People make a mistake on two sides of this.
On one side, they jealously guard their ideas saying, “These should only go to people who pay! No free content!”
On the other side, there is the naive assumption that, if we give it all away, then people will want to work with us.
Neither side is useful.
They seem like opposite points of view but they’re not opposites. They’re opposames. They’re twins. They both rest of the idea that ‘the information is the thing’ – that ‘information’ is where the real value is.
But, people don’t just pay us for ‘information’.
Let me repeat that: don’t just pay us for ‘information’.
This is so important to understand.
So many people get tied up in knots about how much of their content, point of view, perspective, ideas to give away for free and what to keep behind a ‘pay wall’.
Much, but not all of that, is driven by the unspoken assumption that the most compelling part of us is our ‘information’ – that this is what people are paying us for.
But it’s not.
A clear niche establishes relevance gets them in the door.
A compelling point of view has them sit down and listen for a while. It establishes credibility.
A well crafted offer establishes value and has them pay.
But wait… If the point of view happens before the offer in the scenario above, what are they paying for in the offer?
Are they paying for access to the ‘real secrets’?
Maybe.
Sometimes.
But that is a game of seduction where we tease people and promise more.
One challenge with this is that there is so much free information on the internet.
It’s overwhelming.
More information is not necessarily what they most want in the first place.
In fact, it rarely is.
Rewind.
The main purpose of sharing our point of view with people and giving them a wider and more accurate context about why they’re struggling is not to make money but to build trust.
Problem.
Premise.
Promise.
Those three in that order every time.
People fear sharing their content (the premise) for free because ‘then people won’t buy anything!’
People fear sharing their content (the premise) for free because ‘then people won’t buy anything!’
But, as George Kao reminds us, “Be generous with your content. Be stingy with your time.”
George Kao also makes the point that we shouldn’t give everything away for free.
The more you share your content the more people trust you.
The more you share your core point of view, the more people will trust you.
The more they buy the concept, the more likely they are to buy the course.
The more they buy your point of view, the more likely they are to buy your program.
But wait… Once they’ve understood your point of view… why do they even need you anymore?
The likelihood of someone hearing your point of view once and then taking it and applying it successfully are low.
Why?
Because information, perspective and context are not the only things they need to get the results.
A point of view will give them a direction to go but they’ll need other things.
Once they’ve heard your robustly shared point of view, they intuitively know they also need some mix of the following things…
- the fundamentals: every field has its fundamentals that, if you do don’t do them, nothing really works. People need to know, very clearly what those are and why they matter.
- repetition: do you only go to a concert to hear new songs? No. It’s just the opposite isn’t it. We go to hear the familiar old tunes. We don’t go to Church to hear something new but to hear something old again in a new way.
- tools: Sometimes these are physical tools that we use on the outside. Sometimes they are practices we use on the inside but it’s having tools makes the job easier. Worksheets, checklists or a structured series of questions is such a relief.
- reminders: our lives are so overwhelming these days. We need frequent reminders of those fundamentals, of the overall context and of what really matters.
- community: most people feel so lonely on their journey. Having the chance to connect with other, like-minded people on the same journey is such a blessing. With community, we can get the empathy, cheer leading and encouragement we need to keep going.
- cheer leading: Sometimes we need this from a community and sometimes just directly from a mentor or coach. Someone who can say, “You’re doing great! Keep going!” when we feel like giving up.
- guidance: we need translation of how the content applies to us and what we should do with it. It’s not enough to know the larger context and hear stories. We also want to know, “What do I do next?” They don’t have the time or desire to know everything we know. This kind of access to the expert is something that people are happy to pay for. “Easy is the new free” they say. We also need an expert, outside eye on our situations who can assess how it’s going and where our blindspots are.
- occasion: people pay us for the scheduled, focused time to get to something done. Could you just meditate at home for five days by yourself? You could. Will you? Unlikely. We pay people for the occasion for focus on what matters to us. We pay them to handle all of the logistics so we can just focus on what matters most. This is why ‘challenges’ work so well. They give us a fixed time limit to do something that we know we need to do anyway.
