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When it comes to capturing names and email addresses, consumers are more savvy now than they were a decade ago. They know that the minute they hand over their personal contact details, they’re opening themselves up to a never-ending slew of spam.

 

You not only have to be careful about how you interact with your subscribers once you get them on your list, but to even get them on there in the first place, you have to have something very tempting to offer.

 

Let’s take a look at five different temptations you can present as your freebie offer…

 

Motiving Mindset Lessons

 

No matter what niche market you’re in, one thing your readers will need is encouragement and motivation to achieve their goals, It could be in terms of weight loss, relationship repair – or even career success, but they are looking for someone to guide them in an inspiring manner.

 

Usually, marketers go into their lead generation thinking about what they can get out of it – what kinds of profits they’ll see when they send out some promotions. Instead, you should work on developing loyal bonds with your audience by sending them some emails that boost their confidence and help them soar to new heights.

 

This isn’t all you send, of course – but a smattering of uplifting or even tough love motivational emails helps people gain the courage they need to get out of their comfort zone and put your ideas to work.

 

The one thing you have to remember is that giving them the tools and instructions isn’t enough. Many (if not most) consumers need a good, ‘atta boy type of message to help them stay on track to completion.

 

You don’t to have them relying on you for motivation, either. It’s like the old adage about teaching a man how to fish (to feed him for a lifetime) being better than giving a man a fish (which only feeds him once).

 

You have to help your readers learn how to wake up every day, motivating themselves – with nothing but mere reminders from you once in awhile. You can inspire and motivate with short reports, a video series, or even proof of success with yourself and other subscribers who give you testimonials about how much you’ve helped them.

 

Before you create a lead generation offer using motivation, pinpoint their worst emotional reaction in the niche. Is it fear? Helplessness? Anger? Whatever it is, make your offer a mental transformation that helps them regain control and eliminate that emotional paralysis for good.

 

Basic How To Tutorials

 

One really good faith way to attract more subscribers to your list is to offer an upfront, free how to lesson on something your list needs most. If you visit most of the top marketers’ sites, you’ll find that many of them use this strategy as a way to hook new readers.

 

Most people force people to pay for step-by-step instructions on how to do something, but you can put out a lead gen that teaches the same thing for free, and really wow people with your generosity.

 

For example, your lead gen in the “make money online” niche could be a tutorial on How to Install a WordPress Blog. Make a quick video series or write up a report on how to do it and gift it to them.

 

Let’s say you’re in the survival niche. A good lead gen freebie tutorial for that niche might be “How to Pack a 72-Hour Bug Out Bag.” You’d give them information on essentials, what kind of bag to pack it in, and tips and hacks on preserving the supplies.

 

Or take, for instance, the pet niche. Your How To freebie could be something simple like How to Potty Train a New Puppy. Don’t worry about having something to sell your audience on down the road.

 

You’ll always have other things to sell and promote in broad niches like these. If you have a narrow niche, you can take a bite-sized nugget of information and teach that, such as “How to Install a Plugin” or “How to Make Dehydrated Strawberries.”

 

Another good thing about giving away a free tutorial up front is that it allows your audience to see your teaching style. Some people are hesitant to pay for information when they’re unfamiliar with how someone teaches.

 

And if the content you give away is so valuable to them, they’ll wonder what your paid content must be like! Giving away freebies is no different to how major stores like Costco or Sam’s hand out taste samples of their food items.

 

They’re hoping you’ll taste it, enjoy it, and then buy the bigger purchase based on your reaction to the freebie. The same concept works for your online marketing niches. Be thorough and answer all questions someone might have about whatever it is you’re teaching.

 

Put your best foot forward and it will endear your audience to you and help you create loyal bonds with your customers that directly improves your bottom line over time.

 

Strategic Brainstorming Sessions

 

One highly overlooked lead gen option is the over the shoulder brainstorming session. Too many people brush this valuable tool off as too simple, but the reality is, consumers love seeing other people take something – a strategy, a tool, or an idea – and implement it while they allow others to watch.

 

So let’s use the Internet marketing niche as a firm example. An over the shoulder brainstorming session might include things like:

 

• Letting them watch you conduct keyword research

 

• Letting them see how you find blog post ideas

 

• Letting them view the process of you monetizing a site and niche

 

• Letting them see you organize ideas and outline a book

 

• Letting them watch while you search for and finalize outsourcing on a project

 

All of these little things are steps that most marketers just tell them to do, such as, “create one blog post every day.” So they then sit there, paralyzed, because no one ever showed them how to brainstorm blog post ideas.

