This is the big picture glass storefront window that everyone will stop and gaze thru at what you have to offer, as they stroll by your information shop on the information highway.

And if you are like everyone else (the other 30 Minute Marketers here) online that has a blog or website you want to convert those lookers into buyers, so your first order of business is to find a good way to communicate with them.

You need to open up a reliable communication channel, so you can start to build a relationship in which your targeted customers can start to know, like, and trust you.

This ‘know, like, trust’ equation is the basis of all repeat sales.

So how do you open up this “reliable communication channel”? One of the best ways is to create a ‘lead magnet’ that’s so irresistible that your target audience will be eager to provide their email address.

But, what is a lead magnet?

A lead magnet is a valuable product, solution, or benefit that you give away in exchange for contact information.

They are also called, ‘freebies’, ‘opt-in gifts’, ‘buzz pieces’, ‘lead gen offers’, ‘squeeze page bribes’, or something similar.

What you call your lead magnet it is not important.

But, having a lead magnet that evokes trust and encourages your audience to give up their contact info is.

Do You Really Need A Lead Magnet?

Yes. It is going to make your life a whole lot easier and you will be a way more effective marketer.

A (high quality) lead magnet is still the best method to immediately grab the attention of your visitors, which are your prospect customers.

You have to do your utmost to pique and keep their interest, so you can move them towards your most valuable products.

Valuable for them and for you.

But remember that a flat, dry and boring lead magnet will most likely have the opposite effect, and they will run away never to return.

So do you best to make your lead magnet irresistible.

The Ideal Lead Magnet Should

Demonstrate Your Value – An exceptional lead magnet will show how valuable your products and services are, which will help build trust.

Position You As An Authority – When someone uses your lead magnet successfully, they will start seeing you as someone who knows what they’re doing.

Also, remember that to be effective your lead magnet should provide a specific solution for one particular pain point for your target audience.

It should also give immediate gratification (ease a pain point or solve a problem – a quick win!) and help your prospect believe in your ability to solve more of their problems, with real solutions to their problems.

The lead magnet should have a very high value and be available to use and put into action within minutes.

Let's Go Over Some Criteria for Making Effective Lead Magnets

Once you have answered the two key questions, you can start to generate a list of ideas for your lead magnet.

Follow these guidelines to make sure your lead magnet is effective:

Make it Specific – An ideal lead magnet should solve one pain point of your audience.

Instead of trying to solve every problem, solve one simple problem.

It’s tempting to try to offer multiple solutions, but that actually does a disservice to your potential customers.

It can overwhelm them and delay getting any results at all.

Provide Immediate Gratification – Your lead magnet should provide a real solution that provides results right now vs. a future solution.

It’s not a time to sell something that comes later in the follow up emails.

Make The Offer Simple – Your lead magnet should be quick and easy to consume and implement.

You want them to be able to do something with the information easily, without a lot of complicated steps or extensive decision-making.

Here’s a simple series of steps you can follow now to help you pick a topic for your lead magnet.

The Best Lead Magnets Have a Lot In Common That You Should Study and Learn From To Make Yours Great

One of those things is how to get inside the minds of your customers, as covered wonderfully by Neil Patel:

Now that you get what a lead magnet is and what it should do, how do you use it?

Well that is why you are here reading this blog post.

To learn what the best way to communicate with your prospective customers, that you’re about to snag with your awesome lead magnet.

And the answer is: Email.

Yep, email.

A lot of people will tell you that is outdated, but for majority of all demographic groups that you will encounter (with money to spend), email is still their primary form of communication that they check daily.

And once you their email address, you have a direct channel for building a relationship.

The best part (vs other current “popular” media channels) is that you have control over this (email) channel.

Keys Benefits of Using Email to Collect Leads Using a Lead Magnet

While people have the option of opening your email or not, there’s no third party company who can randomly take away your contact list.

There’s no social media company who decides whether people see your message or not.

And there’s no search engine that calculates whether to show your information or not.

What Does a Lead Magnet Look Like?

You’ve probably seen lead magnets all over the place and not realized what they were called.

In fact, whenever you’re asked for your email address, you’re typically given some sort of gift as a result. Examples of lead magnets include:

"So when it comes to creating lead magnets, I often ask: “What’s the simplest non-technical way I can create the most valuable, high-converting content possible?”

Given those constraints, I’ve collected a list of 15 high-value lead magnets that you can create and give away to grow your email list.

You can use any one of these lead magnets to grow your email list on your blog, on your podcast, or through your landing pages."

And of course the main goal of using a lead magnet as we have already discussed is to give away value to grow your email list, so let's get to that list...

Any of these 15 lead magnets should be able to be created in 30 minutes or less with little to no tech or design skills, which means you can start using them to grow your email list, today!

Now you've seen a few good Lead Magnet examples, let's discuss what makes a Lead Magnet a success!

Let’s Create a Lead Magnet in 33 Minutes and 33 Seconds with a Timer Running

Thanks For Taking Time to Read This Post, But Don't Stop Here

I want to hear about your lead magnet ideas and which ones you created and test out.

So be sure to leave a note in the comments, a link to you lead magnet even...

Tell me and everyone else that is reading this blog post about all the exciting details about how great and why they MUST HAVE your new lead magnet!