Anne:    How do the Lead Magnet get sales?

KP:       You have a follow through service with links.  So your magnet isn’t a stand alone.  It’s part of your whole programme, it’s embedded.  So whatever you want to do, your follow on services flow your lead magnet.

Anne:    In other words don’t just pop it up there and hope for the best, it’s got to be part of the package?

KP:       That’s right.  Marketing only works when it’s integrated.  When one bit works with another bit.. which works with another bit.  Marketing doesn’t work very effectively if you do one bit and you do that really well but it doesn’t go anywhere.

You might be lucky and get sales from it but that’s where it’s hard for small business owners who aren’t trained in marketing to actually realise that it’s a concept.  Think of marketing as an orchestra and every instrument, every tool has a part to play in growing your business.

Mike:    What is the relationship, if any, between what they call squeeze pages, landing pages and a lead magnet?

KP:       A lead magnet isn’t necessarily on a squeeze page.  A squeeze page is where someone lands on a page and they can’t do anything else.  The lead magnet seminar page that you arrived on was a squeeze page because there was nowhere else you could go apart from decide whether to sign up or press the “back” key on your browser.  They were the only two pages where you could have gone.  That’s forcing you to make a decision.

If you go to the the Twitter Report page on my case study, where it’s got all of the recommendations and the graphic and stuff, that’s basically another squeeze page.

I’ve also got the Twitter report lead magnet on HaveMoreClients home page which is nothing like a squeeze page.  People don’t have to sign up to it, but people do.  It depends where the lead magnet fits within all the other bits of your marketing and what is it that you want it to do.  All these things have their place.

Mike:    Thank you.

Post your questions and receive answers on how to use Lead Magnets to attract more clients.

Step one:  Learn what your market wants and how they want to receive it

So who is your market? Be specific! The more specific, the more personal you appear. You want people to think/feel “That’s me!” Creating that understanding goes a long way in the “Know, Like and Trust” of relationships

By creating a profile of your ideal client group, commonalities arise and that makes it easier for you to communicate to the whole group.

Be wary of creating multiple groups as this will increase your marketing effort. Each group requires a specific message for them to feel/think “That’s me!”

On the flip side, you can provide information in different formats and topics to suit sub-groups.

Some of us are auditory, some of us are kinaesthetic, others’ are visionary.  What happens is that when we provide everything through text we limit our marketability.

The easiest way of finding what your market wants is to ask them. You can do this by interviewing them on the phone, face to face or in small groups depending upon your skills, time and resources. Interviews are great when you want to learn the language your market uses as well as more about them. If you have the evidence regarding language, then a questionnaire can be the quickest and easiest way.

And if you really don’t want to contact the market first hand, you can look at what’s been published on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores. By seeing the numbers of books, the words and topics addressed gives you a good indication what’s been done and is popular.

Step Two:  Create the content to suit your market

The basic formats for Lead Magnets are Text, Audio, Video and the combinations.

The most common statement from small business owner clients is “But, I don’t have content. I don’t have enough to say” And, that is usually after they have spoken passionately about their business for thirty minutes.

It doesn’t matter weather you have a product based business or offer services. You have content.

Every business owner is an expert in their area. If not, then they won’t have a business that will last that long!

By concentrating on the themes arising from Step One, you have topics from which to add your perspective and stamp. This is important in the Know, Like and Trust cycle. If you appear to be little more than saying the “same ole”, there will be little to distinguish you from others. This is your opportunity to demonstrate your thought leadership, your perspective. By doing this, you increase your attractiveness and likeability to the market.

Step Three: Add the Lead Magnet to your webpage

This can be to the homepage of your site, your blog, or even create a mini-site that just has your lead magnet. Well, it could be on all – the essential ingredient is to have an email capture mechanism.

People have asked if Lead Magnets only work online. The answer is no – you can hand deliver the lead magnet. But to increase the effectiveness of your marketing, it is much better to have Lead Magnets online so people can get the material when it suits them.

All your offline promotion can direct people to your website/page with your lead magnet.

Too many websites are little more than brochures, they cost money to create and maintain but don’t actually work for your business. Lead Magnets helps you to redress the balance and start to turn your website into a profit centre rather than a drain on resources.

