43. Lead Magnets Made Simple: Your First Step to Business Growth

Do you feel overwhelmed by all the things you could be doing to start your business? With limited time and endless options, it's hard to know what tasks will actually move the needle. But what if there was one specific project that could clarify your business direction and start building your audience, even if you don't feel ready?

In this episode, I talk about lead magnets - a powerful tool for gaining clarity, confidence, and momentum in your business journey. A lead magnet is a free resource that solves a specific problem for your ideal customer, showcasing your unique approach and expertise.

By the end of this episode, you'll understand exactly what makes a great lead magnet, why it matters for your business (even if you're just starting out), and how to create your very first one this weekend using skills you already have. Get ready to stop overthinking and start taking action that will transform your business and confidence.


Download my free guide, How to Find your Perfect Business Niche below.

This step-by-step guide will help you

discover your profitable niche market and create a clear business

focus that attracts ideal clients.


What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

  • Why creating a lead magnet early in your business journey is so valuable.

  • How to identify your ideal customer's specific pain points.

  • The five key qualities of the best lead magnets.

  • How to showcase your unique approach and let your personality shine through.

  • Simple steps to create your first lead magnet in just one weekend.

Listen to the Full Episode:

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Full Episode Transcript:

Do you ever feel like there are so many things you could be doing to start your business, but it's hard to know what will be worth your time? What are the things that will start to build the foundation of your business and add clarity rather than more noise and confusion? With only pockets of time between work responsibilities and family commitments, knowing which tasks will actually move the needle can feel impossible.

Should you be building a website, designing a logo, creating social media accounts, writing a business plan, right? With endless options and honestly conflicting advice, it's no wonder so many aspiring entrepreneurs feel stuck in place. That precious hour on Saturday morning becomes a paralysis of choices rather than productive work time.

Today, I'm gonna cut through all that noise and share one specific project that deserves your attention, even if you don't feel ready. It's something that will not only clarify your business direction, but also start building your audience and credibility. And the best part of it is you can create it this weekend using the skills you already have, even with your busy schedule, okay?

Today we're talking about lead magnets. And by the end of this episode, you'll not only understand exactly what a lead magnet is, why it matters for your business journey, even if you're just starting out, and you'll have a concrete plan to create your very first one this week.

Welcome to How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. It’s a podcast that helps working moms just like you, optimize your time, manage your mind, and start a business that helps you create more freedom, flexibility, and, yes, fun. I’m business and mindset coach Jenna Rykiel. And I offer practical tips to help you ditch the nine-to-five. I have been exactly where you are and I know what it takes to make the transition without trading one form of burnout for another. So, let’s get started.

Hi, mom friends. I'm so grateful to be able to record this episode today. Over the last week, my entire household, except my sweet baby Jude, have had the flu, which means we've been in survival mode with a toddler who is also in survival mode. And when it rains, it pours, as my mom kindly reminded me when I texted her some updates. But I'm here and feeling healthy enough to record and apologies if my voice and tone aren't as chipper as normal, not that anyone has ever described me as chipper.

Okay, so let's dive into lead magnets, also known as freebies, minimum liable product. It has lots of names, right? And I know that many of you are probably thinking, “Jenna, I barely have a business idea. Isn't a lead magnet getting ahead of myself?” And I get it. I talked about this a lot in last week's episode. When I first started, I thought marketing was something you did after you had everything else figured out.

But the truth is, creating a lead magnet isn't just about growing an email list. Although that's certainly a plus when you're ready for an email list. And honestly, we're not even gonna get into the email list today. We're just talking about creating a product. What it's really about at this point is gaining clarity and confidence in your business idea and the solution that you have to people's problems.

Here's what happens when you create a lead magnet early in your journey. It forces you to identify your ideal customers, specific pain points. You can't create something helpful if you don't know exactly what problem you're solving. This clarity alone is golden.

So many would-be entrepreneurs stay stuck because they're trying to be everything to everyone. And if you're struggling with this concept, You can always check out episode 41, which is all about how to create the perfect niche. There's also a free guide that goes along with it that will help you answer this specific question about customers' pain points. So go to jenna.coach/41 if you're interested in listening to that episode.

The other thing about creating this lead magnet at this early stage of your business or whatever stage of the business you're in, it helps you to articulate your unique solution. Okay? What is your special approach? What makes your perspective different? This process helps you find your voice and your angle. It doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't even have to be the exact right answer. But going through this process is creating more stepping stones to what eventually will be a sweet spot for you.

The next thing about doing this process is that you start flexing your marketing muscle in a low-stakes way, okay? Think of it as training wheels for your business. You're not betting the farm here. You're creating one simple resource. But in doing so, you're practicing skills you'll use again and again as an entrepreneur.

