183 | The Lead Magnet Strategy Every Coach Needs to Build Their Email List

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Social media is rented land.

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You don't own it, the algorithm

changes, your reach drops, and there's

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absolutely nothing you can do about it.

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I have experienced this firsthand.

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Posts that would've done brilliantly

a year ago just don't do well anymore.

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But your email list is all yours.

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No one can take it away from you.

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There is no algorithm for

email, no platform update

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that's gonna mess up your life.

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My list is around 2,300 people at

the moment, and I still get a huge

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proportion of my clients from email.

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Welcome back to Women

in the Coaching Arena.

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I am Jo Lott.

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Today, we are talking about how to

build an email list, even if right now

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you have zero subscribers and the whole

tech thing feels a bit overwhelming.

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I remember that feeling really

well, and I sent my husband and

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kids away for three full days so I

could do my first email list build.

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It genuinely took from 7:00 AM to

: 11:00

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So even though I put it off for a little

while, it really is worth your time.

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So let me walk you through

exactly how to do this.

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To build an email list, you need

a reason for people to join.

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Generally, people won't sign up because

you say, "Subscribe to my newsletter."

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You really need to be offering

them something valuable in

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exchange for their email address.

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You may know this as a lead magnet.

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So I, for example, have a coach's planner.

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I have another one called

12 Ways to Get Clients.

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I have a quiz.

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I have so many other lead magnets,

which is a way of inviting

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people to step towards you.

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Often, the simplest lead

magnet really works.

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There are three types of lead magnets

that work really well for coaches.

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So one is a short guide or checklist,

something like five steps to landing

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your next job, something that people

can actually use straight away A lot

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of the people in my program will do

something that's far too big picture,

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and then I always give the feedback,

we need to be micro-specific here.

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Solve one tiny, tiny problem versus,

you know, how to find your purpose or

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something that's so wide that people just

can't get that quick win quick enough.

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One of my clients, Claire, created

a new lead magnet and got four

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new signups in her very first

week, not thousands, but four.

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So here the message is appreciate

every single subscriber.

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Don't think, "I'll start writing

to my list weekly when I have

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hundreds of subscribers."

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Treat these people like gold and

treat them like you will if you had

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thousands of people on your list.

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A mini training or video can really

work well because it can also

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double up as a deep nurture tool.

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So I, for example, have a 15-minute

webinar that people can watch, so then

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they can make progress in their business

and also get to know me in the process.

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Create something that's genuinely

useful that will give people a

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taste of you and how you coach.

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The last one I will mention here that

my clients have recently become hugely

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successful with are using AI bots as

lead magnets In my program, I have a

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training and a specific bot that will

help you create your own custom bot.

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So one of my clients, Andy, has done

really well, got his out immediately,

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and the best thing is it will help

people maybe identify their strengths

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or their next career move, but it will

also say, "If you're really struggling

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with this, book a call with Andy.

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Here's his Calendly link."

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So it's out there working

for him all of the time.

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But here is the key with any lead

magnet, a micro problem beats broad.

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So five steps to landing your

first coaching client is so much

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better than everything you need

to know about a coaching business.

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I learnt this firsthand because my first

ever lead magnet was called 10 Essential

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Steps to Start a Coaching Business.

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Obviously, everybody needs to

know the steps, or so I thought.

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I got a trickle of

subscribers over a year or so.

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Then I did a different lead magnet,

which was called 12 Ways to Get Clients

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Now, Steps that You Can Take in Less

Than 15 Minutes, and I got an absolute

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flurry of subscribers because everyone

wants a quick win, and we as coaches

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want to help people have the full

big transformation, but the way of

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the world is we just want quick wins.

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So give them that quick win,

and then they might come to you

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for the bigger transformation.

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So please don't overthink

this lead magnet thing.

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First lead magnet can

be a simple Google Doc.

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It doesn't need to be perfectly

designed or professional, but

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the value is in the content.

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Just get something out there and

make it pretty sometime later.

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Right, so you have your lead

magnet Now you need people to

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actually find it and sign up.

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There are three main places for this.

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Firstly, your social media, so

at the bottom of your posts or

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in the comments, try and bring

people towards your lead magnet.

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Not every post, because maybe that would

be annoying, but regularly, consistently.

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I'm talking several times a week here.

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In your LinkedIn featured

section is another great way.

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You can directly link to a link, so don't

choose post here, choose link, and people

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will directly go to your lead magnet link.

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Finally, speaking, networking,

podcasts, and anything else

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you're doing, essentially.

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So at the end of your talk or

whatever it is you're doing, then

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try and think about what lead

magnet would be a perfect next step.

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Here are the five emails that

every new subscriber should get.

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Once someone signs up, you have

about 48 hours where they are most

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interested in you, most engaged, and

most likely to read what you send.

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So you need a welcome sequence, which is a

series of emails that go out automatically

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over the first couple of weeks.

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Here's what I would include.

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So email one is the welcome.

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Send it immediately with their

gift, their lead magnet, whatever

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it is they signed up for.

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Tell them about you.

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Tell them what to expect.

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Keep it warm and keep it short.

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Email two is your story, why you.

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And in this one, the idea

is to repel or rally.

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So feel free to share

your actual opinions.

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If they're your type of person,

they will stay on your list.

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If they aren't your type of

person, they will unsubscribe,

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and that is what we want.

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The more you try and keep everybody

happy, the less likely it is that you

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will connect with your actual people.

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Email three is your best piece of content.

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For example, I have recently weaved

in my top-rated blog post, which is

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called How to Start a Coaching Business,

because it's number one on Google,

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so people obviously find it valuable.