- structure: We all need a step by step process to avoid the overwhelm of implementing all of these new ideas. Someone I asked posted this, “Mostly: well-designed habits (understanding triggers, cues, incentives that matter to them) that respects their current level of capacity and stamina. But to stick to those habits: human accountability. Coaching can help them design better habits and work better with their accountability system.” Someone else wrote, “a system to stick with the LONG-TERM journey of change.”
- organization of knowledge: they don’t want to search through all your articles and videos to find the answer. They want to find the most relevant information to them now.
- examples: case studies, stories and real life situation breakdowns can be so encouraging that they can make it too.
- demonstrations: If they’re learning coaching from you, watching you coach others can help them learn the process.
- safe practice: we often need a playground to try these new tools and approaches in that’s no or low risk for us.
- feedback: we need regular, honest and helpful feedback and reflections on how we’re going in implementing these new approaches so we don’t go too far off track in our efforts.
- experiences: sometimes we pay for a unique, fun, meaningful experience – something we know is irrational but it will make a good memory. We pay for people to take us out of the the hum-drum, tik-tok of our heads and to live.
- permission: don’t underestimate this one. Your people may be needing (or believe they need) permission to do something they feel scared or ashamed to do.
- time: both in terms of space in their schedule, but also it can take a while to produce a result.
- vision: People also can need a lot of help clarifying what it is they want. Often their challenges aren’t mechanical. They are struggling with even having a sense of what direction to move, what feels good to them, what’s a ‘yes’ and what’s a ‘no’.
And those are things you can put together into packages, programs and products and offer to them.
Consider this: I give away so much free content on niching. I’m talking dozens of hours of free content.
And yet, when people book Puttering Sessions with me, 95% of them want my help with their niche.
How could that be?
Shouldn’t that be the one thing they’d never need my help with? Couldn’t they just use my free content to help them with their niching and save their hard-earned dollars for something else?
They could but they don’t.
Why?
Easy is the new free.
They don’t want to sift through it all and do it all on their own.
They want help. They want hand holding. They want my reflections, intuitions, instincts and questions. They want my guidance.
People don’t just want information.
They don’t just want context.
They also want guidance, structure and support.
When people join my Membership, are they doing it because they’re hoping they’ll find some hidden, ‘real’ secrets in there?
I sure hope not.
But they may be joining to find fellowship, get my guidance in weekly and Semester Calls, have the information better organized and have people they can ask for help if they get stuck.
My colleagues Jesse and Sharla from Thrive Academy led a paid weekend workshop for years teaching holistic practitioners how to make money with weekend workshops.
And then, one day, they’d built such an eco-system of services that they decided to give away their weekend workshop for free.
The whole thing.
And that was what got people in the door to sign up for their more expensive offers.
In 2020, I relaunched my website and, with it, I offered up for free the full footage of my daylong workshop (for which people had paid me $300 and which I had sold on my website for $100) in my Ethical Marketing Starter Kit.
Why on Earth would I give away my entire day long workshop?
Here’s why…
Stephen Jenkinson once said, “Food makes hunger.”
And it’s true.
Once people hear your point of view, it’s like they are smelling the scent of the food you make and maybe even getting a little taste.
That’s what has them wanting more.
Imagine the madness of trying to get people to try your food by only using promises.
“I promise you will like it. Trust me.”
But people don’t trust us.
This video is likely a good one to watch in this moment:
Consider this: When you read multiple books by and author or thinker are you more or less likely to want to go to their retreat?
More.
Why?
You’re not just paying for the info are you?
The information is there to build trust.
Generally speaking, the more you give away, the more people will want to work with you.
The more they understand your approach the more curious they become as to how it applies to them.
Eben Pagan has some videos on this approach which are worth checking out:
“Examples Of Moving The Free Line“
“How Far Should I Move The Free Line?“
The more they understand your perspective the more likely they are to want to spend money on getting your help to apply it.
Can you think of anything else people need? If you can, please share it in the comments on this post in my Facebook Group.
And to help you think this through, here are a few more videos on the theme: