How the Right Lead Magnet Can Help Grow Your Business

Are you looking for new ways to grow your business?

Most Squarespace freelancers or agencies look for ways to boost growth. You need to generate more traffic to your website and importantly, more of the right people - those who are your target audience.

A lead magnet comes in once you’re getting traffic to your website. There’s no sense in having people turn up and leave again, without offering a way for those who are interested to stay in touch with you. You need traffic that converts! 

Your lead magnet can get people onto your email list and deliver them some kind of value - a key step to building trust and growing your business. Here’s how it works:

How can you find lead magnet ideas? Free download here

Why lead magnets matter

Lead magnets are nothing new. In fact, marketers have used them in one form or another for decades. The basic premise is that you give away something for free in exchange for the contact details of the customer (their email address), and permission to keep in touch.

This used to operate with things like sending in a coupon via mail in exchange for a free offer. On a website, a lead magnet is usually delivered digitally. The visitor fills out a form on your site with their details and receives whatever it is you’re giving away (often some kind of digital download). You might have multiple lead magnets (and this strategy can be quite effective); for example, by giving away lead magnets within blog posts that are related to the content.

Why do lead magnets matter? Because they still work (if you do them well). Many businesses are successfully using them on their websites and building an email list that they can regularly communicate with. 

Essentially, building your list is a key function of the lead magnet. You might have a newsletter signup form or something similar on your website, but you need a way to encourage people to actually fill out that form. A lead magnet can give them a compelling reason.

Tobacco company “lead magnet” from 1927 (source)

What makes a lead magnet effective?

You probably noticed that statement in the last section: lead magnets still work, “if you do them well.” People don’t give up their email addresses easily these days - they have to have a compelling reason.

This means that an effective lead magnet must be designed thoughtfully, with your target audience in mind. It should deliver something that they will value - for example, a way to solve a key problem that they have.

If we were to create a list of things to make a lead magnet effective, they would be:

1. It’s targeted to the audience you want to reach.

2. It’s in a format that the audience wants to consume (for example, consider whether a lengthy ebook really appeals to a busy executive, if they are your target group).

3. It helps them to solve a pressing issue that they have.

4. You have clear calls to action in the marketing for your lead magnet - tell people what you want them to do!

5. Your marketing clearly outlines the benefits to the audience of the lead magnet.

6. You monitor the effectiveness of the lead magnet.

7. You make improvements based on feedback.

8. You keep in touch with regular email contact. (This is really the whole point. You entice people onto your email list so that they can get to know you better over time).

For extra effectiveness points, consider lead magnets that:

• Provide a “quick win”

• Are quick and easy to digest

• Demonstrate your expertise

• Are super-specific (specific topics tend to convert better rather than general topics)

Begin by brainstorming common problems for your audience to generate ideas. For example, if it’s “my audience wants ways to grow their business without spending lots of money,” you might create a lead magnet about how they can create lead magnets ;). 

Lead magnet ideas

There are many types of possible lead magnets - some even may be related to other digital products that your business sells. For example, if you sell software or plugins, a logical lead magnet might be to offer a free trial or “freemium” version. Or, you might offer one part of the software for free, like some kind of tool or calculator. Whatever you choose, keep it valuable to deliver a quick win.

Here are some lead magnet ideas:

#1. Checklists

Checklists can be a win all around. If you design them well, they help to solve a problem AND they’re easy to digest. Sometimes that’s just what people want - the quick version of how to achieve something without having to go through a long set of instructions.

They’re also fairly quick to create. You probably already have the content for a checklist embedded in something like a blog post. In that case, you can just pull out key points and summarize.

Some Squarespace business ideas:

• Checklist for conducting a website review

• Checklist for choosing the right Squarespace theme

#2. Templates

Templates offer people an outline or starting point to follow in order to get something done. For example, if you’re an expert at formatting ebooks that can be used as lead magnets, maybe you offer people a formatted ebook template which they can use to create their own.

