Lesson 4 – How to Create a Shareworthy Freebie

Yesterday you identified where your ideal client is struggling, what they really want, and the steps to get them from where they are now to where they want to be.

That was the first step to implementing the 🎁Shareworthy Freebie Strategy.

Here is the high-level overview of how the Shareworthy Freebie Strategy works:

• Create something your ideal client can take action on to get what they want.
• Give it away in exchange for an email address.
• Share it online with an irresistible call to action that gets the attention of your ideal client and compels them to come to your website to sign up.
• Overdeliver on results.
• Ask them to share it with anyone they know who might find it helpful.

This strategy works because when your ideal client gets what they want (because they took action on information you gave them), you’ve not only earned their trust which makes them more likely to say YES when you invite them to work with you on a deeper level, it makes them more likely to tell other people about you.

Think about it – when a friend recommends something to you, aren’t you more likely to trust that recommendation than if you discover something on your own and then have to do a ton of research to figure out if it’s gonna work for you?

But here’s the mistake most people make with their freebies:

There’s no polite way to say it…

They’re terrible. 💩💩💩

Have you ever signed up for someone’s email list to get their freebie, you’re all excited about it, then you open it up and you’re like, super disappointed because it didn’t really live up to its promise, or it’s just a recap of what you read in their blog post?

• You can’t do anything with it.
• You can’t take action on it.
• You don’t get results.
• You delete it, you don’t tell anyone about it, and you unsubscribe from their email list.

That’s what we’re NOT going to create inside of this training.

In the previous lesson, you took some time to think about what your ideal client is struggling with now, what they want, and the steps it’ll take to get there.

Your Shareworthy Freebie is the first few steps from where your ideal client is now to where they want to be.

For example:

50lbs overweight + tried all the fad diets + resigned to being that way forever —–> At goal weight and confident they’ll never gain it back.

• Step 1: List all the ways you could lose weight.
• Step 2: Rate your commitment on a scale of 1-10 to each strategy. If you’re not an 8 or better, don’t do it.
• Step 3: Create a daily plan including only the things you’re an 8 or better on.
• Step 4: Evaluate that plan daily and note your excuses as to why you didn’t follow the plan.
• Step 5: Come up with strategies to combat your excuses.
• Step 6: Repeat steps 3-6.

That’s what Corrine Crabtree of the Losing 100 Pounds podcast gives away to attract her ideal client (me), build trust by getting them to take action and get results which compels them to join her program so that they keep getting results. (and I’ll tell anyone who will listen about her freebie because I’m getting massive results from doing what she tells me to do).

Wants to start an online business but no budget to hire a web designer + not techie enough to DIY —–> Quitting their day job + working from home.

• Step 1: Gain confidence that you actually can build your own website.
• Step 2: Build it.
• Step 3: Get traffic.
• Step 4: Build an email list
• Step 5: Monetize email list.
• Step 6: Repeat steps 5 & 6 until you’ve made enough money to quit your day job.

I give away steps 1 + 2 inside my free 5 Day Website Challenge, and step 3 in this training (for people who already have a website when they find me) and thousands of people have shared my freebie on social media, in their courses, at their workplaces and with their friends (it still blows my mind...)

Wants to be home with kids and make own schedule but needs to make money —–> Working from home with a flexible schedule and time for kids.

• Step 1: Learn what a virtual assistant does and how it works.
• Step 2: Brainstorm services you could offer.
• Step 3: Figure out how many hours you can work a week and how much you need to charge to make ends meet + pay taxes + business expenses.
• Step 4: Get your first client.
• Step 5: Get booked out + quit your day job.

That’s what my podcast guests Micala Quinn + Gina Horkey both do to attract their ideal client (and they both have multiple 6-figure online businesses).

Where most people get stuck in this step is that they think “If I give away all the steps, then no one will buy from me!!!”

Not 👏🏻true 👏🏻.

There are ALWAYS people who will sign up for your freebie that no matter how awesome it is, they will NEVER buy from you.

