Introduction
What You'll Learn
In this lesson you'll learn about lead magnets and how you can draw clients to you, optimise your time and how you can scale your business without putting all your energy into searching for work.
Why is This Important?
The people who need your help are not finding you and you are having to go and find them. Often one person at a time and it consumes a lot of your time and energy that realistically could be better spent helping somebody change their lives.
In this lesson you'll learn about lead magnets and how you can draw clients to you, optimise your time and how you can scale your business without putting all your energy into searching for work.
Why is This Important?
The people who need your help are not finding you and you are having to go and find them. Often one person at a time and it consumes a lot of your time and energy that realistically could be better spent helping somebody change their lives.
Despite your skills and the great need in the general public for someone with your skills, there is a disconnect. The people who need your help are not finding you and you are having to go and find them. Often one person at a time, and it consumes a lot of your time and energy that realistically could be better spent helping somebody change their lives.
What you need is consistent leads. To create consistent leads, you need a lead generation strategy and an important part of that strategy is a lead magnet.
With an effective lead magnet you will:
This will allow you to:
In this execution plan we will cover the following topics:
What you need is consistent leads. To create consistent leads, you need a lead generation strategy and an important part of that strategy is a lead magnet.
With an effective lead magnet you will:
- Generate more leads
- Have warmed ‘sales conversations’ with potential clients
- Automate a lot of your client getting work
- Scale your time and energy to get more leads with less work
This will allow you to:
- Get more clients
- Spend less time trying to find new clients and have more time for training people
- Take away one of the biggest stresses in your personal training business
In this execution plan we will cover the following topics:
- Understanding what a lead magnet is
- The benefits and differences of online and offline lead magnets
- How to create your lead magnet
- How to promote your lead magnet to generate leads
- How to collect the leads and follow up with them
Step 1 - Understanding The Importance of Lead Magnets.
A lead magnet is described as an ‘ethical bribe’. Something that is given away as an offer, in exchange for the contact details of a potential customer.
The term originated in internet marketing, but offline marketers have been doing the same style of incentivised lead generation since long before our time.
Remember the competitions you see on TV or in magazines to win a brand new car or holiday of a lifetime? They are taking your data (contact details) and then marketing other products at you. I think this ‘should have read the small print’ style of marketing is sleazy and not what I would recommend.
However, you can give away something of value and take somebodies contact details without being a pushy used car salesman. Let me give you a couple of examples…
Lead magnets fall in to a few different categories:
Information
Competition
Service
Joint venture
Charity
These are the different types of lead magnets and they all have their good and bad points. The biggest consideration is whether you are running an online or offline lead magnet.
An online lead magnet is more powerful, because it works independently of your time and effort. However, it is easier to get an offline lead magnet in front of potential customers eyes, if you are not a web expert.
Online Lead Magnets
You will need a website and a source of traffic. You need ‘potential leads’ to see your page in order for them to become leads.
You can build an automated system that, once completed, will get traffic, deliver your lead magnet and add the contact details to your email list, without you ever having to lift a finger.
Online lead magnets will be information, delivered in:
I suggest starting with written content in a PDF, as it is the easiest to create without any technical skills or special equipment.
Offline Lead Magnets
Offline lead magnets can be ‘active’ or ‘passive’ and both have their relative merits.
Active lead magnets would involve you actively doing the work of gaining leads, for example walking the floor in the gym with your offer, or having a stall set up on the street/at an event.
Passive lead magnets would be something like a poster or flyers and sign up form left at reception/on the wall.
Actively doing the work yourself will usually get more leads, much quicker. However it takes up your time and energy and is best employed as a short term strategy. When you are busy, with lots of clients, you can overlook this in favour of passive lead generation.
Passive lead generation will be slower to get leads, but doesn’t require additional work and can therefor run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, indefinitely.
Which is the right choice for you, depends on how much time you have available. You can absolutely run both online and offline, in active and passive forms, at the same time. You want to maximise the number of new leads coming in to your business until you have enough clients that you no longer have time for active lead generation. Then you can let the passive lead generators online and offline tick away and ensure you always have a cue of potential clients waiting for you to have a space available.
