Most blog owners don’t build their list effectively for one reason…
Weak lead magnets.
Most people kinda know they need a lead magnet - or an opt-in bribe of some kind. And perhaps they’ve created one.
But, then they have one. Just one. And it is usually stuffed in the sidebar and most people don’t notice it. And the result is low opt-in rates.
Most blogs convert to email subscribers around 1-2%. In some cases, less.
But, compelling lead magnets in the right locations can work wonders. Perhaps the change will get your opt-in rate up to 5-6%, which is still a massive improvement. But, if you really nail it, you can get blog posts to convert to email subscribers at rates up to 20%-30% or higher.
The “secret” to this isn’t really a secret at all. It’s just that most people don’t DO it.
Why? Because it takes more time.
Post-specific lead magnets right inside the blog post almost always convert better than any other strategy, outside of a dedicated squeeze page.
But, post-specific lead magnets take time. It means creating a lot of lead magnets.
But, the good news is that this doesn’t have to take all that long.
One of the big humps to get over is the initial idea for the lead magnet. That’s where this report will help.
This short report is designed to speed up the lead magnet creation process for you by giving you an idea jumpstart.
Top Recommended Tools To Build Your List
If you are looking to build your list from a Wordpress-powered site, then… bar none, I highly recommend two tools from Thrive Themes:
✓ Thrive Leads
✓ Thrive Content Builder
With the Thrive Leads plug-in, you will be able to easily set up lead magnet opt-in forms and content upgrade forms on your blog.
You will have all the flexibility you need to place these forms right where you want them.
You can split test forms to increase your conversion rates over time.
It’ll even take care of Asset Delivery for you, so that you can easily deliver multiple lead magnets to build your list without the need to set up different lists for each one. Major headache saver!
I Highly Recommend Thrive Leads.
(Yes, I am an affiliate and will receive a commission if you choose to buy. However, I use Thrive Leads every day in my own business and have extensive experience with it. My
recommendation is based on that experience.)
#1 - Checklist Version Of A Blog Post
OK, this one is easy.
Take any “how to” blog post where you’re showing them how to do something. Then boil it down into an easy bullet point checklist.
Big, long blog posts of a few thousand words might be great for search engines, but they are difficult to USE. So, simply boiling the process down to a checklist they can simply download, print and follow is an easy lead magnet.
It makes for a perfect content upgrade to offer on the specific post where the process is discussed.
Look to make the checklist as easy to follow as you can. If steps are too big and broad, break them down. Try to keep the sub-steps short and brief. Under 200 words or so. The point of these things is to be a process, not another blog post.
Look for ways to add pictures.
One of the best examples I’ve seen is WikiHow. They document a number of different things, on all topics. But, you can see how they outline the procedure and they work illustrations into it. As an example: http://m.wikihow.com/Start-a-Blog
You can use any word processor - even Google Docs - to create this document. Then, just export to PDF and you got yourself a lead magnet.
#2 - Assemble A List of Tools or Resources
Take a “how to” process - or any other thing that your target market would be looking to accomplish - and assemble a simple list of tools and resource links to help them do it.
A kind of “toolkit”.
It is just about offering up a bunch of convenience to people.
Anything you can provide to them to make doing something EASIER. It is about you saving them a bunch of legwork.
Some ideas for links:
✓ Links to online videos that walk people through the process
✓ Links to knowledgeable or support articles
✓ Links to other relevant blog posts
✓ Links to tools that would help them accomplish the task
✓ Links to any templates, checklists or anything else which would speed things up
Keep in mind, these related links don’t have to be something YOU made. It is perfectly fine to link off to somebody else’s video, for instance.
Also, if you’re linking out to equipment or tools that have affiliate links, this is a great opportunity to use them. If the stuff is a physical tool, Amazon usually has affiliate links to it.
The whole idea here is to make things convenient.
Think ahead of what they could use to accomplish something. What would make it easier.
#3 - Walkthrough Video
Did you just write out how to do something in your blog post? Great. Offer them a video walkthrough of the process and have them opt in for it.
