Today I thought we’d explore one of the biggest questions I get from my online marketing community.
Which is – “What are some good freebie ideas?” This question also usually comes after the first question of, “Why do I need to create freebies for my biz?” LOL
Well, the biggest reason you need a freebie for your biz – especially if you have an online offer – is because it’s the best way to get people to join your email list.
And yes – email is still critical to your biz!
Even if you’re crushin’ it on social… adding email marketing is a smart way to get more sales.
As well as build a multi-faceted relationship with your customers and prospects.
Which actually reminds me… before we get into this topic, I’ve got a gift to give ya.
It’s really gonna help you outline what’s important to you in your biz… so you can communicate this to your community.
It’s also super helpful for coming up with your marketing freebies – as well as your online offers.
I’m gifting you my signature workbook (which I actually just completely revamped), called
Build Your Online Business. To get your hands on it, head on over to
https://hayleyhobson.com/bizguide.
Or comment the word BIZ on Instagram or Facebook.
Just enter your info and BOOM – I’ll deliver it to ya immediately. FREE.
Ok there you go.
That was an example of a freebie. LOL.
But seriously, you’ll want the workbook. It’s extensive.
And designed to guide you through the initial steps of getting your biz up and running online.
Ok so let’s talk about marketing freebies – and what are some really good ones you can use in your own biz.
I’ve got 4 ideas you can totally steal and use in your own biz right away.
So the first one I know you’ve seen a bazillion times…
It’s a classic for a reason. IT WORKS.
And that’s the OG freebie of… a coupon.
I mean, how many times have you handed over your email address for a 10% discount? It’s a great hook.
I mean, as soon as I saw my fav fuzzy slippers brand – ROAM – offers 15% off your first purchase when you join their club…
I was like – ummm yes please. Here’s my email, good sirs. Or madams.
Probably madams – women marketers know other women love a good deal. LOL
And the fact that they also have a loyalty program where you earn free gift certificates one you buy so many shoes?
Now that my daughter Madeline has got in on my Roam obsession – we’re racking up the discounts. LOL
ANYWAY… all that to say… if you’re able to offer a coupon or discount in exchange for someone giving you permission to email them…
It’s literal gold. No, I’m serious.
Because the latest stat I saw said that you can earn $42 per email subscriber, on average.
So yeah – giving them a discount on that first purchase is a super strategic move. Especially in the long run.
Ok the second opt-in freebie idea is… an ebook.
Creating an ebook is crazy simple.
You don’t even need to have design skills or hire someone to do it. Although you totally can if you like.
There are several ways to go about choosing what your ebook should be about…
It could be recipes – that involve using your products or the products you’re affiliated with.
Maybe you have a signature process or system for something in your biz – like if you’re a coach or educator.
You could take a key aspect of your biz and make a little PDF booklet about that.
For example, offer 3 ways to solve a common problem your current clients — or the ones you’d love to work — experience.
This is a silly example, but mosquitos are a real bitch this year.
I mean, did they have some sort of conference or something and decide to come at me hard this summer?So anyway, maybe you have a holistic lifestyle biz…
You could create a seasonal ebook that’s about natural ways to deal with mosquitos – because most people I know don’t love the idea of covering their bodies with chemicals like DEET.
Yeah, they work… but they’re not great for your body. Literal poison.
So instead, your ebook could address this perspective. And offer alternatives – while weaving in your products and solutions.
One solution inside the ebook could be a DIY recipe to stop itching once they getcha.
I actually have a recipe exactly like this on my
Pinterest board. The recipe is 10 drops each of Lemon… Lavender… and Peppermint oil.
Add it to a roller ball and BOOM – bye bye bug bite itch.
Bonus pro tip if you’ve gotten eaten alive lately like I have… pop this roller recipe into the fridge or freezer.
The cold helps take down the swelling if you have severe reactions to mosquito bites. So it really amplifies the results.
Ok back to your ebook – maybe you also then come up with solutions to repel mosquitoes so you don’t get bit…
Or trap those baby Satans before they come within biting distance of your gorgeous bod.
Of course, you get to weave in your products to the ebook… and include a clear, simple call to action.
Which could be a link to buy from you… or to schedule a consult… or sign up for something else.
Whatever action you feel is supportive to your email subscriber. Make it super simple for them to take the next step with you.
