Let's talk about how to build a valuable email list.

Now, this is video number 4 in my marketing funnel series.

And if you haven't watched all the previous videos in this series

i’ll link them up for you down in the episode description box.

But the challenge that we're really addressing in this video is that customers

aren't always ready to buy immediately after discovering your product or service.

So perhaps they clicked an advertisement or they went through some other

marketing channel.

They discovered your product or your service, but

they're not yet ready to buy.

Maybe they're conducting initial research, maybe they're weighing the pros

and cons of your solution versus other solutions.

Or maybe they're just trying to figure out if they even need a solution

to their problem.

But regardless.

Customers end up in this stage where they aren't quite ready to buy,

but they are casually interested.

And the problem here is that between the moment when they actually

click an advertisement or go through some other marketing channel,

and then that moment when they're finally ready to make a purchase,

a lot of time can go by.

This can be weeks, this can be months, depending on what it is that you sell.

And at the end of the day, when they finally make a purchase,

they might end up going with a competitive product simply

because it's more convenient or it's more top of mind when they're ready to buy.

So with all of this in mind, one of the most valuable assets

that you can build for your business is an email list of potential customers

who are interested in your solution but aren't yet ready to buy.

That way, you can nurture their interest over time by sending them

follow up emails and you can keep your brand top of mind

so that when they're ready to buy, they're more likely to buy from you.

And of course, an email list is a powerful way

to let people know about special promotions

or special discounts, either on the product

they were originally interested in, or perhaps another product or service

that you also happened to offer that may be of interest to them.

Now, when it comes to building an email list, the key to attracting

subscribers is to offer a compelling lead magnet.

A lead magnet is something that you make available for free

for potential subscribers in exchange for their email address.

Common examples include free trials, PDF reports,

how to videos, useful checklists, or helpful cheat sheets.

Now a lead magnet does not need to be

complicated and it doesn't need to take you

a lot of time and effort to put together.

In fact,

something simple like a cheat sheet or a checklist can be incredibly valuable

to your potential customers in terms of helping them understand and overcome

some key elements of the problem or the need that they're facing.

And yet, for you, as a subject matter expert,

it can be relatively quick to put together.

And later in this episode, I'm going to show you

a powerful research tool that you can use to really speed up this process

and to put together a great lead magnet in as little as 1 to 2 hours.

But before we get to that,

I want to talk about two different ways to think about lead magnets.

The first and perhaps one of the most popular ways

to think about things or the way that many marketers

think about lead magnets is to think of them as an ethical bribe.

In other words, you're offering something to potential subscribers

for free in exchange for their email address.

So you're effectively bribing them with this free lead magnet, this free

checklist or PDF report or whatever it ends up being.

And you're saying, I'll give this to you for free

if you provide me with your email address.

And let me just say this absolutely works.

By offering something of value, you make it considerably more likely

that people will give you their email address.

But a much better way to think about this and the way that I recommend

that you think about this is that it's an opportunity to build trust.

And even if you weren't

trying to build an email list, your lead magnet in and of itself

should demonstrate to potential customers that you understand their problem,

have the ability to help and are willing to provide value upfront.

It just so happens to also be a powerful way to capture their email address

so you can follow up with them in the future.

But when it comes to actually

building the lead magnet, you want to think of this as an asset.

That in and of itself can help you deepen the relationship that you have

with potential customers.

So now let's talk about what makes a great lead magnet.

Everything begins by identifying a problem or a challenge or a pain point

that your potential customer is experiencing.

So when they're interested in your product

or they're interested in signing up for your service, what is the underlying

incentive or motivation that is causing them to be interested?

What is the deeper need that they are facing?

People don't just go to buy a product or service for a random reason.

They always have a deeper motivation

or a deeper reason or a need that they're trying to solve.

So you want to identify what that is.

And this is yet another reason why in video number 1 of this series,

we talked about identifying your ideal customer

because it's very important that you understand

who you're trying to serve and you know, the problem or the need

that they're trying to resolve.

And when we have this information, not only does it make it easier

to market our product or service, but it also makes it much easier

to come up with potential lead magnet ideas.

Now, when it comes to creating a lead magnet,

there are three things that we’re really trying to achieve here.

First and foremost, we want to create a quick win for potential customers.

The goal here isn't to solve some large

or complex problem, and we don't want to give them some big

heavy task like reading a 200 page e-book or watching a two hour presentation.

Instead, we want to identify some simple pain points

that we can help resolve on their behalf with a checklist or a simple

how to guide so that they can achieve a quick win.

Second, we want to make them eager to continue

so the ideal lead magnet should really help them

make tangible progress in a way that leaves them excited to continue

making progress.

