Transcripts
1. Introduction: Freebies: Hi, I'm waiting. And if we haven't met before, let me just introduce myself real quick. I'm a writer. My background is in creative writing and also literature. I've also done marketing and social media for a few years now. Have a background in psychology, marketing, English and creative writing. Kind of a word. I used to work in a social media marketing agency where we essentially did everything for our clients. I worked with a lot of different clients from, you know, the whole gamut right from baby tech. Two cars, just cool cars. I wrote Facebook posts, log posts. And then I also worked as a community manager where I actually formulated the responses like the PR aspect of social media for my clients. And eventually I decided I wanted to do more with my own skills, right? So I I started doing more writing heavy things. So now I'm doing a lot more copyrighting, which was really fun, because you can kind of explore an idea a little bit more in depth, and you can also be a little artistic as well, which is kind of fun. I'm sure you're wondering why I'm talking about free these today, I want to find a freebie as anything useful that your target audience wants and is willing to trade their email address for So for right now, we're gonna just talk about freebies, creating a quality for BC. Congrats, quality e mails and girl that list. For a lot of companies, a email list is a huge way to push sales and also to gain your customers so it's really, really valuable Over the next. Few modules will help you determine the best freebie for your company, and we'll also talk a little bit about your ideal customer and what they make you looking for, because you really want those things to be working together. So if you don't have an ideal customer in mind, that is something to start thinking about. And an ideal customer is essentially just who do you envision buying your product right? Who's the best, most perfect person for your product or your service? I just wanted to say I'm really proud of you for being here. I'm really excited that you're starting a business or working on your business. It can be a lot of work starting a business I know from experience it's, You know, it seems kind of easy at first. And then you realize there are all these little things that you need to do so good on you, and we're gonna make an awesome free BC concur your email list and just give yourself more chances off more stuff. I'm really excited. This is gonna be really fun. And I'm excited to see what you guys come up with, and I will see you.
2. Things to Consider Before You Start: so let's just get right into it. We're gonna go over how to choose and then write your kick ass freebie to grow your email list. So let's just get right to it. This course could have also been called. How can I help people learn and benefit from my expertise without giving everything away? I chose the other title because it seemed a little bit more positive. But I think that this also makes a lot of sense, right. We want to weigh our freebies with what we're selling, right, because if it's our living, we need to make money. Though I do love freebies, there is also this idea that they can be as bigger a small as people want them to be. And that's great. I don't feel like you have to make the biggest freebie in the world and give away everything that you know in the hopes that people will come back because that's just gonna take a lot of time, and that's gonna take a lot of energy. So we're gonna keep some things for you. One you should consider your business. I know this may seem obvious, but there so many people who don't. And it always makes me scratch my head a little bit. With the long term goal is so consider what your business is, what you actually sell. What are you trying to do for the world in exchange for supporting yourself? Then you need to think about your ideal customer and who they really are. This is more than just your basic Oh, there a 45 year old woman who loves ponies. It gets a lot more specific when you consider how your business and your customer come together. That's the sweet spot. So I really want you to brainstorm how you can help your ideal customer spend a little bit more time than you want to on this, because the first few ideas you have are probably going to be a little bit more basic. They're going to be things that you've seen before, and you want to differentiate yourself from the competition so really spend some tempering , storming to come up with new, cool freebie ideas. And then the last thing that you want to dio to choose the best free beat is really anticipate. How much time you have to create that freebie? You know, depending on what your business is, you could have a whole team dedicated to this, Or if you're a solo preneurs, you might have, like two hours. So understanding your time limits will help you choose a great freebie as well.
