Hey Badass, I am super amped to chat with you today about a question I've been getting a lot and I'm not sure if it's because of my more recent solo cast around lead magnets and developing something that's in that beautiful balance of really valuable and generous but also not giving away too much.
The full solution. But it's coming from my clients as well. As we're talking about their content strategy, we're talking about creating those funnels for them. And there's that question that keeps coming up time and time again, which is how much do I give away for free? Like, where is that limit? Where is that line between free content?
Versus what they're going to be able to find inside my paid offer. And obviously, this is coming from a place of wanting people to be really happy with their investment in their purchase. No one, who's working in integrity, wants to have that feeling that what they're selling is essentially exactly what the person can find for free, either.
on their social media profile or just the internet generally, right? And there's that big question that keeps coming up. Why would they pay me if they can either A. get results from my free content or B find this information in either a cheaper course or product like a book or a cheap course or even just by googling it?
For free online. What is the value added? So we're going to be exploring this dynamic between free content and paid content and other elements and aspects of your paid offer that make it truly valuable. and truly worth your customer's while so that you feel in full integrity when you are selling the results that come from working with you, not just from your free content.
Now, to get started, straight up, answer the ring. Now everyone's going to have different philosophies on this.
[00:02:19] The Philosophy of Generosity in Content Creation
I'm speaking to what's Worked for me in my experience, but if you were to ask me the question, how much do I give away for free online? Am I giving them my tips, tricks, strategies, and tools?
I would say if it's the level of information, like some tips, five things you can say, three things you can try if it's information that you found from somewhere else, a book, a podcast, articles online, that kind of thing. Give away a lot. Be so generous. Go hard. Give as much as you can. Add so much value.
Learn something exciting and interesting package it up in a way that's simple and easy to understand and share it with your audience. Because at the end of the day unless it's your custom intellectual property that no one's ever heard of before I don't know if there's any such thing as a brand new idea There are career coaches who have been career coaching for much longer than I have, who have said similar things to me, who have worked with clients and don't have an online presence and have the same kind of knowledge that I do.
I don't take it for granted that the knowledge and expertise that I have exists. I'm not the only person in the world. However, if I'm able to package it up, educate people, be generous, and put it together for them in a way that is bite-sized enjoyable to learn about, and enjoyable to consume, I get to stand out.
I get to build trust. So I'm not gatekeeping any knowledge or information that already exists out there in the world. I am sharing as much as possible. And I want you to remember that as a purpose-driven entrepreneur, who is creating. An expertise or knowledge-based business, a service-based business where you help people through sharing what you know.
Remember that 99 percent of your work will be for free. The content you create, the freebies, the lead magnets you create, those free mini-courses you create, those things that you are building and creating. That content, those articles, those podcasts, whatever it is, for your audience. Most people will not buy from you, in your audience.
Either, maybe they can't afford you right now, or ever. Maybe the timing isn't right for them, right now, or ever. Maybe this is something that they need to sit with for a while, or process for a while, or try to do it later. themselves for a while until they realise that working with you is the way forward for them.
Maybe, and this always like just touched me so deeply, they're currently saving up so hard with you on their vision board because they know that they want to work with you in the future. But the fact is that most of the content you're putting out and the work that you're doing to research that content, design that content, share that content, it's going to audience members, to community members, to people who are following you that may never work with you.
And that's okay because this is your purpose and you are lifting people and you are giving them those results and those micro transformations every day. That's part of this business model. So give it away. Go hard and uplift as many people as you can. Because thanks to that behavior, thanks to that, thanks to those acts of service, guess what?
There are going to be people who upgrade and go premium and want to work with you. Thanks to that content, thanks to the education, the inspiration, support and accountability, the feelings of being seen, of being heard, the things that your content is giving them, it's going to turn them into clients. And this comes back to the question, but why would they pay me though, if they can get results from my free content?
Because if they can, Of course, people can get some results from your free content, particularly scrappy, self-driven, resourceful people who can consume free content and apply it to their situation and go through the trial and error by themselves and still get a result. More power to them.
That's incredible. There will always be people who can get results from your free content. And that's what we want. Again, this is our purpose. This is our mission. We want people to be changing their lives in this way. But the reality is most people can't get the full spectrum of results from free content alone.
Like most people, no matter how smart, or talented they are, for example, won't be able to build. A multiple six-figure business off the back of free content. By consuming some Instagram posts, some podcasts, some articles, piecing it together, and trying to make it all make sense. Because they can have as much information in the world, but they don't need any more information.
You can Google how to achieve anything. They need transformation, which comes from personalisation, which comes from accountability. Okay? If you think about it, we know the steps that we need to take to achieve anything we want in life. We know the steps we need to take to get fit and healthy. To stop smoking and drinking.
To learn how to dance. To landscape the garden. To eat vegetarian. To cut back on our spending. To change careers. We can Google anything. We can ask AI There is ample information out there for us to understand the steps we need to take. And yet, studies show that 92 percent of people fail to achieve the goals that they set out to achieve.
Why? Because there's a massive difference between setting an intention I'm gonna start my business this year, and then the resistance and the self-sabotage that can get in your way. From being overwhelmed with the information, unclear on which information is pertinent to you or not, struggling to apply it, struggling to stay consistent or committed, the energy fizzling out, because you're not sure that you're capable of this, and letting life take over, letting the present day take over, and cannibalise your future goals.
Whatever it is, whether it's health, finances, or love, we can set these massive goals and consume so much information on it and like that post and save that carousel. But there's a massive difference between consuming and figuring it out by ourselves and trying to stick at that and make it work versus actually doing the damn thing, because most of the time, most people will need to achieve that goal to achieve that transformation.
is that step-by-step roadmap made easy, made applicable, and the support and accountability to get them to their end goal. How many free workouts can you find on YouTube, on TikTok, and Instagram? How many cool things have you seen out there that would help you to get fit? The trackers, the meal prepping, the plans, the workout routines.
It's all out there for the taking, and yet why is it that the first time you show up and stay committed for six months straight is because you paid the personal trainer? You've got someone waiting for you every single week at the same time, and you show up for them.
Because you've got someone watching you. You've got that accountability. It's that same kind of concept. And that's why it doesn't matter how generous you are with your free content. That's why you can give it away. Give the tips away. Give the tricks away. Give the hacks. Give the tactics. Give the tools because, at the end of the day, the magic comes from applying them and doing the thing that is facilitated by your paid program.
[00:11:55] The Unique Value of Paid Offers Over Free Content
So let's break it down piece by piece to contrast. People can get from a free content piece or free lead magnet versus a paid offer. Let's start with the concept of content or information that they can consume, okay? What is the relationship like with the free content that you're putting out there?
Just say someone is on the Badass Careers page and wants to learn how to write a standout resume and LinkedIn profile for themselves. Firstly, my free content. It's very bite-sized. When it comes to LinkedIn, for example, I might have a content piece on LinkedIn headlines. I might have one on writing an About Me section.
I might have one on LinkedIn networking strategy. I might have one on your profile picture, I might have one on your banner, and I might have one on your skills section. Oops, I haven't done anything on education yet, you're gonna have to figure that out by yourself. And, by the way, my content doesn't come out in perfect order, and maybe I only post about LinkedIn once every 10 days, whatever it is.
So not only do they have to piece everything together to get the full picture, but they are have to wait for the information. They need to understand how this relates to their profile and which of these content pieces are relevant to them or not. They need to scour through my feed, through my examples.
to find inspiration or education on this that suits their unique situation and their goals for LinkedIn. And my content at the free level is very much going to focus on, what it is and why it's important. What's a LinkedIn headline and why is it important? But I may not share with you specifically how to get it done.
in detail. So you know about it, you learn about it, you understand it's important, and I give you a few examples and you have to reverse engineer it and figure it out yourself in terms of how you're going to do it for yourself. Inside my paid course it's a different story. You've got everything I know downloaded, perfectly streamlined in one place.
So that you can build up that resume, you can build up that LinkedIn step by step in the way that makes the most sense. Not only that, but you have examples for everyone, for every single aspect. I tell you what to do if you're a career changer if you're a fresh graduate, if you're a senior VP. Some examples make it so easy to apply to your situation.
And of course, there might be some content in there that I've never shared publicly either, or haven't had the time to share publicly yet as well, so there may also be exclusive content in there. And, you know how we talked about, free content being what it is and why it's important? In the paid content, you very much get to the how.
Let's take the example again of writing a LinkedIn headline. I'll give you my methodology and I will give you my intellectual property on how to do the thing. For example, in my business coaching program, I have intellectual property and I've developed my custom framework on how to find your niche.
