There are 3 reasons why your email is not growing organically:
Lack of discovery content
Lack of a lead magnet
Not enough lead magnets
It's that simple.
Every organic list growth strategy comes down to these 3 things.
1) Discovery Content — You need an organic audience
It doesn't matter where.
Text content on LinkedIn, X, Threads, Substack notes
Short form videos on IG, TikTok, and YouTube
Long form YouTube videos
SEO optimize blog posts
Everything works if you publish great content consistently.
But don't do everything at once! Pick 1 platform. Post 3x per week for 90 days. Increase content volume and quality over time.
Don't worry about CTAs, newsletter signups, or customer acquisition at first.
Share free value. Build up your views, impressions, and followers.
Simple. But people still skip this!
2) Lead Magnet — You need one!
Stop begging people to sign up for your newsletter.
They've seen “if you like this, you'll love my newsletter” thousands of times.
Instead, BRIBE them to join your list. Giveaway short actionable content (or a simple tool) for free, in exchange for contact information.
Again, it’s simple.
But I've talked to hundreds of people who are struggling to grow and don't even have ONE lead magnet.
3) Not enough lead magnets - Test MORE!
One good lead magent can massively grow your list.
But that's not enough.
Your audiences desires, problems, and interests change.
Your old lead magnet will get outdated.
People want NEW stuff.
Test a new lead magnet every month.
Some will flop. Some will hit.
You’ll learn what works by creating, promoting, and testing more.
Best type of lead magnets
Most people do lead magnets wrong. They spend weeks creating and marketing a 50+ page ebook or 5+ hour free course.
Don’t do that!
You'll spend dozens of hours on a lead magnet that may not work
No one consumes long lead magnets
The best lead magnets:
Provide immediate value
<15 minutes to read or watch
Solve a narrow problem! Don’t share a comprehensive solution, that’s for your paid products/services
For example:
Good lead magnet — FREE template: 3 reminder emails that boost your sales call show up rate instantly (examples and fill-in-the-blank templates inside)
Bad lead magnet — FREE course: The ultimate guide to sales calls that convert — How to book appointments, boost show up rate, and close (10+ hours of content included)
The best lead magnets take 1 hour or less to create.
Don't create new content from scratch. Reuse what already works. If you've used the content successfully before, it's more likely to convert.
Where to pull content from:
Newsletters, social posts, or videos you've already published
Your paid products or services
Turn these existing materials (templates, frameworks, resources, or tools) into lead magnets.
Lazy lead magnets
Every newsletter you write can become a lead magnet.
In fact, after getting 10k+ subscribers from lead magnets, I’ve never made a dedicated one.
They’ve all been past newsletters I’ve already shared with my list.
I create actionable content. Share it with my list and get feedback.
Then I take the good stuff, put it behind an email gate, and share it with people who are not on my list yet.
So if you send a weekly newsletter, you don't need to do any extra work to create 1-4 new lead magnets per month.
Here are 3 more types of lazy lead magnets that work:
A) Presentation slides
Many of my YouTube videos are slide presentations (example). The slides have helpful information that people can revisit after watching the video.
I promote those slides as a lead magnet in the video.
B) Client assets
Do you create deliverables for clients?
Ad creative, web pages, designs, sales pages, email copy, etc.
Take the top 5-10 assets you've made and use them as a lead magnet.
Examples:
“Copy these ads: Our 10 BEST Facebook ad creatives that have driven 1M+ newsletter subscribers for clients, collectively”
“Landing page swipe file for chiropractors: 10+ landing pages pages with a 50%+ conversion rate that have driven 10,000+ leads for clients”
C) Other people’s stuff
Can you curate a swipe file or make resources and templates based on other people's stuff?
Examples:
“Ultimate newsletter landing page swipe file: 100+ examples from newsletters with 100,000+ subscribers”
“Black Friday email marketing swipe file: 30+ email marketing campaigns for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, from 8-figure+ e-commerce brands”
“Healthy meals from celebrity chefs: 10+ delicious and low-calorie recipes from chefs like Gordon Ramsay, Martha Stewart, Bobby Flay, and more”
How to promote lead magnets
Promote everywhere.
DM new followers
Your social profile / bio / featured posts
As a comment / reply to your social posts
At the end of long posts, threads, or carousels
YouTube description (first link) and pinned comment
Website e-cap: Pop ups, sign up modules, and more
Dedicated posts when you launch a new lead magnet
Comment to get giveaways on LinkedIn, X, and Instagram
And more!
How to deliver lead magnets
Don't overcomplicate it. I prefer speed over building the perfect funnel when launching a new lead magnet.
The simplest solution is beehiiv email gated pages.
Publish lead magnet content as a post on your beehiiv website. Select “gated” for the email capture settings. Then when users visit the post page they must enter their email address to get access and read the content.
Example from Moodboard
Build a dedicated landing page and funnel for lead magnets after you've tested them and people actually want the thing you're giving away.
Other lead magnet delivery best practices:
Welcome email
Add a lead magnet access link to your existing welcome email (the first sentence or “PS” section is a good place to put it)
If you're promoting multiple lead magnets, share a bulleted list of links with access to each
Reminder email automation - 4-6 hours later
This isn't a must-have, but it's a helpful marketing tactic you can test later.
4-6 hours after a user joins your list by signing up for lead magnet, send them a short “reminder” email.
"Hey, just checking — did you get the download okay?"
"Sometimes it ends up buried — here’s the link again just in case."
End this email with a soft question to drive replies:
"What are you hoping to learn from this?"
"Where are you most stuck right now?"
This email isn't designed to sell. Instead, it sets up future sales by:
Increasing email engagement (more clicks and replies)
Gets more people to consume the content, so they’re more likely to buy later.
That’s it!
Here's what you need to do now:
Publish quality content on one discovery platform 3+ times per week
Create and promote your first lead magnet (repurposing other content to create a lead magnet!)
Create and test new lead magnets every month
Mastering this strategies is the best way to grow your email list organically.
Lead magnets have been around since before the internet. They will never stop working.