The other great thing about developing any sort of asset for your business is that it builds your confidence in delivering value. There's something incredibly powerful about creating something helpful and putting it out into the world. That confidence carries over into everything you do in your business. You're creating an asset that you can use later when you're ready to implement more complex marketing strategies. But right now, you are just creating something. And that's really what entrepreneurship and business is all about, is creation.

You're not wasting time, you're building your business foundation. And this is one of the bricks. I remember when I was still working in corporate and feeling totally overwhelmed by all the things I thought I needed to do to start a business. I kept putting it off, thinking I needed more time, more knowledge, more everything.

When I finally sat down and created my first lead magnet which was by the way a self-care calendar designed with corporate leaders in mind, not even mom entrepreneurs yet, things started to feel real once I created that calendar. I wasn't just dreaming about my business anymore, I was actually building it, even with just an hour a day. And that momentum changed everything.

And also, as you can see, it's a perfect example of how all of these things can evolve. My first lead magnet was a simple calendar and each day there was a self-care challenge. Everything from ending a meeting 10 minutes early to going on a short walk without your phone to sleeping in late.

And while I no longer use that lead magnet because the value I put out in the world has evolved, I did share that resource in episode 26 about self-care around the holidays. So it's still something I utilize and have a fondness for ultimately.

At the time of this recording, my go-to lead magnet and resource is the How to Build a Business Workbook, because that's more direct and specific to the problem I'm helping moms solve. But as you heard, I said at the time of this recording, because these things evolve and change as the needs of my clients change and as I come up with new ideas of what my clients need.

So now that we understand why creating a lead magnet is so valuable, even early on in your business, let's talk about what makes a great one. Because not all lead magnets are created equal. And I want yours to be something that actually works for your customers and for you.

And the best lead magnets have five key qualities. First, they solve one specific problem. I can't emphasize this enough. The more specific, the better. Don't try to solve world hunger. Just help someone make dinner tonight. For example, instead of marketing guide for small businesses, which is way too broad, try 5-minute Instagram template for busy moms in business. Right? That's so specific and targeted.

Second, really great lead magnets deliver quick wins. Okay? Your future customer should be able to implement your solution and see results fast. This builds trust immediately. They'll think, “Wow, if her free stuff is this good, imagine what her paid offerings must be like.” Which also as an aside, that is another important element of the lead magnet is that these lead magnets that we're talking about, they are free.

It's putting your work out in the world that people can consume for free. We're gonna lower any sort of obstacles for them to get to know you and the solutions that you offer, okay? So we hand them out to people. Usually we get email addresses in return, but it is a product that solves a problem for somebody and it's free so that they can get to know you and get to know your perspectives and your unique value.

And that brings me to the third characteristic of a great lead magnet, which is to showcase your unique approach. This is your chance to demonstrate how you think, how you solve problems and what makes your perspective valuable. So don't be afraid to let your personality shine through.

Let me share some examples of lead magnets from different niches. In my own business I've created a ton of different lead magnets like the "How to Build a Business When You Have No Idea What to Do" workbook, "How to Find Your Perfect Niche" guide, "54 Ways to Take Action in Your Business,” and "66 Items to Take Off Your To-Do List.”

Notice how each one addresses a specific pain point that my audience, moms like you who want to build a business, experience. Whether it is getting things off your to-do list so you have more time, whether it's figuring out how to take action in your business, figuring out your niche because that is important, all of these solve a specific problem for a very specific audience.

But let's also look at some other niches too, obviously. If you're thinking about becoming a kid-friendly travel agent, you might create a family-friendly packing checklist organized by child age. A quick packing checklist. Before my trip to Portugal, I would love that, right?

You could also do a quiz called "Find Your Next Family Vacation" that helps parents identify travel styles or maybe travel locations. Or if you're considering becoming an interior designer for kids spaces, you might offer a room-specific design guide for nurseries or playrooms, or maybe a "How to Declutter Any Kid's Space in 30 Minutes" cheat sheet.

The key here is to choose something that you can create relatively quickly. It demonstrates your area of expertise and your zone of genius. It provides genuine value, right? People want to access the lead magnet and they want to utilize it. And it makes your clients say, this is exactly what I needed.

And here's a secret that Amy Porterfield taught me. Sometimes the simplest lead magnets perform the best. Okay, a checklist that saves someone an hour of thinking is often more valuable than a 50-page ebook they'll never read.

So then the question is, how do you create your first lead magnet? You'll wanna identify a pressing problem your audience faces. This is fundamental. What keeps your ideal customers up at night? What are they googling at 1 a.m.? What do they complain about to their friends?

