Note: While reading a book whenever I come across something interesting, I highlight it and later turn those highlights into a blogpost. It is not a complete summary of the book. These are my notes which I intend to go back to later. Let’s start!

To make more money, you’ve gotta grow your business. You can only grow your business in two ways:

  1. Get more customers
  2. Make them worth more

That’s it. I grow our portfolio companies with this exact framework. $100M Leads focuses on number one - getting more customers. You get more customers by getting:

  1. More Leads
  2. Better Leads
  3. Cheaper Leads
  4. Reliably (think ‘from lots of places’).

A lead is a person you can contact. That’s all. If you bought a list of emails, those are leads. If you get contact information from a website or database, those are leads. The numbers in your phone are leads. People on the street are leads. If you can contact them, they are leads.

Leads alone aren’t enough. We want engaged leads: people who show interest in the stuff you sell. If someone gives their contact information on a website, that is an engaged lead. If someone follows you on social media and you can contact them, that is an engaged lead. If people reply to your email campaign, they are engaged leads. The leads showing interest are the leads that matter.

Engaged leads are the true output of advertising.

They didn’t want my webinar. But they did want my case study. This accidental discovery showed me how getting leads actually works…you have to give people something they want. The best part is - it’s easier than you think.

Offers are what you promise to give in exchange for something of value. Often, a business promises to give its product or service in exchange the beer for money. This is a core offer. If you advertise your core offer, then you go straight for the sale–the direct path to money. Advertising your core offer might be all you need to get leads to engage. Try this way first.

So your lead magnet should be valuable enough on its own that you could charge for it. And, after they get it, they should want more of what you offer. This gets them one step closer to buying your stuff. A person who pays with their time now is more likely to pay with their money later.

Seven Steps To Creating an Effective Lead Magnet:

  1. Figure out the problem you want to solve and who to solve it for
  2. Figure out how to solve it
  3. Figure out how to deliver it
  4. Test what to name it
  5. Make it easy to consume
  6. Make it darn good
  7. Make it easy for them to tell you they want more

Something to keep in mind before we start - Grand Slam Offers work for free stuff as much or better than they do for paid stuff. So make your lead magnet so insanely good people will feel stupid saying no. And yes, this means you may have a few insanely valuable offers (even if some are free). But that’s a good thing. The business that provides the most value wins. Period.

Imagine we help homeowners sell their homes. That is a broad solution. But what about the steps before selling a home? Owners want to know what their house is worth. They want to know how to increase its value. They need pictures. They need it cleaned. They need landscaping. They need minor things fixed. They need moving services. They may need staging. Etc. These are all narrow problems–great for lead magnets. We pick one of the narrow problems and solve it for free. And although it helps, it makes their other problem more obvious–they still have to sell their home. But now we’ve earned their trust. So we can charge to solve the remaining problems with our core offer and help them achieve their broader goal.

There are three types of lead magnets and each offers a different type of solution.

First, if your audience has a problem they don’t know about, your lead magnet would make them aware of it. Second, you could solve a recurring problem for a short amount of time with a sample or trial of your core offer. Third, you can give them one step in a multi-step process that solves a bigger problem. All three solve one problem and reveal others. So your three types are: 1) Reveal Problems, 2) Samples and Trials, and 3) One Step Of A Multi-Step Process.

Reveal Their Problem. Think “diagnosis.” These lead magnets work great when they reveal problems that get worse the longer you wait.

Example: You run a speed test that shows their website loads at 30% below the speed it should. You draw a clear line between where they should be and how much money you lose by being below standards.

Example: You do a posture analysis and show them what their posture should look like. You draw a clear line to what their pain-free life would look like if their posture were fixed and how you can help.

Example: You do a termite inspection that reveals what happens when the bugs eat their home. If they do have termites, you can get rid of them for cheaper than the cost of… another home. If they don’t, they can pay you to prevent the termites from coming to begin with! You can sell ‘em either way. Win-win!

Samples And Trials. You give full but brief access to your core offer. You can limit the number of uses, time they have access, or both. This works great when your core offer is a recurring solution to a recurring problem.

Example: You hook them up to your faster server and show their website loading at lightning speed. They get more customers from your faster load times. If they want to keep it, they need to keep paying you.

Example: You give a free adjustment for their bad posture and they experience relief. To get permanent benefits, they must buy more.

Example: Food, cosmetics, medicine, or any other consumables. Consumables, by nature, have limited uses and solve recurring problems… with recurring use. So single serving, “fun sized,” etc. samples are great lead magnets. It’s how Costco sells more food than other stores–they give out samples!

One Step Of A Multi-Step Process. When your core offer has steps, you can give one valuable step for free and the rest when they buy. This works great when your core offer solves a more complex problem.

Example: This book. I help you get to $1,000,000+ per year in profit. Then you’ll have new problems we can help you solve, and scale from there.

