How I Created 7 Lead Magnets in 2 Days (With an 18% Conversion Rate)

Learn how I created seven high-converting lead magnets and eight opt-ins in two days (that are currently at an 18% conversion rate). This article was originally published in Better Marketing.

Effective lead magnets don’t need to be complicated.

I launched my blog, Free Worker Bee, on November 1, 2022 — my mission is to help people live freer, happier, and more fulfilling lives by making money writing online.

After launching my blog, I spent some days figuring out Google Search Console and setting up my legal pages with the Complianz plug-in.

Between November 4 and 7, I started sharing my blog and posts on my social media channels. 1.5 months later, here are the results (December 20):

Since there’s no industry standard to calculate conversion rates, I adopted the outcomes/unique visitors = conversion rate equation. For brevity’s sake, you can learn why I believe using unique visitors instead of views is more reliable here.

So, total subscribers (38) / unique visitors (209) = 0.182. By multiplying that value by 100, we’ll get a conversion rate of 18.2%.

The views-based conversion rate would be 5.6%, which is still well above the industry average of 2.4%. Conclusion: my lead magnets are effective.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to the seven lead magnets that allowed me to capture 38 leads in 1.5 months…

I have to admit that my 2+ years of experience as a freelance writer gave me a headstart.

I had already created lead magnets for my clients and written over a dozen blog posts about lead magnets. So, I knew what works and doesn’t and how to use all the software needed.

Luckily, you won’t need to dedicate that much time to learning, you can just read this story!

Here, I’ll show you how I created each of my seven lead magnets and eight email opt-ins using ConvertKit and Divi.

How I Created 7 High-Converting Lead Magnets in 2 Days

When you’re just starting a blog (like me), you should choose simple lead magnets. You don’t know exactly what your audience wants/needs yet.

So, it’s better to play safe and go simple — that was the advice I got and what I did.

Before we move to how I created each of them, here are my seven lead magnets:

1. Freelance Writing Course eBook/Workbook
2. Freelance Writing Checklist
3. SEO Blog Post Checklist
4. SEO Blog Post Template
5. Cold Pitching & Guest Posting Spreadsheet Template
6. Printable Seasonal Content Planner
7. Freelance Writer Bundle (all free resources bundled together)

Let’s get started!

Lead Magnet #1: Freelance Writing Course & Workbook

I created my freelance writing course quickly by repurposing one of my 10x content pages.

10x content pages are long-form, evergreen, and super in-depth pieces.

Usually, they’re your pillar pages, meaning you’ll be building up their domain authority and getting more traffic to them both from search engines and by guiding visitors from other pages to your 10x content pages.

If someone is reading that blog post, it means they’re interested in that topic, and chances are they’ll be interested in your freebie as well.

So, if your 10x content pages are meant to get the most traffic, those are the ones you should choose to turn into freebies — any type of freebie.

Now that you know the why, here’s how I did it:

1. I opened my “How to Become a Freelance Writer With No Experience” blog post on Word.
2. I added an “About the Author” page — to further create trust and because emotional marketing is important for my brand.
3. Then, I wrote two pages to set the tone — I went over the purpose of the eBook, how to use it, the freelance writing mindset, and what to actually expect from this career.

4. I wrote a conclusion page where I told the readers what to do next and to follow/chat with me on social media.

5. I changed the text body a bit and divided it into sections.

6. I added text boxes with extra resources and exercises that readers should complete as they go. Here are some examples:

7. I reviewed, edited, and formatted everything.

8. I created the workbook cover using Canva and added it to my Word document.

9. I saved the whole document as a PDF.

10. I uploaded the document to Sejda to create the fillable parts and saved it.

And that’s it! It took me a day to create the lead magnet that got me the most subscribers.

One note I’d like to add is that I tried to upload the whole PDF to Canva to fully brand it but Canva de-formatted everything. It was a mess.

Also, because it’s 27 pages long, Canva basically crashed every ten seconds. I quickly gave it up since it wasn’t that important.

Lead Magnets #2 & #3: Freelance Writer & SEO Blog Post Checklists

To create these two freebies, I used the same method — I turned two of my 10x content pages into lead magnets.

1. I used my “How to Become a Freelance Writer With No Experience” and “How to Write SEO-Friendly Blog Posts in 9 Steps” blog posts as the foundation for my checklists.
2. Then, I chose a Canva list template (to save time) and customized it with my website colors. I wrote the text and added the tiny boxes.
3. Finally, I saved it as a PDF and uploaded it to Sejda to create the tickable boxes.

Here’s the result (obviously, I send my email subscribers the unblurred PDF version):

It only took me a couple of hours to create both checklists. The other one looks exactly the same, I only changed the text.

