065 Here’s Why Your Freebie Isn’t Landing (And What Needs to Shift)

Let’s talk about lead magnets — because if you’re a health professional trying to grow your business online, building an email list is not optional. In this episode, I walk you through exactly why lead magnets matter, how to create one that actually works (spoiler: it’s not about being clever), and what to do if yours is flopping.

I share the most common mistakes I see health pros make (yes, we’re looking at you, overly educational freebies), and I’ll guide you step-by-step through the tweaks that turn browsers into subscribers — and subscribers into clients.

This isn’t about collecting emails for the sake of it. It’s about solving an urgent problem for your audience so they can feel seen, supported, and say: “Yes — you get me.”

You’ll also learn:

1. What makes a lead magnet irresistible (hint: it’s not the design)
2. How to write a title that stops the scroll
3. Why emotional connection always beats information overload
4. And how tiny tweaks can seriously boost your results

You’ll hear real-life examples, client case studies, and the mindset shifts that make all the difference.

Whether you’re just getting started or refining an existing freebie, this one’s packed with practical advice and strategic insight to help you create a lead magnet that actually does its job.

Key Takeaways

1. Your lead magnet should offer relief, not just education.
2. Keep it simple — don’t let the ‘clever clinician’ in you take over.
3. Titles matter more than you think.
4. A good lead magnet builds connection, not just your email list.
5. Market research is your best friend. Listen to what your people really want.

Lets keep in touch!

Website: https://www.sarahalmondbushell.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dietitiansinbusiness/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dietitiansinbusiness
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeyondTheClinicPodcast

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• Business Coaching: https://www.sarahalmondbushell.com/mastermind
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• Book a discovery call: https://thechildrensnutritionist.as.me/discovery

Transcript

Let me paint a picture. You spent hours, probably late at night with your laptop balancing on a laundry pile, designing your lead magnet. It's smart. It's beautifully branded and it reflects everything you know and care about as a clinician. You hit publish. You post about it on Instagram. You add it to your website. Maybe even email your list of subscribers and then...

Nothing. A trickle of downloads, maybe a handful of polite comments, but not the list building breakthrough that you were hoping for. If you've been there, you're not alone and you're definitely not doing it wrong. One of my Accelerate clients came to me with a beautiful evidence-based lead magnet called Aging Gracefully. It was an ebook filled with rich advice about midlife nutrition.

how our needs shift with age and how to support long term health through food. It was gorgeous. It was thoughtful. It was packed with value, but barely anyone downloaded it. Why? Because it didn't solve a problem her audience was actively trying to fix. It was what she wanted them to know, not what they were Googling in the middle of the night when they couldn't sleep. And that is what we're diving into today. Because getting your lead magnet right

isn't about cleverness or credentials, it's about connection. And when your freebie hits the right nerve, it's like opening a floodgate, new people, new leads, new energy in your business. In this episode, I'm gonna share with you why most lead magnets flop, even the beautiful evidence-based ones, and how to tell if yours has that problem or whether it just needs a tweak. And also a simple way to...

craft a lead magnet that actually grows your email list without working harder or dumbing it down. If that sounds good, then let's dig in.

If you're a health professional building an online business, especially one who's stepping away from the NHS or looking to reduce your clinical hours, your time and your energy are already stretched. You're not just trying to make money. You're trying to do it ethically and strategically in a way that protects your energy and actually feels worth it. So let's zoom out for a moment so that we're all on the same page. What is a lead magnet? Well,

It's a free resource, usually a download or a quiz or a checklist or a short training of some sort that you offer for free in exchange for someone's email address. Think of it as your first handshake with someone new. It's the way that someone moves from being a passive follower on social media to being an actual subscriber that you can connect with directly. And it's called

a magnet because when it's done right, it draws the right people in. The ones who are a good fit for your offer, the ones who already looking for support, the ones who are far more likely to buy from you a bit later. And therefore that makes it one of the most foundational pieces of your marketing strategy. Because when you've got an aligned lead magnet that solves a real problem,

You build your email list steadily, even when you're not posting on social every single day. You create a pool of warm leads, people who already like you and trust your expertise. And you stop relying on things like Instagram or LinkedIn's unpredictable algorithms or Google's latest update. And most importantly, you no longer feel like you're talking to a brick wall.

you are speaking to people who've already raised their hand and said, yes, I do need help with this. But most health professionals, especially those with a lot of clinical expertise,

based on what they think people should want to know, like midlife nutrition for long-term disease prevention, like the science behind fiber and gut health, like a beautiful balanced educational e-book. But if your lead magnet doesn't speak to an urgent felt need that your client already knows that they have, they're just gonna scroll past. Not because they don't value your work, but because it doesn't feel immediate or relevant.

