Note: Some links in this post contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you make a purchase. That’s actually one of the ways you make money blogging! Thanks for supporting my blogging dreams! 🙂
So this week I have been blogging all about how to create a sales funnel on your blog. Here’s a short run down of what a blogging sales funnel consists of:
Great Content
Freebie
Introductory Offer
Core Offer
Your great content is usually going to consist of blog posts on your blog but it can also include the value you provide on social media! I’m going to skip the first part of the funnel because everyone has a pretty good handle on what that is even if they don’t know anything about using sales funnels.
Today I want to speak about the second part of the sales funnel: the freebie.
The freebie is something that you give away on your blog for free in exchange for them subscribing to your email list.
It can be as simple as a one page checklist or it can be as big as a video course—the choice is up to you.
It took me MONTHS to create my first freebie because honestly I was afraid to put myself out there and secondly I thought I had to create this extensive and magnificent piece of work.
Both of those thoughts really held me back from jumpstarting my email list.
Even though I think my ebook (How to start an online business in 7 days) is absolutely ugly, people really love it. I’ve had a few people even email me and say how thankful they were for it!
So with that being said, I’m going to tell you to just go for it and create your first freebie!
Freebies can practically be anything that might be useful to your audience. Here are some examples:
- Ebooks
- Planners
- Worksheets
- Templates
- Swipe Files
- Page of Resources
- Page of tips and tricks
- Recipies
- Free photo stock
Literally anything can be a freebie—as long as your readers want it, they’ll sign up.
Now you can go ahead and create a freebie that you think your audience will want OR you can create one that you KNOW your audience will want.
Here’s how to do it:
- Create a list of things you can offer for free
- Look at what other blogs in your niche are offering for free. Notice what type of copy they’re using—is it engaging, does it promise something, does it excite? Add more to your idea list
- Ask your social media following what freebie would they like the most
- Create the one that they like the most
- Create a neat looking landing page using Lead Pages, Instapage, or Optimize Press and offer your freebie!
How to actually create the freebie
You can use several tools to create your freebie. I used Google docs to create an ebook and checklists to go with my ebook. Then I just shared the link with people who signed up.
You can also use Canva to create ebooks. You can use your iPhone and a mini-mic to create videos, or you can just use Microsoft Office to create PowerPoints or resources on Word docs.
You can even take some of your most popular posts and package them into an email course.
How to host your freebie online
So how do you give your freebie away? Well there’s a couple of ways to do this:
- Upload your documents to Google Drive and edit the PDFs with software from http://www.sodapdf.com
- Set up a list of automated emails to subscribers using an email autoresponder like Aweber
- Actually create a page (not a blog post) on your blog with your freebie, don’t put the page in your main menu so that people can easily find it, and then when people sign up, send them directly to that url. This can be done with opt-in plugin SumoMe.
Your entire freebie should be something that takes you no more than a few days to create. It’s just a small taste of things to come.
You can also create several different freebies as a way to grow your email list even more quickly.
What do you think? Do you have freebie or multiple freebies set up on your blog?
Thank you for reading day 10 of my 30 Day Blogging Challenge!!! Make sure to post your article in the Facebook group and if you haven’t joined my blogging challenge yet and would like to be a part of it,check this out!
My name is Amanda and I'm a biz coach for creative entrepreneurs who want to build an authentic business that they love. I'll help you get clear on your purpose, values, mindset, and business strategies that'll help you create a business that offers you true freedom not a "I work 12 hours a day" freedom! Schedule your 30 minute strategy session with me today. 37 Comments on How to Create a Freebie for Your Blog in 1 Day!
1Pingbacks & Trackbacks on How to Create a Freebie for Your Blog in 1 Day!
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[…] a freebie and a landing page (I use Instapage). You can try different freebies and see which one captures the […]
Jiselle
January 13, 2016 at 7:03 pm (9 years ago)Good tips. I created a freebie but it hasn’t gotten me any new sign-ups so I don’t know if 1. I’m not marketing it right or 2. It’s just something people don’t want lol so I have to spend time re-thinking it using your tips!
proassistblog
January 13, 2016 at 7:58 pm (9 years ago)Oh yay! What’s your freebie and how have you been marketing it?
Roxy
January 13, 2016 at 8:47 pm (9 years ago)I keep hearing that I have to define my niche BEFORE I make a freebie so that I can be sure I make something people actually want. I feel like that’s impossible as a lifestyle blogger since we all typically blog about several different things (i.e. fashion, cooking, traveling, parenting, school, current events, etc.) all in one place. I’m having sooo much trouble finding something generic but appealing to offer. PLEASE HELP!
xoxo,
Roxy
proassistblog
January 14, 2016 at 5:27 am (9 years ago)Hey! Thanks for reading and commenting! I think there’s way too much pressure on picking a niche when you first start blogging. I didn’t find out until months after I first started blogging what my niche was going to be. If you want, you can just create something and put it out on social media or you can become more active on social media, grow your followers, start a FB group, and once you have a couple hundred people, ask them what they want related to what you’re blogging about. It could be a list of resources, a recipie planner, an ebook on how to save while shopping, etc.
Roy Miller
January 13, 2016 at 9:21 pm (9 years ago)Amanda, Thank you for posting this. I did not know about Google Docs or Google Drive. Thank you for the Sumo-me plugin info as well.
proassistblog
January 14, 2016 at 5:36 am (9 years ago)No problem! Thanks for stopping by Roy!
