Why you should give away Free Content if you want to Offer Paid Digital Products

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So, you're telling me to give away free content even though I'm going to be selling and offering products down the road?

What?

I know what you're thinking, that I've lost my mind!

How can giving away free products and/or content help you down the road when you're ready to sell and offer paid products?

Well, it can, stay with me and I'll show you exactly how this can not only help you sell more products but can also create a sustainable and profitable business!

First, what is considered free content so that we're all on the same page.

Free content can be anything from blog posts, free ebooks, checklists, workbooks, you get the idea.

Basically, anything you give away for free.

But free content can also be considered gated content, or content that requires an email address to receive.

Gated content is my favorite way to offer content, of course besides blogging, but we'll get into that!

Have you ever tried to sell to Cold traffic?

I have, and from personal experience, I can tell you it's not easy and can end up costing you!

Of course, every “mistake” is a lesson learned and I have heard my fair share of success stories selling to cold traffic but let me be clear, it's tough, not impossible, but tough.

Especially if you are offering something at a higher price.

Traffic that is considered “cold traffic” are people that don't know you.

They may have not even heard of you yet.

So when they see your ad regardless of how intriguing your offer may sound or how incredible the transformation they may get from your product may be, they know they would be taking a risk by buying from you.

They have no idea how you teach, they don't know if you know what in the heck your talking about and this leaves them with a lot of doubt.

Doubt is what makes people not purchase.

So get the point right!

My first point is this when you offer a free product or service you are showing your audience your teaching style.

You are showing your audience you know what you're talking about.

You're showing them they can get something from you and they will be more whiling to purchase from you.

People that know, like and trust you are more whiling to buy from you and by giving them free content you are removing the doubt.

Removing the doubt that maybe they won't like your teaching style, or that they won't get anything out of your paid content.

Free Content Builds your Email List

Yes, something I've talked about many times before, building your email list.

You wanna know why I talk about this so much?

Because I didn't do this. I thought, oh I don't need one, I'm good.

I'll build a business without one. Boy, was I wrong.

Your email list is the base of your business.

This is where you make the most sales, this is where you make the biggest impact and it's where you build the best relationships.

I could talk about this all day but I'll save you the time and if you're curious as to why you should prioritize your email list check out this post, “7 Reasons Building your Email List should be your number one Priority“.

Okay, I apologize, got a little off topic there.

So we get it, your email list is important but how does this all tie in together?

You can create gated content that's free.

Gated content just means someone has to enter their email in order to receive that free piece of content.

This is great because you can not only build your list but people are also getting to know you!

You can create gated content for your blog, as a sales funnel basically for whatever you want!

Just remember to create something that benefits your audience in some way!

Not only that, the people that are on your email list are considered “warm” or even “hot traffic” because they have already gotten value from you and began to know, like and trust you!

Free Content helps Grow your Audience and Online Presence

Dang!

Offering free content is sounding pretty good right about now, isn't it??

Okay, let's get one thing straight though, even though your content is free that does not mean it can look cheap.

That's right, although your content is free you have to put a little time into to, make it look aesthetically pleasing and make it valuable! Value is key here.

The more value you give in your free content, the more your audience will like it and the more they will share it with their friends!

When people share your content, they are brought back to your website or blog or where ever you want them to go, boosting your traffic and getting an even bigger audience!

And who doesn't want to grow their audience and online presence??

Not only that, when people share your content, that's free advertising for your business!

When we tell our friends about something that we really like, they don't ask questions they just do it because they trust us!

Meaning, people that hear about your business from their friends are more likely to download your free content and more likely to purchase your paid products! It's a win-win for everybody!

You can use your free content to sell your paid products.

There are a few different ways you can go about this depending on which type of free content you are offering.

If you have a blog with lots of amazing and valuable blog posts, you can offer your paid product or service within or at the end of a blog post.

Of course, make sure the paid product is relevant to the blog post.

Another way to use your free content to sell your paid products is to can create a sales funnel with your free content.

A sales funnel is usually a set of emails that begin with a free piece of content like an email course.

After the free email course is over, a final email is sent offer the paid product that relates or goes more in-depth into the same subject as the free email course.

Both of these methods work well and can help show your audience you know what you're talking about and provides lots of value before your offer your paid products or services!

Value, Value, Value, Offer. 

I know it can be scary to offer free products but the more value you give in your free content, the bigger your email list will be and the more paid products you will sell overall.

Thus, building a sustainable and profitable business!

Now I have a favor to ask you, if you enjoyed this post, found it interesting or learned something new, please feel free to share with your friends or something you think would enjoy this post!

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