Guides
How to create a lead magnet ebook
A lead magnet is a trade: an email address for something worth more than an email address. The ones that work are short, solve one problem the reader has this week, and make the next step with you obvious. Here is how to build one in an afternoon.
Pick one problem, not your whole expertise
“Everything about nutrition” converts worse than “What to eat the night before a race”. Narrow is credible and finishable. If your audience has three recurring problems, that is three lead magnets, and you can test which one grows the list fastest.
Length and structure
3,000 to 6,000 words, three to six chapters, each with one quick win the reader can do today. Open with why this problem matters now, close with what changes when it is solved and what you offer next. No theory without an immediate use. create-ebook’s lead magnet format enforces this: every chapter ends with a “do this today” action and the last one bridges to your offer.
The cover sells the download
People opt in for a cover and a title, not for chapter three. Put the benefit in the title, the audience in the subtitle, and make the cover legible at 200 pixels wide, because that is how big it is on your landing page.
Deliver it and follow up
Host the PDF in your email tool and send it in the first automated email. The second email, two days later, asks what they thought. The third makes the offer the book was leading to. A lead magnet without a sequence is a free book.
Measure
Opt-in rate on the page (20% to 40% is good for a targeted page), open rate of the delivery email, and replies. If people do not reply to “what did you think?”, the book did not land; try another problem.
Frequently asked questions
Should the lead magnet be a PDF or an EPUB?
PDF. It opens everywhere, looks the same everywhere, and reads fine on a phone at A5.
Can I sell the lead magnet on Amazon too?
Yes, at $0.99 to $2.99, as a discovery tool. Keep the free version for your list.
How much should it cost me to make?
On create-ebook, 29 € including cover and files, or a pack of 3 at 59 € to test three angles.
Do I need a designer?
Not for a lead magnet. A clean cover with a strong title beats a designed cover with a weak one.