Free content in the form of lead magnets can help you build your email list, get the word out to your audience, and add value for your audience.
But, there is often a struggle within the product creator about what to give away and what to sell. You can add value and get sign ups without giving away the farm.
But...
How do you know when you’ve given away enough?
But, you can also give away 'the how' and still get them to buy 'the done for you' service from you if target your audience correctly.
For example, you can read all about how to create amazing sales pages on software sites like Leadpages.net or Clickfunnels.com but 'the how' is tied up in their software so as you’re reading how to do it, you then want to buy the software to make it easier to do using their templates and their guides.
But, what if you’re not selling software, how can you use this concept while adding value but still earning money from your efforts?
The best example to provide here is an example of a How-to Webinar as the main lead magnet.
You can host a webinar on any 'how to' and if you have a 'done for you' offer to promote on the back end a certain percentage of the audience is going to want to take you up on that offer but only if you’ve proven 'the why' and then given an overview of 'the how' that proves your expertise.
When you do this, you’re showing your audience that you know who they are, what they need, and that you’re the person with the expertise they need to provide it to them easier than if they do it themselves. But, you’re also giving them the confidence and knowledge that they can do it themselves by providing excellent value in the lead magnet.
The reason is that your free content provides a solution that your audience wants and needs. If they think they are 'do it your-selfers' they may still choose to do it themselves, but most people aren’t.
In fact, most people will never follow up and do it themselves. For this reason, you won’t be giving away the farm if you tell them how to do something then offer to do it for them even though they now technically know how to do it themselves.
Restaurants like Cheddars even do this. If you go into a Cheddars they have TVs on showing the 'from scratch' cooking involved in each recipe. You can even get recipe cards for the recipes that they cook. But, does that mean you’re going to stop going to the restaurant because you can make it yourself? No, because you’d rather them do it for you because they’re the ones with the expertise to make it perfect every single time and it’ll be done easier and faster and likely for not that much more money.
You can look at the same way for your business if you want to.
Another example is Katwise. She is an artist I originally found on Etsy. She’s best known for creating fairytale upcycled sweater coats from used wool sweaters. First, she sold her creations via auction on eBay. Her items were going for hundreds of dollars. But she could not keep up with the orders. Finally, she created a PDF on how to create the upcycled coats and sold a lot of them. People thought she was crazy but she’s still making six figures plus selling her creations even though people still buy the PDF course.
Think of ways you can incorporate this idea into your business.
Remember that you want everything you do to fit your target audience’s needs and add value to their lives in some way. You want to create solutions. For some segment of your audience they’re going to want to do it themselves, so you may as well teach them why they need to do it along with most of the how. Then promote your done for you services on the back end to that group who wants to do it but doesn’t want to do it themselves.
You absolutely will not miss out on making more money by telling 'he how' if you ensure that you’re targeting correctly.
