I was having a conversation today with one of my team members, Jeff, about the reluctance we sometimes see in people wanting to give free content away.  Some schools of thought are that you should charge for everything and not let anything go for free.  I have one thing to start this conversation off with:

If giving away content for free will cause your knowledge well to run dry… you may want to re-think the business you are in.

You should be in a business where you can create content like nobody’s business.  You should be a never-ending resource or supply of information in your area of expertise.  If you don’t feel this way, it means that you may not be stretching yourself far enough, researching your industry enough OR (and here’s the BIGGIE) listening to your customers.

So, that is the first part…  Understanding that you need to go outside of yourself to create fabulous content and stretch the creative mind and the listening mind.

Here is the second part…

Nobody will buy from you if they haven’t experienced you in some form or another.

You need to allow your prospective customers the chance to sample your information, expertise and build up that know, like and trust factor.  If you hoard all of your information to yourself and slap price tags on everything, people aren’t going to buy your products.  They want to experience the product, the service, the program, etc. to make sure it’s a good fit for them.  So, give TONS away!

Think about free trials at Costco. I was there last night and had THE best spinach dip there.  Now, if it wasn’t so fattening (I’m training for a 5K race at the moment), I would’ve bought it but I never would’ve thought about it if I hadn’t had the sample.  Walking through the aisles I also tried these delicious mini pizzas.  Again, not what I want to eat right now but STILL – I hadn’t heard of the brand or considered buying them before.

Don’t give away the same garbage that everyone else does.

Browse around a few websites and you’ll see that a lot of people give away the same types of freebies.  E-books that are simply upsells into the *REAL* information.  Instead, give away a really solid product that someone can use to solve a problem they are having.  Then, the person feels like you’ve actually helped them.  When they encounter a similar problem in future, they’ll remember how you helped.

Customers are smart. They’ll see fluff for fluff and quality for quality.  Let them try everything to see if they like it and you’ll convert many more sales.

Question for you: what is your favorite way to give away content?

(If you want any of our free content, see the Downloads section on our Support Site — not even an opt-in required!)