I stopped giving away PDFs and built a lead magnet that gets me real clients. This is how I do it for me and my clients, with a sprinkle of Bali vibes.
Are you ready to rumble…? Let's dive in.
Why do most lead magnets never turn into a client?
There's this sad thing about lead magnets. I hear some people talking…
"Lead magnets don't work anymore." And that's a lie.
To be more precise, it's the way YOU use lead magnets that doesn't work anymore.
The true answer to the question is this:
Modern lead magnets only teach basic crap, instead of getting you a result.
This may land cold on your plate. But when you want lead magnets to work, you need to change your way.
And in this article I'll share how.
The lead magnet nobody opened
I had a PDF once. It was called the Launch Checklist. And for years it performed great. Until more people started talking about launches.
They shared the exact same steps but in a better-looking package.
That was the moment my email list growth, and my lead gen, died. And the poor souls who did download the guide never bought.
Does this sound familiar? Then you have to read on.
It was time to change my lead magnet game
At some point it clicked for me that most lead magnets are dead. Then in 2023 I saw this interview with Alex Hormozi.
You can love or hate the guy. When he speaks, I listen.
He said all his lead magnets were being outperformed by one type. Are you ready for this one?
The lead magnets of today are outcome or service based. In short, deliver value first, then ask for the cash.
My old lead magnet had problems.
- It was built for everybody. When you speak to everybody, you speak to nobody.
- You teach instead of delivering an outcome. It's not enough to be the smartest in the room anymore. You need to bring in the outcomes. It can be a service or a Claude skill (my favorite).
- The lead magnet has nothing to do with my offer. Well, this one is the biggest mistake I see my clients make. When you sell apple juice, your giveaway should be about the beautiful taste of French apple juice squeezed from home-grown apples. Nothing else…
- It took ages to consume. Look, we live in a dopamine-invested society. People believe they don't have time to lose. They rush to the next shiny thing faster than you can say: "Hey I'm a cool guy with a great offer."
- I tried to solve everything. Yeah I know that you know that you should keep things simple. And yet in your burst of enthusiasm you still try to solve all world problems in one PDF. Guilty as charged…
Keep things simple. One problem, one solution.
Fix these five things alone and you'll do amazing. That's a promise.
Before you start and build your next viral lead magnet
You need three things before you start.
- A piece of expertise you already sell. Something you have done for paying clients.
- Turn that into a tool instead of a document. Claude Code works great for this. Think about calculators, quizzes, or skills.
- Attach a welcome sequence in your ESP (fancy word for email software, and I'm in love with Kit).
Very important for building relationships. And yet most founders skip this step and focus only on the lead gen.
Now this is out of the way. Let's look at building your lead magnet. As an example I'll take my Sales Page Skill lead magnet.
Let's dive in…
Step 1: Pick the one moment, not the whole topic
The way I found my lead magnet idea is like this.
I looked at the last several people who hired me and asked what they were stuck on right before they reached out. Sales copy came up every time.
For me that moment is someone about to write a sales page with no idea where to start.
Find your version of that moment, the one right before someone would hire you.
Step 2: Turn what you sell into the core of the magnet
I used the same 18-point sales page framework I use with paying clients. It's battle tested and I know it will blow people away.
Find your framework. And a bonus tip: explain it to a 10-year-old. It will help with the conversion.
Remember the dopamine junkies…?
Step 3: Make it do the work, not just explain the work
Instead of educating my leads on the 18 points of a sales page, I created a skill that creates the page for them.
Now instead of reading, they answer 6 simple questions and my skill builds a sales page draft for them.
How about that for a wow factor?
Step 4: Keep it stupid simple
These are the steps people need to go through.
- Leave your email and hit the bright orange button.
- Answer a couple of questions so I get to know them better.
- Follow the instructions and install the Claude skill.
- See the sales page magically appear in front of their eyes.
Step 5: Build the follow-up before you launch the magnet
MarketingSherpa's data says 79% of leads never convert because nobody follows up with them.
I believe that number, I have watched it happen with my own list.
So the welcome sequence should be built before you launch your lead magnet.