And here's what I've seen again and again over the years with my clients. They are brilliant clinicians with years of clinical expertise, but they feel really frustrated because their content isn't converting. They've done the work, they've made the thing, but it's not building the momentum. And often the problem isn't them, it's that they've just skipped the most important question. What problem is my ideal client trying to solve today?

And when your lead magnet answers that question clearly and specifically and generously, then everything shifts. And that's why this episode that you're listening to today really matters because your email list isn't just a marketing tool, it's actually your leverage. It's how you stop relying on algorithms. It's how you reclaim your time and it's how you build a business that brings people in while you're off doing the school run.

or walking the dog. And yes, this is exactly what we refine inside my coaching program, Accelerate, because you deserve a lead magnet that actually works by bringing in leads or people who truly want to work with you. So let me take you back to a time in my own business when I didn't even know what I wanted to sell yet. I was still in that sort of research phase. I was spending time in forums and online communities where I knew my ideal clients were hanging out.

places like Annabel Carmel's Facebook forum, like weaning groups, like toddler mum groups, the digital equivalent of sitting quietly in the NHS waiting room and just listening. And over time, I noticed a pattern. There were certain questions that came up time and time over and over again. But there was one I remember felt particularly charged. had a real emotion behind it.

It had anxiety, had stress, it had that low level fear of, I getting this right? That question was, how do I know if my baby's eating enough? it came up across all the stages from milk feeding in early infancy to weaning to toddlerhood. And it wasn't just a curiosity, it was a real worry. You could feel the emotion behind these

posts that these parents were popping into these groups. And so I decided I was going to act on it. I was going to do something about it. And I created a free guide that broke down a typical feeding volumes and portion sizes for the average baby at the different stages of weaning, seven to nine months, 10 to 12 months, and then one to three years. And it was grounded in research. It was evidence-based. It came.

with a very big disclaimer that every baby is different. If your child is happy and growing and thriving as plenty of wet nappies, then you're probably doing just fine and it's best to feed your baby responsively following your baby's lead. But still, I knew that having a reference point could ease the mental load for so many parents. It wasn't about rigid rules. It was about reassurance, a suggestion on how much they might want to cook or serve up at the high chair.

And I created this guide and I shared it on my website. I put it on social media and I also put it in every one of those groups that I was part of while I was gathering my market research. And it exploded. Over 5,000 people downloaded that guide in the first six weeks alone. I couldn't quite believe it. It was the first time I'd seen that kind of traction.

And all because I'd taken the time to deeply understand what my audience truly needed. So eventually I realized I was missing out on a gold mine here. So I started charging 9.99 for it. And that teeny tiny product became my first true passive income stream. That one lead magnet built my email list.

brought in my revenue and established me as someone who understood my niche inside and out. And here's the key takeaway here. It worked because I didn't start with what I wanted to teach. I started with what they were already worried about. Now I want to contrast that with another story. So this is from a client of mine inside of Accelerate.

So when she joined, she was running a lovely private practice, working with middle-aged clients. She helped them optimize their nutrition and reduce the risk of age-related conditions like heart disease, osteoporosis, and type 2 diabetes. She had loyal local clients. Most of them came to her via word of mouth, the private insurance companies, or ⁓ consultant referrals. And people trusted her.

But when it came to growing online, things really stalled. She wanted to reach more people. She wanted to go beyond her postcode and she wanted to make a bigger impact. So like many of us do in the early days, she created Lead Magnet. It was called Aging Gracefully. It was a lovely ebook packed with advice on nutrition in midlife. It explained how nutrients needs shift after 40.