Which they’ll likely want to do because they now know you understand their pain of being crazy delicious… and you have natural solutions to keep that tastiness to yourself.
Which is exactly what they want too. LOL
Ok let’s move on to the third freebie idea I have for ya today. And that’s a webinar.
Now… maybe you’re instantly like: UGH, that sounds really hard, Hayley.
So I wanna put your fears at ease.
It’s not. AT. ALL.
If you can use Zoom, you can create a webinar.
Many people like to add presentations – AKA: Google slides or Powerpoints – to their webinars… but you don’t have to.
You get to decide what that experience looks like.
And design it in a way that suits your strengths… as well as in a way that gives your would-be participants a lot of value.
A webinar-style freebie also doesn’t need to be a ton of work.
In fact, I’ve been really leaning into shorter webinars – as in under an hour.
When you’re able to drill down your teaching points and offer a lot of value in a short amount of time – even as little as 15 or 20 minutes – people actually appreciate it.
The way you get people to join your email list from your webinar offering is… you create a simple landing page – honestly, it could even be a simple Google form if you’re in a pinch.
Or you could just sign up for my Landing Page Workshop the next time I run it. Make sure you’re on my email list so you get notified when that event comes up next, ok?
You cannot rely on social media for updates.
The algorithm isn’t that smart. Even though it is pretty smart.
Did I tell you I keep getting hit up by ads from this new Jet company that flies from Denver to Anaheim and allows you to bring your dog on flight?
And it’s barely more expensive than flying commercial? Ok. So not San Diego. Yet.
Ok so I digress. LOL
Let’s talk about what your webinar could be about.
I’ll share some examples from my own biz. Well, actually I just told you about one of them LOL.
My Landing Page Workshop is a free online event I offer a few times a year.
And it walks you step-by-step through how to create a landing page designed to – you guessed it – get people to sign up for your email list.
I call it a workshop, but it’s essentially a webinar with a different title. You get to choose what you call it.
The reason I chose this topic to create an online event around is… many people in my community have an online biz…
And they tell me they get stuck on the HOW part of going online. So this webinar training teaches them exactly what to do.
And the cool thing is… they learn something that benefits their biz… I get new people on my email list…
And many of them get so much value out of it that they choose to continue working and learning with me.
Win. Win. Win. LOL
I think a lot of people get stressed out about the webinar concept because it feels like a ton of work.
Or like it has to be absolutely perfect…. or they get hung up on the tech part.
But the truth is… every moment you spend holding on to your brilliance and insights… is a moment you aren’t helping someone.
Trust me… I’ve screwed up PLENTY on my webinars.
- I’ve had tech fall apart.
- I’ve completely lost my train of thought mid-sentence.
- I’ve loaded up the wrong content by mistake.
- I’ve gotten derailed by the chat conversations and made my trainings go too long.
- I’ve said the wrong website to go to.
Friends… shit happens.
You get to learn from these mistakes. They happen to alllll of us. Don’t let this fear hold you back from taking imperfect action.
If you have something to share – and you have an offer, whether it’s a product or a service – you can create a free webinar to build your email list.
The reason you see a lot of these free events, trainings, or webinars online is… they work.
Other webinar-style events I’ve put on in my biz include:
How to create your own online offer – which has added THOUSANDS of people to my email list.
I’ve done webinar-style trainings about Instagram – and how to use all those features you’ve been avoiding – to grow your biz.
Because social media marketing is a huge aspect of how I’ve been able to grow my biz – and people ask me about it all the time.
I also have done multi-day webinars – AKA: Challenges.
A recent one – which you may have even attended – is my Reclaim Your Time Challenge.
This is a 3-day event I put on once or twice a year about how to get back an hour or more of your day… using habit stacking and time blocking.
Because so many people in my community feel like they’re go, go, go all day… and yet they don’t actually make progress on their goals.
So this challenge helps them – and the bazillion other people online with this same problem – rearrange their calendars in a way that creates space.
Not to mention work on goals and projects… without dropping all the spinning places we each have in our lives.
BTW, again, if you’re like – umm, HOW do I get notified about these online events?!?… Get on my email list.
Literally go to hayleyhobson.com and sign up for any freebie I have on the website. That will ensure you are current on my list.