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So it was a bit crazy that I hadn't

really put that in my emails when it

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is my best piece of content out there.

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It helps people to think, "Okay,

she really knows her stuff and

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knows how to break it down for me."

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Email four, let's talk proof now, so

share a client story or testimonial.

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Feel free to show a real transformation.

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It doesn't always need to

be the big, shiny kind.

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Sometimes people want a

believable transformation.

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Email five is your invitation, so

tell them how they can work with you.

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Don't avoid this step.

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If they are on your list, they

probably have the problem that you

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solve, so it's your duty to let

them know how you can help them.

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So they are the basis of

your nurture sequence.

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And honestly, you never know when the

right person is going to come along.

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One of my favorite stories is Melissa.

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She found me, signed up, received my

welcome sequence, and bought on email two.

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That doesn't happen often, so don't

think you can just do these five

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emails and everyone will sign up.

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Just know that they are prime to talk

to people that are ready to buy now.

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But most people aren't ready

to buy now, so don't forget to

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actually continue to nurture your

list every single week for years.

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I know that's harsh, but it's reality,

and I've been emailing my list

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every week for around six years now.

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Why your newsletter

doesn't have to be perfect.

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So I send out the Honest Edit every

single week, and I'll be honest, it took

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me years of emailing consistently before

I even gave my newsletter a proper name.

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I did this in the last nine months or so.

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I was always a bit envious when I'd

receive someone else's newsletter with

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a lovely name and a clear identity,

but it took me a really long time to

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figure out what I wanted mine to be.

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So if you haven't named yours

yet, you're feeling overwhelmed

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by the whole thing, that's fine.

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Just start now and get perfect later.

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So what do you actually

write, you may be asking?

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Here's a simple approach.

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One useful thing, maybe an insight,

a framework, something that come

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up in your coaching sessions.

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Ideally, something that

they can actually use.

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The idea in all of our marketing

is that people just start slowly,

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slowly improving their problem.

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So much so, they start thinking maybe

this thing could work out for me.

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So for example, if they're a leader

and you start sharing how to have a

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difficult conversation, and they try

it and it works, then instead of them

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being less likely to buy from you, they

actually think, "Wow, I actually did

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that, and it made a big difference.

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What else could they help me with?"

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So the idea is to help your ideal

client take tiny, tiny steps

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up that staircase towards you.

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One personal thing you could share

in your newsletter is something

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that's going on in your world.

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I think with AI now, we're all

desperately craving real life, so

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something that makes that person know

that this is a real email that you've

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written and you are a real human

being, not just a name in their inbox.

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Finally, do include your next

step, so an invitation to hit

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reply is always a good one.

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If you are wanting to lead them

somewhere else, like your website or your

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podcast or your workshop, then do that.

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Even when you think no one's reading

and there's hardly anyone on your list,

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and actually use this to your advantage.

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The best thing about having a really

small list is that you can actually

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personally email them, so you can

get their name and manually send a

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welcome email as well if you wanted to.

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So feel free with it whilst we

set the sequence up so you have

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some sort of automated system.

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Really just be creative and know

you can keep in touch with these

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people in all sorts of ways.

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So let's tackle quickly

what might get in the way.

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So I don't know what to write is

something I hear about all the

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time, and I've covered that here.

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Write about things you're annoyed

about, something that happened this

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week, maybe a mistake that you made.

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You will never run out of material

if you're constantly asking yourself,

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"What did I learn this week?"

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Next up is nobody will sign up.

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Start with those you know,

maybe your former clients.

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Send your lead magnet to

them, your existing contacts.

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I personally send mine to new LinkedIn

connections as well in a really nice way,

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and that depends on what sort of lead

magnet you have as to whether you can

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carry that off without looking pushy.

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But I genuinely believe my

planner is super useful, so I

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have no qualms in sharing it.

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And just know your first 50 subscribers

will be likely people that already know

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you, and that is brilliant because they

are the most likely to become clients.

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The final thing I hear often

is, "I don't want to be one of

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those annoying people emailing."

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If they signed up That means they

want to hear from you, so you

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are not annoying them, you are

serving them and providing value.

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And if somebody unsubscribes,

that's actually great because they

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weren't your person to begin with.

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Your list will get more focused,

which is exactly what you want.

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So one thing you can do after

today's episode is create your first

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lead magnet, or if you have one

already, review it and just see it

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from that person who signs up eyes.

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I looked at a client's lead

magnet yesterday, and I'm probably

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her ideal client, like I'm

really interested in her work.

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But her lead magnet was so complex that

despite me trying to read it to give

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her feedback, often I just couldn't read

it because it was a really long, maybe

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six-page article, a bit like a book.

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And when I've just signed up for a

quick lead magnet, I want a quick win.

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I'm not in a place where I can sit down

for 30 minutes and read an article.

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So really do think about how you can keep

it simple and give people a quick win.

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The tech is a bit more of a minefield.

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In my program, I provide a pre-built

funnel template, so you have the sign-up

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page, thank you page, and the emails

already attached in a tech platform.

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So that helps people

get this over the line.

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But even with that, it does

take head space for the tech,

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and know that that's normal.

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But once it's done, it will

continue to work for you for years.

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It's one of those things that you feel

like never doing, and in six months' time,

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you will realize you've built something

incredibly powerful, a direct line to

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people who have actually opted in and

said that they want to hear from you.

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That is worth more than

10,000 Instagram followers.

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If you are not on my email list yet,

I send out the Honest Edit every

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single week with practical advice

for building your coaching business.

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I will share the link in the

description, and I look forward

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to seeing you over there.

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So see you next week, and like I

always say, trust yourself, believe

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in yourself, and be the wise gardener

who keeps on watering the seed.

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