And oftentimes when they're done with your lead magnet,

the next logical step is to purchase your product

or sign up for your service, or perhaps engage with your business in another way.

So the idea here is to identify ways that we can help them

make real momentum and real progress and leave them with the confidence

that if they continue down this path, they're ultimately going to be successful.

Third, we want to build trust in your brand

by providing people with value up front.

Not only do you create a natural desire for them

to reciprocate that value oftentimes by purchasing your product

or signing up for your service,

but you also demonstrate your level of expertise and people start

to create a connection between your brand on the one hand

and the solution to the problem that they are facing.

And as they start to make progress towards that solution

because of your lead magnet and because of the value that you're providing,

they start to create a mental connection with your brand and ultimately solving

their problem being linked, which makes it far more likely

that they will actually purchase your product or sign up for your service.

So with that in mind, let's talk about how to generate lead magnet ideas.

Now, there are two different ways to do this.

The first and the most common way that marketers

typically go about creating a great lead magnet is to identify the problems

or the needs or the pain points, as we've talked about in this video,

and then identify which of those things can be addressed with a quick win.

And then you actually create the lead

magnet in the form of a checklist or a how to guide or a cheat sheet

to help your potential subscribers get that quick win.

However, this tends to be fairly tedious.

There's a lot of work involved.

Even if you are a subject matter expert, there's a fair amount of work in coming up

with ideas and identifying the pain points that can be resolved with a quick win.

So this can take a considerable amount of time.

Now fortunately, there is an alternative option,

and that is to use research tools like Chat GPT not only come up with ideas

for lead magnets, but to actually create some of the content itself.

Now you still need to be a subject matter expert

when it comes to using this approach, because Chat GPT is notorious for making

minor mistakes or to not always provide the correct answers

or the correct content ideas.

But as we go through this process

here, you'll see how this makes it considerably easier to not only generate

great lead magnet ideas, but to actually create the content itself.

And then from there

you can refine the content, you can improve it,

you can make it more relevant to your customers.

But again, this takes a lot of the grunt work out.

So let me give you a quick example.

I can go to Chat GPT,

which is currently free and ask it a question like

what are some lead magnet ideas for a plumber?

And it will generate a list of ideas.

And if I'm not happy with the list, I can follow up by asking,

Do you have more ideas?

And it will come up with additional options.

As you can see here.

Now, this is just scratching the surface because I can actually go a step further

and specify the type of lead magnet that I want to create.

For example, I can ask,

can you provide more detail for a spring lawn care checklist?

And it will provide more detail relating to that particular option.

Now, the drawbacks of a tool

like this, as I alluded to earlier, is that the content isn't always accurate.

So you will need to go through the content with your expert knowledge and ensure

that it's actually useful and relevant and that there aren't any mistakes.

And in some instances

you might want to add to the content and improve and refine it in other ways.

But the point is that you don’t have to start with a blank canvas.

Tools like Chat GPT make it much easier to generate a solid foundation

that you can then refine and improve through a little bit of editing

and through using your own knowledge

and so this really makes the entire process significantly easier.

And the use of this tool extends even further.

If you know how to ask the right kinds of questions.

For example, if you want to come up with a really compelling title for your lead

magnet, you can go back to Chat GPT and for example, you can ask

what is a great lead magnet name for a Spring lawn care checklist.

And again, it'll generate a list of compelling options for you to choose from.

So in this case, the AI not only came up

with the idea for the lead magnet, but also the content and the title.

So as you can see,

this makes the entire process of putting together a lead magnet

significantly easier.

Now, Chat GPT is currently available

for free as a public demo, and while there's no way to know for sure

that it's going to stick around or it's going to continue to be free,

there are already rumors that Google and other players in the industry

are going to be launching their own alternative options to compete

with chat GPT.

So in all likelihood, there will be tools like this available

when you are watching this video,

and I'll do my best to update the description text

of this video with links to other options out there as they become available.

But in the worst case scenario,

if generative AI like this completely disappears.

At very least,

I hope this section served as direct inspiration for the kinds of things

that you want to focus on when it comes to creating your own lead magnet,

when it comes to the ideas,

when it comes to the content, and when it comes

to how to create a compelling title.

But with all of that said, the next step is to make your lead magnet stand out.

A simple way to make things more attractive to potential subscribers

is to take your plaintext lead magnet, whether it's a cheat sheet,

a how to guide a checklist, whatever it might be, and to have it

professionally designed by a freelance designer

in order to make it more visually attractive.

Now, this isn't nearly as expensive as it may sound.

You can go to freelance platforms like Fiverr and you can hire a professional

to create a well-designed checklist or cheat sheet for as little as $50.

