You already know the saying, the money is in the list. And it’s ever so true when it comes to building a business online.

Regardless of what stage of business you are in, list building, aka, lead generation should be one of your top priorities at all times. New strategies and tactics come out regularly and it’s hard to know where to focus your effort. Check out the list below to see what’s working TODAY.

#1 Lead Magnets (aka freebies, IFO’s, opt-ins, ethical bribes, free gifts, etc)

This is the most common way to build your list. One piece of content that your ideal customer needs. There’s no shortage to the types of lead magnets you can create, but the typical lead magnet is usually a pdf guide, checklist, or eBook.

They’re typically on the homepage and sidebars of websites and used as the main point of entry for a funnel with an optin page.

Here are the steps to create your own:

• Write out the content
• Design it in Google Docs, InDesign, or Canva
• Save it as a PDF
• Attach it to a welcome email in your email service provider (ESP)
• Set up a form (name, email, submit button) on a homepage or a landing page
• Connect the form to your ESP

Here are a couple of fun examples:

Our Feel Good Fortune Formula
Kristin Thompson’s Triple Threat Training

#2 Content Upgrades

These are mini-lead magnets and super specific.. A content upgrade is attached to a blog post. It’s designed to get leads faster than a traditional lead magnet because the idea is…if someone is reading your blog post they are more likely to opt-in for something specific to the topic of that blog post, than a generic lead magnet.

These are great to use in…

• Individual Blog Posts (especially if you’re running ads to it)
• Free gifts at the end of webinars (to get people to stay til the end)
• Free gifts for podcast interviews to get listeners on your list

Here are the steps to create your own:

• Write a great blog post
• Write up a helpful piece of info that RELATES to the content in some way (for example, if I were to write a blog post about launches, I could use a launch checklist as my content upgrade)
• Design it in Google Docs, InDesign, or Canva
• Save it as a PDF
• Attach it to a welcome email in your email service provider (ESP)
• Set up a form (name, email, submit button) and embed it RIGHT in the content (about a 1/3 of the way down)
• Connect the form to your ESP

Here are a couple of fun examples:

• How to pull a content upgrade off using Mailchimp and LeadPages
• Amy Porterfield’s Your 2018 Planning Roadmap

#3 Challenges

Challenges are a pre-determined time/place for a group of people to go through a series of tasks to accomplish a goal. It includes a challenge sign-up page/thank you page, plus content that gets dripped out via email or social media for the duration of the challenge.

This is a great list build to do right before a big launch. You’re positioning yourself as their leader/guide and getting them to take action.

Here’s how to create your own:

• Write out the challenge content
• If you need a workbook or worksheets, design it in Google Docs, InDesign, or Canva
• Save them as PDFs
• Attach it to a welcome SEQUENCE in your email service provider (ESP)
• Set up a form (name, email, submit button) on a homepage or a landing page
• Connect the form to your ESP
• Turn on the sequence when the challenge starts

Here’s a great example of one.

Natalie Lussier’s List Building Challenge

#4 Webinars

Webinars (sometimes called Master Classes) can be live or automated and are great lead magnets. To pull one off, you need a registration page, thank you page, and a way for people to watch the webinar (and chat with you and other viewers).

You can run webinars on a regular basis to grow your list and build up good will with valuable free content.

Webinars are ALSO a great selling tool and are commonly used as part of a launch to sell products and programs.

Here’s how to create your own:

• Pick the topic
• Setup the Registration page and thank you page in a landing page software
• Design the watch page
• Setup a YouTube LIVE event and embed it on the watch page
• Send reminder emails
• Do the webinar!

#5 Video Series

These are typically a 3 part video series followed up by a webinar. You need a registration and thank you page for the series.

There’s some production that goes in to the whole process so these are usually created to list build for a high-end launch.

Here’s how to create your own:

• Pick the topic
• Setup the Registration page and thank you page in a landing page software
• Design the watch page/s (since masterclasses are often done in series, you might want to make ONE page that has thumbnail image placeholders where the videos will go)
• Setup the YouTube LIVE events and embed them on the watch page ON the day that series of the masterclass releases
• Send reminder emails
• Do the Masterclass!

Watch ANY time-sensitive launch, and you’ll notice a video page with videos that UNLOCK. These are time-sensitive so they are hard to find current examples.

#6 Groups

Some people will say that Facebook groups are dying, and that can be true for some, but I’m still seeing great groups out there that keep their people engaged and serve them at a high level. If you love community building and a high level of engagement with your audience, you can use a group as a list builder as well!

Here’s how to create your own:

• Setup a Facebook Group
• Make sure it’s set to closed
• Create a graphic that represents your group
• Place the graphic in a sidebar or IN a blog post
• Make a Click to Pop up form using your ESP and a plugin (opt-in monster for example)
• After they fill out their name and email, have it redirect to the Facebook Group
• Another way to do it is to have a welcome email fire after opting in, and placing the permalink of the group in the email

#7 Quizzes

This one is my new favorite! People love to take quizzes and they convert very well! The best part is that you can segment your list based on people’s answers. You can create highly customized downloads and email sequences specific to the answer they received at the end of the quiz.

This is a great way to segment your list (as mentioned above). They’re also a great lead at the beginning of a funnel, or as a content upgrade to a blog post.

Here’s how to create your own:

• Write out the quiz answers
• Write out the content for the quiz answers (the explanations, PDF download etc.)
• Write out the questions
• Get a software like Try Interact
• Make images that represent the possible answers
• Set up the quiz
• Set up a landing page to host the quiz
• Hook up your quiz to your ESP

Here’s a fun example from our client, Leslie Potter