 

You’ll take it a step farther and actually showing them the brainstorming process. Use a screen capture tool like Camtasia and talk out loud to your viewing audience as you conduct online research and keyword research to develop blog topics that will resonate with your audience.

 

You’ll get a great response, as long as you make sure you’re organized before you begin. Your lead gen freebie can’t waste their time. Move along at a nice pace, and explain what you’re doing every step of the way.

 

This is the kind of hand holding that means the world to your audience because it’s something that helps them stand on their own two feet. Again, it’s like the “teach a man to fish” adage.

 

If you aren’t sure what your audience would like to see, head to your niche forums. There, you’ll read the common frustrations people have within the niche. It might be small things or broad ones.

 

You can also split test your lead gen freebies and see which method your potential subscribers opt in more eagerly to download. That will help you develop future products to sell to them, too.

 

Branding Video Series with Bonus Materials

 

If you’re looking for a good lead gen freebie, and simultaneously want to brand yourself to your audience, then considering hosting a recorded video series of yourself and providing a bundle of bonus material that your new subscribers can use.

 

You could do a series on info product creation, for example. This could be a mix of screen capture and face to face video recordings where your list gets to know you as a person, putting a face to the name.

 

Each day of the series that gets sent out, you’ll give them a link to the video of the day, along with a password if you want to make it exclusive for your subscribers. And along with it, you’ll send out a link to some of the bonus materials.

 

The bonus materials can include a variety of items such as mind maps, cheat sheets and checklists, to name a few.

 

Mind maps are visual brainstorming and organization tools that help people see a concept laid out in a logical manner. So instance, we could create a mind map for this report that had a lead gen freebie circle in the middle, with branches leading out to the five freebie options, which would then each have tips for those branching out.

 

Cheat sheets are another tools you can give as a bonus. Subscribers love getting free downloads, so when you send them things like a cheat sheet, which helps them quickly glance at a series of shortcuts or hacks to simplify whatever steps you’re sharing.

 

Checklists are a bit different, and primarily a reminder of sorts on which tasks to implement in whatever order you want them to be done. They’re shortened reminders meant to jog their memory, and it’s best if you make them printable.

 

In each of the videos that you create, make sure you keep them easily digestible (not too long) and that you brand your name and URL in the videos. The reason you want to do this is because they’re new to your list, and you want the details of who is giving them all this value to be ingrained in their minds.

 

Don’t give away everything all at once. Spread out the bonus material over the course of the free series – and don’t tell them up front what all of the bonuses will be, either. Keep those as a surprise to the reader to keep them eagerly awaiting your emails.

 

Remember not to use shortcuts in creating these videos or bonuses, either. You have to put your best foot forward so that they see the extraordinary value you’re putting forth with a free gift.

 

Implementation Review Series

 

This is some subscribers’ choice of lead gen freebie by far. It’s also an option that gives you, as an affiliate marketer, instant ability to promote someone’s product to your new subscribers.

 

An implementation review series is where you take a product – which could be an eCourse or plugin, for example – and implement it from start to finish, sharing your experiences along the way.

 

Of course, you have to be careful to conduct your review in a way that doesn’t give away the product owner’s complete instructions. You can be vague in spots, telling them major tasks you accomplished, but without sharing details – and focus heavily on the results that you enjoy from implementing the course.

 

So for example, you could take an affiliate marketing course and make a review implementation series where you walk them through your journey of carrying out the tasks and instructions.

 

Make sure you share more than just a run down of what you did. Share your feelings about what you went through, too. Even if that means you were frustrated some days, that’s okay – as long as you also show how you recovered from that moment.

 

People love to know that whatever you’re recommending, you would also be willing to do yourself. And one thing that helps set their minds at ease greatly is seeing someone else struggle a bit (or show how easy something is), before they buy it.

 

If possible, you might be able to arrange a discount for your list. Simply have the product creator set up a separate sales page (or a discount coupon) for your subscribers and each day of the video series, remind them of where they can go to get the product.

 

They may want to do it right along with you, so buying early would be a smart thing for them to do. Or, they might wait until they see you having good results with it – or until the very end to get your overall “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” opinion.

 

Regardless of which lead generator option you choose, make sure you really show up to serve your audience and let them get comfortable with the choice they just made of giving their name and email address to you.

 

Make sure you’re readily available to answer any questions about your lead gen freebie that your new subscriber may have. You might even put together a survey on SurveyMonkey.com to capture common questions or compliments (or complaints) your new readers present to you about the gift you’ve just given.

 

This will help you tailor your future messages and tweak your opt in freebie so that it performs better than most of your competitors!