Lead Magnets #4 & #5: SEO Blog Post Template + Cold Pitching & Guest Posting Spreadsheet Template

As I said above, I’ve been freelance writing for over two years. For that reason, I already had a blog post template that I created for myself.

I also had my cold pitching and guest posting spreadsheet that I use to organize my outreach efforts.

I formatted both, so they looked nicer, and that’s it. I share them as Word and Excel files, respectively.

Total time? 10 minutes, maybe.

Lead Magnet #6: Printable Seasonal Content Planner

I created my printable seasonal content planner from scratch using Canva, following the style of my previous lead magnets.

Then, I researched all major holidays and events, like the super bowl, wedding season, tax season, etc., and added them to the table.

Finally, I customized it with my website colors and fonts. I share it with my subscribers as a PNG image.

Here’s part of it, so you get an idea of how I made it:

It took me around two hours to create it — anyone who’s tried to work with tables on Canva knows how challenging it is.

Or maybe there’s a hack I’m not aware of. If you have tips, please share!

I created it at the same time as the other lead magnets, but I’m just releasing it now as a New Year gift to my subscribers.

Lead Magnet #7: The Freelance Writer Bundle

As I said above, the Freelance Writer Bundle has all my lead magnets grouped together (except the content planner).

So, I didn’t spend any time on it besides having to create some more graphics and email opt-in forms — which I’ll talk about next.

How I Created 8 Email Opt-Ins Quickly

After you create your lead magnets, you need attractive opt-in forms to get people to download them.

To create mine, I used ConvertKit and Divi, my website theme (which is also a visual website builder).

Here are my eight ConvertKit opt-ins:

Before I get to how I created them, a quick note: some opt-ins show “0 visitors” but still have subscribers.

That’s because I created those opt-ins with my website theme (Divi) and connected them to the ConvertKit opt-ins — which is also a feature my theme offers.

Hence, ConvertKit can’t register how many visitors they got.

Here’s another example of a Divi opt-in 👇 I created the image (left) using Canva and used a pre-made opt-in that came with Divi. I only customized the fonts and colors.

I chose to do it this way because Divi opt-ins are much more customizable and blend in better with my website theme. Plus, it saved me time.

The downside is that I don’t get visitor and conversion rate data, but I can calculate it manually in Excel.

Now, here’s how I created eight ConvertKit opt-ins quickly.

ConvertKit gives you a bunch of opt-in templates to choose from. All you have to do is customize them a bit to match your website.

To start off, I created one welcome email and two opt-ins.

This was my first opt-in — the one meant to go in the middle of some blog posts 👇

I used the Mills template and customized it with my website colors. Then, I wrote my welcome email and added my freebie.

Because some of my ConvertKit opt-ins aren’t shown on my website, I could just duplicate this opt-in twice without making any changes to it.

The goal was to get individual data on how many people sign up through my homepage and freebie landing page (I’m also giving away the Freelance Writer Bundle on those pages).

The welcome email was written and the freebie was there. I literally only had to duplicate it and connect them to Divi.

Three opt-ins are sorted already 👍

Then, I created my second opt-in using the Pine template. This one was meant to go at the bottom of my blog posts.

I copied and pasted the welcome email I had created for the previous opt-in and only changed the title, a bit of the email copy, and the freebie (obviously).

Again, I duplicated it to connect the second one to my Divi footer opt-in.

Five opt-ins sorted 👍

Side note: if you’re wondering why there’s so much line spacing on my opt-in, it’s because my website’s default line spacing overrides ConvertKit’s. I tried using custom CSS but I can’t change it.

Lastly, I really liked the Pine template, so I duplicated it three more times and repeated the process:

1. Customized the template a bit to match each of the remaining freebies — SEO Blog Post Checklist, Cold Pitching & Guest Posting Template, and Seasonal Content Planner.
2. Changed the welcome email title and body a bit.
3. Changed the freebie.
4. Added the opt-ins to appropriate blog posts.

Et voilà!

Eight opt-ins created in three hours 🤩

Side note: I don’t have an SEO Blog Post Template opt-in yet, currently I’m only offering it together with the Freelance Writer Bundle.

How to Create High-Converting Lead Magnets & Opt-Ins Quickly — Closing Thoughts

No matter how you make money online, having an email list is a must, but it doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming.

You can easily repurpose content into lead magnets and make them extra special with easy-to-use, free/cheap software, like Canva and Sejda.

The same goes for your opt-ins. ConvertKit is free until you reach 300 subscribers (unless you want its fancy-schmancy features, like segmentation). Divi costs $89/year but it’s totally optional.

There’s no excuse not to start growing your email list right away!

⚠️ If you need help creating high-converting lead magnets and opt-ins for your business, shoot me a message. I’d love to assist you.