How To Grow Your Email List With Curation-Based Lead Magnets

(And How To Use AI To Build Them Faster)

Hey, Daniel here!

Welcome to issue #4 of AI Email Marketing Prompts - the paid newsletter that helps you use AI to create high-converting:

• Newsletters

• Lead magnets

• And email sequences

…all in just a fraction of the time.

Today’s edition is a continuation of our lead magnet series - and this time, we're looking at a much faster, lighter format that's massively underrated but insanely effective:

Curation-based lead magnets.

But first, let’s talk about the problem this specific approach solves for a second.

The Big Lead Magnet Mistake 99% Of Creators Make

Most creators think every lead magnet has to be this massive, time-consuming project packed with original “thinking.”

They spend weeks creating 50-page PDFs, elaborate video courses, or comprehensive guides that nobody actually finishes.

And here’s the problem:

• Most creators burn out before they even publish their lead magnet.

• Even worse - when they do finish it, they often realize it doesn't align well with their actual offer.

• Last but not least, these "content-heavy" lead magnets sometimes can underperform (because they overload instead of convert).

Sound familiar?

If you've ever started a lead magnet project and never finished it… or launched one that barely moved the needle… you're not alone.

Luckily, there’s an alternative.

The Curated Approach

Instead of trying to create and share a brand new framework with every lead magnet you put out, I’d highly recommend to starting experiment with curation-based lead magnets.

These are collections of valuable resources that already exist, organized in a strategic way that solves a real problem.

Here's why they work so well:

• People love them because they save time and remove decision fatigue

• They're much faster to build using AI tools (we're talking hours, not weeks)

• They're easier to test and iterate on quickly

• And they can align with any offer (when done right)

Think about it - your ideal customers are already spending hours researching, hunting for examples, and trying to compile resources on their own.

Why not save them that time while also positioning yourself as the expert who can help them implement what they find?

Now, not all curated lead magnets are created equal.

So, before I show you how to use AI to start brainstorming your own curation-based lead magnet, let me walk you through…

The 3 Keys To Create An Engaging, Money-Making Curation Lead Magnet

Based on my experience, the best curation lead magnets have these 3 things in common:

• Congruence: The lead magnet should help your readers solve a micro-problem that your paid offer solves at a macro level. The goal is to build a natural bridge between free and paid. I explain this idea more in-depth in one of our previous issues.
  

• Value: Curation isn’t enough - you need to make your lead magnet useful and unique. Ideally, it saves time, solves a painful problem, or reveals something people couldn’t easily find on their own. Easy stress-test: If it’s Google-able, then it’s not unique or specific enough.
  

• Compounding: Lastly, the best curation lead magnets get better over time. You can continue to grow them & update them over time to keep them fresh and make them even more valuable both for new & future subscribers.

One of the best examples I’ve seen recently?

Gina Sapien from The Remote Marketer built a database of 250+ curated tools, guides, and job opportunities to help marketers find remote jobs.

This lead magnet hits all the 3 keys we just laid out:

• It saves users hours of research

• It directly supports her coaching offer

• AND it grows more valuable with every update she adds

Genius!

Now, enough reading - let’s get our hands dirty here.

This Week’s Prompt: How To Generate 10 Curation Lead Magnet Ideas In Minutes (Using AI)

Today’s prompt is designed to help you brainstorm 10 curation-based lead magnets that are fast to build & designed to naturally lead to your paid offer.

You don't need to be an expert.

You just need to know what your offer helps with - and this prompt will do the rest.

All you need to do?

Fill in the basic details about your paid offer (what it is, who it's for, what problem it solves).

All the placeholders are clearly marked with brackets [ ] near the end of the prompt (inside the “Paid Offer Input” section).