Ep 65 - Still Creating Like an NHS Clinician? Here’s Why Your Freebie Isn’t Landing (And What Needs to Shift)

Why Your Freebie Isn’t Growing Your List (and What to Do Instead)

Have you ever launched a beautifully designed freebie – a downloadable guide, checklist or cheat sheet – only to find your list stubbornly stuck at the same number?

Many brilliant, caring health professionals pour their heart and soul into creating something of real value, only to be met with radio silence.

Cue the doubts: "Is it me? Is my idea rubbish? Should I just stick to clinical work?"

Take a deep breath. This isn’t a personal failing. In fact, it's incredibly common – especially for those of us with a clinical background. We’re trained to educate, to provide depth, to show rigour. But online? People are searching for clarity and immediate help.

They don’t want to be taught – they want to be seen, understood and helped.

So if your lead magnet isn’t converting, it’s probably not because it isn’t good enough. It’s because it doesn’t solve a specific, urgent problem in the language your audience recognises.

But we can fix that.

Why Your Lead Magnet Isn’t Working

Here’s the thing. Most health professionals create lead magnets from their own expertise-which makes perfect sense. After all, you want to serve your audience with high-value content. But in doing so, many fall into one (or all) of these common traps:

• Choosing a topic that feels important to them, but isn’t what their audience is actively searching for
• Packing in too much education, assuming that more info equals more value
• Using clinical or academic language that distances rather than connects

There’s a big difference between what’s evidence-based and what’s urgently needed. The best-performing lead magnets meet people where they are-not where you think they should be.

And that’s not a judgment. It’s a strategy tweak.

When you shift from "What do I want people to know?" to "What does my ideal client want solved right now?"-everything changes. Your freebie becomes magnetic.

Here's how to make that happen.

Five Shifts to Make Your Freebie Truly Magnetic

Your freebie should be working hard in the background-attracting the right people to your world, even while you're offline, enjoying a cup of tea or picking up the kids.

Here are five key shifts that turn your freebie from invisible to irresistible:

Shift #1: The Curse of the Clever Clinician

When you're used to holding all the knowledge, it’s tempting to give your audience everything they need to know all at once. But the truth is, they don’t need the whole staircase-they just need the next step.

Clinicians often overdeliver, packing their freebie with too much detail, too many directions, too much depth. And while your intention is to be helpful, it can actually leave your audience overwhelmed and unsure where to start.

Instead, simplify. What’s the very first, most useful step they need to take that will deliver a result within minutes of them consuming it?

Start there-and only there. That’s what builds trust and momentum.

Shift #2: Your Audience Doesn’t Want Education, They Want Relief

Most clinicians default to creating something educational when building a lead magnet. But for your ideal client, that just creates another item on their to-do list. If your freebie feels like homework, they won’t download it, and if they do they wont read it and take action.

The purpose of a freebie is to showcase your value and expertise but leave them wanting the next step. Thats never going to happen if they don't even read it!

Instead provide relief. A solution to their problem, a quick win. Because relief is magnetic. Think: meal idea lists, guides that outline a process explaining what they need to do, but not how to do it. Something that eases the mental load and gives them breathing room right away. That’s what builds trust-and of course subscribers.

Shift #3: The 3 R’s of a Magnetic Lead Magnet

There are three ingredients that every truly irresistible freebie has:

• Relevant: It solves a real urgent problem your audience is currently facing and wants fixing now.
• Results-Focused: It promises (and delivers) a quick, meaningful solution within 20 minutes of them consuming it.
• Real-Life Language: It’s written in their words, reflecting their language and not your clinical jargon.

If your lead magnet is missing one of these R’s, you’ll struggle to get traction. But when you tick all three? That’s when things start to flow.

Shift #4: What Actually Works (Real Examples from the Field)

Sometimes it helps to see the shift in action. Here are a few real-life examples that demonstrate what works:

• Instead of "Nutrition for Midlife Women," try "Your 10-Minute Packed Lunch Planner for Peri-Menopause Energy Dips."
• Instead of "Weaning Guide," try "3 of the Best Foods to Offer Your Baby When Starting Solids."
• Instead of "Managing Fussy Eating," try "My 'No Drama Dinner Table' Script For Parents (That Actually Works)."

Each one is specific, practical, and easy to consume. They promise a small but valuable win-without a ton of effort.

Shift #5: Does It Pass the Relevance Test?

Not sure if your lead magnet is actually hitting the mark? Here’s a quick self-audit to help you evaluate it:

• Would someone search for this before they even knew who you were?
• Is it solving a problem you've heard in DMs, consultations, or online forums?
• Would a client screenshot it and send it to a friend?
• Is the result or transformation immediate-or does it require deep reading and implementation?

If you can’t confidently say yes to all four, that’s your clue. There’s an opportunity here to strengthen your lead magnet and make it truly magnetic.

A Real-Life Transformation

Let me tell you about Lucy.

Lucy is a paediatric dietitian with years of experience and a heart for helping mums through the early years.

She came to me after launching a beautifully designed 15-page eBook on balanced toddler nutrition. She was proud of it-and rightly so. But after weeks of promoting it everywhere? Crickets. No new clients. No new signups. Just silence.

When we reviewed her freebie together, everything changed. Lucy realised she was giving away too much and missing the real problem her audience wanted solved.

So, she pared it back. With my guidance, she created a simple two-page resource titled, "50 5-Minute Toddler Snack Ideas List for Busy Mums."

It was specific. It was relatable. It was exactly what her audience had been searching for.

Within a week, she’d tripled her sign-ups. More importantly? Those sign-ups became engaged subscribers, eager for the next step. Now the has a list of ideas they wanted recipes, meal plans, ideas for other toddler friendly meals.

They began replying to her emails, booking discovery calls for 1:1 consultations, and investing in her 'Cooking For Your Family' course. One client even told her, “This was exactly what I needed when I'd run out of ideas. You made snacks feel interesting again.”

Lucy did the work. I just helped her see what was already there.

That’s the power of having the right guide-and a lead magnet built to connect.

What to Do If You’re Stuck or Unsure

Still not sure if your freebie is working? Here’s a simple audit:

1. Is it solving a real, timely problem?
2. Is it written in your client’s words?
3. Is it specific and tangible?
4. Does it deliver a quick win?
5. Can you find evidence that people are actively searching for help for this problem?

Start by reviewing what you already have through this lens. Could you tighten the language? Shift the focus? Simplify the outcome?

And if you’re still unsure? That’s okay too. This is exactly the kind of work we do inside Accelerate – helping health professionals build scalable, ethical businesses around their zone of genius.

You don’t have to struggle in silence. You don’t have to do it all yourself. You just need the right next step.

Conclusion

Your lead magnet doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be helpful.

When you shift from showcasing your knowledge to solving your audience’s real problems-using their words, addressing their pain, and offering quick relief - you turn a passive PDF into a powerful business tool.

You deserve to be seen. You deserve to be found. And your people? They deserve the ease, clarity, and transformation only you can offer.

So go ahead. Audit that freebie. Make the tweaks. And know that with each aligned step, you’re building a business that grows while you rest.

Because your work matters. And your audience is already waiting.

The Master Plan:

Helping you build the business of your dreams. Get your 22 point step-by step workbook here: https://www.sarahalmondbushell.com/master-plan

Connect with me:

Website: https://www.sarahalmondbushell.com/

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dietitiansinbusiness

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/beyondtheclinicbusiness

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeyondTheClinicPodcast

Episode transcription:

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 a 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.

t'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 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 fibre?

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.