Step Four – Promote your Magnet

What if you just add it to your existing marketing?

Instantly you are open 24/7, 365 days a year.

You are no longer open 9-5 five days a week.

People can consume you whenever they want and what’s so great about this is that you know they are interested in what you have written about or what you recorded because they have downloaded it.

Then it is up to you to build that relationship up over time.

The big emphasis about adding a lead magnet to your marketing mix is that you know what they are interested in, you build up a relationship so that they know they like and trust you.  Once they trust you, they will open their wallet.

Just think about how you buy.  Do you buy from people who you don’t know?  You might if it’s a low cost, low risk transactional purchase. Great, if you are in this market?  But with selling services that can be quite expensive, we need know how we can build that relationship so people trust and are happy to part with their money.

Here are ten ways to promote your Lead Magnet

1. Business cards

   You could have your url on your business card pointing to your lead magnet.  That’s important.  How many business cards do you give away in a week?  What are people going to do?  The first thing they are going to do if they do anything from your business card is look at your website.

2. Articles

   Whether you’ve got online or offline articles or whether you post articles in special groups or directories you have an opportunity to put a link to your lead magnet.

3. Your blog post

   You could put a call to action at the bottom of your blog post that points to your lead magnet.

4. Networking

   Every time you go networking you can tell people that you have a lead magnet, something on your website that you can download.  Not only that but it makes it easier for your vendors and suppliers to be networking for you.  They’re not recommending you as a sale, they can say “Oh, I know Samantha, she does that sort of work and I know she’s got an e-book you can download/a video you can watch”.  That’s going to be worth a lot.  It’s going to have more traffic coming to your lead magnet.

5. Google Ad Words

   These are great but I don’t recommend you do it at the beginning, it’s a more advanced activity.  Do Google Ad Words when you’ve proven that your lead magnet is magnetic otherwise you’ll be spending money and not getting a return.

6. Press releases

   You can do online press releases as well as those to go into magazines and papers of your choice that are read by your market.

7. Public speaking

   You can structure your talk so people can get more information by downloading  your information.

8. You can give testimonials

   People talk about testimonials as getting them from people.  Actually giving testimonials is a great promotional tool.  It means you are seen by people who are not in your usual circle.

   You are able to show people the sort of business you are in the way to give testimonials. Also, you build up links form other sites with testimonials.

   If you give testimonials and you give freely, it will actually increase your promotions, particularly if you then put your web address linking back to the lead magnet.

9. Social networking

   Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook and all the other sites that you could be using that reaches your market. Each of these can be regarded as a distinct tool as they appeal to different groups of people and the way you present the material matters to each platform.

10. Inserts in magazines and newsletters

    That’s a bit like Google Ad Words, it will cost money and you want to make sure that your magnet is magnetic before you do that.

You don’t have to spend lots of money to market your business.  You do have to spend money on learning how to do it but not to deliver it.  If you’re spending lots of money, I suggest that you look at different ways of marketing your business.

Now you have the four steps. These are the same steps I use in my own business and with clients. If you would like to learn how to do, go to Lead Magnet Secrets. Training starts on 24th March 2010

But, in the world where time is at a premium, marketing smarter than harder is required.

Enter:  Lead Magnets

A lead magnet is material produced by you giving information that your market is currently searching for. It sits on a web page and people can download whenever it suits them. So you see, with a lead magnet your business is open all the time! Even when you’re asleep, out with your partner or having a much needed break!

There are three stages to attracting more prospects and are shown in the diagram below:

Lead Magnet Creation

The formats available are document (PDF), audio, video or a combination. Your choice depends upon your market and the sort of services you offer.  For example:

• A law firm would use text and audio than video unless it is showing people how to fill in a particular form
• A photographer may be better to have a document and video rather than audio
• A recruitment agency may have multiple magnets according to whether they are attracting candidates or clients. For clients, they may find audio better than text. While for candidates, it may be both audio and video. But, this really does depend upon the topics shared.

The one format that builds intimacy faster is audio for the simple reason that people can hear you, your passion, your commitment and that builds the like, know and trust faster.

On the other hand, reports and videos enable you to explain complex topics. The length of each depends upon your topic but keeping it short so people can consume and want more.