3. Three Businesses (Examples of How Freebies Fit a Business): So let's kind of brings from a little bit just give you an idea of what this looks like. Our first imaginary store is an embroidery shop, Let's say a little Etsy shop. Maybe they don't even have their own storefront or website. They're just kind of starting out. And they sell what embroidery patterns and finish items. Maybe, you know, cute shirts with embroidered logos or flowers on them, maybe even Beanies shoes. The sky's limit, obviously. And so they should consider who their customer is. That customer very likely values handmade items, probably a little crafty themselves, you know, in like a larger scale way. They probably value things that are made with a little bit more care and attention. They're probably not going to. I keep, for example, for everything that they own. Or they could really like hand made pottery. So their little leaps that you could make right, but we're in embroidery shop, so let's stick with that. How can we help our customer? How can we show them that were awesome? Well, we could give away something. Uh, we could teach them how to do something. Maybe, you know, simple stitch or ah, like a French. Not if you're a embroider. Another thing they could do is kind of create a community for people who love this sort of life's down this point of view. They create patterns and they think, Oh, I'll just give away pattern that people can try and murdering for themselves. So now that they've brainstorms, they think about how much time and money do we really have? And if their little Etsy shop, maybe just one person running it right now, they probably don't have too much time to devote to a freebie, right? They have their whole business run, so not too much time or money may be so. In this case, I think a giveaway for a pattern, something that they could create in 1/2 hour or so, would be perfect because it's not gonna take a lot of time not gonna take much money, and it's a really good way to just kind of get people involved and make them see what you dio and see how good you are, what you do next example. Let's say you have a software company a little bit more established. You have your own website, you have you know teams etcetera. OK, so what do you sell? Software. Great. Easy. Who is our customer? Ah, software company is definitely gonna have a different customer than the previous example. They're going to be a little bit more into the entrepreneurial life. They probably value knowledge and growing. That's not to say that no one else can feel this way. But this is specifically, like the points of view that we're targeting. How can we help that mindset? Well, we could provide useful data, anything that would provide value to those people in making better business decisions. Maybe a white paper that shows how your company, your software, makes them more successful. And how much time and money do they have? They probably have a little bit more time and money and may even have a whole team that could dedicate, you know, a week or two to this project, depending on the return that they want to see from their freebie. So let's say they have enough to do what it takes, and they've decided, You know, White paper is the best way for us to show people what we dio really sure value so they can make it really slick. Really beautiful. Do all the research they need to compile it. Make it very professionally designed with the graphic designer, etcetera are last example is a life coach. They sell tools to help people live their best lives. Think about your customer. Really like target. If you're interested in life coaching, you're going to be interested in probably self help. Maybe loving yourself. Self love, personal growth. You want to be happier in your life on more satisfied? Probably. Okay, so how can we help? How come this business help? Well, so the life coach could give their time, Maybe do lives on Instagram or something like that. They could provide other tools, maybe a framework to get over a certain kind of problem, or even a short course to help people understand a little bit more about how their brain works and how they can stop living life the way that they have been, which hasn't been making them happy. How much seven money do we have? Well, this life coaches decided it's worth the investment because they're so good that they always have new clients. They always need new clients there helping people get over their problems, their kind of graduating in a way, and they're moving on. They may come back, you know, every few months for like a check in, but they're not coming in every week for kind of these big life changing things. So this life coach decided I'm a really good freebie because I need new clients a lot. And so let's say that they decide on a short course which they have decided we'll bring the most value to their ideal customer.
4. Brainstorming For Your Business: Let's go through a brainstorm. Some of these will be very obvious. I'm sure you'll have seen a lot of thes floating around the Internet. And if you haven't keep an eye out once you start looking for things, it's weird how they keep showing up. So, like when I was looking for my car and I kind of decided on the one I wanted, I started seeing them everywhere. House I called my gosh does everyone to have the car I want, Um, and now that I have my car and it's a little bit more normal, I don't see them nearly as much. So it's just one of those things. So let's do a little quick brainstorm for any kind of business. So an e book. This could contain any kind of information. You want a packing list? This would be great for like a travel blogger. Let's say you're planning for a lot of different people. Having a packing list would be so helpful for the right right audience, any kind of tips and tricks patterns like for the embroidery shop, for example, a 10% off code. This one comes with a caveat because this is only used once, right? So your customer gets