet is something of high value that you give away for free in exchange to receive an email address and name and possibly a phone number or other contact or data information from somebody who may be interested in your services.
So we call it a lead magnet because it’s a post to literally magnetizes leads to your business and get the perfect people. But that term is a little inaccurate because you know, a magnet just attracts anything that’s metal. We don’t want to just attract anybody. You do your business. We want to attract the right people. So let’s talk a little bit about what those examples of a lead magnet could be.
Particularly if your new lead magnet could be a downloadable PDF, or it could be a free video series, anything that you are giving away for free that is high value to your client. But now the conversation’s shifting a little bit. That’s what we have been saying for the last 11 years. And here’s a, some history I want you to know about online business.
And for those of you guys who might not be listening to have been listening to this show for a long time, I have been a online business coach for over 14 years in. So we’ve seen a lot of changes in the online business space and what’s working and what isn’t. And so back in 2012, we used to be able to just throw out these really fancy,
cool PDFs and get high quality leads. And now you’re lucky to get any leads at all. And if you do, you’re just kind of throwing something to the wall to see if it sticks without strategy behind it. You’re ending up with the wrong kind of leads. So a lead magnet, again, is something you give away for free in exchange for a name and an email address.
Primarily some of you guys might want to collect other information like phone numbers so that you can follow up or dive in a little bit deeper and build a relationship with that perspective client to find out if you are right for each other. And the history of lead magnets is, has definitely changed. What we used to do is not working anymore. So in the past,
we used to be able to give out bowl how to guide sides, reports, white papers, complete eBooks, you know, from 2012 to 2017, honestly, you guys, the, or the lead magnet, the better those businesses were that were winning were the ones where we were giving away, you know, an hour long video series and 30 page white paper documents,
and that’s not working anymore. And so I don’t want to make like a blanket statement across the board because it really actually depends on your industry, but you’re listening to this podcast. If you’re a coach or a consultant or a service based business provider, you’re a speaker or you’re an author. And so let’s just talk to us. This is you and I having this conversation.
If you are in a different industry, those lead magnets are probably still working really well for this coaching and consult teen space. It’s not working so well, but what is working so well? Is this a lead magnet that is high value and low time? Let me say that again. Hi, and you load time. So short, fast transformational, not just informational.
And I’ve said this a million times, no buddy is out there waving their hands for more content. Right? Right. Now nobody’s doing that guys. Nobody’s saying, please flood me, firehose me with a million zillion pages, even if it’s the best darn information in the whole entire world, because nobody has time for that. We have reached our threshold and we are on content overload,
right? But they’re babies need to be transformed. They’re begging to learn something that they didn’t know before, or they’re begging to see a change or a transformation in their business or their life or whatever it is that you coach. Okay. So short, fast transformational, just informational lead magnets are what is working. And just a little side note here, you guys might have heard Brittany,
my podcast editor. She probably won’t even cut this out anymore. If you’ve been listening to the show, we keep it real here. You’ll probably hear the garage door slamming next to my recording studio. I have three teenage boys and it’s summertime, and they’re all here going in and out of the house. So why cut that out? I love my life.
So let’s continue on with what we were talking about in order to generate the right leads. You have to, you absolutely must know your customer’s problems and you must be able to offer an immediate solution to them when you offer a very specific solution in your business. So when your signature program, your mastermind, your membership, your coaching program, your online event,
whatever it is you sell, when the value of your product reaches a very particular audience, a very specific audience, your lead magnet is going to be able to attract that right client. So adjust a tip. If you do not yet have knowledge information, or you’ve not yet built that signature coaching program that you want to need for your business, or you’re ready to scale up and have a variety of programs,
make sure that really specific, make sure that they give a specific transformational measurable result in that knowledge, in your own generation of that signature program is going to then allow you to reverse engineer. So you can look at this lead magnet, this free thing you’re giving away and really attract people that are already interested in the specific solution that you are providing through your solution and your services.
