Why Giving Away Free Stuff Builds Your Bottom Line
One of the most counter-intuitive strategies to land more clients and earn more money in your business is by giving away free stuff.
You’re probably thinking Why on Earth would I give away anything I could charge people for?
Ironically enough, this strategy works for both service-based and product-driven businesses. For our purposes, we’ll focus on service-based businesses like you!
1 | Showcase Your Expertise
The clearest benefit to giving away free stuff like digital content is the ability to show off your wealth of knowledge. By lowering the barrier to entry down to nothing, you’re making yourself and your business more accessible.
While you may have a slew of competitors in your niche, free content can help uncommitted potential clients (who are still exploring their options) associate you with the solution to their problem.
When you have a pain point you want to solve, what’s the first thing you do? Google it.
Now, in your research efforts, if you come across a book and a blog on the same topic, which will you check out? Probably the blog, right? It’s because you don’t need to spend time or money accessing the book, even if the book is larger with more in-depth knowledge. Unless, of course, that book is being offered at no cost!
By giving away free stuff — that is, providing free content to your visitors — you’re showcasing your experience and expertise on your topic, so when your potential client is ready to buy, your name is the first to come to mind.
2 | Build Your KLT Factor
The KLT Factor – aka the Know, Like, Trust Factor – is a core element of building your brand and growing your business.
The buying process is really built around these pillars. As consumers, we make purchases based on who we know, like, and trust all the time. Which is why you should approach the selling process as a business in the same way.
Giving away free stuff will showcase your expertise, building trust in your knowledge and experience, but it will also allow your audience to get to know and like you.
This is why your content should always be branded. As solopreneurs, our personality and essence should shine out from every piece of content we put out into the world.
When a potential client finds your content – for free – and connects with not only what you’re saying, but how you’re saying it, you’re building your KLT Factor.
3 | Establish Your Sales Funnel
The first two points illustrate how providing free content can serve as your marketing funnel, to draw in potential clients, so they can get to know you and learn about what you can provide. Providing free content can also serve as your sales funnel to make more money.
A sales funnel is a way to systemize your sales process to convert more clients. It starts with building awareness (in this case, with free content) and narrows the available steps to your potential client until they make a purchasing decision.
You can use free content to establish your sales funnel by incorporating clear calls to action in each piece of content. Not everyone will take action, but by providing a distinct path for those who are interested in your service, you’re making the process easier for your potential client.
Here’s a great example:
- Offer a free downloadable ebook (that helps solve a problem) to new email subscribers
- Welcome those new email subscribers with a free worksheet that complements the ebook
- Follow up with an invitation to join a free webinar on the same topic as the ebook
- End the free webinar with an offer for a program or service on the same topic
This is just one example of a sales funnel involving free content, but you can extrapolate this to a variety of platforms, content types, and sales processes.
Not sure what to give away or to whom? I help my clients make these strategic decisions to help build their business every day. Check out my free entrepreneur’s startup kit to catapult your progress and unlock your potential!