In following articles I'll talk a lot about email marketing and welcome flows, so keep an eye on my emails :)
Step 6: Never kiss on the first date
Smack. I got slapped in the face.
Yeah I was 18 and I thought I was cool with my wannabe Tupac outfit. I tried to kiss her… My friends were laughing in the corner of the club.
Never kiss on the first date. The same goes for selling.
Don't be an insurance salesman with no clue.
Deliver the lead magnet. Build the relationship first. And then you make a very low-key pitch in your emails.
When done right, your bank account will dance.
Step 7: Expand the one lead magnet
Your instinct is to keep making new lead magnets. I do the opposite.
The Sales Page Skill is stage one. A sales page analyzer on the same 18 points is the plan for stage two.
It's not built yet. If it's done, you're the first to hear about it. Keep things simple and congruent to your offer.
Never work hard… Well, the rest of the sentence you probably know.
So here you have it.
7 steps that will dramatically make your partner dance on the spot when you tell her that you go on that well-deserved Ibiza trip after you made a ton of money from your lead magnets.
The stack
| Tool |
What it does |
| Claude Code |
Builds the actual skill people install and run |
| Kit |
Sequences, tags, and delivers the follow-up emails |
| Next.js website |
Hosts the opt-in page and the delivery page |
Don't worry if you don't get the Next.js part. In short, this is the way we build websites and landing pages by talking to Claude.
Super cool. And I will write an in-depth article about it.
But for now have fun with these 7 steps. And I'm looking forward to your lead magnet.
FAQ
How to convert leads into customers
Stop treating the lead magnet as the finish line, that was the mistake I made with my first one.
The moment someone gets a real result from it is the start of the sequence, not the end.
I gave the number earlier for why that matters: most leads that never hear from you again never buy from you either.
What are some lead magnet ideas that work?
Something that writes, calculates, or builds for the person using it, not just something they read.
Mine is a Claude Code skill that writes a full sales page using the same 18 points I charge clients for.
These are the kind of lead magnet examples that convert, not just get downloaded.
How do I create a good lead magnet?
I start with something I already sell, never a new topic, and turn it into a tool that does the work instead of a document that explains it.
Then I deliver it in the first email, not the third.
I will write a full breakdown on this topic. But to scratch your itch, this is where I place my lead magnets.
→ LinkedIn bio.
→ LinkedIn featured spot.
→ At the bottom of my emails.
→ On my articles.
→ In DMs (very powerful).
What are good lead generation ideas for founders and coaches?
Build the magnet around the exact moment someone is stuck right before they would hire you.
I built mine around the moment right before writing a sales page.
Find your version of that moment.
How do you approach generating leads and converting them into clients?
I lead with something that gives a real result, then I already have the follow-up sequence built before the magnet goes live.
Value first. The pitch comes later, once trust is there.
What is the 5 minute rule for leads?
This one has real research behind it.
A study of 15,000 sales leads by MIT's James Oldroyd, done with InsideSales.com, found leads contacted within 5 minutes were up to 100 times more likely to be reached, and 21 times more likely to turn into a real sales conversation, compared to leads contacted after 30 minutes.
Shocking, right?
I think about this every time someone downloads the Sales Page Skill. The sequence needs to fire the moment they opt in, not whenever I get around to it.
What is the 2-2-2 rule in sales?
There is not one single agreed definition, different people use it for different things.
The version I see most often is a check-in rhythm: 2 days after someone starts, 2 weeks in, 2 months in.
I use a version of that same rhythm in my own welcome sequence.
What are the 4 laws of lead generation?
There is no one settled version of this either, different trainers teach different fours.
The pattern that shows up in most versions: know the one person you are talking to, give them something specific, follow up without fail, and never pitch before trust is built.
That last one is the one I see broken the most.
How long should a lead magnet be?
Short enough to finish in one sitting. Long ebooks and multi-day courses convert worse than something quick.
My own giveaway is one Claude Code skill someone runs in minutes, not a book they never open.
If you want to try the Sales Page Skill yourself, it is a free download.
