As an online entrepreneur, you’ll quickly learn that there are tons of advertisements, social media posts and videos pulling the attention of your potential audience.

In order to grab them, you have to make sure you attract them with quality content and valuable information. One of the best ways to attract and maintain the attention of your audience is through an email list. Email marketing is statistically known as one of the best ways to maintain the attention of your following.

With this in mind, it’s important to figure out the best ways to get your desired prospects onto your email list. A lead magnet is without a doubt one of the best ways to achieve that goal.

Here are some lead magnets that you may like to try.

1. Mini e-course

A mini e-course is a great lead magnet for businesses that have important knowledge to educate their prospects about – which is essentially everyone!

For example, a woman who sells hair conditioner might want to do a mini e-course that focuses on the value of deep conditioning and how it can help a woman’s hair grow. Through this e-course, women will get an answer to a lingering question and they’ll be placed directly in front of a product that can work well for them.

Here is an example from Kim at Your Chic Geek:

2. Free chapter of an upcoming book

This lead magnet is perfect for authors. Building a platform to sell your book is a tricky concept. It can involve a lot of trial and error. However, this lead magnet is a surefire way to get people onto your email list and guarantee that they are interested in the content of your book-to-be.

If you’re writing a series, leave a cliffhanger on Part 1. At the end of Part 1, direct people to your email list so they can get a head start on Part 2. Playing on the curiosity of your readers will really work well.

If your book isn’t a part of a series, just make sure to create enough buzz around the book. For this lead magnet to work, potential readers need to be interested and curious. Find a few people who are willing to stand behind the book and vouch for it. Social credibility and validation can do wonders for those who are new to a specific author.

This is another reason why so many people do book tours and visit different radio and talk shows. Once you create the buzz or leave a cliffhanger from the previous book, this lead magnet will attract the right readers.

Ash Maurya used this tactic for his book “Scaling Lean“:

3. Workbook

A workbook is an excellent option for those who are looking for free tools to help them get from Point A to Point B. Many online entrepreneurs love to create workbooks that support the content they share.

If you’re a life coach, a workbook might be a great lead magnet to help your audience. A workbook that focuses on how to make your life’s goals a reality would be something a lot of people would even pay for. If you’re giving it away for free in PDF format, it’s a surefire way to get people into your sales funnel.

Even though you’re giving it away for free, it’s very important to make sure the quality is incredible. Hire a graphic designer to design the workbook and put it together in an eye-catching way.

Here’s a workbook example from the Content Marketing Institute:

4. Giveaways/Contests

People love receiving free gifts. Even when people order items from Amazon, it feels like Christmas when the items come to their door.

In this case, people will sign up for the chance to win a prize. Actress Tamera Mowry-Housley hosted a New Years’ giveaway on her wildly popular lifestyle blog. In order to enter to win, everyone needed to comment on the blog post, sign up for her newsletter and follow her on some other platforms.

The giveaway included a planner, a scented candle, binder clips and a few other goodies. The giveaway was amazing enough to make the various instructions worth the time they took.

Make sure the requirements involved with entering the giveaway aren’t too difficult because people don’t like to be inconvenienced.

Below is an example of a holiday contest from Sandals:

5. Expert video series

In most cases, people want to know that they’re receiving their information from credible sources. Most people are more likely to take an expert’s opinion seriously.

Whatever field you’re in, reach out to some of the experts. Ask them if they’d be willing to lend their expertise for a Skype interview. Send them the questions in advance. Allow them to have time to review what’s required. In order to entice the experts to say yes, let them know that it will be a huge opportunity to draw a crowd and get their message to a new group of people.

It’s also important to ask each expert to share this video series with their following. Now, you’re pulling the audiences from multiple experts. You’ll be able to garner all of these interested viewers and introduce your product or service to the audience as well.

This only works well if you have multiple experts with large followings. Otherwise, you’d just be using one expert’s audience to introduce your website. This is a one-sided relationship. You’ll want to make sure that when you work with people, these relationships are mutually beneficial.

Conclusion

These five lead magnets convert well within their own contexts. Take a look at the product or service you offer. Get creative about figuring out the best way to use a lead magnet to your benefit. Over time, you can try different ones and see what works for you.

For more lead magnet ideas, read this blog post.