Publishing – Which Web page?

You can have your magnet on several pages:

• Homepage
• A special page showing more information. Something like a sales page
• Added to specific pages as a supplement to the content

The purpose is to expose everyone visiting that page to your content and magnet.

You ask people for their email address, and more if that’s appropriate for your market, in exchange for the material. Yes, they can immediately unsubscribe once they have your information, and accept that there are some people who take all that’s on offer.  But, they may come back later when it’s right for them!

It’s having their email address that enables you to foster a relationship. It enables you to send them your newsletter, invite them to seminars or forward items that supplement the magnet information. Lead Magnets are integral to marketing your service business.

So we have two activities completed – creation and publish. Now, let’s look at the third element – Promotion.

Promotion

Even though you’ve created the material you know is wanted by your market, you still have to tell them it exists. And, this needn’t be difficult; it can just be a change in the way you promote your services now.

Add details onto your business card, email signature and forums and groups etc. This gives you an opportunity to offer value without being service led; without having to be there to deliver. Now you are open all hours and your promotions are geared to people having the material rather than making the sale.

Be clear before you promote your magnet, even before you create, just what you want to achieve and how you plan to do it. Then, it will be easy to follow up with people, building your reputation and making many more sales along the way.

Why Lead Magnets

This post opened with the market being tough but it is also part of the changing marketing landscape where the buyers search for independent, value-centred information prior to buying. They are less likely to accept sales oriented material as acceptable.

Lead Magnets make the intangible tangible. People are able to experience your approach, your thinking before having to risk paying for a service that doesn’t deliver or delivers with high costs attached.

By having lead magnets, you offer a no risk way for people to learn more about your services, your approach while enhancing your position as an authority.

To find out more, register for the F R E E Lead Magnet Seminar on 10^th February 2010 at 7pm GMT 2pm EST

The interview lasts for 30 minutes and covers:

1. What would you say the advantages of email marketing are?
2. What tips would you give to the readers regarding subject lines?
3. What tips would you give to readers regarding open rates?
4. What are your tips for improving click-through rates?
5. What is your opinion on e-newsletters?
6. How often would you recommend sending out emails?
7. What would your Top 5 Tips be for start-up Email Marketers?

Plus much more

If you have questions still unanswered, leave them in comments for an answer

Happy Listening

Underrated, Misunderstood - Email is your greatest tool

Less than twenty years, the email has gone from obscurity to be a foundation tool in everyone’s communication kit. Now, that is on a par with the mobile phone!

And just like mobile phones, the email has evolved.

Despite all the filters, controls and the increasing demands upon our time, emails consistently perform by delivering messages when and how you want them.

Epsilon Research produces trends and benchmarking for emails. The latest shows three metrics – delivery, open and click through.

The research showed the delivery remained fairly constant at around 93%. While, the open and click through rates decline slightly. Knowing the baseline for performance means you can measure what you are doing and make sure you are well above.

Delivery

You may consider that all the emails would be delivered as all the email address you have comes from a personal opt in. But, there are times when the network is busy, mailboxes are full and even your email may be classed as spam by the destination server.

So, if you consistently have delivery rates higher than 93%, then you are doing something right! But continue to monitor those emails that don’t get through and consider changing the timing and the day of the week for sending.

Open rates

The trend information has the open rate declining from 24% to 20% over the past two years. This is the equivalent of an additional 4 for every 100 emails not being opened.

Open rates do depend upon two elements – the relationship you have with your people and how you communicate with them. This is as much the headline as the contents of the email.

Please don’t be discouraged by the low open rates. If you nurture the people on your list, remove those who are no longer interested in what you have to say, then the open rate will increase.

You can also make sure the email subject is interesting. When you monitor the open rate, you can see fluctuations. Over time, trends of the better performing headlines will emerge.

Click Through Rate

This does depend upon whether you set up to track the links in your email. By learning what is of interest and the extent of the interest, you can shape future emails to match the trends.

The research showed the click through rate having a small decline from 7% to 6%. So for every 100 emails, 6 respond by clicking the links. But, this does depend upon what you say in the email. If it delivers information, then the reader may be more inclined to click for further details. If the email is used to sell, then the response may well be lower. This may also impact upon the open rates – so monitor the impact of each style of email you send.

