Free content vs. paid content. As a business owner, you are likely using your online content to market your business. You might feel unsure about how much to give away in free content. It’s important that the content you share leads with value and truly serves your ideal client. To accomplish that, you might find yourself giving away free information. So where is the line?

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The Why vs. The How

Here are some of the things that I consider to help determine what goes in my free content and what is reserved for paid content.

Free content is focused more on the why than the how. Think about the idea of categorizing your content into areas of inspiring, entertaining, or educating. Aim to create content that accomplishes different topics at different times.

Entertaining and inspiring content often talks about the why and helps you to connect with your audience. 

“Educating” Content

Educating content gives away a lot of free information, but if you’re ONLY focused on educating, then you’re missing out on strong marketing for your business. Your content should be more than bunches of free tips. People want to be inspired. They want to hear about your story. They want you to share about what they can gain from taking action.

Free Taste

Additionally, your educational content should be a great taste of what it’s like to learn from you. In my free content across my YouTube channel, my podcast, my Instagram, and my email list, I’m essentially showing audiences what my paid offers are like and helping them to determine if they connect with me and want to dive deeper.

Share a Glimpse

Ask yourself how you can share a portion of the “how” without revealing the entire roadmap. Early in my YouTube channel, I received feedback from my students that they didn’t learn much more from my paid offer than on my channel. That stung! I realized I needed to be more intentional about what I would give away for free vs. what would be inside of my paid offers.

Real Life Example

For example, I have reels tutorial videos on my channel. However, instead of walking through EVERY feature and the best ways to use it, I only highlight the most need-to-know information. The in-depth walkthrough plus strategies are inside my paid offer.

In your free content, incorporate storytelling and share your personality. Share your customers’s journeys and wins. You’ll find that after ticking all of those boxes, you won’t feel as pressured to create educational content and give things away for free because your content will be packed with value in so many other ways. You’ll feel much more confident about how much to give away in free content!!

10 Free Reel Ideas

By the way, grab my 10 free reels ideas! It’s full of plug-and-play reels that you can adapt for your own business to educate, inspire, and entertain your audience. 

Paid Content

Your paid content will go deeper than your free content. Additionally, it should be kept up to date with the latest information and trends. It might offer a new level of support such as feedback, student questions, or coaching. Make sure your paid content offers a full roadmap and connects ALL the dots for them, leaving them amazed by all of the help they received. It should be a complete experience that they could not get for free.

Next week, we’ll talk about how to get more time in your day to market your business. We’ll cover organic content creation and how to see more time in your schedule for it. See you on Monday at 7AM! In the meantime, hang out with me on Instagram!