Crafting the Perfect Lead Magnet: What Makes a Free Gift Worth Having?

Today, I wanted to share some insight about creating your free gifts, freebies, and lead magnets. Do you know the things you give away as an initial gift on your website or from a networking event, etc., so people will opt in and get on your email list?

First of all, I'm NOT talking about a free consult, call, strategy session, or discovery call here. Those should NOT be the "ONLY" free thing you offer. Especially on your website.

You want to design your website for people who DON'T know you yet or haven't heard of you.?99% of the time, those people will NOT be ready to speak with you immediately. So, stop with the free call button on top or a pop-up box leading to a free call. You're wasting your precious real estate with the WRONG offer.

The people who DO know you and want to sign up for a call will take the time to LOOK for the button or the navigation tab. (Don't worry; you can put it lower on the home page, or the bottom of every page is good too, but NOT the top.)

You could potentially lose visitors who come to your site to learn more. Remember, they may only be there for 3-5 seconds, so?you have to WOW them right away.

I guess this is turning into what to do on your website, more than lead magnet but seriously... websites are one of the FIRST things I look at with a new client or prospect, everyone needs changes or additions to their site to be more effective. Everyone. (I'm really good at showing you exactly what to change/add/say, etc., on there, by the way!)

Do you know what makes a GOOD free gift or lead magnet?

It's whatever your ideal client wants right now!

Yes, it's about THEM, not you, and what you think you should give them or what you think they need.

It's about what they WANT, what they're searching for.

It's about solving their biggest challenges, problems, questions, and concerns.

And, what medium should you create?

Video Series, Live Webinar, eBook, Checklist, 5-Day Challenge, Free Event or Workshop, Recorded Webinar...

Which is perfect for YOU and your ideal client?

Great question! I would say pick 2-3 of these and do a couple of different types of freebies. It's important to hit a couple of different learning styles, I think. Then, develop others over time. But if you don't have one right now (or the one you have isn't working), then the first one you create is the one you can create the FASTEST!!!

Heck, when I created my first real lead magnet, it was a bundle of things in my Entrepreneur's Success Kit.?I gave that thing away for over 10 or 12 years.

Why didn't I change it? Because it was the PERFECT thing that my ideal clients needed and wanted... and it had 3 different learning styles inside, so just about everyone could get something.

DON'T LAUGH! But here are some pics of my first freebies and my first couple of website headers that matched those brands. I went from the K. Sawa Marketing brand to Jumpstart Your Marketing and kept evolving it from there.

Be open to the evolution of you and your business, your brand, and your freebies. Just go create something quick that you can start building a list with now. Then keep creating more options until you have a page full of them, like I do!

And when you have more than one, you can be a contributor to giveaways and have other things you give when you speak. Having a variety of options and topics is good. Don't overthink it, though!

A couple of MUSTS, however...

When creating a written eBook or Manifesto, etc., please make sure:

• It's well-formatted and appealing to look at and read
• You've got plenty of graphics or images to break up the text (all text is boring!)
• You put your copyright notice on the footer of every page
• You put your FULL contact info inside in multiple places
• You add testimonials
• You spell check it and watch for grammar issues, spacing, mistakes
• You have an attention-getting cover that you can make into a fun 3D image for marketing purposes
• You have a call to action inside! OMG, I know that seems obvious, but you can't believe how many of these I see without all of this!

When creating a webinar or video series, please remember to:

• Have good audio
• Usually, you want a mix between slides/images/visuals and you speaking directly to the group/camera.
• Have a well-branded background and, ideally, NOT a fake one!
• Have a call to action or two (I love the "this or that offer" as it's NOT a yes or no question then)

There's so much more advice I can give you, but we just need to talk!

And this is just ONE small thing to do when running and growing a highly successful business, you know. There is a LOT more to know, master, and/or implement, and I can help you with all of it!