So in a podcast episode, which is free. I can walk you through what it is to have a niche, why it's important, how you can get started, and some things that you should look at, but in my paid program, you get my actual framework that facilitates that and makes it clear and easy and quick for you. Already, we're starting to see a difference when it comes to the actual content and information itself.
In addition to this, the free content, again, as much as you may. do your content differently or better than other people for a variety of reasons. At the end of the day, I'm not the first person on the internet who's spoken about resumes. And essentially the free content is information that they can find anywhere.
Can you Google how to write a resume? Is there content out there on how to create your resume summary? How to write your resume experience section? Of course, there is. I'm not unique in that. Okay. And so it's that information that is, while they enjoy your way of educating and sharing that with them, it is inherently information that can be found.
Whereas in your paid offer, you might share. More personal experiences and stories or client stories and examples That can't be found online because they're unique to something that you've been through or they've been through With incredible learning lessons in them as well So already, we're starting to see differentiation between what people can get for free from your content, and what people get from the paid offer.
Then, let's talk about speed.
[00:17:16] The Power of Personalisation and Accountability in Paid Programs
Free content, sure, you can get results, but it's going to be time-intensive. You're going to have to binge every single YouTube video I've done on resumes, or, All of that Instagram content, find the stuff that's resume specific, and try to sort of piece it together like Sherlock Holmes, with your crime board, creating the links.
And the nature of content is that it's inherently you might have to watch, five different videos, which each share five tips. That doesn't mean that there are 25 new tips. I might have, explained similar tips, or the same tip differently, for a different circumstance.
And you've sat there and watched five videos, but maybe you've only got 12 tips from me, right? And Yes, you can get results. Yes, we're generous with the content. But it is very time-intensive to piece it all together. Compare that to my paid offer. My methodology, and your methodology, will put everything in order and create the fastest possible route to get them from point A, where they're currently starting, to point B, where they want to go, the result that they're looking for.
So your course will be designed with a really strong pedagogy and learning design that gets them from A to B in the fastest possible time. No fluff. No BS. Only what they need and everything that they need at the same time. Not only this, but it will be supported by templates, by tools. For example, in my resume course, we learn about power verbs and language you can use on your resume.
Guess what? Cheat sheet. A hundred different power verb ideas and swaps you can make for a more powerful resume. Download it, it's yours. We've got the Resume Vault, which is a collection of high-performing, high-converting client resumes, and real-world client resumes that have worked across multiple professions, industries, and levels of career, from interns to CEOs.
Over a hundred pages. And it's free. They are plug-and-play, you can grab them, and you can edit them. It just speeds things up, it makes life easy. You spend less time having to think about it, having to stay overwhelmed, having to understand how are you going to come up with this, how are you going to overcome writer's block.
We get that resume done, asap And so you see the difference here between eventually patch-working a result together from free content versus getting that result in the fastest, most efficient, most effective, most enjoyable way possible. That in itself is the reason why people will pay for your paid program.
Next up, we've got to think about things like support and access to you, content, and lead magnets, inherently, it's a one-way conversation. They absorb, they consume, and they're learning from you. And then they have to go it alone and interpret that alone and take action all by themselves.
And sure, you might reply to some comments and some light DM messages, but ultimately most coaches are just saying things like, out of respect for my paying clients, I'm not going to give free coaching advice in the DMs, right? So there's a boundary there and they know that they won't be able to get deep inside your brain.
In a paid program, you often have support and access to you, it might look like coaching calls, it might look like voice notes, it might look like support coaches, it might look like a community or a buddy system, but either way you're creating Support. You're creating a two-way conversation, dialogue, and personalised advice.
Even my resume course just sells an upgrade to a resume review, you hear from a real-life person who looks at your resume, the full picture, and checks that you've implemented every aspect of the program. In alignment with the job that you're going for reassures you and gives you feedback on your understanding of the program, personalisation, customisation, and that.
Is worth money and that is worth an investment as well Let alone the accountability that comes from that When I sell a resume course with an upgrade for a review you've got three months to use that review that you've paid for You're going to get your resume done, right? It's what we said before.
You work out harder and you're more committed when you've got the personal trainer watching, when you've got someone watching. It's like when you invest in someone and or something, you've got skin in the game. You're putting money where your mouth is. It's one thing to say that you want something. It's another thing to commit to it financially.
