Bringing a different piece of content to you today.
I opened my inbox, saw an email from my and thought, "That’s a good subject line. I have a play for doing that, too."
So I opened it and realized he was writing about THAT EXACT PLAY. We recorded a podcast a few years ago, and I went into detail on how to make it work.
Fun fact: I still get people meeting me who say they’d first heard of me from that podcast.
Very much worth considering this play for your agency.
Here’s the email in its entirety:
Switching gears today...
Instead of a webinar breakdown, here’s the 4-minute version of a podcast interview that’s stuck with me longer than almost any other (and I’ve hosted over 700 of them at this point ).
The Lead Magnet That Pays For Itself
When I sat down with Chris DuBois, founder of Dynamic Agency OS, he didn’t pull any punches:
“Most lead magnets suck.”
If we’re honest, I think you & I would agree.
Not because they’re badly designed. But, because they get downloaded, filed in an email folder or bookmarked “for later,” and never opened again.
To avoid this, Chris walked me through a 5-step process for building one that doesn’t just get consumed, it eventually funds your ad spend to generate more leads.
The step-by-step walkthrough is below, but if you want the full conversation, including the five-offer portfolio this sits inside of, you can listen to the whole episode here.
Step 1: Solve the most painful symptom, not the problem
Chris’s first filter: what is the one hyper-specific problem you solve?
The specificity is important, because your buyers usually don’t see the big problem you solve.
They see the symptoms, the specific, annoying way it shows up in their week.
So pick the most painful symptom and create something that helps them fix that FAST.
His example: An SEO strategist doesn’t wake up thinking “my content strategy lacks topical authority.” They think “I don’t know what to write.”
So the asset isn’t a strategy framework. It’s your first 50 blog posts, already mapped, with a repurposing plan attached.
The bar isn’t the most comprehensive end-to-end guide every published.
It’s a down-and-dirty template they can use execute fast and see a result immediately.
THE SIDE BENEFIT: because it’s rooted in the actual problem you solve, the people downloading it are qualified by definition. Not just people clicking everything on the internet.
Step 2: Kill the DEAD END
Chris’s tactical rule, and the one I’d implement first: no lead should hit a dead end in your funnel.
We’ve all opened plenty of lead magnets where you get to the last page and... it’s just over. Which is such a waste.
If you actually solved something, you’ve built trust. That’s exactly the moment they’re most willing to take another step with you.
It’s like the waiter asking if you’ll be coming back again soon when she can see you REALLY enjoyed your meal.
So the final page, the thank-you page, the follow-up email, every one of them needs to show a clear next step.
And “next step” doesn’t mean adding them to your newsletter. It means a specific, named next step.
Before you read on...
Quick time out before you get to Chris’s final 3 steps.
We have a FULL slate of live webinars this month, and I genuinely believe you’ll get value from at least one of them.
Here’s the full schedule, so you can grab your spot(s):
How to Build the 2-Step Sign Up Flow (That 5x’s Webinar Conversions)
Friday, September 4th (Today!) at Noon Eastern
The 3-Layer AI Operating System for Agencies w/ Jason Swenk
Thursday, September 10th at Noon Eastern
5 Steps to Reduce Your Agency’s AI Legal Risks (This Week)
Wednesday, September 16th at Noon Eastern
Will Claude’s Watermark Break Your AI Search Strategy?
Thursday, September 17th at 1:00pm Eastern
4 Steps to Build Your Team’s LinkedIn Content Engine (Without AI Slop)
Wednesday, September 30th at Noon Eastern
Alright, back to the rest of Chris’s lead magnet playbook...
Step 3: Smoke test before you build anything
DO NOT spend 3 weeks building the lead magnet first.
CHRIS’S WORKAROUND: Spin up a landing page describing the offer. Add a waitlist form. Be honest about it, “here’s what we’re creating, join and we’ll send it when it’s ready.”
The more people who join, the more validated you are to actually build it.
He ran this himself. Built a landing page for an offer that didn’t exist, in 30 to 45 minutes. Every person who saw it was told in a live presentation that it wasn’t ready and was given the direct link to skip the form.
They filled out the form anyway.
Their logic: if enough people ask, he’ll actually go build it.
Here’s the part I loved: the Thank You Page isn’t a dead end either.
It’s a short video, thanks for signing up, introducing Chris, & telling them what’s next.
And finally, the oh-so-perfect pivot:
“This asset only solves one piece of the problem you’re facing. If you’re still missing X, Y, and Z, you’ve still got a problem. Want to talk through the whole picture while you wait? Calendar’s below to book a call.
So a page for an asset that doesn’t exist yet is already booking calls.
Step 4: Find the winner and put a price on it
Now the self-funding part.
Look across your existing lead magnets and find the one that’s clearly outperforming the rest. You now have proof the market wants that topic.
Then run the math:
Calculate what it currently costs you to acquire a lead with that asset
Build it up into something more substantial (like a workshop, a course, a real deliverable)
Price it 10–20% above your cost per lead
If you’re acquiring leads at $40, price it around $45–48.
THE MINDSET SHIFT: this revenue is not new revenue. It never becomes profit. The person buying is not a customer, they’re a lead who happened to pay you. (I’ll explain more in Chris’s 5th step below)
Step 5: Feed the revenue straight back into ad spend
Every lead magnet purchase goes directly back into promoting the offer. That’s the flywheel.
What you get on the other side is a lead source that’s better than free downloads in 3 ways:
They paid, so they’re far more likely to actually consume it
They paid for this specific offer, so they’re better qualified
They said yes once, which makes the next yes so much easier
And no dead ends still applies. Finishing the paid lead magnet forms a bridge into your core offer (your main product or service).
Two things Chris flagged for what comes after:
1) When it saturates (and it will, diminishing returns are inevitable), use the funds to build the next self-funding offer and start the cycle again.
2) Then bundle them. Once you’ve got 3-4 of these, packaged together they become something considerably more valuable than any one alone.
One warning before you run to Step 4: Don’t start here.
The common mistake is jumping straight to selling the digital product, the course, the paid guide, before you’ve tested anything for free.
Steps 1 through 3 are what make Step 4 work. An asset built by someone who’s never sat in the buyer’s seat doesn’t get better because you charged for it.
That’s the playbook.
Think it could work in your marketing mix?
If you want Chris walking through the full five-offer portfolio this fits inside, the full episode is here.
Also, if you’re sitting on a lead magnet you think could carry a price tag, hit REPLY and tell me what it is.
I’ll tell you honestly whether I’d pay for it.
Until next time!
Logan Lyles
Founder, DemandShift
logan@demandshift.co
Hope you enjoyed and got something from that.
Check out Logan’s services at DemandShift.co and give him a follow.
Have a great weekend!