Some Squarespace business ideas:

• Email newsletter template for reaching out to clients

• Facebook ad templates for advertising your business

#3. Scripts

Does your target audience need something that will help them to speak or write effectively? Scripts can be a really handy lead magnet for those people. Sometimes they just need ideas for what to say or how to say it, and if you’re an expert at this, they’ll appreciate it!

Some Squarespace business ideas:

• How to pitch your business/idea to a potential partner

• Script tips for you next marketing video

#4. Toolkits

People love to know how other successful people set up what they do. For example, if you have an automated system dialed in for managing something to do with your business, other people will be curious to know what you did and how they might emulate it.

Some Squarespace business ideas:

• The X tools I use to automate my marketing

• The X plugins that I can’t do without

#5. Web apps

If you have the coding skills, a web app that does a useful task for people can be a great lead magnet. Here’s an example: Bryan Harris created ListGoal as a free lead magnet through which he can collect email addresses. Web apps will tend to take a bit more to create, but obviously you can make something that people use routinely (as opposed to other types of lead magnets that maybe people read over once or twice).

Some Squarespace business ideas:

• A quote calculator

• A web form creator

#6. Calendars

A calendar can be a great lead magnet because it provides focus and direction for the person, especially if it gives them one simple step to take each day. For example, someone in the fitness industry might create a calendar that gives someone basic exercises to complete each day.

Some Squarespace business ideas:

• Set up your website content in 7 days

• 14 days of SEO actions

Need to find lead magnet ideas? Free download here

Reflexiones finales

Lead magnets can help to grow your business by building your email list and giving you a means of staying in touch with people. The key is to figure out the right sort of lead magnet that will appeal to your people; something that solves a problem they have or provides them with a quick win.

A lead magnet isn’t something to “set and forget.” While it helps you to automatically grow your email list, you have to actively make sure it’s working (or continuing to work). It’s important to monitor your results and make updates, or maybe try different lead magnets over time.

Finally, a lead magnet can be a cost-effective way to grow your business. You can usually make your lead magnet yourself and it’s a great way to optimize what you do with website traffic. Bottom line? Always have a way of capturing the details of people who visit your website!

How to Turn Your Service or Process into a Digital Product

Digital products can be awesome!

Recently we wrote a post highlighting the key benefits of digital products, including how they tend to have higher ROI and lower associated costs than physical products. They’re often a smart choice for Squarespace freelancers or agencies, because you can put the knowledge you have to work for you.

The next logical question is; how do you turn your service or process into a digital product? What sorts of products might you consider, and what makes them successful? Here are our thoughts:

Free download: 9 ways to build your audience (and sell more digital products)

Types of digital products

This is a logical place to start because you’ll probably find you’re more drawn to certain types of digital products than others. Some might be a real challenge for you to create, while others are completed within a day. 

Here are some common types of digital products:

1. eBooks. These might seem kind of old-school these days, but eBooks are still popular! If you can package up some of your knowledge in a way that will be valuable to your target audience, an eBook can be a good way to do it. You just need the time to write and format it. eBooks can be distributed via a content delivery system automatically on your Squarespace website.

2. Audio or music. These could encompass a few different types of products. For example, maybe you’re good at mixing tunes that can be sold for video background music. Or maybe, that knowledge that you would have put into an eBook could be recorded as an audiobook…

3. Software. This is something we’re very familiar with! If you have the skills (or can employ someone who does), you might sell software, anything from a complex program (lengthy and more costly to develop), to a simple plugin (less complex and less expensive to develop).

4. Photography or graphics. If you’re capable of creating high-quality photography or graphics, then you can probably find a market for your work among people who design websites or create content for them.

5. Themes and templates. If you’ve got the design chops, then there’s a market to sell your quality, custom-created themes or templates.

6. Documents. There are many types of documents that can be sold. For example, you might sell templates to help people create something. Another idea is to sell reports that you have researched and created. There are several companies that conduct original research and sell their findings - people such as marketers buy them to help gain an understanding of what’s happening. (They must be reliable and of high quality, of course!).