Example: You give away a free wood sealant for a garage door. But the sealing process requires three different coats to protect from all weather conditions. I do the first one free, explain how it only gives partial coverage, and offer the other two in a bundle.

Example: You give away free finance courses, guides, calculators, templates, etc. They are so valuable people really can do it all themselves. But, they also reveal the time, effort, and sacrifice of doing it all. So you offer financial services to solve all that.

There are unlimited ways to solve problems. But my favorite lead magnets solve them with: software, information, services, and physical products.

Software: You give them a tool. If you have a spreadsheet, calculator, or small software, your technology does a job for them.

Ex: I give away a spreadsheet or dashboard that gives a gym owner all their relevant business stats, compares them to industry averages, then gives them a rank.

Information: You teach them something. Courses, lessons, interviews with experts, keynote presentations, live events, mistakes and pitfalls, hacks/tips, etc. Anything they can learn from.

Ex: I give away a mini course for gyms on how to write an ad.

Services: You do work for free. Adjust their back. Perform a website audit. Apply the first layer of garage sealant. Transform their video into an ebook. Etc.

Ex: I run gym owner’s ads for free for thirty days.

Physical Products: You give them something they can hold in their hands. A posture assessment chart, a supplement, a small bottle of garage door sealant, boxing gloves to get boxing gym leads, etc.

Ex: I sell a book for gym owners called Gym Launch Secrets.

With three different types of lead magnets and four ways to deliver them, that’s up to twelve lead magnets that solve a single narrow problem. So many magnets, so little time!

I make as many versions of a lead magnet as I can and rotate them. This keeps the advertising fresh and low effort. Plus, you see which ones work best.

David Ogilvy said, “When you have written your headline, you have spent 80 cents of your (advertising) dollar.” What that means is, five times more people read your headline than any other part of your promotion. They read it and make a snap decision to read further… or not. Like Ogilvy hints, leads have to notice your lead magnet before they can consume it. Like it or not, this means how we present it matters more than anything. For example, improving the headline, name, and display of your lead magnet can 2x, 3x, or 10x your engagement. It’s that important. Besides, if no one shows interest in your lead magnet, no one will ever know how good it is. You can’t leave it to chance. So listen up. Here’s what you do next - you test.

The three things you’ll want to test are the headline, the image(s), and the subheadline, in that order. The headline is the most important. So if you only test one thing, test that. For example, I had no idea what to title this book. So here’s what I did to figure out which name would do the best - I tested.

People prefer to do things that take less effort. So if we want more people to take us up on our lead magnet, and consume it, we gotta make it easy. You can see 2x, 3x, and even 4x+ increases in take rates and consumption simply by making it easier to consume.

Software: You want to make it accessible on their phones, on a computer and in multiple different formats. This way, they’ll pick the one easiest for them.

Information: People like to consume things in different ways. Some people like watching, other people like reading, others like listening, etc. Make your solution in as many different formats as you can: images, video, text, audio, etc. Offer them all. That’s why this book comes in every format people consume.

Services: Be available at more times in more ways. More times of day. More days of the week. Via video call, phone call, in person, etc. The easier you are to get a hold of, the more likely people will become engaged leads to claim the free value.

Physical products: Make it super simple to order and fast to get to them. Make the product itself fast and easy to open. Give simple directions on how to use the product. Example: Apple made its products so well they didn’t even need directions. And the packaging is so good, most people keep the boxes.

Give Away The Secrets, Sell The Implementation: The marketplace judges everything you have to offer - free or not. And you can never provide too much value. But, you can provide too little. So you want your lead magnet to provide so much value people feel obligated to pay you. The goal is to provide more value than the cost of your core offer before they’ve bought it.

Think about it this way. If you’re scared of giving away your secrets, imagine the alternative: You give away sucky fluff. Then, people who might’ve become customers think this person sucks! They only have sucky fluff! Then, they buy from someone else. So sad. Not only that, they tell other folks who might’ve bought from you, not to. It’s a vicious cycle you don’t want to ride.

But remember, people buy stuff based on how much value they think they’ll get after they buy it. And the easiest way to get them to think they’ll get tons of value after they buy is… drum roll please… to provide them with value before they buy.

Imagine a company scaled from $1M to $10M just by consuming my free content. The chance they’ll partner with Acquisition.com is huge because I paid for my share before we even started.

Once the leads consume the lead magnet, some of them will be ready to buy or learn more about your offer. This is the time to give a Call To Action. A Call To Action (CTA) tells the audience what to do next. But, there’s a little more to it than that. At least, if you want your advertising to work. Good CTAs have two things: 1) what to do and 2) reasons to do it right now.

What to do: CTAs tell the audience to call the number, click the button, give information, book the call, etc. There are way too many to list. Just know CTAs tell the audience how to become engaged leads. Good CTAs have clear, simple, and direct language. Not “don’t delay” but instead “call now.”

