Lead Generation Strategy
If you’ve ever tried to grow your business through content alone, you know how much work it can be. Writing posts, recording videos, learning SEO, keeping up with social media… it can start to feel like a full-time job on top of running your business. And even when you’re consistent, the growth can feel frustratingly slow.
In this episode, Bryan Harris of Growth Tools shares a completely different way to get in front of the right people, without spending all your time creating content.
What You’ll Learn…
- Why borrowing audiences is a faster path to attracting new clients.
- The one thing Dr. Phil did to leverage Oprah’s audience and build an empire.
- How a marketer with 100 subscribers got his next 1,000 subscribers overnight.
- Three surprising criteria for finding the perfect promotional partner for your business.
- The REAL job of your lead magnet.
- The simple math for how 1,000 downloads can lead to a six figure income.
- What you need to know about affiliate links before you partner with other creators.
Key Moments:
[02:01] How Dr. Phil Got Famous Using Oprah’s Audience
[05:57] Why You Don’t Actually Need A Big List To Get Started
[08:47] A Simpler Way To Think About Your Marketing Game Plan
[10:01] The Surprising Reason You Might Not Need Affiliate Links
[15:13] The Three Simple Rules For Finding The Right Partners
[20:50] What Your Lead Magnet Is Really Supposed To Do
[31:10] The Simple Math To Making Six Figures This Year
Tired of the Content Treadmill? There’s a Simpler Path to Growth
As an entrepreneur, it’s easy to believe that the only way to grow your business is through the relentless grind of content marketing. The pressure to publish daily, master SEO, and become an expert on every new platform can be overwhelming and, for many, unsustainable. But what if there was a more direct, less stressful way to get in front of your ideal clients? The answer lies not in building an audience from scratch, but in borrowing one that already exists.
The Two Paths to Getting Noticed: Build vs. Borrow
Ultimately, there are two ways to get people to know you exist so they can hire you or buy your products. The first is the “build” model: traditional content marketing. This strategy is based on the idea that you must create a constant stream of high-quality content to attract and nurture an audience over time. While this can work, it gets harder every year. The internet is saturated with content, and to stand out, you essentially have to become a professional publisher.
The second path is the “borrow” model. Instead of building your own audience, you simply leverage the audiences that other people have already spent years building. This approach, often called Borrowing Other People’s Audiences (BOPA), allows you to sidestep the content creation grind and focus directly on connecting with potential clients.
You Don’t Need an Audience, You Need Expertise
A common misconception is that you need a large email list or a massive social media following to partner with others. This isn’t true. Think about the relationship between Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Phil. When Oprah first brought him on her show, he didn’t have an audience, a podcast, or a massive brand. He had expertise. Oprah’s audience was full of married women with children, but she couldn’t speak directly to their biggest challenges because she wasn’t a parent or a marriage therapist. Dr. Phil was. She didn’t need his audience; she needed his expertise to better serve hers.
This principle applies to you, too. Your value to a potential partner is not the size of your list, but the unique skill or perspective you bring. Audience owners are always looking for fresh, valuable content for their followers. By offering your specialized knowledge, you provide them with a solution while gaining access to a targeted, trusting audience.
How to Find the Perfect Partner (It’s Easier Than You Think)
Don’t overcomplicate the search for a partner by thinking you need a perfect niche match. The criteria for a good partner are much simpler than you’d expect. First, they need to have an audience. Second, they need to be in the habit of sending content to that audience, whether through a newsletter, podcast, or another channel.
Finally, you only need to believe that there might be at least one person in their entire audience who could become your client. Consider a coach who helps people with ADHD improve their productivity and an agent who helps authors get a book deal. These fields seem unrelated, but the agent’s audience of aspiring authors almost certainly struggles with focus and finishing their manuscripts. A partnership where the productivity coach offers a resource to the authors is a natural fit that serves both audiences. Look for these complementary needs rather than direct overlaps.
Crafting a Lead Magnet That Actually Converts
The purpose of a lead magnet isn’t to solve your prospect’s entire problem or to simply “provide value.” Its true job is to build conviction in your unique method for solving their problem. Your marketing, from the lead magnet to the sales call, should be designed to show them a new, better path forward.
Instead of creating a complex, exhaustive guide, start with something simple like a three-step plan. This guide should outline your unique approach and demonstrate why it’s different from what they’ve tried before. The goal is to get them to stop heading down a path that isn’t working and turn toward your solution. When they become convinced that your way is the right way, they will be much more likely to hire you to guide them.
The System for Turning Prospects into Clients
Getting someone to download your lead magnet is only the first step. To convert those new leads into clients, you need an intentional and streamlined process. The most effective system is often the simplest.
Once someone opts in for your resource, the very next page they see should be an invitation to a conversation. Don’t just deliver the download and let the lead go cold. Frame the call as a high-value, complimentary session where you will help them create a personalized plan based on the principles in your guide. This isn’t a “sales call”; it’s a strategy session. By offering to help them apply your method directly to their situation, you provide immense value and naturally lead the most qualified prospects toward working with you.
The Simple Math to Sustainable Growth
This strategy simplifies your client acquisition down to a predictable numbers game. A good benchmark is that for every 1,000 people who download your lead magnet, about 100 will book a call with you. Out of those 100 calls, you can expect to enroll 10 new high-ticket clients.
With this math, your entire marketing focus shifts to one simple question: “How can I give away my single best resource to 1,000 ideal prospects this year?” This is a much more achievable and enjoyable game to play than the endless, unpredictable hamster wheel of content creation. It transforms marketing from a source of stress into a simple, scalable system for growth.
About Bryan:
Bryan Harris is the founder and CEO of Growth Tools, a coaching service that makes it nearly impossible to fail at getting clients. His clients include industry titans like Michael Hyatt, Ancient Nutrition and Amy Porterfield. Bryan’s most known for BOPA: the most overlooked and underrated marketing strategy he inadvertently discovered 10 years ago when Noah Kagan shared his blog post with 50,000 people. After this happy accident generated millions in revenue and hundreds of thousands of email subscribers, Bryan has reverse-engineered it down to a repeatable science you can use to predictably grow your online business.
Connect With Bryan:
- Bryan’s website
- Connect with Bryan on X
- Get a bundle of resources at https://growthtools.com/phillips
- Join the List Match Community – get Inbound partner alerts, a directory of 100s of list owners to partner with, and daily live speed-matching that opens doors to proven audiences. https://growthtools.com/listmatch
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