It touched on hormonal changes. gave practical tips for disease prevention. It was beautifully written, well researched, designed with care. But when she published it, crickets. Barely anyone downloaded it. She shared it on social. She added it to her website, but the response was, you know, lukewarm at best. She felt deflated. It's so helpful, she said. Why aren't people downloading it?

And here's the hard truth. The guide was based on what she wanted to teach, not what her audience was urgently trying to solve. There was no emotional hook. There was no pressing pain point. There was no sense of, my goodness, I need this right now today. It's like offering someone a beautifully balanced meal when what they're craving is a snack to fix their 4pm blood sugar crash. Helpful? Yeah, absolutely.

Urgent? No. So we went back to basics. We dug into her audience's language. We considered what night Google searches would be, what their everyday frustrations were. Together we created something new, a smaller, sharper, more emotionally resonant And that's the shift that I want to highlight here.

You can pour your heart and your expertise into a guide, but if it doesn't answer a question that your audience is already asking in a way that feels immediate and relieving, it just won't do what you want it to do. And that's not failure. That's just feedback. It's a chance to realign. It's to do some more research and it's to create something that your people truly, truly want. OK.

Let's get to it. The part where we roll up our sleeves and take this from conceptual to actionable. So there's five teaching points that I've seen shift the game completely when it comes to creating lead magnets. Not that not only grow your email list, but do so with an aligned, ready to buy type of person who trusts you. So the first teaching point I've got is it's called the curse of the clever clinician.

And this is something I see all the time, especially with health professionals who've been in the field for a fair while, because you've spent years gaining qualifications. You've got in-depth knowledge. You know the nuance. You know the ethics. You know exactly what your clients should be focusing on because you've seen the downstream effect of the poor choices or misinformation. And so you sit down.

to create lead magnet and your brain goes straight to let's educate, let's educate them now. Let's get ahead of those future problems. Let's show them the whole picture. But the thing is your ideal client isn't where you are. They're not ready for a 12 page evidence-based framework on balanced nutrition. They don't actually want education. They're wondering if it's okay.

to give their toddler snacks twice in one morning. Now this is what I call the curse of the clever clinician because we are so knowledgeable. We forget what it's like to be completely new to the problem. So instead of giving them the next step, we give them the whole staircase and then they just freeze. So the second teaching point is your audience doesn't want education, instead they want relief.

So I know that this is a bit of a tough pill for us as educators, but I want you to sit with this one because most of your clients don't wake up thinking, I'd love to deepen my nutritional literacy today. They wake up thinking, why is my kid refusing dinner again? Why do I crash every afternoon, even though I eat healthily? Why do I feel so tired and bloated all of the time? Because these are problems they feel in their bodies, in their kitchens.

in their work days. They're not looking for education, they're looking for relief. Your lead magnet should offer a win that they can feel by this afternoon, even if it's small. The moment someone downloads it, they should be able to breathe easier and if they don't, they'll just file it under nice to have and probably never open it again.

Okay, teaching point three now, this is the three Rs of a magnetic lead magnet. This is what needs to go into a lead magnet to make sure that it's really high converting. I'm going to break it down into something practical three Rs framework. So first R is relevant. It must speak to an immediate pain point or desire, not something that you think they should care about.

It's something that they're actively Googling, but not through the day. They're Googling it at 10 PM in secret. It's a bleeding neck problem, not a stubbed toe. The second R is results focused. What tiny transformation will they walk away with? So this isn't about impressing them with your knowledge. It's about giving them a small, but really significant win. Something that they can do, feel, or understand within minutes of opening it.

And the third R is real life language. Your title and words need to sound like something they would say, not something you'd write for a journal article. So for example, toddler portion sizes. Yeah, great. Feeding dynamics in early childhood. No thanks. Your lead magnet lives or dies in its title because that is the hook. That's the invitation. You've got to get that part right. And if you've

Do that, you've already done half of the hard work.