Warm audiences are people who gave you permission to contact them. Think “people who know you” - aka - friends, family, followers, current customers, previous customers, contacts, etc.

Cold audiences are people who have not given you permission to contact them. Think “strangers” - aka - other peoples’ audiences: buying contact lists, making contact lists, paying platforms for access, etc.

The difference matters because it changes how we advertise to them.

We can contact people 1-to-1 or 1-to-many. Another way of thinking about this is private or public communication. Private communication is when only one person gets a message at a time. Think “phone call” or “email.” If you announce something publicly, many people can get it at the same time. Think “social media posts” or “billboards” or “podcasts.”

Now, automation can make this seem confusing. Don’t let it. Automation just means some of the work is done by machines. The nature of the communication stays the same. Email, for instance, is one-to-one. Emailing a 10,000 person list “once” is more like one-to-one really fast by a machine. Automation, which we cover later, is one of the many ways we can get leads on steroids. Like audiences, the difference between public and private communication matters because they change how we advertise.

Combining warm and cold audiences with 1-to-1 and 1-to-many leads us to the only four ways we can let anyone know about anything: the core four. I combined them below for you.

  • 1-to-1 to a Warm Audience = Warm Outreach
  • 1-to-many to a Warm Audience = Posting Content
  • 1-to-1 to a Cold Audience = Cold Outreach
  • 1-to-many to a Cold Audience = Paid Ads

Warm reach outs are when you make one-to-one contact with your warm audience - aka - the people who know you. It’s the cheapest and easiest way to find people interested in the stuff you sell. It’s super effective–and most businesses don’t do it. Don’t be like most businesses. Also, you do have a warm audience, even if you don’t know it. Everybody knows somebody. So your personal contacts are the easiest place to start.

Warm reach outs usually come in the form of calls, texts, emails, direct messages, voicemails, etc.

You let them know about your lead magnet (something free and valuable), or you let them know about your core offer (the main thing you sell).

When you start doing warm reach outs, you don’t get many engaged leads for your time. You do everything on your own and make each message personal. But, for that reason, it is reliable. As certain as the sun rises and sets, it works.

The rule of 100 is simple. You advertise your stuff by doing 100 primary actions every day, for one hundred days in a row. That’s it. I don’t make many promises, but this is one. If you do 100 primary actions per day, and you do it for 100 days straight, you will get more engaged leads. Commit to the rule of 100 and you will never go hungry again.

Here’s what it looks like applied to each of the core four:

Warm Reach Outs:

  • 100 reach outs per day
  • Example primary actions: email, text, direct message, calls, etc.

Post Content:

  • 100 minutes per day making content.
  • Release at least one per day on a platform. As you get better, post even more.
  • Example primary actions: short and long videos or articles, podcasts, infographics, etc.

Cold Reach Outs:

  • 100 reach outs per day
  • Example primary actions: email, text, direct message, cold call, flyers, etc.
  • As with all cold advertising, expect lower response rates, so use automation.

Paid Ads:

  • 100 minutes per day making paid ads
  • Example primary actions: direct response media ads, direct mail, seminar, podcast spots, etc.
  • 100 days straight of running those paid ads.

I start every agency relationship with a purpose and a deadline to fulfill it. I open by saying:

“I want to do what you do in my business, but I don’t know how. I’d like to work with you for 6 months so I can learn how you do it. Plus, I’ll pay extra for you to break down why you make the decisions you do and the steps you take to make them. Then, after I get a good idea of how it all works, I’ll start training my team on it. And once they can do it well enough, I’d like to change to a lower cost consulting arrangement. This way, you can still help us if we run into problems. Are you opposed to this?”

In my experience, most agencies are not opposed to this. And if it doesn’t work for them, that’s perfectly fine. Just move on to the next agency. But, before you start kicking everyone to the curb, be willing to negotiate. At some price, it’s worth it for both of you. Viva capitalism!

This is how I use agencies now. Like when I wanted to learn YouTube, I actually hired two agencies. The first, I hired to keep me committed to making videos while they did some legwork on the platform itself. The second I hired (at 4x the price) to really teach us the in-depth ideas behind making the best content possible. And once our videos beat their videos, we dropped down to consulting only.

I’ve used this method again and again. I hire one “good enough” agency to learn the ropes of a new platform. Then, I hire a more elite agency to learn how to maximize it–and I cannot recommend this strategy enough.

If you are upfront about your intentions and the agency agrees, you get the best of both worlds. You get better short-term results because they (probably) know more than you. And, you get better long-term results because you learn how to do it yourself or your team learns to do it for you. You also spend the maximum amount of time with their best reps.

Remember, you only get a fraction of the agency’s attention, so results get worse whenever they get new clients. Meanwhile, your team gets better and better because they stay focused on you full-time. So compare your team’s results to the agency’s until you beat them. Then, cancel the relationship and put the money into scaling everything you just learned.