What is a Lead Magnet?
If you want a thriving teacher business, learning about lead magnets is a must!
Hands down, having a lead magnet took my teacher business from zero to thousands in terms of subscribers and money.
But what is a lead magnet?
A lead magnet is a freebie that online marketers and businesspeople use to offer to their community and prospective clients/customers in exchange for their e-mail. If you don’t already have an e-mail provider, I recommend ConvertKit. It’s a tried and true software for online marketers and their customer service is excellent.
Let me just tell you, when I got ConvertKit my metrics for my website, recruits, affiliate marketing and course sales all increased. I went from 450 e-mail subscribers to 3000.
Before ConvertKit I was using a free software called Mailchimp. And it was a drag. Literally it dragged my business down because:
1) It was NOT user-freindly,
2) I wasn’t motivated to contact my subscribers because it wasn’t user-friendly, and
3) They don’t let you use affiliate marketing via e-mail!
Are you kidding me? Every online business person uses at least one affiliate link. Mailchimp might be free, but it’s a big thumbs down if you want to make money online.
Convertkit and lead magnets
When I switched to ConvertKit I sold my first course. Then I sold my second course. I more than 10x’d the return on my investment.
My lead magnet, which connects to ConvertKit, has brought in 1000’s of subscribers organically.
If you decide to sign up for Convertkit you will need a business e-mail address.
If you’re serious about having your own clients, students, or customers you need a business e-mail address. For example, my business e-mail is coach@nikkilubing.com.
How did I make that happen? The answer is: GSuite. GSuite is by Gmail, but it’s for businesses. It’s super affordable, too!
Now that you know the logistics let’s dig in to the details! Remember, a lead magnet is a freebie you give to your community to build your e-mail list.
Types of lead magnets include:
- Calendar
- Challenges
- Cheatsheet
- Checklists
- Desktop Wallpapers
- Early Bird Discount
- eBook
- Free coaching sessions or tutoring sessions
- Free trial
- Giveaway
- Guidebooks
- Infographic
- Newsletter
- Planner
- Quiz
- Resource list
- Samples from a course/class
- Screensavers
- Spreadsheet
- Survey
- Swipe files
- Template
- Toolkit
- Tutorial
- Videos
- Waitlist
- Webinar
- Workbooks
- Worksheets
- Writing Prompts
- Reports
A lot of online teachers want to get their own students. So, if you’re an ESL teacher you could create a lead magnet for your ESL niche, such as 7 tips that help English learners succeed.
Just make sure you have a niche you’re focused on helping. Are you helping beginners? Intermediate? Advanced? Are you helping English learners that are in the business world?
Whatever clientele you’re catering to, get specific. It is a balancing act of being specific, but not so specific that there’s not a wide enough audience.
Where does your lead magnet go?
If you want a thriving teacher business, one of the first things you should do is create a self-hosted website and then create a lead magnet to add to your website. Check out my post “Starting a Teacher Blog the Right Way” to learn more about creating a website if you don’t already have one.
You will add the lead magnet to your website and to a landing page. We’ll talk more about landing pages below. You can link to your landing page on social media and on your website.
The Best Types of Lead Magnets
The best types of lead magnets are the ones that offer a lot of value. What is value? It’s the information your community wants to know so they can leave with more knowledge than they had before they got your lead magnet.
Excellent lead magnets are also easy to read and comprehend. It’s also great if you have steps for the reader to take.
My lead magnet is 7 Steps to Impact Students Globally and Be Your Own Boss. After each step I have a worksheet for the reader to take action.
Lead Magnet Landing Page
When you create a lead magnet you need a landing page. A landing page is a website that does not have a menu for the visitor to browse. The only thing they can do on that page is opt-in to your lead magnet or leave.
Your lead magnet landing page should be clear and concise. It’s important to use words that call the visitor to action such as, “GET YOUR FREE GUIDEBOOK” or “Click here for your guidebook”.
You can use websites like leadpages or Kajabi for your lead magnet landing page. I personally use Kajabi and you can check out my landing page here.
Whenever I make a landing page I include 3 captivating statements that explain what’s inside my lead magnet. The title of what they’re getting and a button with a call to action that leads the viewer to opt-in.
Lead Magnet Design
Lead magnet design is really easy these days because of websites like Canva. I use Canva Pro, but even the free version offers so much!
Lead Magnet Templates
Canva has tons of lead magnet templates, but you have to search things like “checklist” or “infographic” to find a template that fits your lead magnet idea.
What should my lead magnet be?
Don’t overthink it! Make your leadmagnet something you know your community wants. Here’s a quick checklist for your lead magnet.
- Who is my lead magnet for?
- What does the reader or viewer need to learn?
- How will my lead magnet solve a problem for the reader/viewer?
- What’s a concise yet captivating way to deliver the information my community needs?
Things to Avoid
While I listed 31 types of lead magnets in the beginning of this post, I don’t think all of them work for every niche. Really think about your community and what they want.
Don’t:
- Overwhelm with too many steps or too much information
- Underdeliver
- Distract with unnecessary links or information
- Sell anything within the lead magnet
Extras
Here are some ideas to incorporate, but not necessary.
- Invite your readers to a Facebook group to connect with and provide more value
- Share the next step your reader can take
- Incorporate a survey to better understand how to serve your community
Next Steps for you
Set a deadline for creating your lead magnet. Leave me a comment below to let me know when you completed your lead magnet so we can celebrate this major step in your teacher business.
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