Before you read on, you should know that this article is part of a series on developing a visibility strategy. This is chapter 5 in that series.

Pick up all the chapters here.

Now that you’ve created a visibility platform, you’ll want to draw people closer by building an email list of your community members. That way you’ll be able to email them each week letting them know about your latest video, podcast episode, or blog post. It also means that if anything happens to the platform you’re reliant upon, you have an alternate way of reaching your people. One that you’ve got control over.

To get people to handover their email, it’s useful to develop an opt in offer (also known as a freebie or a lead magnet).

In order for them to effective you’ll want to keep the following things in mind:

• solves a genuine problem faced by your community
• promises a quick win or something that’s easy to digest
• gives people a good sense of what it would be like to work with you and of the value you’d offer them if they decide to invest in your in the future
• easy to access or participate.

Here are some examples of lead magnets to consider: resource sheets, e-books, challenges, video series, check lists, workbooks, webinars, case studies, audio trainings and recordings (like meditations), templates, swipe files.

To decide what will work best, consider the form that’ll best convey the information you want to share and how your community best likes to receive information.

Opt In Workshop

In this workshop I’ll recommend a series of considerations to take into account when thinking about opt ins, always linking your decisions to your customer’s needs. I also cover some of the history of list building, the nuts and bolts of where to place opt ins on a webpage, so you understand why opt ins matter and how to make them work for you.

Next up in this series on creating your visibility strategy: A short diversion into the enneagram

Looking for all the chapters on creating your visibility strategy? You’ll find them all here.