in the door, gives you their email, they buy something great. But if those emails aren't useful to them, they're probably going to unsubscribe growth hacks. Uh, this is really big and marketing. I'm sure you've seen a lot of instagram growth hacks getting more followers, things like that. Checklists. Let's say you have like a naughty inst who has a lot of processes. A checklist would help them get it right every time. A white paper Ah, principal quote, Let's say you're a little bit more like artsy lifestyle brand that could really fun, especially around holidays and a short course, which I think could be great for almost anyone. The idea is to keep brainstorming right, and you can come up with things that you have never seen anyone else do. And that's the goal. You also can combine them in different ways. So let's kind of look at a travel blogger, right? And so we're gonna make a packing list. But we're not just a travel blogger making a packing list where travel but blogger making a packing list for photographers, and we're a travel blogger who specializes in maybe photography, right? So it's not just about traveling and looking beautiful, but it's also about getting the shop. But the shot isn't just it's not just in San Francisco. It's not just about, you know, the fog. It's also about getting great dogs, right? Fashionable dogs, and they're all sorts of spins. Maybe you're working for a non profit, and you are trying to gain publicity for this nonprofit that helps dogs. So there are all sorts of things that you can dio to kind of combine these things and make them perfect for your audience. Before I search the slide, I do have to show you that's my dog. That's Lily. Um, Her instagram is Paul Gold if you want to follow her and she's not famous yet, but she's pretty fun
5. Personality Vs. Professionalism: One thing that we should consider is how much personality and how much of a professional attitude you wanna have. So I threw a couple quotes together, Dale Carnegie said. People rarely succeed unless they have fun and what they're doing, which I think is very true. If you're not having fun, you're probably going to give up a little bit sooner so your chances of success go down. But we also have Hans Christian Andersen saying, Enjoy life. There's plenty of time to be dead. So, um, what a ray of sunshine he waas. The point I'm trying to make is if you have a fun personal brand, go with that. It's so refreshing toe have fun, especially when you see a brand having fun. It's It's like it's so intriguing because we're so used to these brands being so polished. But if you do have a Polish brand, that's okay. There's so many industries where that's the norm, right? And if my bank started sending me names in like my quarterly e mails, I would be scared. So think about where you want to fall on this scale of personality versus professional and really just go for it. if you do have a little bit of fun. If you do have a sense of humor, I think people respond really well to that.
6. Must Haves for a Great Freebie: so a few must have for a successful freebie. That's me. I'm looking around, right. We're looking for the successful freebie, and so it should be first and foremost and needs to be findable your audience. Your ideal customer must be able to find it. So whether you're on Pinterest, whether you have a little pop up on your website, whether you put some money into Facebook ads or INSTAGRAM ads, there needs to be a way for people to find this freebie. So consider where your audiences, and depending on who they are, they may be totally different places online. You know, consider linked in If you're a more kind of professional, I mean, honestly, you know where they are. After that, you should have an accurate and a curiosity. Spiking C T A and a C T. A is just a call to action. So essentially, let's let's look at Pinterest, for example. You can put words in your image, and then you can also explain a little bit more in the text box below, on on your pin. So you want to explain your freebie, how it's going to help your audience and then tell them what they do to get it. So do they need to go to your website and enter their email address? Do they just click and then it kind of downloads immediately. For example, depending on where you're pushing this, the process may be different. So tell them exactly what they need to dio because they want that freebie, right? If they know that it's going to help them, they want it. So make sure that they know how good it is, Spike their curiosity. Tell them that they're gonna earn more money, that they're gonna have more free time, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. And then this is so important. But you have to deliver on your promise. So don't click bait people. It's not going to work long term. They're just going to unsubscribe from your email list, and then you're gonna be back to square one. So deliver on your promise. Essentially help people do what you told them. You they will love you for it because you've actually helped them. Then this is where it's so interesting. Your freebie should lead into your expertise or your products, right? So just because you think it's a good idea to give away tickets to Disneyland doesn't mean that that leads back to your business. Yeah, you're going to attract a lot of people, But a lot of people like Disneyland and not everyone that likes Disneyland likes or want your product or wants in your business. So, yeah, you could grow your email list, but are they going to be following you for the right reasons? Are they going to be getting your emails and even opening them? Really? Think about that. I'm not saying Don't give away tickets to Disneyland, but definitely consider how much investment you're going to put into that. Essentially, this is what they should look like when they get your freebie. When they go through it, they should be stoked. They should be so happy. They should be so glad that they found you.