And again, if you're struggling with this, I encourage you to revisit episode 41 about finding your perfect niche and accessing that step-by-step guide because it will help you to identify who you serve and what problems you solve.

But here's a quick shortcut. Think about what questions you get asked all the time. Or think about the problems you've personally solved that others in your situation still struggle with. Your expertise might be so second nature to you that you don't even recognize it as special anymore, but it is.

Now that you know the problem, think about your unique solution. What's your approach to solving it? Break it down into three to five steps or components, keep it simple. It doesn't have to be revolutionary. It just needs to be helpful and reflective of your approach.

And then something I probably should have talked about earlier, at least just mentioned it, is that you need to choose a simple format, okay? A lead magnet can be anything, right? I've talked about a few examples, like guides or e-books or checklists, right? It could be something like a template or a short video tutorial or a quiz, a one-page guide, or my favorite is a checklist.

For your first one, I recommend keeping it simple. And just remember that lead magnets come in so many different forms. The other thing to remember about choosing a format is to make sure it matches your content and your comfort level, okay? If you're great on camera, a video might be great. If you're more comfortable writing, try a guide or a checklist might be better.

And you can create these using tools you already have access to, right? Probably Microsoft Word or Google Docs work perfectly fine. And for design, Canva has free templates specifically for lead magnets that look professional with very minimal effort. I can't recommend Canva enough for any of the marketing assets you're developing.

The next really important thing is to know that it doesn't have to be perfect. It will evolve as I mentioned before. So think of this as more of a business clarity practice activity that gives you something tangible to share. Everything you create is fluid and will go through iterations. So don't hold on to anything too tightly. Done is better than perfect. Okay? You can always update it later based on feedback. What matters most is working through it and putting it out into the world and testing it.

And again, your lead magnet should be simple enough that you can create it in a weekend. If it takes longer than that, you're making it too complicated. Okay. But again, creating your lead magnet teaches you more about your business than weeks of just thinking about it.

As you work through this process, you'll naturally deepen your understanding of your audience. You'll clarify your business direction, often discovering even better angles that you hadn't even considered. It'll allow you to gather invaluable feedback that serves as great market research and allows you to build genuine confidence in your expertise, okay?

When I first shared my self-care calendar, I was nervous people would find it too basic, but instead I received messages saying, "This was so helpful and I love the simple challenges. It makes self-care feel doable." The best part wasn't just the positive feedback, it was the momentum that came from creating something real instead of endless planning. That action led to clarity, which led to more action, creating a beautiful upward spiral that leads to more momentum and more tangible assets created. More bricks in the foundation of your business.

Okay, so this week the action item is simple. I want you to stop overthinking and start creating. Okay, your mission is beautifully simple. Identify one problem you're uniquely qualified to solve, something maybe friends always ask you about, outline your solution in three to five clear steps, and then block off just two hours, maybe during nap time, after bedtime, or during your lunch break to create a rough draft. And if you're feeling brave, share it with just one trusted person for feedback.

That simple act of creation will generate more momentum and clarity than weeks of planning ever could. So as a recap from what we covered today, creating a lead magnet isn't just about marketing, okay? It's about gaining clarity in your business through action and through creation.

A great lead magnet solves one specific problem, delivers quick wins, showcases your unique approach, and connects people to you and your business To create your first lead magnet, you just identify a problem outline a solution, choose a simple format focus on the outcomes that your unique audience is going to get from your lead magnet, and then create, make it something you're excited to share with the world.

Here's what I want you to remember. You don't have to have it all figured out to start building your business. In fact, creating things like lead magnets is how you figure it out. Each small step you take moves you closer to that life you're dreaming of, right? Where your work energizes you instead of drains you, where you're present for those precious moments with your kiddos, where you're building something that's truly yours, okay?

And I want you to tune in next week because I have an amazing guest who is going to be talking about how to build sustainable success in your business without sacrificing your wellbeing. She's an award-winning author of two amazing books, Chaos to Calm and Burnout to Balance, and she's just a gem of a human. So I know you'll love our conversation.

Okay. Until then take that next step, create that lead magnet and watch how it starts to transform both your business and your confidence. Okay. And feel free to share it with me as well, right? You can send a note to Jenna@jenna.coach. I'm happy to give you feedback, right? I'm also happy to put you in touch with your people if I have them in my network to get you even more visibility, exposure, and feedback ultimately.

Remember, the life you want is on the other side of action so let's keep building one step at a time.

Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. If you want to learn more about how I can help you stop making excuses and start making moves, head on over to www.jenna.coach. I’ll see you next week.

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