7. Courses. These can be developed and distributed in a few different formats. For example, you might use a platform such as Udemy, or you might administer a course via your own membership site. In a simple format, courses may be drip-fed via email.

8. Fonts. If you’ve designed some cool fonts, you could sell these to others who want them for their website.

9. SaaS or web apps. SaaS (Software as a Service) apps are cloud-based apps rather than downloaded software. They’re usually bigger and more complex to create than a simple app, but many people have moved to SaaS over other types of software for the tasks they need to complete.

It’s also worth noting that many people also include “productized services,” where a service you offer is packaged and sold as a set product, as digital products. We’re not including them here because they involve work. As in, the more you sell, the more work you (or people you hire) have to do. We’re looking at digital products that you can pretty much sell without any extra work (besides updating from time to time, or maybe responding to questions).

Find a pressing need

One of the first things to do when you want to create a digital product is to discover the pressing need that your target audience has which you can meet. People aren’t really interested in your process so much as they want to know the bottom line - what’s in it for me?

This might be something you’ve already identified and created a solution for in your own business. For example, many plugins or software solutions begin because someone was trying to fix something that bothered them. 

Assuming you already have a clearly defined target audience, list some of the problems they commonly deal with. What do you get asked about a lot? Are there any “quick wins” you can help with? What about solutions that take a bit more building out?

If you’re not sure, ask! You could survey your clients, your email list, Facebook groups you belong to… Other forms of research include Google Trends and looking through forums to find commonly asked questions.

Validate your idea

This doesn’t have to be a huge step, especially if you’re creating something like a short eBook or a quick resource that you won’t have to sink a lot of time and energy into. You could simply start discussions around the topic and see how much interest you get.

On the other hand, if you’re going to sink a lot of time into software or creating a course, make sure it will be worth your time. Is there demand for this thing you can offer? One strategy you could use is to set up a waiting list. You’d just need a simple landing page, explaining the basics of the problem your digital product will solve, and offering people to sign up to be first to have access when it is released.

You can gauge whether you’ve nailed the problem if you get enough people showing interest, but of course that doesn’t mean all who sign up will buy. You also have to consider how you will solve the problem in a way that works for them.

Decide on a format

What does your digital product do? Is it the solution itself, or does it teach people how to create their own solution? For example, maybe we could create a course that teaches people how to design and build their own Squarespace themes.

One thing we find helpful is to plan out each step of the process. If you’re writing an ebook or creating a course, it helps to have it mapped out so that you create a coherent resource. 

The most successful digital products solve a problem and do so in the least painful way for your customers. So, think about the best format to make it easy for them and build that!

Promote your product

The whole idea of digital products is that you should be able to sell them repeatedly and at scale. Once you’ve built your product, get it out there!

You can:

• Promote to your email list

• Post to social media

• Get people to share it…

Whatever you do, don’t just create it and let it sit. It’s about building momentum around it. You may even find that once you’ve created your first digital product, it naturally leads to another. 

Listen to feedback

Another cool thing about digital products is that it’s relatively easy to evolve with your audience. You can make tweaks and deploy updates as-needed, including things that take care of feedback you get.

The trick is to look for feedback that you get multiple times. Sometimes you might have a very active audience who will offer a lot of feedback and it’s not always possible to address it all. Look for the patterns and address those things first.

Outside of audience feedback, keep your product updated with necessary changes (such as any bug fixes to software, or any changes to information outlined in your course or ebook).

Here’s how you can build your digital product audience - download here

Reflexiones finales

Digital products can be a great opportunity to share your expertise in a way that is scalable. The ideal digital products (in our view) are those which you can sell repeatedly without doing extra work when you sell them. In fact, your whole system can be set up automatically, so you’re not involved with the sales process at all.

The key to good digital products is basically the same for any service you might already sell - you need to solve a problem the customer has and do it well.

Where will you start?

