Checklist lead magnet: a template and six examples

What a checklist lead magnet is

A checklist lead magnet is a list a reader works through to get one task done, offered for an email address. It does not teach a subject; it is there so that nothing gets forgotten: the documents to bring to a mortgage appointment, the steps before sending a newsletter, the things to check on a used car.

A list that narrow is easy to say yes to. A reader with the task in front of them wants it now, more than a long guide they mean to read some day. For the other formats and how they compare, see these lead magnet examples.

Why a checklist is the quickest lead magnet to make

A checklist is quick because the content already exists in your head. You do this task for clients every week. Writing the checklist means writing down what you do, in order, which takes an afternoon at most and often an hour.

• There is nothing to research: the steps come from your own practice, which is also why a client would want them.
• The text is short, often one to three hundred words, with no chapters or transitions to write.
• Layout comes down to a title, a list and a line at the end.
• The opt-in page is easy to write too, since the title alone tells a visitor what they will get.

The same speed makes checklists a good first lead magnet. You can publish one this week, see whether the topic brings sign-ups, and write the longer ebook lead magnet later, on the topic that proved itself.

A checklist template you can fill in

This checklist template has five parts, and works for almost any task. Copy the lists below and replace the bracketed text with your own.

1. The header

• Title: [The task] checklist: [the result] in [time or number of steps]
• For: [who this is for, and at what moment they need it]
• Time needed: [minutes or hours]

2. What to have ready

• [Document, tool or piece of information 1]
• [Document, tool or piece of information 2]
• [Access or account needed, if any]

3. The items, in the order they are done

1. [Verb] [the thing] [the detail that makes it checkable]
2. [Verb] [the thing] [a number, a place or a deadline]
3. [Verb] [the thing] [how to know it is done]
4. Repeat until the task is complete: 7 to 15 items in total

4. The final check

• [The one thing people most often forget]
• [How to confirm the whole task worked]

5. The next step

• [One sentence on what to do after the checklist, and one button or link: book a call, see the offer, read the full guide]

Six checklist lead magnet examples by trade

Here are six checklists, one per trade. Each covers a single task that comes up just before a client would need the professional, and ends on a next step that makes sense for that trade.

The titles name the task, usually with a number or the moment it happens. "Checklist for freelancers" could be about anything. "Year-end checklist for freelancers: documents to gather" tells the right person that this is for them, now. More starting points are listed in these lead magnet ideas.

How to write items people can tick

An item works when the reader can say yes or no to it without thinking. Start each line with a verb, keep one action per line, and add the detail that removes doubt.

• Vague: "Good lighting". Checkable: "Face a window, with no lamp behind you".
• Vague: "Check the paperwork". Checkable: "Scan the last three pay slips into one file".
• Vague: "SEO". Checkable: "Write a page title under 60 characters with the main keyword in it".

List the items in the sequence they are done, so that the reader never has to go back. Where a step has a common mistake, say it in a few words after the item instead of adding a paragraph.

How to publish a checklist and collect emails

To collect emails with a checklist, put it behind an opt-in page and share that page's link. The page shows the title and a line about what the list covers, asks for an email address, and hands over the checklist once the form is sent.

1. Write the checklist with the template above.
2. Publish it behind an opt-in page that asks for a first name, an email address and consent.
3. Deliver it at once, on the page or by email.
4. Share the link where the question comes up: under the video on the topic, in your bio, at the end of a related post.

In Sublead, the first three steps are one. You write the checklist as a document, with headings, lists, images and callouts, then press Publish. The opt-in page is made from the document, and the reader sees the checklist on the page right after signing up. A button at the end, or pinned to the bottom of the screen, carries your next step.

Printable checklist or web page

Choose by where the checklist is used. A list followed with a pen, in a kitchen, on a building site or in a client meeting, is better as a printable PDF, and a design tool or a document editor with a PDF export will produce it. A list followed on a screen, phone in hand, reads better as a web page, where the text fits the display and you can correct an item without sending a new file.

Sublead publishes the web page kind. It has no PDF download, so a checklist that must be printed belongs in another tool. A checklist opened on a phone from a bio link or a video description is the case it is made for. The guide on how to create a lead magnet covers the full process, whatever the format.