Let’s take a look at another fundamental business truth:

Higher conversion rates on offers to your existing audience (list) are proven. Conversion rates through advertisements to ‘cold' prospects will always underperform in comparison. This is why it is imperative that you establish a quality relationship with your audience.

The easiest solution is to provide a high-demand freebie first as a lead magnet to attract new prospects to your list. Once there, you will continue to offer freebies – inter-mixed with offers and promotions as a way to create value and build the relationship.

A freebie will enable you to:

1. Introduce your expertise to your audience.
2. Promote offers to your audience.

A great tactic for number 2 above is to use a ‘blending' technique that positions promotional offers inside free value-driven content.

You will be able to engage your audience with ways to address their pain points while offering solutions with products and services that make you money. Following are examples of freebies that I have used over the years with solid success:

Articles or blog posts.

Articles can include just about any style or concept such as ‘how-to', overviews, tips, tactics, strategies, or anything else of interest to your audience. This is why it is important to know your audience, especially their pain points.

Articles are a great way to engage your audience and deliver honest value.

Reports.

Reports are similar to articles but offer more structure and are greater in length. Focus on one specific problem or issue with each report. Prospects who absorb this content and find it useful are very likely to become customers. For example, you might write a nutrition report that tells dieters exactly what to eat to slim down and start feeling better.

Toolkits.

This freebie makes it easy for your prospects to take action on the information they've been learning about. For example, a business start-up toolkit might include a template for fliers or mailings, sales forms, or invoices.

Webinars.

Your audience will place a high value on live events.
This makes webinars an attractive freebie. The added benefit is that webinar recordings can be used as marketing tools. If you cannot manage a webinar on your own or lack sufficient content, you may explore partnering with an affiliate. More on this later.

Case studies.

This tactic provides information or details a plan about how to achieve a specific result. Because of the added benefit of social proof and inspiration, case studies are a proven tool to help promote a specific offer. For example, you can provide a case study showing how a marketer increased traffic using one specific strategy.

Email courses.

know several marketers who specialize in autoresponder email courses. The benefit of multi-part training segments as a freebie is that you do not have to create all the content before you can deliver value to your audience.
Furthermore, over time you will be training your list subscribers to anticipate your value.

Try this example: a 10-part e-course called “The 10 Secrets for Quickly Tripling Your Internet Traffic”, sent via autoresponder on a schedule of 1-2 segments per week.

Cheat sheets.

I use cheat sheets all the time to condense a more complex task down to a manageable procedure. Usually, just one page, cheat sheets are downloadable, printable PDFs that provide exceptional value. They are also evergreen and may be included with other offers or as additional content in your autoresponder.

Newsletters.

Probably one of the best tactics for interacting with your audience, newsletters can be sent on a weekly basis.
Content can vary from training segments to human interest to industry news and product reviews, or anything that allows you to connect with your tribe. Autoresponders such as Aweber enable you to create great-looking HTML templates so your newsletter appears professional and hip.

Interviews.

One of the best ways to build social proof and inspire your audience is the interview. Interview success stories are a phenomenal way to connect with people, build your brand, and encourage your audience to take action. Interviews combine social proof with value – a powerful 1-2 punch.

In order to make the most of the freebie, you will need to know a few things first before you decide which strategies to use and how to structure your campaigns.

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