124: Does a Coach Need a Lead Magnet?

This episode is part of a new series about lead magnets or what I call freebies. Find the Show Notes for this episode at prosperouscoach.com/124.I bet you’ve opted in for dozens of lead magnets since you decided to become a coach.In case you haven’t, a lead magnet or a freebie is just what it sounds like. The idea is that you offer something of unique value related to your niche that your audience wants in exchange for their name and email address.Then they become a lead for you – a potential future client.Future clients are the gold mine in your business. They are just as important as current paying clients.It’s important to build relationships with future clients otherwise you’ll find yourself having to chase potential clients rather than attract them. I labored so hard chasing clients for the first few years of my business. If a lead stays on your list, you have the opportunity to continue to communicate with them by email.Those emails could be anything from a follow up series of emails for a specific campaign or purpose to a teaser email that let’s them know you have a new podcast episode or blog they might want to see. It could be an email that’s personal about you.It’s a good idea to share some vulnerability and reveal something about you in every email.If you are receiving my teaser emails each week to let you know when each new podcast episode airs then you have an excellent example showing what I mean by vulnerability in small bits.Why Do Coaches Need a Leads List?Well, I suppose you might not need a lead magnet or a leads list if you already have a steady stream of prospects contacting you. And those people are adequately primed to hire you.The first thing – a steady stream of prospects contacting you — does not necessarily mean that the 2nd thing — people adequately primed to help you — is happening.Most coaches need to create their own network of potential clients and get them excited about hiring them. Believe me, this is not accomplished by talking all about the virtues of coaching.It takes time to develop a relationship of trust with people in your target audience leads list.It may take dozens of messages before your words strike that resonant chord with a person in your audience. That’s because people are busy, distracted and bombarded with messages all day long.Every one of us only pays attention to messages that hit the mark of what’s most important to us right now.And, of course, not everyone on your leads list will take action to work with you.That’s completely natural and, in fact, you don’t want everyone on your list to become a client. You only want to attract the most ideal clients. Listen to episode #117 called How to Attract ideal Coaching Clients Who Can’t Wait to Work with You.I feel blessed. All of my ideal clients are finding me through my podcast. In a way, those subscribers are an alternate leads list Occasionally, I offer a special freebie related to a podcast and coaches are opting in for those by the dozens every week. That’s how they get on the Prosperous Coach list.It’s fun. I see someone subscribe for a freebie of mine and then a month or two later some of those people fill out the application to work with me in my Signature Program. That’s how I know my systems to connect with ideal clients are working. I want you to have that going for you.To see the 6 powerful questions about your lead magnet go here.