So let’s talk about what is working right now because that’s what this podcast is all about. So hi time, hi, inundation of fire, hose of content. Nobody’s raising their hands saying, please, can you send me something for free? Because I can’t wait to sit there for an hour and a half and review it this weekend. That’s not our life,
but let’s talk about what is working. What is working right now are customized and curated high value, low time lead magnets. Here’s some examples of that. A quiz or an assessment are two great examples of customized and curated lead magnets that are working. And I have a bunch of other podcasts here about how to create a quiz. I even give away a free hour long training.
There you go. That’s more in depth. If you want to create a quiz, you can go back and search that here in this sweet life entrepreneur podcast, with this being said for you just generating or updating a lead magnet, a quiz or an assessment is an ideal lead magnet. And they’re doing really, really well. I’m a big fan of these.
We have used a quiz and an assessment for years. It’s now been about eight years. We’ve been using a quiz and an assessment. And do you remember in the beginning of this podcast episode, when I shared with you that link where you can go take our quiz to find out what phase of business growth you’re in, that is still our number one lead generator,
and I’m giving you real behind the scenes here. Okay. And here is why that’s amazing. Number one, it only takes literally a minute to take it if that, but number two, it delivers really high quality curated information. And number three, it gives me and our team and the client, or you a lot of really great high value information.
That’s curated to where you are. So when people take our quiz, they immediately know what phase of business they’re in. And according to my method of growing and scaling companies, I have five phases. So they get a very specific list. It’s curated to where they are about what they should be focusing on right now to get to the next level. So take a second and think about what could you create a quiz or an assessment about if you have a process that is already created in your business or a process that you walk people through in your programs,
that could be really cool to create a quiz, having them get some information and knowledge about where they may be, or how successful they are in different phases of your process. If you are looking for a certain type of person, whether they have a certain personality or whether they’re lacking in some sort of skills, do you teach that is that your solution,
a quiz could be a really great asset for you and for your potential clients. Because again, we want to give high value, low time, and we want to deliver a transformation, not just information. We want to give them a transformation. So they’ve gone from not knowing something about themselves to having more knowledge and knowledge is power. So the first tip I want to give you is if you are not using a customized quiz or an assessment,
we highly recommended. And for most of our clients that work with us to design and grow their business, a quiz and an assessment who has been working very, very well for frankly, over six years. So that one still is really working well in 2021. Number two, the next type of lead magnet that’s working really well is something that entertains people.
Okay? So this is gamification. These are quick accomplishments or challenges or something with group interaction. So if you have a way to get people entertained, have them laugh or feel good, or be part of something. Those lead magnets are working really well. And of course, that’s going to be all relative based on what your area of expertise is, but those are doing really,
really well. The next tip is a magnet that levels up your audiences IQ. So anytime we can level up somebody’s knowledge, we’ve given them a transformation, right? So if you, if this fits along the lines with what you’re doing, if you have short videos with juicy information that make people wanting more, those lead magnets are doing really great. And I’m not talking about things you give away for free on Tik talk or a little videos that you put out in IgE live or YouTube shorts or whatever it is.
I’m talking something that’s locked down, that’s even better when then what they can see for free. And it makes them feel more special that this is even more curated and it’s going to level up their IQ. And again, a short period of time. So short videos with juicy information that pay, make people wanting more, the next tip for a lead magnet.
That’s working really well right now are audio files with the introduction of clubhouse and now Spotify greenroom and all these other things that are coming around. People love audio because they don’t have to be staring at a screen while they’re driving down the road or while they’re at a gym. So actually any length of audio that is personalized for your audience is working really well right now.
If you have an exclusive interview that you want to share, that could be a very cool thing. Maybe you’re not a podcaster. Maybe you want to keep that just for your audience, but sharing it, access to an audio file is very cool. And people are really into it right now in 2021. The other thing they can do is frankly, in a lot of cases,
they can speed it up. And again, we’re busy people so they can get information and, you know, sometimes put you on two or three X, the speed and, and really get information even faster. Another example of this, and we have actually quite a few clients that are doing this, or like drips of daily, meditation’s drips of inspirational quotes.