And that’s okay. We WANT those people on our email list. We want to build trust with them too. They are just as important as the people who do buy from you.

Why?

Because they will become your ambassadors. They will tell everyone about you. They will do the work to get traffic for you because you’ve made such a big impact on them.

They will bring you customers who already trust you.

The people who don’t give you money can be even more valuable to your business than the people that do.

And you don’t have to give away ALL the steps…

Just give away the steps that are going to have the biggest impact.

The ones that will give your ideal clients those a-ha moments, the ones that will get them to believe they can do it.

Take the weight loss example.

Corinne gave me all of those steps, and explained why they work and gave me examples of people who had success, but I still needed her help to figure out why the hell I still was not doing it even when she handed all the steps to me on a silver platter. That’s what she does inside her program.

Same with building an online business. I can give you all of the steps, but you’re still going to have questions on how to apply them to your specific niche, help overcoming your imposter syndrome and fear of selling, you’ll want a step by step roadmap, to know how to actually implement the steps, and confidence that you’re doing it right. That’s the work I do with my students.

Or even becoming a VA – Gina and Micala give away all of the steps, but their ideal client still need to figure out how to market their business, set up the systems to manage their clients, how to set boundaries, what to do when clients won’t pay, how to hold boundaries and fire clients. Their programs provide that kind of support.

So don’t worry about giving away too much for free, okay?

So that’s how you figure out WHAT to put in your Shareworthy Freebie, let’s move on to the format of the actual thing.

People ask me all the time….

• Should I make videos?
• Should I do a downloadable thingy?
• Should an online course?

And my answer is always the same:

Keep it super simple, and make sure the format supports the results. For example:

• The weight loss freebie I mentioned is instructional videos and a PDF workbook to print so that you can make your list and rate your commitment.
• My Free 5 Day Website Challenge is videos – because I have to actually show you on-screen the steps to building a website.
• Becoming a work-at-home mom? Micala created an online resource library with downloadable worksheets and info on how to get started, and Gina created a PDF download of 150 services you can offer as a VA.

It doesn’t matter what the format is, as long as your ideal client can take action on it and get a result.

Don’t get caught up in obsessing about which format to choose.

If words in an email will do, don’t go hire someone to design a fancy e-book for you that has the same words in it.

Keep it super simple, focus on serving the needs of your ideal client and don’t over-design your freebie!

It’s the content that makes it shareworthy, not the format.

Finally, let’s talk about the name of your freebie.

If I could go back in time, I would not have called my DIY web design training the “Free 5 Day Website Challenge” because it really doesn’t tell people what it is… I would have called it “DIY Your Website in 5 Days” because that’s very “say what you mean” and speaks to the RESULT people will get from my freebie.

So keep your freebie name focused on the results that your ideal client will get from the freebie, and say what you mean!!

But also, don’t stress over the name. My Free 5 Day Website Challenge is still paying the bills, so there’s proof right there that you don’t need the perfect name to reach your goal.

……..

OK. It’s time to get to work…

Your action items for today are on page 6 of your workbook:

• Action Item #1: Choose what actionable information you’ll include in your freebie.
• Action Item #2: Choose the format for your freebie.
• Action Item #3: Name your freebie.

If you’ve already joined the Website Marketing Lab, you’ll want to revisit “Freebie Ideas” (2.3) “Freebie Name” (2.4) “Freebie Format” (2.5) “Freebie Creation Framework” (2.6) and “Writing an Irresistible Call to Action” (2.2).

……..

In the next lesson, I’ll teach you two ways to use your Shareworthy Freebie to drive traffic to your website.

Here’s a recap of the mini-course so far:

Lesson 1 – The very first step to getting traffic
Lesson 2 – Marketing 101
Lesson 3 – How to attract your ideal client
Lesson 4 – How to create a shareworthy freebie
Lesson 5 – Two examples of how to use your shareworthy freebie to get traffic.
Lesson 6 – How to turn your subscribers into customers