The other day, I sent my ezine subscribers a playful email in which I changed the words of a popular Dr. Seuss quotation to describe the power of lead magnets. Of all the emails I’ve ever sent, stirring up controversy was the last thing I expected from this email.
I received a response from an irate (former) Freedompreneur newsletter subscriber who was responding to what I had written on this blog post: Oh, the Places Your Lead Magnets Will Go
This is a snippet of what I received from the reader:
“You are obviously a wonderful person, but your advice in today’s email is just plain wrong. You are coming at it from the wrong end. The solution isn’t a lead magnet to create traffic, it’s a deeper one of creating a better business that is inherently attractive.”
First of all, let me clarify one thing: a lead magnet does NOT create traffic. One of the many purposes of a lead magnet is to turn traffic into well-qualified leads.
I completely agree that “…creating a better business is what is inherently attractive.”
That aside, I maintain that learning to create high-converting lead magnets is a lifetime business skill.
One can create an inherently attractive business, but that doesn’t guarantee that people will find it. Let’s suppose, though, for a moment, that people find out about a business of interest, online and/or offline… if they don’t readily understand the business’ core message, then it’s all wasted effort. A good lead magnet serves as a conduit for providing value and information, as well as beginning to build a relationship of trust, credibility, and competence with interested parties.
Like a knife, a lead magnet is merely a tool. It can be used for good or not so good, used with class or distastefully. How the tool is wielded determines whether the use of the tool produces results (or not). Clearly, if there is no depth or substance to the programs, products, and services that a business offers, no lead magnet in the world will matter. A well-designed lead magnet is no panacea; rather, it serves as one of many “moments of truth” where an opportunity exists to engage with, inform, educate, and even entertain a prospective buyer.
I know many exceptional people who are superb at what they do. They deliver on their promises. They do make the world a better place. Yet, they struggle to develop sustainably profitable businesses. A well-designed lead magnet would be of great value in leveraging their ability to “connect with the right people and send the right signals about how they make their world better.”
Lead magnets are highly effective offline, as well as online.
I used to naively believe in the aphorism that “the best marketing remains a job well done.” A job well-done does not guarantee a successful business. I was given such advice by more established plastic surgeons when I was starting my surgical practice and it was flat-out wrong, misleading, and impractical advice that nearly led to the demise of my practice.
Furthermore, a job well-done should be the minimal level of performance for a business. Plenty of businesses in the history of humankind have provided exceptional services and products. Yet, they still went out of business.
I’ve made countless costly mistakes with my own offline and online traffic and lead-generation efforts. Consequently, I’ve made it part of my business to help others avoid such mistakes and to use available technologies wisely and effectively. I take high-level concepts and strategies and distill them into practical principles and best practices. I teach the “what to do” and the “how to do it” as well as recommend specific tools and technology to get the job done. Teaching about the power of lead magnets is no exception.
For that reason, I heartily invite you to attend the upcoming Lead Magnets Master Class: Click to register
I’m going to show you how lead magnets are instrumental to generating more revenue and profit for your business, while doing work that is meaningful to you and those you serve.
One more thing: Think of Lead Magnets as “connectors.” The approach I take with lead magnet creation actually gets you in greater tune and closer touch with your best audience and into their world. Click here to join us on the upcoming Lead Magnets Master Class
I have not been a part of the ongoing discussions on this blog, so I apologize in advance for my ignorance of what has gone on before.
But I thought it would be worth sharing what I know PERSONALLY of one Master Huang. 🙂
I know George’s work in a way that few can match:
1. I have interviewed 3 of his long term coaching clients in DEPTH, and then I converted those interviews that George could use in his own marketing. I can tell you that no stone is left unturned in my interviews. I search out the “good, the bad, and the ugly” about how my consulting clients treat their Raving Fan customers. And I can categorically state that what George is BEST KNOWN FOR is that he offers PRACTICAL BUSINESS BUILDING METHODS THAT JUST PLAIN WORK for his clients.
Sorry for all the “shouting” but the tone of some of the previous person’s issues with George seem to suggest that George was all about marketing FLUFF and not good business substance. In my experience with George, nothing is further from the truth.
2. I also HIRED George to help me create a 6-Figure Income from Coaching when I was really struggling. Please note — I had a well respected business. I had TONS of my own Raving Fans. What I did NOT have was regular, recurring, EASY new business. Hence, I would have times of great plenty, followed by times of deep deprivation.
I had NEVER had a recurring revenue coaching client before I started working with George. When he suggested I should charge $1,500 a month — right out of the gate — for my coaching — I thought he was nuts.
Long story short, within 6 months I secured 6 coaching who each paid me $1,500 a month. They stayed with me for an average of 12.6 months — about $18,000 worth of revenue EACH — over $108,000 for a year’s work.
The only reason these coaching clients stopped, is that I found that I had not really positioned myself to offer my clients my best skills. I ended up being somewhat of a marriage counselor/shrink to my clients. I felt uncomfortable in that role and I stopped coaching.
A couple of years later, I developed a better coaching model that would allow me to really focus on MARKETING through the Raving Fan video interviews I did. I followed George’s method for a second time and soon had another 6 clients paying me $1,500 a month, and again they stayed with me for over 12 months.
Ironically, given this current discussion of list building, the biggest thing holding my new clients back was their reluctance to take responsibility for any of their own marketing and list building. You can create all the great marketing resources you want, but if no one sees them, what is the point? As an outside consultant hired to do Raving Fan interviews and develop great video libraries for my clients, my work was clearly superior — that is, I offered a great service — but I still had to rely on my clients to build their lists and drive people to the materials I created.
In frustration, I got one of my clients to enable me to work directly with their webmaster to post videos directly onto my clients’ webpages. Sean Robertson is truly an outstanding MSP, and you can check him out here: http://www.strategictechnology.ca/ Just click on any of his pages and you will see some pretty decent video, if I do say so myself.
Unfortunately, my youngest son, Max, has Autism and developed some serious mental health issues and I had to step away from my coaching work. And I am just recovering from that almost 18 months later.
I sorely miss the regularity of recurring revenue that George’s methods brought to me.
I am now recreating the model for a 3rd time — maybe this is the charm? Anyway, to try George’s methods once and make $100K+ once is one thing. To do it a second time, and make more than $100K again. Well that sort of proves George’s approach FLAT OUT WORKS.
So listen up guys. And please, whatever you do, NEVER doubt George’s integrity or his commitment to his client’s welfare. He is a gem who I lovingly call a dear friend.
Bill Metcalf
Bill,
Wow!
To read such a glowing summary of how our work together influenced your life and business career reminds me about why I do this work. I vividly recall how tough it was for you, when we first started our work together. You’ve mentioned publicly before that you even had a roofing contractor put a lien on your house. Nothing that a six-figure annualized jumpstart couldn’t cure!
I”m thrilled to see you put what you learned from me into action time and time again.
And, yes, the third time is the charm, because good things come in 3’s!
Thanks so much for your kind words; YOU are a gem.
Onward and upwards!!!