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Content marketing is all about using free information – blogs, newsletters, e-books, white papers, reports, and other content – to build your reputation, establish yourself as a trusted authority, and (eventually) help you sell more stuff.
But with so much free information available online, “free” has become a lot less exciting.
So-called “free” information has real costs. If you take the time to read a free e-book, you’ve just used up a chunk of time you could have spent doing something else. Sign up for too many free newsletters and your e-mail inbox starts to feel like a reading list you’ll never get through.
It takes time and energy it takes to consume “free” information, and those things have value. If you want to convince people to give you some of their time and energy, it’s not enough to publish a free thing and throw it up on your website.
You’re going to have to sell it.
“Now wait a minute,” you say. “This is getting ridiculous. Not only am I supposed to give away my valuable knowledge for free – now I have to spend time and money selling something I’m not charging for?”
Yup.
But it’s not as crazy as it sounds. First, I’m not suggesting that you spend millions of dollars on a marketing campaign. The most important thing is just to help people understand why your content is valuable. Second, if your free content is doing its job, getting people to read it will eventually pay dividends.
Instead of feeling outraged that people aren’t lining up at your virtual door to download your free report, tell them why their investment of time will be worth it. Provide a testimonial (or several) from people who’ve read your report and found it useful.
Most importantly, make sure you’re telling the truth. If your content is worthless or nothing but a thinly-disguised advertisement, even “free” is too expensive.
photo credit: Paul Keleher
Traci Feit Love is a freelance writer, editor & consultant for businesses that want to increase sales with smart, impressive content. To learn more about working with Traci, contact her.
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