10k Traffic Challenge – Day 5

Email List Lead Magnets

Yesterday, we talked about the importance of email lists. If you are serious about blogging, an email list is absolutely essential.

Don’t make the same mistake that we made and waste years not properly building your email list.

How do you get people to subscribe to your email list? Most successful bloggers will use what they call a “lead magnet”. This is an incentive for people to subscribe to their list.

One of our main incentives is the 5-Day Email Crash Course.

The idea is to provide something of considerable value for free in exchange for a subscription to your email list.

You can then embed this form on your sidebar, in the middle or end of all blog posts, or as a pop-up. But, the key is to give some sort of incentive.

Depending on your niche, a lead magnet will be different for everyone.

OK, so we have covered why email lists are so important to building a following, monetizing your blog, and getting consistent traffic to your site. But now it’s time to talk about how.

When people click on your website, whether it is through a search engine, social media post, or word of mouth, you have a golden opportunity to capture their readership for the long haul. They may have really liked the content, but there’s a good chance they’ll forget to go back again the next day, even with the best intentions! By getting them to sign up to receive your emails, you will be able to continue promoting your site and blog posts long after they’ve left your page.

The best way to do this is by offering them an incentive, also known as a “lead magnet”.

The idea behind a lead magnet is to provide something of considerable value for free in exchange for a subscription to your email list. Our lead magnet, or opt-in incentive is our 5-Day Email Crash Course.

Most successful bloggers use a Lead Magnet (or multiple lead magnets) to encourage subscribers to join their email list.

A lead magnet will be different depending on your niche. It would be wise to look at your audience and think, “What would MY site visitors want?” It should go a step further than your typical content for your blog. It should be considered premium content, to ensure that those first-time visitors are really incentivized to sign up for your emails!

Don’t let trying to think of an awesome lead magnet hold you back from getting started with your email subscription list. Start with anything that comes to mind, knowing that you don’t need to stick to just one thing. You might find that certain lead magnets perform better on your site than others, so test them out and keep refining them as you go.

You can also have multiple leads magnets on your site at one time, especially if you are building niche email lists. The point is to get people on your email list, and giving them something for free is the best way!

If you are still stumped, let’s dig a little deeper and gather some specific examples for a lead magnet. Again, it will depend greatly on your specific niche, but these examples should help you decide what might work best for your audience.

Lead Magnet Examples:

Checklists: Checklists are easy to make and easy to use! Here are some examples:

• Top 10 things you need to pack when heading to The Caribbean/Europe/Alaska/Etc…
• “What to pack in your hospital bag before having a baby” or a “Diaper Bag Checklist”
• Weekly grocery shopping checklist
• What you need to buy before bringing home a puppy

I think you get the point! Lists are a great way to tie in your niche with something immediately helpful and valuable for your reader.

Printables: Printables are a great way to give someone a helpful resource that is instantly accessible. You can create an eye-catching single-page PDF that your readers can print right from home and utilize as they wish. Some Printable examples could be:

• A grocery shopping list organized by sections in the store (ie: produce, deli, household items, etc)
• A “Summer Bucket List”
• A calendar- Perhaps a “meal plan” calendar or a “squat challenge” calendar or a “countdown to baby” calendar…these are all just ideas that you could use to create a fun, usable resource.

A printable is very much like a Checklist, but is intended to be printed out (hence the name!) so it’s worth making it more interactive and good-looking!

How-To Tutorials or Premium Videos: If you run any sort of DIY blog, a detailed or more highly coveted type of “How-To” tutorial would be a great lead magnet!

• “How to build a sliding barn door for under $____”
• “Learn how to french braid in 60 seconds”
• “How to make the best Mac ‘n Cheese in 8 easy steps”
• Workout videos/tutorials like “Free at-home ab burner” or “Full Body workout you can do in 20 minutes!” …Something along those lines!

How-to lists and videos are another way to grab your reader’s attention and offer something special that they would want!

Tips & Tricks Sheets: This is another easy way to give your readers a helpful resource and works well for many different niches!

• 10 tips to motivate yourself to get back into the gym
• 10 tricks to help your kids get out the door on time
• 10 tricks to organize your home office
• 5 Tips to minimize your monthly expenses
• 5 tricks to help you potty train your toddler

Of course, pick any number of tips/tricks, but keep them helpful and relatable to your audience.

Cheat Sheets: This may look very similar to a printable, checklist, or “Tips/Tricks” sheet, but the idea with a Cheat Sheet is that readers will feel like you are letting them in on a secret and that you are removing some of the need to think to resolve a perceived problem.

