Respect your customers and avoid these lead magnet tips!
There is no question as to how important lead magnets are to building your brand. Especially if you are working with online clients. This is why I have been sharing so much about lead magnets lately. Doing them well has some pretty amazing pay offs, and doing them poorly can seriously hurt your business.
So today I thought I would share with you my list of Lead Magnet traps to avoid.
Promise something you can’t deliver right away
I once heard a business coach say, “The best way to get you motivated is to promise something you haven’t yet created.” While I realize a lot of us work great under pressure, life often gets in our way. To offer a freebie that isn’t even created yet, is to set yourself up for failure. Plus, the quality of your freebie if you do get it done on time is likely to suffer.
Using your freebie as permission to SPAM them
When someone has trusted you with their email address, spamming the crap out of them is a poor way to say thank you. I suggest having a set schedule of communicating via email and sticking to it. See my post on Creating a Trusting Business Relationship.
Making false promises…
I have come upon videos that promise AMAZING RESULTS yet do nothing but talk on and on and on about what they will deliver without actually delivering anything. No one wants a bunch of empty promises, and our time is valuable. If you cannot provide something of value within a few minutes, you may want to rethink your lead magnet video.
Sharing a poorly formatted content
It doesn’t matter how fabulous your content is, if you design isn’t no one is going to use it. Great example … the once popular e-book freebie. When you create an e-book in Microsoft word without an attractive cover, and single spaced ½ inch margin, no one will want to read it. Same goes with One-Page Checklists, and anything else you may have to share. Do yourself a favor and do a little formatting to make your e-book visually appealing, or hire a professional.
Using trickery of ANY KIND!
I once opted into a free “live” training that went to static within a minute of starting. That minute gave me no value, and while at first, I thought there was a just a technical issue, I later realized that the “live” training video was always available and always went to static after a minute. To add to my frustration, my email was soon inundated on a daily basis with “salesy” emails wanting me to buy their program. Needless to say, I felt tricked, and that didn’t make me feel very warm to that business owner. I also wasn’t at interested in purchasing their service.
The bottom line is that when you show your potential customers respect and offer something of real value you are that much closer to making them your ideal paying customer.
