There are a bajillion ways to get your name out there.

Social media. Podcast guesting. Blogging. Networking. Door-to-door convos. (Kidding. Mostly.)

But at some point, most business owners I talk to land on the same realization: they want a direct line to their people.

No algorithm deciding who sees what. No posting and praying.

Enter email.

And once you decide email is the move, the very next thought is usually: okay, but how do I get people to sign up?

Which leads to the Lead Magnet Convo.

I had a lead magnet called Wild Growth SEO. It was a 5-day email video series with 5-minute things you can do each day to boost your Squarespace SEO.

It was easy, it was valuable, and NGL, it was really good.

(It's technically retired, but as a special email subscriber, I'll send it to ya.)

The problem is, Wild Growth SEO attracted DIYers.

And there is nothing wrong with that – most of my clients are DIYers moving up! But those folks aren't the ones looking for a partner to help them build strategically.

I built something genuinely good for the wrong audience.

And I didn't realize it until I'd been pouring energy into growing a list full of people who wouldn't get the most out of being here.

Sooo. Lesson learned.

Fast forward to this past January, when I ran the Get Your Site Together Challenge.

(You may remember from my incessant emails about it.)

It's a free 5-day challenge where participants gather the essential ingredients they need before they tackle their website.

I built it around the exact things that slow down my clients during onboarding.

→ The stuff that, when it's missing, hits a website project with costly delays.

And the response floored me.

My Slack was lighting up all week:

The result:

114 new subscribers, real connections with people who now know what it's like to work with me and get my feedback, and legit market research on what they actually need.

Everyone wins.

The difference between Wild Growth SEO and GYST comes down to one thing: who the content is for – and where it leads them next.

So here's the thing about lead magnets:

1 - You don't actually need one. You can give people a signup link and let your content speak for itself. Especially when you're just figuring stuff out in your business, it’s a smart way to get started. Or when you're super established and everybody knows ya.

2 - But if you do create one: the typical advice – make a PDF, a checklist, a workbook – I hate to say it, but that's done. In 2026, those formats are oversaturated.

They're more likely to die in the Downloads folder than to actually build a relationship.

And often – like me with Wild Growth SEO – people create something that fits a client, but not their right-fit client. The content is valuable. The audience match is off.

Build it backwards.

1. What does my right-fit client need to know or do right before we work together?

2. How can I best deliver that?

When you start there, your lead magnet becomes a natural on-ramp to what you do. The logical next step is working with you.

Think beyond the PDF:

• a quiz
• an email series
• a mini course
• a private podcast
• a workshop
• a free challenge

GYST worked because it wasn't a PDF that was downloaded and forgotten.

By showing up for one week all together, people got accountability and support. They saw what it was like to work with me.

And every single task connected directly to what they'd truly need if they decided to do just that.

Ok so hit reply and tell me in just a few words: are you Team Lead Magnet or Team Just-Sign-Up?

Keep on doing you,

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