The term originated in internet marketing, but offline marketers have been doing the same style of incentivised lead generation since long before our time.
Remember the competitions you see on TV or in magazines to win a brand new car or holiday of a lifetime? They are taking your data (contact details) and then marketing other products at you. I think this ‘should have read the small print’ style of marketing is sleazy and not what I would recommend.
However, you can give away something of value and take somebodies contact details without being a pushy used car salesman. Let me give you a couple of examples…
Lead magnets fall in to a few different categories:
Information
- Give away an e-book with diet information on your website
Competition
- Choose one person at random to receive a free block of training
Service
- Complete free body fat assessments and health checks
Joint venture
- Give a voucher for discount at a sport masseuse
Charity
- Offer a training session where the client can pay as much or little as they wish to a charity
These are the different types of lead magnets and they all have their good and bad points. The biggest consideration is whether you are running an online or offline lead magnet.
An online lead magnet is more powerful, because it works independently of your time and effort. However, it is easier to get an offline lead magnet in front of potential customers eyes, if you are not a web expert.
Online Lead Magnets
You will need a website and a source of traffic. You need ‘potential leads’ to see your page in order for them to become leads.
You can build an automated system that, once completed, will get traffic, deliver your lead magnet and add the contact details to your email list, without you ever having to lift a finger.
Online lead magnets will be information, delivered in:
- PDF / e-book
- Video
- Audio / Podcast
I suggest starting with written content in a PDF, as it is the easiest to create without any technical skills or special equipment.
Offline Lead Magnets
Offline lead magnets can be ‘active’ or ‘passive’ and both have their relative merits.
Active lead magnets would involve you actively doing the work of gaining leads, for example walking the floor in the gym with your offer, or having a stall set up on the street/at an event.
Passive lead magnets would be something like a poster or flyers and sign up form left at reception/on the wall.
Actively doing the work yourself will usually get more leads, much quicker. However it takes up your time and energy and is best employed as a short term strategy. When you are busy, with lots of clients, you can overlook this in favour of passive lead generation.
Passive lead generation will be slower to get leads, but doesn’t require additional work and can therefor run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, indefinitely.
Which is the right choice for you, depends on how much time you have available. You can absolutely run both online and offline, in active and passive forms, at the same time. You want to maximise the number of new leads coming in to your business until you have enough clients that you no longer have time for active lead generation. Then you can let the passive lead generators online and offline tick away and ensure you always have a cue of potential clients waiting for you to have a space available.
Step 2 - How To Create Your Lead Magnet
The first job in creating a lead magnet is to identify what your market are going to be interested in. It is easy to skip this step and assume you know, but if you get it wrong and you create something that nobody is interested in, you will have wasted a lot of time and energy for nothing. Trust me I’ve made this mistake in the past!
To find out what people need help with, the best thing to do is to survey your existing clients, your friends and family, or random people on the gym floor. Ask what their biggest problem/sticking point is with their fitness and create a lead magnet that gives them the information to solve that problem.
This can also double as the first stage of your lead generation. When you survey people, take their details and promise to send them the finished lead magnet. You have collected your first set of leads before you even make the lead magnet!
Now you know what you are going to create, I suggest starting with a title and short description of what it is. You need to sell the potential customer on the value of exchanging their details for the lead magnet and this all comes down to the title and description. Get this bit spot on and you will be on to a winner.
It is this area that most PT’s will struggle. They have all of the knowledge required to offer great value inside the lead magnet, but are not great at writing compelling copy that makes people eager to get access to their great advice.
Now steps diverge depending on whether you are creating an online or offline lead magnet.
Online Lead Magnet
Decide what form to present your lead magnet:
A PDF download is the easier place to start.
You can write up the information you have promised in the title and blurb, based on the answers you got from surveying your audience. Make it nicely presented and formatted to increase the odds of the potential client reading it and feeling like they got good value from their time invested.
Offline Lead Magnet
Depending on what your lead magnet is, there may not be any creation. For example if you are running free health assessments and body fat checks, you just need to start promoting it.
