Confessions of a Six Figure Professional Blogger

Free Versus Paid? When Do You Charge?

May 21, 2009 | Blogging, Feature, Making Money, Marketing

Blogging is, by nature, the business of giving away free content. And it cannot be any other way. However, in order to make money, you’ve got to charge people for something. So, where is the cut off?

There are two main points I want to convey to you today on this subject.

Blogs Have a Different Purpose

Think of your blog as a lead generator. Then, you funnel those leads into your list and your offers. Now, to get people to take an interest in you, you’ve got to prove real value on your blog. However, don’t lose sight that the purpose is different.

The job of the blog and your blog content should be to attract people to you or your business. Sometimes you do that by providing killer content. Other times you do that by just stirring up conversation and acting as a kind of focal point for your market. Getting involvement from your audience isn’t necessarily the same as teaching them. It could be as simple as providing a quick concept and then asking “What do you think”?

Blog content does not need to solve every problem of your market. Blog content, however, does need to provide value to your market while also functioning as a marketing medium.

On this very blog, I try to provide a lot of value for free. I just like helping people. However, at the same time, I realize that every blog post I put out there is another potential attention magnet. I can interact with my audience and inspire comments. I can tap into a major market concern, stroke it and provide some answers, then lead them into something else for a full answer.

But, Don’t Necessarily Hold Back The Good Stuff

Many people have this idea that you should provide the simple stuff in public, but hold the really good stuff only for your paid customers. You feel as if you give them stuff which is TOO good for free, they’ll have no reason to buy your product. However, there is a huge hole in this logic.

If you don’t provide really good information in public, then how are you supposed to “wow” somebody into thinking that what you sell is worth their time? Look at it from their viewpoint.

So, reverse it. If you are trying to promote a product on your blog, then provide a taste of the material for free on your blog. And not dumb, filler content. I’m talking about some really juicy stuff that is really going to help your audience and spur them into action. Trust me, the human inclination is not only to reward people who provide value to them, but also to finish things once started. If you’ve got a blog reader beginning the process of whatever it is you’re going to teach them (and they’re having success at it), they’re going to be much more likely to opt into your offer so they can finish it.

On a related note, why do concerts still sell out even though you can hear most of the good songs on the radio for free? Have you thought about the marketing on that? These guys usually take the best song on the album and play it for free on the airwaves. It sells albums and fills music halls. The rest of the songs might really suck, but it was that killer freebie content that generated the buzz and filled seats and made sales.

Apply that logic to your blog marketing.

What Are You Going To Do Now?

Do you have a product you want to sell on your blog? Then, what part of your product is really good that you can put out in public for free to attract new customers?

And if you don’t have a product yet, let’s get busy with that, my friends. This stuff isn’t rocket science, but you do have to take action if you want to get anywhere. :)

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

  1. The Key To Launching A Brand New Blog
  2. Never Underestimate The Value of Free
  3. Should Bloggers Feel Guilty For Making Money?
  4. Internet Marketing And The Power of Trust
  5. What To Charge For Your Product

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  • "On this very blog, I try to provide a lot of value for free. I just like helping people. However, at the same time, I realize that every blog post I put out there is another potential attention magnet."

    Can you put it better?

    That's the main and only real argument of blogging. And especially if you are trying to make money out of it in the end.

    Thanks for your Blog, David! I'll be back.

    P.S. Particularly I liked your personal touch.
  • I heard a while ago that you should give away your best stuff for free and then provide 100 times more than you promise. A tall order and really counter-intuitive sometimes but I have tried it lately and it has seemed to work!
  • Your post makes excellent points.

    Your blog also establishes your expertise. Dr Thomas Stanley (The Millionaire Mind guy) says that talkers are hawkers and writers are experts.

    "why do concerts still sell out even though you can hear most of the good songs on the radio for free?" That's intriguing. Free can indeed lead to revenue indirectly.

    Blogging hones your communication skills. Getting better pays off over time.
  • "Think of your blog as a lead generator. Then, you funnel those leads into your list and your offers. Now, to get people to take an interest in you, you’ve got to prove real value on your blog."

    Right on Point.... nothing more to be said!
  • Amen, David. Practice effective blogging and write for people -- a very serious point indeed. Too many people put too much focus into writing for robots, and forget that they have to provide valuable content, not just well-packaged content.
  • So how are people suppose to make money if there is not traffic?

    I understand quality content, and you can be targeting a keyword with any post, but not trying to rank in the se is just plain stupid. So what about your 80 other sites, huh? i'm sure those are your passionate blogs too? yeah prob not.
  • You make a very good point. I have developed a lot of content around my special subject and I've been wrestling with what to do with it. Should it be an ebook, a course, a subscription site, or should I just give it away for free? I now see I can probably do all of those things in stages.
  • David,

    Why don't you talk more seo on this site? About your first point, Isn't the search engines the place where people go first to find things?
  • Eric,
    I do talk SEO on this site - sometimes. I just don't over-do it because, quite frankly, I think some bloggers make too big a deal out of it. My position is that if you apply even basic SEO skills to your blog, write good stuff for actual PEOPLE and not search engines, post often enough, you WILL rank in the search engines just fine. Just practice effective blogging and let search take care of itself.
  • This is exactly what I've always asked myself, the guys creating premium wordpress themes, some of them offer quality themes free of charge...which at times are even better than their competitors premium theme.

    My question is how then do they know I'll return and purchase a premium them when I can simple download the free theme?
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