You just show up more, right? And again, how many times have you saved a call? workout routine or morning routine but never implemented it. Versus you've signed up for something, you've paid good money for it, guess what?
Guess who's showing up and doing the thing? Even that self-commitment? of someone investing in your paid offer is worth it to them because they know that they will finally get it done.
[00:23:09] Why People Choose Paid Offers: The Intangible Benefits
And then honestly, and this might be the hardest thing for you to wrap your head around, it was for me for a very long time, but a lot of people will upgrade to your paid offers and programs because they like you.
Some people just want to have the premium option of something. They want it because they enjoy having the premium option of something. They enjoy what you do, they enjoy your content, and they want the all-in course, whether they use it right now or not. Some people just want to thank you for your contribution over the years.
You would not believe how many people I have supported via my free content to change their lives, get incredible careers, make incredible career moves, and negotiate massive salary increases. All thanks to those principles in my free content, right? They're getting the results.
They're those goal-getters who can implement, apply, and go out and make it happen for themselves. And yet, almost to thank me for my contribution to their lives. They'll invest in that product during a launch or they'll join The Career Glow-Up because Even though they're really happy with the role that they landed as part of my free content by using my free content They know that they've got the potential now To go one step further and go harder and they can't wait to see what that's and actually working with me or if Maybe the sale doesn't even come from them directly, but it comes from them having recommended you so strongly to a friend that the friend doesn't even need to consume much of your content or sign up to any free bit or they're just in your DM saying, Hey, how can I sign up to your program?
So there are also. Just the effect, the ripple effect, of people appreciating you, liking you, valuing you, and signing up because they want to sign up, even if they don't even need it right now. So do you see how in many ways, even if your course largely reflects a lot of the information that you put out there online for free, it has so much more to it And offers so much more to a person that makes it worth the investment for someone.
So if you're asking me, is your paid product worth it? Is your paid offer worth it? Is your paid coaching program worth it?
[00:25:50] Ensuring Your Paid Offer Delivers True Value
I would ask you to check these things. Do you have a custom methodology to get them from point A to point B in the fastest possible time frame? Is it all in one place? Is it step-by-step, clear, simple, and ready to go?
No one's wasting time piecing together information. It's a very well-thought-through pathway. Does your paid content cover, what it is, why it's important, and how to do it? Have you included? time-saving tools and templates to facilitate that result and that action taking and make it easy for them to get their results and fast for them to get their results.
Have you included exercises that are comprehensive yet streamlined so we're not just stuffing things in workbooks and giving them more just because? There are intentionally chosen exercises that you know they're going to appreciate and are going to help them to achieve the results and become the person they need to become to get the results that your offer is promising Have you got some frameworks and intellectual property inside that paid offer that facilitates learning?
So your custom framework when it comes to for example finding your career purpose or your custom methodology to generate Five different LinkedIn headline ideas. And are you ultimately giving them what they need to learn a life skill or a set of skills Or a way of life or a way of being that allows them to keep going without you even if they never consume another content piece from you again they have so many tools and skills to achieve that level of promise that your paid offer set out to achieve.
So for example, in my course, badass, your brand, it's knowing how to sell yourself using your resume, your cover letter, and your LinkedIn, and understanding the skills of personal branding and self-marketing and knowing yourself and acknowledging yourself and being able to sell that and market that.
Can you honestly say that your program has provided the skills they need to be able to do that? And can they keep doing that again and again? This won't be the case for everyone, but depending on the price point, if we're getting up into the hundreds, 500 plus, do they have some kind of personalised support or access to yourself or a team member that can help them to feel reassured and feel on track and have some form of accountability or have some form of customisation that allows them to apply the information that they've learned as well.
If you can say yes to these things, then your paid offer is integrity. Your paid offer is so valuable and inherently transformative that it merits and deserves. I hope you can see how different that is from the free content that can be passively consumed online with no action taken behind it.
[00:29:21] Conclusion: The Impact of Purposeful Content Creation
As always, feel free to carry on this conversation with me over in the DMs on Instagram. Share this episode with your stories so I know that you're listening in. Let me know what you've learned, and what the big takeaway is. Thanks. And I would love to hear about how this has made you think differently about the relationship you have with the content that you are creating and putting out there into the world.
So badass, keep building that empire of yours. If you do it on purpose, then the profit will follow. And until next week, stay badass.