Remember that if you are running an active lead magnet, you have to invest the time and energy in doing it every single time you want to generate lead.
On the other hand, a passive lead generator will do it’s work independently of you, for ever, once it has been created - making it a better long term strategy.
Lead Magnet Do's and Don'ts Checklist
To find out what people need help with, the best thing to do is to survey your existing clients, your friends and family, or random people on the gym floor. Ask what their biggest problem/sticking point is with their fitness and create a lead magnet that gives them the information to solve that problem.
This can also double as the first stage of your lead generation. When you survey people, take their details and promise to send them the finished lead magnet. You have collected your first set of leads before you even make the lead magnet!
Now you know what you are going to create, I suggest starting with a title and short description of what it is. You need to sell the potential customer on the value of exchanging their details for the lead magnet and this all comes down to the title and description. Get this bit spot on and you will be on to a winner.
It is this area that most PT’s will struggle. They have all of the knowledge required to offer great value inside the lead magnet, but are not great at writing compelling copy that makes people eager to get access to their great advice.
Now steps diverge depending on whether you are creating an online or offline lead magnet.
Online Lead Magnet
Decide what form to present your lead magnet:
- PDF download
- Video
- Audio
- Private access to membership site or group
A PDF download is the easier place to start.
You can write up the information you have promised in the title and blurb, based on the answers you got from surveying your audience. Make it nicely presented and formatted to increase the odds of the potential client reading it and feeling like they got good value from their time invested.
Offline Lead Magnet
Depending on what your lead magnet is, there may not be any creation. For example if you are running free health assessments and body fat checks, you just need to start promoting it.
Remember that if you are running an active lead magnet, you have to invest the time and energy in doing it every single time you want to generate lead.
On the other hand, a passive lead generator will do it’s work independently of you, for ever, once it has been created - making it a better long term strategy.
Lead Magnet Do's and Don'ts Checklist
- Make sure your lead magnet is relevant to the client. They probably don't need 5 great exercises for bicep peaks, if your target market is mum's trying to shed the baby weight.
- Make it easy to consume and low-investment. Nobody who doesn't know you wants to spend 3 hours reading a 150 page manifesto. They want short, easy to consume, actionable content.
- Make it 'sexy'. An e-book sounds boring. Make it something that implies it is actionable - tips, checklists, mistakes, cheat-sheet, etc.
- Solve ONE specific problem. Don't promise to change their life in a 3-minute video (they won't believe it), but do make a promise to solve ONE relevant problem in their life (and then do so, obviously).
For example; if your audience don't know what to eat for a healthy breakfast, 3 simple, 10-minute tasty breakfast recipes is relevant, easy to consume and implement, and solves a problem the client has.
Step 3 - The Important Stages Of A Lead Magnet Campaign
Once you have made your lead magnet, you need to promote it. To get it in front of people and have them exchange their details for it. You need to have some sort of database system for collecting the leads and following up with them.
I suggest adding them to your email list.
Online Promoting, Collecting & Following Up Leads
You will need an ‘opt-in’ box or dedicated page on your website. This is where the potential client can enter their details to receive the lead magnet.
When they enter their details, it will automatically add them to your email list database and deliver the lead magnet to them.
Of course, to incentivise them to do so, the page/box needs to look attractive, grab their attention and ‘sell’ them on the value of the lead magnet.
As the lead is now in your email database, you can follow up with them either through an autoresponder sequence or through your normal communication with the email list.
Online is by far the most efficient way of generating leads. As long as your website is well designed and getting traffic. Once you have set the lead magnet up initially, you literally don’t have to touch it and people will be constantly joining your email list and being exposed to your marketing messages.
Offline Promoting, Collecting & Following Up Leads
What you need to do initially will depend on whether your strategy is active or passive.
For an active strategy; you need to get out there and start talking to people. Open conversations and offer them the opportunity to get access to your lead magnet. Take their contact details in return and manually add them to your email list for follow up.
