“Sign up and get our free report: How to doodle your way to millions.” Enticing, eh? Makes you want to sign right up for whatever list it is?
The idea of a free give-away to increase blog or ezine subscriptions is a tried-and-true strategy. And yet, it can feel a little weird. What do you give them that will get that sign-up?
And, what’s worse, how do you avoid feeling like you’re trying to weasel them out of their name and email?
The real purpose of the give-away.
Of course you don’t want to be weaseling or manipulating people. Yucko-blucko to that. Not only is it bad business karma, but for me it totally zaps my inspiration and creativity, which will make for a mighty poor give-away.
Let’s remember about the Journeys of Marketing. The First Journey is just helping someone identify that you solve a problem similar to a problem they have, and for similar kinds of people. You get their attention, and then they let you know they’re interested in finding out more.
The Second Journey then begins, whereby you give generously and sustainably to help them, until enough trust is built, and the right Sacred Moment is reached when they are ready to purchase from you.
The free give-away is at that transition between the First and Second Journeys, and as such, kicks off the “generous and sustainable giving” that you want to be doing.
Since most people in business do their generous and sustainable giving through some kind of a regular feature, like this ezine, or a blog, or other mailing, the help that is being offered comes out on schedule.
The trouble is, if it’s 3am and the person needs help now, they may not want to wait until next Wednesday when your next article comes out. They need help right now.
Which is where the give-away comes in.
The purpose of the give-away is to be the emergency response: you are getting help to them immediately, right now, no waiting.
Start thinking ‘how are they hurting?’
It may be just be my former career as a paramedic, but I tend to think Airway-Breathing-Circulation: can they breathe? Are they breathing? Are they bleeding?
If you can create a give-away that speaks directly to some immediate need of theirs, 1) they are going to be more likely to want to download it; 2) they are more likely to think it’s useful and actually use it, instead of filing it in that big PDF landfill in the sky, and 3) you won’t feel like some kind of a creep, extorting lunch money and email addresses out of your prospects.
Not a bad situation to be in.
Still stumped on what to do? Let’s take a look.
Keys to the Give-away.
• Keep it short.
This doesn’t have to be your book. It could be an excerpt from your book, but keep it as a quick read. The point is if someone is bleeding and hurt, you don’t want to make them sit down and work through a major tome.
Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. If your writing is good enough to hold their attention, and what you’re providing is important enough, then sure, give ’em a bit more. And in determining whether it really is good enough, have trustworthy independent observers told you so?
• Give it eye-candy.
Thirty years ago you could maybe get away with basic mimeographed and typed one-sheets. But, at this stage of the game, good design is too easy to come by, and people are too used to having things look good.
There are some basics of good design that you can follow without getting fancy. I recommend Robin Williams – The Non-Designer’s Design Book to get you started. And a good trip to a website like istockphoto.com for graphics.
And, if push comes to shove, you can pay someone to make it pretty. If you’re planning on giving out hundreds or thousands of copies of whatever it is, it might be worth it to spend a small amount to get it looking nice.
Remember, your give-away is a first impression. And it’s also the first experience someone will have of the value your business offers. By making it genuinely and immediately helpful, and making it look good, you can go a long way to building trust and creating connection in a way that will lead to more paying clients.
