The “Free Value-Added Giveaway”

Many people believe that if you build a website, their customers will come. Like putting up a huge banner on a store front that says “OPEN FOR BUSINESS.” Then we sit around, watching our phones, email boxes and our web site and wonder where all our perfect customers are.

It gets quiet and stays quiet.

And so we (really me, I should just cough it up and admit all the we’s are really me’s)… so we I begin rereading and rewriting my copy, install Google Analytics so we I can see exactly what is not happening down at our my electronic storefront and since we’re I was busy being busy, doing business-related stuff, it felt like work. Busy work, not busy-getting-paid work.

Sigh.

Uh Oh Toto

And then I realized this wasn’t Experian Kansas anymore. I wasn’t building huge e-commerce web sites where the audience was captive (and sometimes very angry about their credit history even though Experian simply reports the data passed on to them. Everyone has an excuse story for why Experian is the villain when the #1 piece of advice I give everybody when they ask me about maintaining and building a good credit score is pay your bills on time.) I digress although I did manage to creatively weave in the whole point of wanting to write this post which is excuses and my new ebook about them.

But back to me and my electronic storefront, because wait…

It Gets Better

I realized that most of the adult bill-paying population needed and wanted a credit report, at some point. So people were basically signing on, clicking buy and boom! Transaction. Conversion. Ding Ding! Dollar signs. Like millions of them. And the item itself (at the time) only cost something like $12.95. How did they do that? Or rather, how do I do that?

Enter Isabel Parlett and her groovy explanation of “transformative services.” Not only does she have the secret recipe on taking your existing copywriting and pulling out the essence of it which helps you be compelling and honestly, with all seriousness, helps you find the words you need to rock the world, but she also painted a new landscape in which I was able to see that coaching services were not widgets (or credit reports). And I began to see the light… that if you are selling transformation, it’s a waaaaaaaaaay longer sales cycle. Not visit, click, buy, ka-ching!

So you’re wondering where I’m going? (Secretly, so am I. Because it’s currently 9:10 a.m. Pacific and this post is writing itself.)

Back To The Point

So I’ve got transformation services for sale, chasms to cross and an electronic storefront to do it all on. One thing I don’t have is customers exploding my email box with requests to be transformed and that’s because, it really takes establishing a few critical things before someone is ready to do that kind of work with you. Trust. Expertise. A clear definition of what they can expect to get working with you. Oh and the biggie, the storefront owner (me) has to very clearly identify the transformation-seekers problem(s).

So how do I (you) do that? Enter “the free value-added giveaway.” And what’s it for? It’s for helping your perfect customers cross that huge “transformation services” chasm, that one between Visit and Buy. It’s for helping your perfect customers get a feeling for the work that you do, in a very low-risk way. It’s for building your brand and establishing your expertise. It’s a place for putting their problems down in writing and for you to help them solve them, with your special coach-y juice (or the juice or mojo from that thing you do).

If you’ve been hanging out on the web for a bit, chances are you’ve visited a website that offers something to download for free. But before you get your thingy, you must provide your name & email address. And here we are, back at Marketing 101. Building your first list.

If You Build It, They Will Come

I teach people how to build a web presence using a simple and free online tool called Blogger. In the beginning, participants are pretty much focused on how to get their Blogger on, but after some compassionate hand holding and a LOT of laughs, they are creating content and doing their thing. Eventually though, brand new questions about their shiny new web presence pop up, like how do I build my own list, or said another way, install one of those widget things that captures a name and email address.

I’ve had some great experience with creating lists and offering freebies. Down at my last gig, we had 3 free giveaways and nearly everyday, someone downloaded one (or all three).

So I guess, in essence, if you create it (your freebie)… they will come.

Now you may be panicky by now, thinking something like, “I have no idea where to begin with creating my freebie. None!” If this is you, than you might be ready to have a few web training sessions. If you do have a few ideas, but haven’t really finalized them, you still might be ready for some extra special 1.1 help from me. If you have a GREAT idea for your freebie and just need the hand holding, help-me think-this-through-and-give-me-your-technical-expertise options, we can rock some serious freebie-giving out!

Not only was the creation of those other threebie freebies fun and way easier than I ever thought possible, I have now actually followed my own advice for my life coaching services. I’ve put together a freebie (an ebook) that talks about that nagging feeling you get that sounds like “Is this all there is?” or “I’m pretty sure my life was meant for something more, I’m just not sure what…” It’s about excusing yourself from doing that great stuff you know you want to do and give back to others and thereby make the world a better place. It’s called “Getting to The You With No Excuses.” Is that Over The Rainbow enough for you?

Helping You Grow Your Self & Your Biz

If you want some help with either letting go of your excuses OR creating your first freebie OR setting up the automated email response thingy-ma-bob that will actually deliver your freebie, please proceed directly to the Hire Me page. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. Just use your “Get-out-of-I can’t-do-this-technology-stuff-alone” card.

If you don’t even have a website yet but want one and you think this “I don’t know what to give away for free thing is” is a good problem to have, you’ll also want to check out the next Tech Savvy Workshop.

But before I go, here are a couple of questions to get you started thinking about your freebie:

What is already right under your nose, that you take for granted or think is silly or nothing or not good enough? I’m flashing a neon sign at it right now. It says “Look Here.”
Do you have any audio recordings of some topic you’ve presented as a teleclass for instance? Get busy getting it transcribed or getting the teleclass scheduled. 60-minutes will do ya just fine and (hint hint) that’s where one of those other freebies I made with someone else came from.
Do you have a blog? Think about writing a series of blog posts on a topic. One post at a time creates a fabulous ebook (that’s where another one of those freebie I made with someone else came from too).

Ok, although I’ve had a lot of fun writing this post, it has gotten way out of hand and so I’m signing off until the next time.

Tootles!