Dora
January 13, 2016 at 9:44 pm (9 years ago)I’ll have to take some time to figure out what kind of freebie I would create. This is definitely challenging me & pushing me out of my comfort zone. But in a good way. Thank you. I’ll have to bookmark this post for future reference. Thanks for sharing your tidbits of wisdom!
proassistblog
January 14, 2016 at 5:31 am (9 years ago)Yea get that freebie out there! I’m excited to see what you create, let me know!
Bybeck
January 14, 2016 at 2:06 am (9 years ago)Awesome tips! Perfect timing for this post, I’m working on freebies yeyyy 🙂 tnx
proassistblog
January 14, 2016 at 5:31 am (9 years ago)Thanks for reading and commenting!
Beth Kelley
January 14, 2016 at 3:11 am (9 years ago)Great tips on putting together a freebie offer!
Chrissy
January 14, 2016 at 4:08 am (9 years ago)Love the idea of listing all the freebies you could offer! I’ve set up a handful of printables for freebies- hoping they’ll help me get followers once I have more traffic to my site. I’m going to look at branching out- thanks for the ideas!
proassistblog
January 14, 2016 at 5:29 am (9 years ago)Hey that’s great! I’m sure they will help you build your lists!
Paul Mathis
January 14, 2016 at 4:19 am (9 years ago)Thanks for this! I am slowly moving with my blog and have contemplated a freebie, but I am not currently giving anything away–for free or at cost. This gives me some good focus and direction, though. I think I may be able to have something put together this summer.
proassistblog
January 14, 2016 at 5:28 am (9 years ago)Hey Paul thanks for reading! Let me know when you create your freebie so that I can come and get it!
Rev
January 14, 2016 at 2:09 pm (9 years ago)What a great resource! Thanks for this.
proassistblog
January 14, 2016 at 4:26 pm (9 years ago)Thanks for reading!
Banned Brooke
January 14, 2016 at 2:11 pm (9 years ago)This post is really timely for me. I’ve gotten enough content up on my blog that I’ve decided making the freebie was the next logical step, but I wasn’t quite there yet because I just wasn’t sure about some of the logistics. Do you have examples of your favorite freebie pages?
proassistblog
January 14, 2016 at 4:25 pm (9 years ago)Yes, here’s one: http://bloggingfreedomebook.instapage.com/
proassistblog
January 14, 2016 at 4:26 pm (9 years ago)Here’s another: http://getafreeblog.instapage.com/ They are also in the right hand sidebar of this blog. Just click on the pink and black pictures.
Erin
January 14, 2016 at 4:24 pm (9 years ago)Thanks for the helpful tips, especially which tools and vendors you use to implement your freebies, etc. I just downloaded SumoMe earlier this week, but I haven’t dug into it much yet.
proassistblog
January 14, 2016 at 4:28 pm (9 years ago)Thanks for stopping by! I wrote a blog post on installing SumoMe: http://bloggersthatprofit.com/2016/01/08/set-optin-form-blog-10-minutes-less/
Alissia Haggard
January 15, 2016 at 3:25 am (9 years ago)I have created some freebies too- I love using lead pages for integration on my blog, it’s been so so easy!
proassistblog
January 15, 2016 at 3:07 pm (9 years ago)I use Instapage. When you sign up for Lead Pages do you still have to pay for the landing pages on top of the monthly membership? Thinking about switching over.
Teresa
January 15, 2016 at 3:32 am (9 years ago)These are great tips. I am using the page of resources for my freebie 🙂
proassistblog
January 15, 2016 at 3:05 pm (9 years ago)Thanks so much Teresa!
Jen Schneider
January 15, 2016 at 5:53 am (9 years ago)Thanks for the advice! I’ve been wanting to do this… just gotta find the time!
proassistblog
January 15, 2016 at 3:05 pm (9 years ago)It took me over a month to create mine because I kept putting it off (secretly I was afraid–don’t know why!). Thanks for reading and commenting!
Marisa Wikramanayake
January 15, 2016 at 6:15 pm (9 years ago)I am currently using a free resources page for my freebie but I don’t think it is actually working – I probably need some help with how to get it to actually build my list more.
proassistblog
January 15, 2016 at 6:57 pm (9 years ago)Make sure to offer your freebie in lots of places; install SumoMe – its an incredible opt-in plugin, throw challenges on Facebook, offer your freebie in Facebook groups (as long as they allow it).
Marlena Bontas
May 25, 2016 at 10:25 am (8 years ago)Thank you for this post! A freebie is something I’m working on at at the moment-I know that people want this freebie because they told me.
My question is, should this freebie be long or should it have fewer pages and more practical advises? I attended a webinar where we were told that freebies that are 1-2 pages long attract more subscribers than a long e-book.
proassistblog
May 25, 2016 at 12:32 pm (8 years ago)Hey Marlena! Thanks for stopping by. Yes I definitely believe that you should start off with a short freebie. You want to give people a quick win. People have really short attention spans so a long e-book may stop them from actually reading your freebie and getting results. What type of freebie are you looking to give away?
Stephanie
May 11, 2017 at 3:44 pm (8 years ago)Great post! It was exactly what I was looking for as I am trying to setup a freebie page and e-mail list.
Thank you!
proassistblog
May 11, 2017 at 7:00 pm (8 years ago)Nice! Let me know how it goes! Thanks for stoping by Stephanie!
Krista
May 17, 2017 at 7:48 pm (8 years ago)This was so easy to understand and I’m a mom blogging newbie so easy is better! I feel encouraged and inspired, thank you!!
proassistblog
May 17, 2017 at 9:02 pm (8 years ago)Yay! I’m so happy! Please let me know when you create your freebie! I would love to see it. 🙂