• Disneyland with a Toddler Cheat Sheet (Or Road Tripping with a Toddler, or doing anything with a Toddler 😉 )
• A Cheat Sheet to Buying Your First Home
• A Cheat Sheet to Walk You Through Retirement

Consultations/ Q & A Access: If you have unique knowledge about something related to your niche, you could offer email or phone consultations to your readers.

• Diet Plans
• Financial Planning
• Skin Care
• What’s the best dog breed to match with your family

Be sure that you are qualified to be offering this advice and keep in mind that you will have to follow up with each lead individually.

E-Books/ “The Ultimate Guide to…”: You can create completely new content for your Opt-in E-book, or you could even just organize content that is already on your blog into one convenient package.

• Recipe E-books- You could make several brand new recipes exclusive to the E-book OR use your Top 10 most popular recipes already on your site in one convenient book. A lot of food bloggers make special E-books around the holidays as well.
• Financial Planning E-books
• Life Coaching E-books (ie: 10 daily habits of happy people)
• The ultimate guide to house training a puppy
• The ultimate guide to Yellowstone National Park

Email Courses: This is what we use as a lead magnet! People can sign up for our 5-Day Email Crash Course, and by doing so, they are subscribing to receive all future emails to stay in the loop regarding our courses. Other ideas for an email course include:

• Composting Made Simple
• How to pay off your student loan debt- A 5-Day Course
• How to train your puppy- 7-day Bootcamp

You can send them the course all at once, or release the lessons one day at a time (as we do with our course). This helps if there is an assignment attached to the lesson so that it isn’t overwhelming. Plus, it keeps them hooked throughout the 5 days (or however many days you go with).

Special Group Access: This works well if you have or plan on setting up a special Facebook Group. For example, signing up for an email list could give the reader access to:

• Start a Money Making Blog Facebook group
• What’s For Dinner Facebook Group (For recipe sharing)
• Spouses of Deployed Service Members (for support and advice)

If you know your niche well, having a Facebook group and using it as a lead magnet could be very successful.

Discount Codes, Giveaways, Coupons, Product Samples, Free Trials: Helping people save money or giving them something free is a great way to attract subscribers!

If you think this sounds like a good lead magnet for your readership, this would be a great opportunity to reach out to brands and let them know that you would like to work with them to not only achieve more subscribers to your email list, but also advertise their products heavily. There are SO many options here, but some examples under this category could be:

• Giveaway a necklace/jewelry to a lucky winner
• A discount code to receive 15% off a purchase of a beauty product when they use your code
• A sample for a new product (beauty, food, etc)
• Chance to win tickets to a movie or theme park
• 20% off clothing
• A free trial for an ongoing service like food delivery, magazine subscriptions, meal planning service, etc.

Most people are looking to save a buck, so giving something away or offering a discount/coupon can be a great incentive!

As you can see, there are a LOT of different ideas to create a compelling lead magnet! Many of them are similar concepts, just presented in different ways. Once you have decided what you want to offer, you’ll then get to actually create it!

How to Create Your Lead Magnet

Some of you might have some special design or videography skills, and in that case, putting together a unique lead magnet may be no problem for you! But that is certainly not the case for everyone, and if you don’t fall in that category, fear not!

If you have your heart set on a video, you can probably put together a pretty decent one on your phone with little to no extra equipment, and edit it/splice it together using a free app on your phone. As long as the material is good, the quality does not need to be at a professional level.

A much more common type of opt-in would be a downloadable document. For this, you can use Google Docs, Microsoft Word, and/or a free design service like Canva. Both Google Docs and Word allow you to save and export the document as a PDF making it easy to send along to your new subscribers.

If you haven’t heard of or used Canva, it is an app that allows you to make simple graphics (like logos, lists, banners, posters, collages, etc.) on a super easy-to-use platform. So if you are making a downloadable PDF as your lead magnet, Canva would allow you to add your branding/logo to the top and give your document a very professional appearance!

In Conclusion…

In order to grow your email list, creating a compelling lead magnet is just what you need. Use your imagination (and ideas from this list) to grab your reader’s attention. A good lead magnet will:

• Target a specific problem
• Target a specific audience
• Offer a (seemingly) quick solution

By keeping these tips in mind, you can give your new readers something of value right off the bat, converting them into longtime followers and consistent readers of your blog. Readers that may have otherwise disappeared or forgotten to return are now hooked and you will be able to reach them to promote your blog anytime!

Recap of some general ideas for a lead magnet:

• Checklists
• Printables
• How-To Tutorials/Premium Video (Great for How To or DIY niches)
• Tips and Tricks Sheets
• Cheat Sheets
• Access to Q&A’s directly with you or Consultations
• Email courses
• E-books
• Special Group access
• Free Trials, Discount Codes, Giveaways, Weekly Coupons, Product Samples, etc.

Day 5 Assignment