So, please take these figures are your baseline and monitor performance. You should always be above the baseline.

Things you can do

1. Set up your monitoring system even if you only send out your newsletter regularly
2. Plan the frequency of your emails
3. Change an element and monitor the impact
4. Improve the performance with each email campaign so the baseline becomes irrelevant
5. Monitor the changes in your lead conversions and referrals

Now, there is chatter about 2011 and 2012!

If you are just making it through 2009, can you make it through 2011 as well. Sure, there is an upturn forecast in 2010 but will this be enough to recover from 2009 and save for the next downturn?

Small businesses operate on cash – so there has to be a positive cash flow. Without it, the business is dead. The way through any downturn is to make sure your marketing effort is focused to bring results.  Here are 5 things to structure your business to ensure you have cash:

1. Payment in advance
   Restructure your terms of business so you receive payments in advance. This means you won’t be chasing payments when your customers hold onto their cash.
2. Review your client base
   How recession proof are your existing clients? If they are feeling the impact of the recession now, focus your attention on more affluent groups. They will be more likely to have money to spend.
3. Develop new offerings
   If you offer bespoke services on a one to one basis, you can reactivate your current customer base by offering group services where costs are shared. They still receive help, support and results on a budget. The way this is done will depend upon whet you do and what the market wants.
4. Create additional revenue streams
   This is more easy for those who are able to package elements of their services as standalone information products. These can be used independently or an as adjunct to any of your group service offerings.
5. Promotional Partners
   Approach companies who are also serving your market to arrange for cross promotional activity. There is a win-win to this approach – both partners can gain sales and, well potentially much more.

Now, some of these will be instant while others will take time to implement. You’ve got a year before the next downturn starts – that can be enough time. Act now! Subscribe to karenpurves.com to get more about how to turn the downturn into business growth.

Take a look at what happens:

• People look for a new job
• More businesses are started in January than at any other time
• More Relationships breakdown at this time than at any other time
• More People question whether they want to live the life they have now
• More people seek relief from stress
• More people start diets
• Then, there’s the new year resolutions that may never last more than a few days

January is about change.

If you are in the business as a catalyst for change or helping others through change, then Janauary is a hot month for you.

Being October, you have time to make sure your marketing and promotional activity is ready and hits the spot.

Here’s a checklist of the eight steps to maximise your January Sales

1. Review what went well in January 2009
   By taking all the positive stuff, you will get ideas on how it could be improved further. If you’ve changed your offering since January, then concentrate on the service aspect and how well the lead generation aspects went.
2. Ask your clients and prospects now
   Contact these people and ask them what’s happening for them now, their plans for 2010, about things getting them down that they know action is required soon. Some people may not know exactly but by having a conversation you will be able to illicit topics that really required action in the next couple of months but can wait till Christmas is over!
3. Tailor your offering
   Using the information from item 2,  make your offering for January really pertinent to those conversations. Use the words they used when talking to you in the copy.
4. Create your Promotional campaign
   This campaign should run for 28 days or more and will have a mix of  information sharing, teleseminar or preview seminars both on and off line. Making the most of your presence on Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook and specialist sites to raise the profile of what you’re sharing and subsequently offering
5. Schedule the Seminars
   The timing will depend upon your market  and whether pre- or post-  Christmas or all in January. You could play around with the sequence and dates noting which and when works better.
6. Be prepared to deliver
   Know what you can deliver and how many. Prepare all the emails, the information packs and post service follow-up material before you start on the campaign. Doing this now means you will think of things that you can incorporate into your overall plan. It not only increases the cohesiveness of your promotion but its also a boost to your confidence that January will be great!
7. Have a contingency Plan
   Work out what you will do if you have swamped with people wanting your services. Identify other people who could work with you. Be clear how this will be done.  You have done all the marketing and preparation so make sure your expenditure is t least covered and at best, you retain the client in the future
8. Planning for Action brings Activity
   Whatever happens, you will be sure that having done all this thinking and activity that sales will happen. Make sure you record what goes well and not so well to help you next time!

These steps are achievable for you to make the most of the January surge!