Or pick your copy of that Build Your Online Business workbook I mentioned today.
Stick around for a few more minutes and I’ll give you the link again after I cover the last freebie idea, ok?
Alright, so that’s webinars as an opt-in freebie example.
Your fourth freebie idea is… an online mini-course.
This one is actually my fav.
Because it offers a lot of value to your prospective customers or clients… and it sets the stage for you creating an additional income stream for your biz.
Whaaaaaa?! Yeah, it’s awesome. It’s like an ebook on steroids. Or in 3 D.
When you create an online mini-course, you do this ONE TIME… and your content gets used over and over again.
Which means you are able to help wayyyyy more people… with wayyyy less effort on your part.
Unlike an ebook… your mini-course creates IMMEDIATE HUMAN CONNECTION.
Because they literally hear you and see you – even if your face isn’t on screen the entire time.
It taps into more senses… which helps your would-be buyers connect with you.
Which is harder to do when they’re just reading an ebook from you.
The reason an online mini-course primes you for an additional income stream is… you can use the skills you learn to begin creating and selling PAID digital products and offers.
Which yes – you create once and sell over and over again.
You may even decide to start selling your freebie mini-course down the line. Or using it as a bonus with some kind of other offer. I’ve started doing this in my biz, as well.
For instance I created an online mini course a few years ago called Healthy Habits & Holistic Happiness.
It’s 6 modules. I sell it for $179. But I give it away as a freebie when people join my Habit Hackers community.
Check this out. Did you know the online learning space is expected to be worth $375 billion by 2026?
You heard me right… Billion with a B. In just a few years.
If you’re in the network marketing industry, an online mini-course is a really great freebie option for you.
Here’s an example.
Let’s say you have a holistic wellness lifestyle biz.
Well, you know that essential oils are a great alternative to highly toxic household chemicals.
And you know that most of your potential customers REALLY want natural, but effective, alternatives to those chemicals.
You could create a really simple mini-course. Like “10 quick ways to reduce your toxic load”. And one of the “quick ways” you teach them about is about essential oils.
The action step you’d tell them to take would be to get some essential oils through you. And become a member so they get the wholesale discount.
You’d offer this mini-course for free, with the end goal of monetizing your efforts through people buying oils and other holistic wellness lifestyle products through you.
Or, let’s say you're obsessed with reversing the aging process. Both in your cells, your GI tract, your metabolism, your skin… whatev.
And you know there are certain practices… ie what you eat, what time you eat, when you sleep, how much you sleep, how often you move your body, products you use on your skin, supplements you take internally….. that actually DO that. For realz.So you could create a really simple mini course like “10 ways to reverse the aging process and look younger today than you did last year”. Then teach all about how to do this. Again, using certain products, ingredients, reducing stressors etc.The action step you’d tell people to do is to follow your protocol for products you sell. And give them a discount.
One more quick thing about these freebie ideas.
You can literally repurpose the same content into multiple formats.
Your ebook freebie? You can expand on it and turn it into an online mini-course.
You could add your coupon offer as an extra bonus for anyone who signs up for your mini-course.
They’re not mutually exclusive.
And you can totally take content you’ve already created in your biz… how it helps people… how it makes a difference in their lives.
And reformat it into a mini-course.
When you think about it this way, like 80% of the work is already done.
Like, you probably have some sort of ebook… or email series…
Or perhaps some teaching points you go through and demo when you lead in-person or online essential oil classes… or weight loss classes… or anti-aging classes… whatever you're into…
Use that as your source material for your mini-course! Or for any of the other freebie ideas we talked about today.
And to help you come up with the right freebie idea for your biz… be sure to pick up your copy of my Build Your Online Business workbook.
This walks you through the key aspects of your biz – everything from your values and beliefs (AKA your brand pillars and how you stand out from the crowd)...
To your messaging – your content – and the words you use to attract and engage your community.
And build a relationship all the way to a sale.
Some people have literally called this their “Brand Bible” – it’s become THAT fundamental of a resource to them in their biz
And right now you can get it free.
Or commenting the word BIZ on IG or FB.
I’ll also post the link in the show notes.
Ok friends, I hope this gave you some answers to the “what the heck is a freebie anyway” question I get all the time… as well as sparked some ideas of what you’d like to create for your own biz.
Have a great week… and I’ll see ya online.