Everyone loves freebies, and all of know there is some truth behind the saying “nothing in life is free”. However, a great value-filled freebie in exchange for someone’s email and the permission to market for-sale products to them later can be a great business-building trade off.

I know you’ve seen the sites that say “Get my Free life-changing report on _________ when you sign up for my list!”  Depending on your niche and your offer, you could get away with only having one freebie on your site and having very good list building results with it. But consider the impact if you could provide a new freebie on a regular basis…

  1. Current subscribers stick around and visit more often knowing more great value is on it’s way.
  2. New subscribers attracted regularly because you produce a variety of niche related offerings.
  3. You can also offer the product for sale for those who really want it but don’t want to commit to the email list (This adds value to the product in the minds of the customers, and then you still get their email through the sales information, and get another chance to win them over through the sales follow-up process.)

Seasonal freebies are also great for driving new traffic to your site through all the seasonal hype.

Here are 3 Tips for Building Your List Through Seasonal Freebies:

1. Create the freebie well in advance of the holiday.

Depending on the product, and the work it takes to create the product, your timeline could vary. You might have a Fourth of July printable created in April, so you have plenty of time to promote and market it. However, if it’s an ebook or a case study to be released in summer, you may start as much as a year or two early to have time to write it, get it edited, create the cover art, recruit reviewers, plan the launch, etc.

2. Create great promotional graphics.

Effective visual advertising has never been easier, or harder. Everything these days is visual and so while it may be easy to create graphics (in canva or picmonkey or your favorite photo editing program) to compete with all of the other visual things vying for your customer’s attention, your graphics need to be absolutely gorgeous or at the very least eye catching.

3. Enlist help in promoting.

Use your network of similar niche bloggers and business owners to help spread the word about your freebie. Obviously the more people who see it, the more  people will take you up on the offer. As in any marketing, you want to figure out where your target market hangs out, and find a creative way to reach them there. I mentioned a list of  sites to submit deals/freebies to in this post. Here are 9 other ways to get the word out:

  1. Email your list
  2. Offer the free resource at the end of your seasonal posts
  3. Place an ad/image in your sidebar
  4. Offer it as a bonus to purchases
  5. Link up with niche sites link up posts
  6. Submit it to other bloggers who do round up posts
  7. Share on social media and in Facebook groups
  8. Ask friends and family to share on their social media
  9. Pay for ads in publications or in other sites’ eblasts

The Blogger’s Guide to Seasonal Marketing

If you’re looking for a guide to create a specific marketing schedule for seasonal products and freebies, you need to get our newly released ebook, The Blogger’s Guide to Seasonal Marketing. An easy to read, pattern for creating a successful timeline for the promotion of your next product or freebie, The Blogger’s Guide to Seasonal Marketing will help you

  • Get your product produced on time
  • Strategically plan your promotional schedule
  • Enlist the assistance of reviewers and affiliates
  • Release your product (or freebie) in plenty of time for maximum holiday exposure
  • Grow your list and increase your sales

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