Rethinking the Lead Magnet

Your lead magnet isn't working anymore, and it's not your fault.

For years the playbook was simple. Get their attention, give them a free PDF, build trust through education, make the sale. It worked because knowledge was scarce. If you knew 10 ways to do the thing, that was worth an email address.

But your prospects can now ask any AI bot those same 10 questions and get answers in four seconds. The education you're giving away for free is worth exactly what they're paying for it.

So what builds trust now? Actually doing the work for them.

Instead of "download my 10 ways to identify waste in your business," try this: upload your credit card statements and my tool will find where you're bleeding money, show you the impact, and give you one-click links to cancel what you don't need. One approach takes 10 hours to act on. The other takes 10 minutes.

And here's the thing. You're not doing the work yourself. Your AI tools are. The labor cost of actually solving their problem is approaching zero, so why are you still handing out homework?

Give them a taste of the result, not a lecture about how results happen. If the cost of doing the work is going to zero, we should be solving their problems straight away instead of teaching them how to solve it themselves.

But, Pat, I don’t know how to build a landing page that does that or an app that serves to do work as a lead magnet. That is where AI tools like Claude Cowork come in. The power our AI tools possess is so much greater than a simple chat bot.

Your mission now is not “how do I make an app,” but rather “what problem should I solve for my potential customers.” AI will figure out the rest, build it for you, and make it live - for real.

What would happen to your funnel if you gave away the first transformation instead of trying to teach something in order to build trust?

Tweet of the week

What should I post is as simple as What did I do?

What Won't Change? The Jeff Bezos Question

Everything is moving so fast right now. New tools every week. New platforms. New rules. How do you possibly plan a business when the ground keeps shifting?

Jeff Bezos gets asked the same question constantly: what's going to change in the next 10 years? His answer made me think about this challenge in a new way.

He said he doesn't answer that question. Instead he asks: what's NOT going to change?

Nobody will ever tell Amazon they wish it were more expensive. Nobody will wish delivery were slower. Nobody will want fewer choices. So Bezos builds everything around those certainties.

Apply that to what you do. If you're a fitness coach, nobody will ever call you and say they're too healthy. Nobody will say staying on a diet is easy. Nobody will say they don't need accountability to keep their promises.

Those things won't change. Ever.

So instead of panicking about which tool to learn next, ask yourself: what does my client always need, no matter what the technology does? Use our new capabilities and resources to build there - that’s the foundation.

The businesses that survive the next five years won't be the ones that chased every new tool. They'll be the ones that got crystal clear on what never changes and used the new tools to deliver it faster, cheaper, and better.

What about your business won't change in the next 10 years?

Businessing with Pat Miller is now DAILY at 11am CT!

It’s the new daily habit for small business owners. The secret: this show isn’t about business. It’s a show about people who run a business and how we can lead a better small business lifestyle. I’ll keep you up to date on the news, tuned in to the latest strategies and tech, and you need get some interaction with your peers even though you’re crazy busy. Put it on in the background and get some stuff done. Pick a morning this week and join the fun.

Watch or listen:

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@patmillerfridaysoff

• Apple Podcasts: "Businessing with Pat Miller"

• Spotify: "Businessing with Pat Miller"

See you at 11.

Now, GO SELL SOMETHING!

Pat