You’ve heard it from me. You’ve heard it from others.
Having an freebie is the #1 way to get people to subscribe to your list.
What you may not know is that having a freebie doesn’t do anything. You need to have an irresistible freebie. An irresistible freebie, grabs visitors’ attention, piques their curiosity, gets them on your list, and turns them into raving fans.
I’ve seen a lot of smart entrepreneurs with freebies that flopped. These are soulful people with great ideas they want to share with the world. They had great intentions when they created their freebie, but it wasn’t compelling enough to grab their visitors’ attention.
Since I know you want to kick ass in the world, let me give you my insights on freebie disasters, so you can avoid them on your own website.
Here are the top three freebie mistakes online entrepreneurs make.
1. Giving it a boring name
Names are important! Which is more compelling?
A. A Guide To Selling Art Online
B. 7 Critical Steps to Successfully Selling Your Art Online
Obviously, the second one is quite a bit more interesting!
But Jenny, my people are different! They don’t like “7 steps” or “3 mistakes.” They need something more fun and unique and creative.
That’s fine! Then get creative and have fun. The key is to make it interesting, fun, and irresistible to your ideal client.
2. Not targeting your ideal client
A freebie pulls people in your virtual door. It positions them to learn more about you and what you offer. Since you would eventually like subscribers to turn into customers or clients, create a freebie that targets the client or customer who you would most love to have. Make your freebie something that pulls them closer to you.
If you’re a service provider, like a life coach, ask yourself, “Who lights my fire? Who is so fun to work with I’d do it all day long for free?” Make sure your freebie targets those people.
If you’re selling physical or digital goods, such as art or information products, consider the people that are most drawn to your work. Who loves to pay you for whatever it is you create? Make sure your freebie targets those people.
3. Inserting yourself into the freebie equation
I’ve seen several well-intentioned, new entrepreneurs make themselves part of the freebie, meaning their freebie promises a personalized response, reply, input, assessment or phone call. Like I said, I know they had good intentions, but here’s why it’s a bad idea.
First, as your list grows and you have people subscribing on a daily basis, do you have time to give personalized attention to each person? It will become an impossible and overwhelming chore.
Second, a freebie should provide instant or near-instant gratification for the subscriber. If you’re on vacation, tending to a sick child, or busy with clients and you take a week to reply to your latest subscriber, they’re left hanging. That’s not giving them instant gratification.
Third, people are cautious about letting you into their world. People don’t give out their name or email address willy-nilly. When you personalize your freebie too much, you diving into their personal world, yet they’ve just met you. People want to get a taste of what you have to offer; they want to test drive your approach. They may not actually want you yet. Give them a taste of you so they can try you out on their own time and from the privacy of their own inbox.
How does your freebie add up?
Whether you’ve had a freebie up for awhile or you’re just diving in to create one, consider these mistakes and avoid them like the plague!
If you need to create your first freebie, or if you’re having trouble with your freebie converting visitors to subscribers, join me for my latest class, How to Create an Irresistible Freebie. Class is in session next week, and I don’t plan to offer it again. (And I’m not even gonna sell it as a product.)
Leave a Reply