7. My Super Successful Freebie Test: I call this the book back freebie hack, and this is my favorite way of doing a freebie. And it's essentially something that people go back to again and again and again, right? So I'm sure we've all had pencils with Low goes right from a bank or something like that. A worksheet to go through courses. You know, I can't tell you how many times have gone through, like, a certain course over and over again, because I knew that there was more information that I was forgetting. Ah, process or a formula that people go through to make sure they get the right result. And I call this the book bag freebie because I actually was given a free product from a brand I've used to. Dollar was awesome. And, you know, the weirdest thing is they gave me also a little canvas tote bag with that product, and I look at that tote bag probably once a week, because I put stuff in it and I carry stuff around in it, and it's totally free advertising for them. It keeps some top of mind for me, and it's just a total win win. You know, it's Q bag. It's sturdy, and that's one thing that I should mention if it is low quality. If that process or that course does not help people, it's not going to keep people neutral. They're gonna be like mad. Don't give people a formula that's flawed and isn't going to give them the results they want. It's just it's gonna make things even worse for you. One thing that we should talk about is serving your customer right? So why do we want this reusable freebie? And that's because it serves your customers so much better than just a one time thing. It's going to keep you top of mind, fear customer. It's also going to boost the quality of your brand to create something that people use again and again. It's going to make you so much more sticky in their mind. Let's go back to the embroidery shop. Let's say I'm embroidering a pillow, which, uh, I think it's coming back in vogue, and I can't remember how to do it. But I know that I've seen a course on it, so I go back. I go through my email and I find it, and I keep watching it again and again to make sure I'm getting this pillow right. I'm putting the pattern where it needs to go, so it's all gonna look good by the end. I'm just gonna love that company, even Mawr for making sure I did a good job. And the last thing is, when it's so useful, it becomes share a bull. Let's say I love to my pillow so much that I embroider. I'm not going to be able to shut up about it, especially with my like, sewing friends were going to be talking about problems, sewing stuff were embroidering stuff, and I'm gonna say, Oh, I got this covered Wash this tutorial from this awesome company and you'll never mess up again. And so now my friends all know about this company to the company only had to find me. It just becomes so valuable. So consider that if there's a way to make something that's a little bit more reusable or evergreen for your freebie, I would highly recommend a few things that are reusable kind of thes systems. Or these formulas. I'll just go over a few of them literary devices. Things like rising action climax, falling action and the resolution right? There's like a whole pyramid to plotting a novel medical triage, this idea of when a hospital is overwhelmed with patients. How to How do they determine who to treat first? So these are all systems that help people think through things, but without having to think of thm and invent the wheel if that makes sense, uh, one of my favorites is sizing right tire banks. I'm sure you've heard talk about surmising and that smiling with your eyes. And it's just so perfect because Tyra Banks is a model. So of course we trust her because she looks beautiful in pictures, so we're gonna believe her. And we're gonna try surmising a few other things. The dentist system. If you watch, it's always sunny in Philadelphia. Depending on how you put on your duvet cover, you might have a 1,000,000 different options, but the one that I find the most useful is just getting inside. Do recover and it seems to be fastest. For me, it seems to give me the least headaches. But should I share that with everyone? Totally depends
8. A Quality Freebie Brings a Quality List: Ultimately, the thing to consider is, does this person want to be on my email list? And I know that seems silly, but if you have a low quality email lists and you're just emailing people who don't open your emails, it's really not useful for you. They're probably just ignoring them. All of your stats kind of go down. You're kind of just talking to, like avoid So it would be much more exciting for people to want your emails right? And that's my goal is I want people to want my emails. Just a quick, quick recap we talked about considering your business thinking about your ideal customer and who they really are, what they need. Combining those two brainstorming how you can help them, anticipating how much time you have and not getting overwhelmed with this huge project at the book bag freebie method, Which is my favor. Way of doing a freebie. Just make this sink in a little bit more. I'm going to include a pdf worksheet for you to go through and brainstorm your freebies, cause I know not everyone's freebie is going to work for you, and I really want you to make a successful freebie go through this work. She details all of the steps. Essentially. Just think about your customer. Make sure to mention your company. Make sure to mention what you do. If they don't know, talk about it. You know, even just a little blurb on the bottom of what you dio how they can get in touch with you for more information. If you have any other questions seriously, don't hesitate to reach out really excited to see what you guys come up with.
9. Final Thoughts: and that's it. I hope that you've come up with a great idea for a freebie and even started outlining or implementing that freebie on your website, on social media, on Pinterest and wherever else you can think of it honestly is a great idea to start gathering emails now, before things keep evolving, you might as well be gathering emails while you do have the audience that you do have a little bit of time can really pay off when it comes to an email list. Just remember, do not take advantage of that human A list. You really want to serve your customer and keep serving your customer. If they start seeing your emails a spam, they will treat them in such and that all of your hard work has gone down the drain for me . I want my customer, Teoh, look forward to my emails and you know I miss them. I want my customer to miss my emails because they're that useful there. That viable to that. I think it is really fun when people inject a little bit of their personality and their attitude into a freebie in just their business in general. Please do find me on social media, email me. I really want to know how it's going. Andi, I'd love your feedback if there's anything I missed. Honestly, feel free to. You know me. If you have questions, I really want you to find this useful. But I will see you very soon on by.
Whitney Strong, Get Creative. Feel Better. Have Fun.
