There is a lot more digital competition these days. There are so many other marketers and there are so many other things that can be distracting for your readers and customers. Even if they really love you, remember they may not remember to check you out again. That is… if you can even get them to notice you in the first place.
How can you stand out in a crowded marketplace? It can really take some brainstorming to get to the bottom of it. One of the problems is that there has been a dramatic decrease in the perceived value of digital products in the past couple of years. Yes, people are definitely still willing to buy information products. That's the basis of a lot of my business. As long as people are getting results, they will buy the info product.
With that said, there's so much competition for selling info products these days that it can be difficult in certain niches. Depending on how you angle your product, it can be tough for new marketers. It's just not as easy for a new info product seller to break in as it was in the past. You have to prove yourself, really differentiate your product (and yourself), and show that it's worth it. How are you going to stand out, once again?
Well, one of the best ways to stand out is by giving away content. I know this might seem unfair. After all, you work really hard to produce your content that it just doesn't seem fair to give it all away. But I promise you that you can make a lot of money and attract a wide audience if you're willing to give away some very valuable content.
People love to get things for free. If you create free reports and products, you can get people to download them like crazy. It’s a nice way to stand out and attract an audience. It’s certainly easier to give things away than it is to sell them.
Does this scare you? It shouldn’t. You're probably well aware that there are some freebie-seeking customers out there. I also promise that you don't have to worry about freebie seekers with the method I'm about to share with you.
Yes, you're going to give content away and some people will download this free content just because it's free and they’ll never even look at it or think of you again. But, those aren’t the people you're worrying about. You're doing this for the audience that’s going to be initially attracted to your free offer and that will stay to become lifetime customers because of the value you offer. You're going to attract your ideal audience based on what you give away for free.
I should also mention that you can attract joint venture partners and affiliates by giving them content and things they can give away for free. This is one of the best ways to get others to spread your content around so you can all make more money. This is definitely a winning situation for everyone involved – from the JV partner, to you, to the customer.
First, let's talk about how you can grow your list by giving things away for free, and how this leads to an actual income.
Giving things away for free is a list-building concept that has been around for quite some time in the online world. It's how you get your foot in the door. People won't sign up for your list just because you want them to. They’ll sign up for your list because there’s something good in it for them.
You’ll give them something valuable in exchange for their name and email address. But now you can take it to the next level by constantly creating free material to give away with intention. It’s not about giving any old thing away for free—it’s about giving things away that people would otherwise pay for.
Let me give you a personal example, from an offline point of view. Shortly after I was married, when my son was less than 2 years old, I took the family on a vacation to Virginia Beach, Virginia. One morning we were walking back to our hotel from breakfast, and were stopped on the street by a young man who was probably college age.
He asked us if we would like a free bottle of champagne and a bag of taffy, and I said “what’s the catch?”. He said we just had to attend a short presentation about the beautiful condos that had just been built.
So, believe it or not, I said sure, we’re not in a hurry to do anything else, so we went into the building, sat through the presentation, and ended up buying 2 weeks of a time share that cost something like $10,000. That was well over 30 years ago, and it turned out to be a purchase that we’ve enjoyed since then, and I was never disappointed that I accepted a free gift in order to be marketed to.
So the point of my story is that this is something that’s done all the time, and has been for a long time, online and off.
Freebie list builders are just part of this concept. You can also create free groups with free, personalized help and support. This is something I haven't seen nearly as many marketers doing. But, it is a concept that I wholeheartedly support and recommend. I created my IM Inside Track Facebook group and it didn’t take long for thousands of people to join, completely for free. It has really boosted my business and especially my branding. It has given me a lot of exposure, new customers, and a lot of credibility and clout in the industry.
I highly recommend you consider creating your own free community if you want to take advantage of the strategy. There's no better way to attract a great audience, to really help people, to get people interested in what you have to offer, and to build yourself up as an expert. You can get started today by creating your own free Facebook group.
Once again, you can get other people to help build your business for you. All you have to do is give affiliates free rebrandable reports. You can simply allow them to rebrand reports with their affiliate links to your products. Make sure these reports are extremely valuable so they’ll want to give them away and people will want to download them.
That “value” word holds true for everything we’re talking about here. Everything you give away for free has to be extremely valuable so it’s worth it. Allow affiliates to deliver reports that you would otherwise sell. These have to be great reports that are worth it for you, your affiliates, and the reader.
Another method is to give away free content on your blog. Obviously every blogger writes content for their blog and it can be read for free. You can take it to the next level. Make it content that would otherwise be sold. Make it so helpful and so extensive that people are wowed by it. Make it so fantastic that other bloggers can't help but share it. Make it so amazing that readers want to share it on their social media channels. Also, you can make it clear that they are welcome to share the content on their blog or website as long as they keep your resource box intact. This invitation can pave the way to help your content go viral and to build your list.
Now, let's talk about the perceived problem of the freebie seeker. You clearly aren’t going to make money directly by giving things away for free. That doesn’t mean you should shy away from the strategy. Focusing on giving amazing things away for free will help you build your list. As you know, building your list is your ticket to freedom.
It is important to understand that you can't use this strategy in isolation. Yes, it works for some companies to give things away for free seemingly forever. Twitter didn't monetize for years. But, that's not you—you don’t have huge investors behind you. I highly recommend that, along with the freebies you give away, you also have some high-end paid content set up and ready to go as soon as you start implementing this. You can earn money by upselling the free content to paid content.
Having paid and high end content shows that what you're giving away has actual value. If everything you give away is free or cheap, then the perceived value of your content plummets. People need to know that you are someone who puts out content that has a lot of value. If you only give away $0 and $7 products, then you can imagine what the perception is of your content and value as an expert.
In fact, you should have content available at all price levels. You should have free content, mid-range content, and high-end content. This will serve customers of all levels and showcase a range of values. It all starts from a place of extremely high value free content so you make a splash in your niche and move up from there.
To sum it up, free stuff gets people to pay attention to you. Your high-end stuff sets your value and makes your free stuff even more valuable. One of the most important concepts for any successful marketer is that you need to have as many buy buttons up on the web as possible. If you want people to buy from you, then you need to have stuff up for sale. It really is as simple as that.
So, how are you going to use this method to sell more products and build your list? I suggest you get some squeeze pages up giving away free content. I suggest you get some extremely high-quality content up on your blog, with a recommendation that people freely pass it around. I recommend you create a free community where people can get personalized help and support. I recommend you give affiliates and JV partners free content they can pass around with their rebrandable links.
Next, brainstorm your own ideas. How can you build your business from a place of free? How can you use what you give away for free to sell your paid offers? Only you know what your business consists of. You have to construct your funnel in a way that will work best for you.
If you pay attention to what we've talked about with this method, you can beat out your digital competition, no matter how long they’ve been in business. We’ve taken care of the fact that the perceived value of digital products has gone way down. Now, you’re building up your own values and customers will see you for the high-end expert you are.
There's no reason to fear free. There's also no reason to fear high-end. If you understand that now, then you need to give away extremely helpful content so you can attract a great audience. You really need to take care of your audience so they spread your name far and wide and go on to buy your paid products.