For a passive strategy; you need to place the materials with a sign up sheet or some way of collecting data and let them go to work . The more attention grabbing it is, the more leads you will get. Follow the same principles as an online lead magnet. Again, collate these contact details and add them to your email list for follow up.
Make sure you follow up with every lead. If it requires delivery in the follow up, then send them access to their lead magnet in a timely manner and open a conversation with them.
Remember, the intention is to communicate with your email list to build a relationship and add value to them, so that when they are ready for your services, they will come straight to you.
I suggest adding them to your email list.
Online Promoting, Collecting & Following Up Leads
You will need an ‘opt-in’ box or dedicated page on your website. This is where the potential client can enter their details to receive the lead magnet.
When they enter their details, it will automatically add them to your email list database and deliver the lead magnet to them.
Of course, to incentivise them to do so, the page/box needs to look attractive, grab their attention and ‘sell’ them on the value of the lead magnet.
As the lead is now in your email database, you can follow up with them either through an autoresponder sequence or through your normal communication with the email list.
Online is by far the most efficient way of generating leads. As long as your website is well designed and getting traffic. Once you have set the lead magnet up initially, you literally don’t have to touch it and people will be constantly joining your email list and being exposed to your marketing messages.
Offline Promoting, Collecting & Following Up Leads
What you need to do initially will depend on whether your strategy is active or passive.
For an active strategy; you need to get out there and start talking to people. Open conversations and offer them the opportunity to get access to your lead magnet. Take their contact details in return and manually add them to your email list for follow up.
For a passive strategy; you need to place the materials with a sign up sheet or some way of collecting data and let them go to work . The more attention grabbing it is, the more leads you will get. Follow the same principles as an online lead magnet. Again, collate these contact details and add them to your email list for follow up.
Make sure you follow up with every lead. If it requires delivery in the follow up, then send them access to their lead magnet in a timely manner and open a conversation with them.
Remember, the intention is to communicate with your email list to build a relationship and add value to them, so that when they are ready for your services, they will come straight to you.
Conclusion
Lack of lead generation is probably the biggest business struggle i see Personal trainers going through. You can be the best trainer in the world, if nobody is coming in to your business, you can't help anybody.
The lead magnet is a way to attract people through the door and take the first step in building a relationship that will ultimately result in them becoming paying clients.
Choose a lead magnet strategy (online/offline/active/passive), survey your audience to see what they need help with and get to promoting it and building your list.
More leads = more sales = more income & helping more people.
The lead magnet is a way to attract people through the door and take the first step in building a relationship that will ultimately result in them becoming paying clients.
Choose a lead magnet strategy (online/offline/active/passive), survey your audience to see what they need help with and get to promoting it and building your list.
More leads = more sales = more income & helping more people.
Frequently Asked Questions
WHAT IS THE BEST LEAD LEAD MAGNET?
We covered it in detail, but an eBook is by far the best lead magnet you can create. The added value a prospective client gains from downloading your eBook is immense, so they are automatically draw to you and your services. Boom!
SHALL I PAY SOMEONE TO WRITE AN EBOOK?
You could, but you could just as well do it yourself. Don't think about it as a whole book, that is scary. Think about each section as a unit. You could even put together a bunch of your best posts, do some formatting and re-editing and you have a great e-book in no time.
HOW DO I PROMOTE MY EBOOK?
There are several ways to get your lead magnet out there and noticed. Run an e-mail campaign put sign up forms on your website and social media, create a landing page and promote it across social media.
We covered it in detail, but an eBook is by far the best lead magnet you can create. The added value a prospective client gains from downloading your eBook is immense, so they are automatically draw to you and your services. Boom!
SHALL I PAY SOMEONE TO WRITE AN EBOOK?
You could, but you could just as well do it yourself. Don't think about it as a whole book, that is scary. Think about each section as a unit. You could even put together a bunch of your best posts, do some formatting and re-editing and you have a great e-book in no time.
HOW DO I PROMOTE MY EBOOK?
There are several ways to get your lead magnet out there and noticed. Run an e-mail campaign put sign up forms on your website and social media, create a landing page and promote it across social media.