Okay, my fourth teaching point here is about real examples from the field. So I've seen some clients make these tiny tweaks to their lead magnets that lead to these huge results like swapping a meal planning guide for four ready to go lunches that you can prep in under 10 minutes, even with kids under your feet or changing a dry PDF checklist into a visual snack swap, a cheat sheet with pictures and options and a two minute explainer video.

So these aren't reinventions, they're just refinements to what was already there. And that's what I want you to encourage you to do because you probably don't need to start from scratch. You might just need to tighten the focus or shift the language or just clarify the immediate win.

And then teaching point five, does your lead magnet pass the relevance test? So here's a quick self audit. You can take your existing or planned lead magnet and you could ask, would someone search for this before they knew me? Is it solving a problem I've heard in DMs or consultations or Facebook or Reddit forum comments? You need evidence here. Would a client screenshot this and send it to a friend?

Is the result or the transformation that they're going to get immediate or does it require a bit of time to read and absorb and implement? If you can't confidently say yes to all four of these, that's your clue. There's an opportunity here to make your lead magnet stronger.

So now that you've got the inside, here's where we shift into action.

And don't worry, this won't take more than 15 minutes of your day to day. I want you to do a lead magnet clarity check. So you can grab a notebook or you can open a fresh Google doc or just jot down some thing in your phone notes app while you're on your tea break. And I want you to answer these three questions really honestly. What exact problem does my lead magnet solve? Not the general topic, the specific problem. Is it how to eat more fiber?

Or is it what to eat when you're so bloated you don't want to eat anything? Aim for that second layer. That's where the emotional relevance lives. The second question to ask is would someone be actively searching for this? So would your ideal client type this into Google? Would they say it to a friend? Would they recognize it as their problem? Yes, great. Go find the evidence. If not, it's probably a bit too abstract.

The third question is, what is the immediate win? What is the result? However small, what is it that they can walk away with? Can they do something differently today? Can they feel something differently? Can they understand something more clearly? If you're not sure, go and ask a trusted peer or even a past client. And if you already have a lead magnet out there in the world, here's a little bonus step for you. I want you to...

post a title of it in your Instagram stories and just ask, would you download this in exchange for your email address? Yes or no? So just a poll. And then say, be honest, you won't hurt my feelings because people are really precious about giving away their contact information. So you'll get some of the clearest market research in your life by asking this question.

And if your answer to all of this is, I'm not sure, or it's not landing in the way I hope, then you know what? That's totally okay, because that's exactly where my clients all start. This is the kind of refinement that we make together inside of the program. Not by throwing everything out, but just by tweaking what's already working, aligning it more closely with what your audience is looking for, their lived experiences. So if this episode has got you thinking, okay,

I think I need to rework my lead magnet or I've got the content, but it's just not landing in the way that I hoped, then you're exactly the kind of person that I love to support. And there are two ways that I can offer that. So one is accelerate my high level group mastermind for regulated healthcare professionals who are ready to step into the next chapter of their business and build something sustainable, ethical and effective. And the second is with Sarah AI, my low cost

Custom Chat GPT bot built with my strategic business expertise, ethical marketing, and all of my coaching knowledge and frameworks. And yes, that includes what it takes to get your lead magnet right as well. Not just as a box ticking exercise, but as a foundational part of your funnel, of your brand, and actually of your income. So whichever route you choose, it'll help you identify the real pain points that your audience is searching for.

It'll match your expertise with what your client is actually ready to receive. And it'll turn those insights into lead magnets, into offers and into content that converts gently, naturally, and of course with integrity. So if your lead magnet isn't doing the heavy lifting for you right now, or if you don't have one at all, this is the perfect place to start. You'll find the links you need in the show notes. So today we've talked about

why lead magnets often fall flat and how small shifts in focus, in language and empathy can turn them into really powerful tools for connection and growth. We've explored the difference between what we want to teach and what our audience actually needs. And we've looked at two real life stories, one that took off and one that needed refining. And we've broken down exactly makes a lead magnet magnetic.

So here's what I want you to take away. You don't need to be louder. You don't need to create more things. You don't need to be cleverer. You don't need to be wittier or more marketing savvy. You just need to listen more closely to your audience and speak to their real lived experiences. Okay, that's all for today. Bye for now.