Come on, people, talk to me…we all want it…great leads that really ARE leads! Prospects who actually want what you have, want it RIGHT NOW, and have the moolah to get it.
A lot of my readers have the sales funnel thing down. They know how to set up a lead capture form, and they have some website. Technically, their system may be sound. But when it comes to content, and the art factor, there are gaps.
STEP ONE ~ Make Sure Your Website or Landing Page Is The Best It Can Be.
So many people over look this fact, but think about it…if you have a bunch of broken links on your site, if people see “Site Title” or “This is an about page” on your incomplete website, they are not going to think you are for real.
I have to mention this because I see so many blogs that are drop dead gorgeous (like the model) but they have no warmth, no human touch, or webpages that don’t link together in a conversational, topical flow. You need to have a capture form on the home page of your blog, if lead generation is your thing. But less is more…don’t take up all the space on your landing page with a lead form. That screams spam and will lead to high exit rates….which will plummet your rankings.
Instead, You want your capture form to be something your reader looks for, not something they impulsively punch (which always clogs your “filter” full of dead, tire-kicking leads). Make the capture page, landing page, and or homepage look as inviting as possible.
STEP TWO ~Have a great quality lead magnet.
We all know that lead magnets are a great way to get people to leave their info, but if it’s not a lead that provides value, then your reader will unsubscribe.
Just in case you don’t know, the term “lead magnet” is just marketing lingo for anything that provides your reader with information. But. In only works if its something the reader wants. Like, really bad.
When you are crafting your lead magnet, it needs to be all it can be. Make sure that it’s not some flim flammy lead magnet, but that it really provides inside information about your topic. If it isn’t so good that most people would gladly pay at least $20 for your fresh info, then you aren’t providing enough info, or your info is stale. That is NOT the kind of lead magnet you want to give people. Your lead magnet needs to be the highest quality lead you can give, without giving away too much.
Note for those who sell info products: I get this question all the time…how do I know how much information to give in my lead magnet, without revealing what’s in my course? If you are concerned about this, it could be that you simply don’t have enough fresh info to go around. So if you are always stressing over whether or not you are giving away too much, then you may need some more info on your topic. Which brings us to our next point:
STEP THREE ~ Always remember….info is free on the internet.
Think about what you are offering…would you give up your own email address to acquire this info if you didn’t have this knowledge? Or would you google in the question? The information you provide has to be something that every one asks, but few talk about.
The purpose of “the list”.
Think about why you are building a list. Why? So that you can keep sending stale info to people who are going to unsubscribe? No, your answer should be, Iam building a list of people who I am going to develop rapport “. This is vital because you want them to sense you character, your values and your personality. That’ really is the only way to get more people to buy from you…free info is everywhere, but your reader doesn’t know who to trust.
WARNING….
IGNORE THIS, AND WATCH YOUR
UNSUBSCRIBE RATE SOAR
You shouldn’t go about getting leads so that you can pitch your
product.
Think about this dynamic.
You want their email address.
They want your info.
You want their email address so that ultimately, you can sell to them.
They want your newsletter for info, not for a sales pitch.
The only way they will buy your info product is if it’s something that they can’t get anywhere else…for free. Or, if it’s info that answers the question that they don’t know the question to. Or, they just like you and want to know your take on marketing.
Also, some people just like collecting knowledge.
But it has to be fresh knowledge, or they won’t buy from you.
Here’s the question that you need to be asking yourself if you want to gather leads that actually convert into sales:
What “bottom line it”, what “get to the point’, what “sum it all up” answer is my prospect looking for?
Is it “How to get traffic”? Is it how to solve this or that problem…for good? Is it how to get sales? How to keep their boyfriend/girlfriend? How to lose weight? How to pass their finals? Whatever it is that you are selling, it has to answer a question, or solve a problem. The answer or solution to this question or problem is what you need to give your reader in their lead magnet.
Conclusion: When done right, lead magnets are a great way to gather leads off of the internet. Your info piece must be the highest quality possible, in order to attract leads. The information you send should be of the freshest quality, meant to instill trust in your reader, and to educate them.
Sometimes it is a delicate balance between providing info, and mentioning your product. You should take the time to educate yourself fully on how to create great meaty, personable articles that pull your subscriber into your world (a.k.a., your blog), ultimately resulting in sales.
I hope this article has given you some ideas on how to craft an information piece which will truly educate your reader.
If you would like to learn more about how to write newsletters (which really contain news ) and create awesome lead magnets including cheat sheets, custom data graphs, and special reports to wow your reader, than check out my tutorial here.
How to Sell Anything Online 