And these are all audio files where you can drop into somebody’s email box, or they can be texted to your clients. That’s just something like, Hey, good morning, gorgeous. How are you today? You are enough. You know, that’s an example of an audio file if that fits in line with your business. So, and then another example of this and,
and clients are using this as well are tips for leaders. So if you have leaderships leaders that follow you in your, your leadership coach or an executive coach of some kind, any sort of tips, they don’t even have to be daily. It can be five days of audio files. These things are really doing well and people are eating them up. The next tip of a lead magnet.
This is working really well right now in 2021 or trials. And these have usually always worked really well. So this particular thing has not changed. So trials demos of a product, testing your offer for a short period of time to experience it. Those things are really good. People love experiencing things. And when they’re really looking for a solution, especially if you don’t have a software product or a physical product,
they want to know that they jive with you, that they can trust you, that they feel you in. So it’s really important if you are selling them into a higher end program, that’s an experience that you give them a little piece in your lead magnet of some way to experience you. Then next tip for you is a lead magnet that provides a quick win in a PDF form.
Now, I really hesitate to be recommending PDF lead magnets, but people still are opting into them. Here is the important thing. They have to be super juicy and not very long. So if you have like a meal plan or a calendar, a marketing calendar that you could give away for free or a workout plan, or perhaps it’s a, a written step-by-step on how to,
self-publish a book, those lead magnets are still doing really well, but just make sure that they’re short and giving people a quick transformation so that they are immediately totally in love with you. You’re the bee’s knees and they want more of what you have. And here’s something, this is a really interesting one. I admit I have not personally used this one,
but in making sure I’m doing my due diligence in the research of preparing for this episode for you, I was going through and found a suggestion of a lead magnet. That to me, frankly, seems genius. So I just want to share it with you. This is a state of the industry survey. And I remember a long time ago, like three,
four years ago, I think Amy Porterfield did something like this and somebody put out a state of the industry of something. And this is really, really cool. And so I’ve found this from Sam rush blog, and I wanted to share it with you guys. So this is a survey that exists primarily for your market research and can also be used as seriously,
one of the best lead magnets ever. So what you do is you encourage users to answer a few survey questions and share their contact details in exchange for getting the whole report. So you make it super clear that you’re putting a report together. They obviously need to be in that space and you want to gather their state of whatever it is that you’re collecting on.
Could be the state of self publishing in America. It could be the state of branding. You know, it could be the state of whatever it is, the state of mindfulness, the state of health, whatever that may be for you, collect the data and then share the report with them. And again, just make it really clear to them that you’re putting the report together,
that their opinions matter to you and other people in your niche and that you will be sharing that report. So I wanted to make sure I included mentioning that because I can’t say yes, this is one of those ones that’s really working great in 2021. But let me just take a sidestep here for a second. One of the divisions that we coach clients is,
is what I call amplify. It’s our amplify phase. We have launched clients, we have scale clients and we have amplified clients for my amplify clients. They are in the process of creating courses and programs, or they’ve already created courses and programs. And they’re doing one of two things. They’re either licensing those corporate, those programs or courses to corporations, or they’re in the process of creating their own certification program and training other people on their method.
That’s our amplify phase. And I’m going to do another episode for you guys about the difference between the launch scale and amplify coming up here on the show, because we get a lot of questions about that. I share that because this state of the industry survey for our clients that are licensing their content or their courses to other companies, this could work really,
really well. So I can’t wait to get back and talk to that group of clients and share this information with them. And I see this as being a really big asset, depending on who you’re serving. I think that could be a really good asset. So just want to share that if you are brand new in the coaching space, this is probably not appropriate for you,
but those of you guys that fit into our scale and amplify clients. So again, you’re in phase three or four of my roadmap, then this could be really good for you by. So I wanted to make sure I included it. And in the show notes, there’s a link to where I found this data from. Okay, three more. And then I’m going to recap them all for you.
I promise this episode would be short because the sun is shining and we need to go out and play. So the next one, our events. So these are round table discussions and virtual events live virtual events. Those are converting really, really well for lead magnets. The next one is templates. So any sort of a template, a marketing calendar template,
any sort of a template where somebody can make it their own. Those are always great. Again, high value, and you’ve just saved them a ton of time. And then the last one, which isn’t kind of really a lead magnet, but it’s an important way to engage with your audience is having a popup on your website, which is a live chat and in the process,
collecting their information in exchange for giving them an opportunity to chat with you. So we’ve talked about a lot today. We covered the state of lead magnets that they’re changing from these big mega things. Nobody wants our 500 page free book anymore. Now they want high value, short time transformation. And depending on your industry, it’s going to look a little different,
whatever it is you give away as a lead magnet. But here is the most important thing I would love to make sure that we nail into the ground. Your lead magnet is a prerequisite to your signature programs and offers and packages. So don’t just throw anything out there, make sure it’s reverse engineered and it meets prerequisites for what you’re trying to sell. As long as it does that.
Now let’s talk about what’s converting. Number one, customized curated lead magnets, like quizzes and assessments. We talked about number two, entertainment. So quick accomplishments challenges, group interaction. Number three is leveling up their IQ with short juicy videos that make people want, I mean, more number four or audio files, frankly, of any length. They can be dripped out daily.
They can be a long form interview. People are really loving audio right now. Number five are trials, demos and testing of your offer so that they can experience six quick wins in PDF form. Quick, short, juicy PDF wins. But I will said move that to the bottom of the list. We’ve used PDs literally for over 13 years and people are not quick grabbing them anymore,
but if that’s what you need to do, if that’s what aligns, if that’s really the best prerequisite that you can do do it. Seven surveys, state of the industry surveys for those of you guys that are at that level of business. And you’re moving from scale, the amplified five, eight events, virtual events, round table discussions. That’s basically relationships.
People want to hang out and they want to be part of something really special and they want to share their voice nine templates and number 10 are live chats that are done through your website. Wow. Okay. I hope you found that very informative. I’m here to make sure that the work you’re doing because entrepreneurship is really fricking hard work, that the work that you’re doing gets traction your business.
We don’t just want to do stuff because other people are doing it or you saw somebody else doing it. I’m a business strategist. And so my mission literally here on this podcast, we’ve been doing this podcast for almost five years, literally giving away free trainings that other coaches charge thousands for. And the purpose for that is so that every single minute you were doing something in your work,
anything you build, anything, you plan, anything you release, anything you do in your daily activities. All of it is very clearly leading towards a purpose. It is high profit, deep impact lifestyle, freedom for you. And it looks different for everybody, but it starts with mindfully doing things, not just following the herd. And so I really felt like this episode was important to record.
I know it’s a holiday week here in the United States, but we have listeners all over the world and hopefully you’ll tap into this when you have an opportunity. And if you have a lead magnet, that’s not converting. Let’s take a look at it. Join me in clubhouse. I’m always in clubhouse, every single Wednesday at 12 o’clock in the sweet life entrepreneurs club.
And I would love to chat with you about your lead magnet, troubleshoot your lead magnet, and really help you find a good solution. That’s going to attract the right people. Don’t forget. We don’t want all the people. We only want the right people and therefore funneling all those right people in so they can become raving fans of you and your business forever.
Okay, you guys, that’s a wrap. This is episode number 234. Again, all of the show notes can be found by visiting Sweetlife co.com. We have some amazing quick win business coaching programs. Both our sweet life business launch program is coming back out. We’ve just totally updated that program. I’m so excited about it. So if you’re here and you are in the process of launching your coaching and consulting business,
then this is the proven program that has been launching online entrepreneurs since 2008, all across the world. And we would love to have you be part of it. We’d love to link arms with you and get your business off the ground. All of this can be found by visiting Sweetlife co.com and I hope you have an awesome day. Thanks for hanging out.
I’ll talk to you. Bye-bye.