7 Reasons I Bet on Digital Products (And Why I Still Do)

If you’ve ever hit a wall in your service business — where your time is maxed out and your energy’s wearing thin — you’ve probably asked yourself some version of this:

“Is there a better way to make money than trading hours?”

I hit that point years ago. I was doing custom Squarespace work, client after client, invoice after invoice. It paid the bills. But it didn’t scale. It didn’t breathe.

That’s when I started selling digital products. Not because I read a blog post saying I should — but because I had to find something more sustainable.

Here’s what I’ve learned since.

1. You can start small

The first digital product I ever sold wasn’t fancy. It was a pack of Squarespace tweaks — just bite-sized pieces of code and layout hacks I’d written for past clients. I packaged them up, put a Stripe button on a Notion site, and made sales.

No warehouse. No fulfillment process. No 12-week launch plan. Just a product and a page.

Digital products don’t need investors. They need clarity. Clarity on what solves a real problem — and a way to deliver it.

2. The margins are beautiful

Once it’s made, it costs you nothing to deliver. Every sale is mostly profit.

Yes, there are tools. Hosting. Maybe you pay for email, or a platform, or a bit of automation. But your cost of goods is near zero. Your time becomes the raw material — not your inventory.

And if you’re already doing the work for clients? You’re sitting on gold. Turn your most-requested service into a downloadable. Turn your process into a guide. Turn your system into a kit.

You’ve already earned it. Now you just need to scale it.

3. You don’t run out of stock

There’s no “Sold Out” on a PDF. No panic when orders spike. No need to order 2,000 units from overseas hoping they’ll move.

If 1 person buys or 1,000 people buy, the system stays the same. And that’s the magic. Because most of us aren’t trying to build empires — we’re trying to build lives with more freedom.

Digital gives you that leverage.

4. You can pivot without killing your cashflow

If a product flops, it’s a lesson — not a loss. No leftover inventory. No sunk shipping cost. Just a page to take down and an idea to learn from.

That flexibility is underrated. It lets you test ideas fast. You can move on without the emotional and financial weight that usually comes with a business “mistake.”

Digital lets you fail lightly. And that’s why you eventually win.

5. It’s easy to maintain (once it’s live)

Most digital products require heavy lifting up front. You write the thing. Design the thing. Record the thing.

But once it’s up and running? The updates are lightweight. Version 2.0. A new bonus. A quick polish to keep it fresh. You can batch it. Schedule it. Hand it off.

And if you do it right, your old work keeps working for you — long after you’ve moved on to the next thing.

6. You already have everything you need to sell them

If you’ve got a Squarespace site, a Stripe account, and a product worth paying for — you’re 90% there.

You don’t need a massive audience. You don’t need to run paid ads. You don’t need a course platform with a custom LMS and a gamified dashboard.

You need a simple, clear path to the solution your product provides — and a reason for someone to believe it will work for them.

Most freelancers already have the expertise. They just haven’t packaged it yet.

7. You’re no longer limited by geography, time, or capacity

The moment I realized someone bought my plugin while I was eating lunch?

That changed everything.

Not because it was “passive income” (it’s not). But because I’d created something once… and it kept delivering value without me needing to be present every time.

Your digital product can be bought at 2AM by someone in Australia you’ll never meet. It can be shared, gifted, linked, embedded, bundled.

There’s no cap to how many people can benefit from what you’ve built.

And to me, that’s freedom.

Final Thought

Digital products are not a magic pill. But they’re a smart bet.

They allow you to scale without hiring. Build without burning out. Test ideas without risking everything.

And they let you turn the work you’ve already done — the stuff sitting in client folders, in email threads, in your notes app — into something that pays you long after the project is over.

If you’re sitting on something valuable… share it. Sell it. Ship it.

You don’t need permission. You need a product and a place to start.

Want help figuring out what to sell? I’ve helped dozens of freelancers make their first digital product — and I’ve made more than a million dollars selling mine.

Let’s build yours.