Only part of the story: Don’t leave out Chapter 1.

You’ve got a Lead Magnet — but that is Chapter 2.

Image by Stephen Phillips on Unsplash.

If you’re like most business owners, you’re looking for ways to get more subscribers on your email list.

And you’ve probably been told to create a lead magnet. You need a gift to motivate readers and listeners to hand over their email addresses.

But there’s one step the email courses usually leave out — creating an opt-in page. You have to inspire visitors to reach for your offer.

These days a headline like “Free report!” will rarely grow your list. You have to sell your free lead magnet as if it were a paid product.

I recommend writing your opt-in page before you write (or revise) your lead magnet. It’s easier to create a lead magnet when you know what the selling points will be. It’s harder to add them in afterward.

So you’re much more productive when you draft the sales letter — the opt-in page — before you create the product.

What you may not know is this:

An opt-in page doesn’t have to follow a tight, rigid format. Some of my high-converting pages (think 60%-80%) break a lot of the rules. Some don’t even have pictures. Some aren’t exactly easy on the eye

Why not create (or revise) your opt-in page for your favorite giveaway? I’ve put together a special offer to help.​

So don’t skip this step in your Lead Magnet Story. Writing your opt-in page should be your beginning. You have “new subscribers on your list” as the Transformation…but only if the opt-in page works.

Originally published at https://cathygoodwin.com.