How to Create a Killer Freebie

How amazing would it feel to create an opt-in freebie that’s downloaded by hundreds of people on the day it’s released?

If you’re trying to grow your email list, opt-in freebies are your list-building magic beans. 95% of my email list growth comes from the freebies I offer on my blog!

What is an opt-in freebie?

An opt-in freebie is something you give your reader in exchange for them joining your email list. It can be ANYTHING. Here are a few common types of opt-in freebies:

workbook
checklist
cheat sheet
video tutorial
email course
discount code
template
spreadsheet
live webinar
PDF guide

An opt-in freebie truly can be anything, and I strongly encourage you to be creative with it! The key is to find a topic and format that your readers strongly resonate with, and are happy to hand over their email addresses for.

Research what freebie would do well with your audience

Your freebie should be a quick solution to a common problem for your readers. I created multiple freebies before I found one that worked. It takes time to discover what your readers want, so don’t be afraid to test and experiment with different ideas.

Make a list of the places your ideal readers like to hang out. These could be forums, Facebook groups, social media platforms, or something else. Then head over to those places and do some digging!

Connect with people, ask them what they’re struggling with as it pertains to your blog’s niche and your area of expertise.

Once you’ve generated a list of your ideal reader’s problem areas, it’s time to choose one to focus on. Which problem best matches up with your expertise? In other words, which question are you most comfortable answering, or which problem are you most confident solving?

My most used freebie is my “Start a Blog in 5 Days” email course. My blog is about teaching people how to build a profitable blog and my experience is in building websites. So my freebie solves the biggest problems new bloggers face…how to get started.

Choose your Opt-in freebie format and name

Take a few minutes to decide on the best format for your freebie. Then it’s time to come up with a fun name! You want your title to be catchy, intriguing, and memorable, while still being simple enough for people to remember.

Now this was where I got stuck. I kept coming up with different names and I couldn’t narrow it down to one. I started with the blog headline formula for my freebie.

Adjective + Keyword + Promise

Here were some of my course titles:

Start a Blog in 5 days

Start a WordPress Website in 5 Days

Start a Website Like the Pros

Build a Blog Like the Pros

Build a Website in a Week

When I couldn’t narrow it down, I posted these in Facebook groups and narrowed it down to 3. Then I created the freebie and made 3 different Pinterest graphics and waited to see which one had the most hits. I used my favorite for the actual course name, but ended up changing to “Start a Blog in 5 Days” since it got the most Pinterest traffic.

Create your opt-in freebie

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when creating your freebie:

Incorporate your brand fonts and colors to increase recognition
Add your logo or domain name so people are reminded of where it came from
Create social media graphics to promote your freebie at the same time

If design really isn’t your strong suit, I’d suggest either taking a course to improve your graphic design skills, or hiring a professional to create some freebie templates for you. You want your subscribers to be BLOWN AWAY by how amazing your freebies look. So they know it’s a sign of great things to come!

You can also lean to more of a text based format too.

Once you’re freebie is ready to go, it’s time to set up the automated delivery!

Delivering your opt-infreebie

First, you’re going to need a way for people to sign-up to receive your freebie. One of the reasons I love ConvertKit is because their plans include sign-up forms and landing pages you can customize.

In terms of delivery, there are a few different ways you can deliver your freebie when someone opts-in. You can set it up to send with the “Welcome” email your new subscriber receives or you can create a password-protected Resource Library to house all of your freebies, and send the password to new subscribers in a welcome email.

Because I use ConvertKit for my email list, let me quickly walk you through how to deliver your freebie with ConvertKit. There are a couple ways you can do this, but here’s what I use.

Step #1: Create a ConvertKit Form for your new freebie (this is how people will opt-in)
Step #2: Create a new Sequence in ConvertKit and name it after your freebie.
Step #3: In the first email in the Sequence, welcome the subscriber to your mailing list and share the freebie with them (either by attaching it to the email, or sharing it as a link via Dropbox or Google Drive).
Step #4. Set up an Automation rule so that when someone subscribes to that Form, they are automatically subscribed to that Sequence.

Although the process of delivery will vary between email list platforms, most platforms will have a relatively easy way to deliver your freebie to new subscribers.

Promote your freebie

There are lots of ways you can promote your freebie, but here are a few of my favorites:

social media posts
your social media bios
Pinterest graphics
header of your site
blog post
sidebar or a smart bar on your website
Facebook groups
forums or other places your readers hang out
guest posts on other websites

Make sure your freebie doesn’t fall to the wayside. The worst thing you can do is spend days researching a topic and actually creating the freebie, and then not spend enough time promoting it!

Pro-tip: People love seeing what they’re getting before they sign up. This is why I usually include some kind of “mock-up” of the freebie that demonstrates what it looks like.

Pro-tip:I also like to create a landing page for my best freebie. I have multiple freebies on my site, but for my main freebie, my landing page is a great way to brag about how great it is. Your freebie should be a HUGE value. People should look at your freebie and think “I would pay for that!” Here’s mine: https://webdesignicandy.com/start-a-blog-in-5-days…