Now, let’s make this video thing easier. Since I know many people psych themselves out thinking that videos are way too much work. They’re not.
First of all, keep in mind that this is a FREE thing, not paid. So, this doesn’t have to be a Hollywood production. Keep it simple and informal.
Screen recordings are the easiest. Just use your headset mic, or even the mic that came with your iPhone earbuds.
Also, do this in ONE TAKE. No fancy edits, multiple takes or camera angles. One simple take. In order to make that happen, just outline the basic steps you want to show on the video in
advance. Then, prep the screens so you don’t have to find them. Then, just do it.
I use ScreenFlow to record videos. Many people use Camtasia.
If those tools are too much, you can go uber simple with something like Jing or Loom.
Grab the video and embed it on a bonus page on your site, then have people who opt-in get routed to that bonus page automatically. You can just upload to Youtube and embed from there.
This is a quick process. Don’t obsess over details.
#4 - Q&A Video
Simple. Take a common question your market has and answer it on a video.
All the same rules apply as discussed above. In other words, keep it simple and no edits. One take, baby!
This might not involve your screen. You may be on camera. So, just use your webcam and answer their video on camera.
What questions do you answer?
Well, if you know your market well and have a lot of interaction with them already, you likely know what the hot, common questions are. So, answer those.
If not, head on over to Quora. Type in your keyword phrase and see what questions come up as top questions. What’s also cool about Quora is that the answers are right there, too! So, even if you aren’t quite sure what to say, you’ve got yourself material.
#5 - PDF Version Of Post
This one’s easy. Those super valuable articles are out there on the web. And people can bookmark them to visit them later if they want to use it as reference. But, it is much more convenient to just allow them to take the post with them!
There are a couple ways to do this. Well, probably more, but 2 that are easy…
#1 - Check out Beacon. Beacon is a web service that taps right into your Wordpress (via a plug- in), can then import your blog posts and easily turn any post into beautifully formatted ebook.
#2 - Do it yourself. As follows:
1. Copy/paste the entire blog post into a word processor like Google Docs.
2. Fix the formatting issues so it looks OK.
3. Export to PDF.
Boom. Done.
And here’s a hot tip…
Use Google Analytics to find out what your most popular blog posts on your blog are. Then, turn THOSE into an ebook and offer them up as a lead magnet elsewhere (or even a content
upgrade on the original post). You already KNOW people dig it. So, use that for the people who haven’t found that post yet.
#6 - Mini Video Course
This kind of lead magnet has a pretty high perceived value. After all, it is a COURSE, not just a blog post. And, it’s free!
I did one (which was more of a 30 day challenge, so not so “mini”) and it converts at around 38% even though I recorded it about 5 years ago.
But, I don’t recommend you record a 30 day course. I wouldn’t do it again that way if I were to do it over.
I would focus on the MINI Video Course.
Take something they really want to know how to do and provide a multi-step walkthrough in video. A basic outline:
1. Step 1 video (3-5 minutes) 2. Step 2 video (3-5 minutes)
3. Step 3 video (3-5 minutes)… I think you get the point now. ;-) 4. Q&A video.
That’s it.
Embed all the videos on one page and then route all new opt-ins to that page.
This type of lead magnet might take longer to create, but just bear in mind the ONE TAKE rule on making the videos. Keep them simple. Don’t overthink it.
#7 - Swipe File
The idea of s swipe file is usually associated with marketing, where people are sharing ads and headlines that can be modeled.
But, the idea can be used in other applications.
After all, the whole idea is to give people a massive shortcut, and get them over that hurdle of having to start from scratch and figure out ideas for themselves. This stuff is VALUABLE.
Anything in the marketing space just eats this stuff up. Your top performing headlines, your top email subject lines, ads, etc.
But, some ideas for other markets could be:
✓ Downloadable/printable workout plan (fitness market)
✓ Recipes (health/nutrition space)
✓ Pick up lines (dating market)
✓ Speeches (public speaking)
✓ Templates/jokes (public speaking)
✓ Lines to win a debate (politics)
✓ Prayers (religion)
I use Evernote to assemble swipe files over time. Evernote in conjunction with the browser add- on allows you to clip snippets from around the web conveniently into Evernote. Then, just assemble into a document and you got yourself a lead magnet.
#8 - Scripts
The idea behind this one is very similar to the swipe file…
You’re saving people the confusion and aggravation of thinking stuff up themselves or figuring it out from scratch.
But, in this case, you’re giving them the actual script.
If you were in the career market, you could give away exact lines on how to ask for a raise.
If you were in the phone sales thing, you could offer scripts for doing a cold call.
If you were helping best men for a wedding to figure out their speeches, you could give them scripts for warming up the crowd.
Anything for the internet, people love downloading actual scripts HTML code or CSS. Especially if they’re not geeky and don’t know how to do it themselves.
Anything legal, you could provide a sample contract.
#9 - Worksheets
Worksheets are step-by-step, fill-in-the-blank guides to walk people through something that might be otherwise overwhelming.
I’ve used worksheets several times as lead magnets. For instance, the Membership Site Planning Worksheet.
#10 - Templates
Templates are like a swipe file and a script getting married. They convert super well. However, they can sometimes be a challenge to come up with in the first place.
Some ideas:
✓ Blogging (a content marketing calendar template in a spreadsheet)
✓ Blogging (blog post templates)
✓ Web (site templates, landing page templates, etc.)
✓ Crafts (downloadable templates they can print and use)
✓ Journaling (templates for your daily entries)
✓ Religion (prayer templates)
✓ Public speaking (slide presentation templates)
✓ Business owner (contract templates, business forms, etc.)
#11 - Product Giveaway
This is something you can use periodically, but you need to be strategic in how you do it for cost purposes.
Obviously, if you’re giving away a physical thing, then there’s a real-world cost to acquire it. For this reason, this might need to be a one-time thing, like a contest.
For digital goods (like software or courses), there is no upfront cost to the creator necessarily.
But, getting people to donate their wares to your list building cause probably won’t work too well.
Best bet is to pay for it yourself and try it once as a giveaway contest.
If it works out well, then perhaps you can create a deal and cross promotional situation with the creator to allow you to offer their thing on a continual basis. Offer them some cross promo to make it worth it.
You can use something like KingSumo or Contest Domination to run a contest.
#12 - Quiz
People love quizzes. It could be a series of questions which scores them. Or it could be something stupid like you see on social media all the time (i.e. which Lost character are you?) The big thing is to have them opt in to get the results.
Thrive Quiz Builder is great for assembling quizzes on your blog without the need to code anything.
The Rest Of The Lead Magnet Ideas
Many times, all it takes is a word to spark the idea.
Or sometimes, it is just a slightly different positioning on something we’ve already talked about.
So, below, I’m just going to list out a bunch of other ideas for lead magnets:
13. Planner or a Plan
14. Something printable for use offline 15. Inspiration File
16. Calculator 17. Spreadsheet file 18. Powerpoint template 19. Infographic
20. Audio download (great for “Take it on the go”)
21. Webinar (Could be Q&A webinar, a live webinar, or an evergreen webinar)
22. Email course (just set up as an autoresponder)
23. Free Plus Shipping (good for physical product businesses as lead magnet) 24. Sample chapter (good for authors)
25. Sample Video
26. Free coaching session (suitable if you’re in the coaching business and have a plan to turn lead into a high ticket sale. Otherwise, this is too time consuming)
27. Transcript (good content upgrade for a podcast or video) 28. Audio Version (an audio version of the blog post)
29. Summary or “Cliff Notes” Version 30. Predictions
31. State of the Industry 32. Mind Map
33. Webinar Recording 34. Slidedeck
35. Roundup (like a curated list post, but offered as a lead magnet) 36. Desktop Wallpaper
37. Challenge
38. Free Membership Site
39. Access to a Facebook or Slack group 40. Forum registration
41. Free trial 42. Coupon code 43. Case study 44. Waiting list
45. Calendar or schedule