In the case that you're creating a

how to video, it might cost a little bit more to hire a professional video editor

to add in some visual elements and other things

that will increase the overall production quality.

But regardless, this is something that you absolutely want to do

because it greatly increases the perceived value of your lead magnet.

And not only does this make it more likely

that people will subscribe to get access to your lead magnet,

but when they actually download or consume your lead magnet,

it will improve the overall perception of your business or your brand.

So I highly recommend that you

avoid the temptation to use a Microsoft Word template or something like that,

and instead go to a freelance platform like Fiverr, hire

a professional and get your lead magnet professionally designed.

So it's much more visually attractive.

Now, the very last step is to promote your lead magnet.

Once you have everything ready to go,

it's very important that you make it as easy as possible for people

to not only discover your lead magnet, but to actually sign up for it.

Now we're going to talk about

two different approaches that you can use for making this happen.

The first option is to create a dedicated landing page on your website

that features a simple headline, an image of your lead magnet,

a quick description or bullet list of features for your lead magnet,

and then a simple email opt in form where they can enter their email address

and click a button in order to be sent the lead magnet.

Once you build a page like this, you can then promote it to potential customers

using marketing channels like Facebook advertising or Google ads

or other opportunities that you use to reach out to potential customers.

Now, when it comes to the layout or the design of this landing page,

you want to follow the exact same formula

that we covered in the last video in this series

when we talked about how to put together a marketing website.

But in this case, instead of looking for a design

that is based on an entire marketing website, you're going to be looking for

a design out on the Internet for a similar landing page.

And the best way to do this is to identify another landing page

that is promoting a similar type of lead magnet.

So if you have a checklist or a how to guide or a cheat sheet,

whatever it is that you're offering, you want to find another proven landing

page out on the Internet that is promoting a similar type of lead magnet.

And then again, as we talked about in the last video, take that exact same

structure and redesign it to be better suited for your target audience.

So different colors, different fonts, different imagery,

all that align with your target audience and their preferences.

Now, the second great option for promoting your lead magnet is to design

a simple opt in box that you can then feature on existing pages of your website.

So instead of creating a dedicated landing page

or at least in addition to creating a dedicated landing page,

what you can do is you create a simple, small box

that has the same kind of headline and image of your lead magnet.

A brief description of its benefits and an email signup form with a button.

And you can place this all

within a small box that you then feature on existing pages of your website.

You can either put it at the very bottom of your primary marketing website

sort of as a secondary call to action, or if you have articles on your website

or your blog posts or other content like that, you can feature this box

at the bottom of those pages that as people are consuming that content,

they come across this little box and they can enter their email address

and sign up for your lead magnet and join your email list that way.

Now, of course, when it comes to actually

collecting email addresses and managing your subscribers

and having the ability to send emails, whether it's a one time broadcast

or a series of automated emails like the ones that we'll be talking about

over the coming videos in this series, it's absolutely essential

that you create an account with an email automation platform

like ActiveCampaign, MailChimp Drip,

or one of the many other options that exist out in the marketplace.

And again, this will make it much easier

to not only collect contact information and to manage your subscribers,

but also to send emails and to send automated sequences.

Now when it comes to promoting your lead magnet or promoting your landing page

or the content pages on which your opt inbox is featured,

it's very important that you focus your efforts on people

who might eventually buy your product or service.

You're not just trying to attract random subscribers,

you're not just trying to grow your email list as big as possible.

You want to focus on the kind of people who are genuinely interested

in your product or your service, or at least who have the potential to be,

because the key here is attracting potential customers, not just subscribers.

So ensure that your marketing efforts,

whatever it is that you're doing to promote

your lead magnet or to promote your landing page,

that it's geared towards people

who are likely interested in eventually buying from you.

So with all of that said, now is the time to create your first lead magnet.

Go through the process that we've covered here, generate ideas, create the content,

get it professionally designed, and then promote it.

Now, it's worth noting that some lead magnet ideas vastly outperform others.

So even as you put together your first few lead magnets,

keep in mind that you're going to want to continue to think about ideas

and to continue to test new options into the future.

And whenever you're looking at another business

that is offering lead magnets, study what they're doing,

look at what they are offering, and think about how it might influence

or inspire new lead magnet ideas for your business.

Because in some cases a really great lead magnet can

outperform weaker lead magnets at a ratio of 10 to 1.

So it's very important to always be looking for new options

and to be looking for quick wins that you can create for customers

to attract more subscribers and ultimately to convert more of those subscribers

into paid customers.

Next up, we're going to talk about how to create a nurture campaign.

So click the like button, subscribe to the channel, and then continue

on to the next video you can find it linked right here in the video player

as well as down below in the video description text.