Reinventing the Entrepreneur: Turning Your Dream Business into a Reality

Chapter 16

Lead Magnets: Your Ambassador

Now that you understand how to get subscribers with an opt-in form on a landing page that collects names and e-mail addresses, let’s talk about your lead magnet. A lead magnet makes an offer in exchange for someone’s giving you his or her name and e-mail address.

In most cases, your lead magnet will be the first piece of content a subscriber receives from you. This is where you need to put your best foot forward and make a great impression. You should think of your lead magnet as the ambassador for your inbox magazine.

The beautiful thing about lead magnets is that you can change them at any time to make sure they stay current and relevant. The more relevant you make it, the better it will serve your subscribers, not to mention increase your conversions as well.

You can have different lead magnets, depending on where you place your offer. If you provide content to a blog targeting working mothers, then your lead magnet might offer a free e-book on how to manage your time. If you provide content to a blog about making money, then you would want a lead magnet that caters to the idea of making more money. The ability to change your lead magnet to target a particular audience is what makes your opt-in offers so flexible.

Think how Sports Illustrated markets their magazine. Most people who watch Spike TV are young males, so Sports Illustrated might emphasize their swimsuit edition and swimsuit calendar. On ESPN, people are more interested in ...