You want to know something that I’m incredibly passionate about? Time hacking. To me, time hacking is when you drastically cut down the amount of time that it takes to complete a task. From driving to cooking to blogging. I’m all about it. I think it’s a waste of time to do things the long way. If there’s a faster way that’s equally as effective, why not take that route? It frees up time to complete more pressing tasks! So when it came to trying to decide on what opt-in freebies (aka Lead Magnets and Content Upgrades) I would include on my blog, after taking the long route I decided to simplify it and create a resource library where all of my freebies would live together. Today I’m going to tell you 5 reasons why I decided to take this route.
1 / Smoother Workflow
Rather than having to create separate lists for every single freebie that I offered and having to customize the settings and welcome email, I just add the new freebie to my gallery and that’s it! I use one form to capture emails for new peeps that sign up, so it’s the same code being used each time. There are still times when I want to capture a little more detailed information from people that sign up so that I can tag them appropriately in Convertkit for future reference, but otherwise everyone is a part of one list.
It's also nice to have all of your resources in one place for your own sanity and organization. Rather than having to hunt down different documents on your computer, you will always have a place that you can get to on a whim no matter where you are. I often find myself logging into my library to access documents for various reasons. If I had to wait until I got home to get onto my computer to get them, I would have to press pause on whatever I was working on, and that doesn't help with productivity at all!
2 / Greater Value Provided
People like free stuff. People also like a lot of free stuff. Would someone be more likely to sign up to receive one download or to receive access to various types of resources that they can download at will? I’m going to go with the latter. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s okay that people like free stuff because ultimately they are still giving up something that is very valuable...their email address! Also, having a collection of resources gives you the opportunity to showcase how knowledgeable you are in your niche. This may help people to trust you more because they will see that you know what you're talking about. If you have various resources that people can access that will help them along in their journey AND for free, they may wonder how awesome your paid content is and be more likely to purchase from you.
Some think that the majority of people that sign up for free resource libraries are only in it for the login deets then they unsubscribe after they get it. While this is true in some cases, it really boils down to how good the freebie that you're offering is and what your plan is to keep them engaged after they sign up. I will tell you, I rarely have people unsubscribe from my list after signing up for my library. Like...hardly ever. And since I have a plan of action to keep in contact with them consistently AFTER they sign up, they are more likely to stay on my list. So rather than deciding not to offer freebies, focus on planning out your email marketing flow in order to keep people on your list.
Related: #EmailParty
3 / Email Topics
People don’t generally go into the resource library after their first couple of times simply because they forget about it or there is nothing new there. Instead of the interaction coming to a screeching halt, you can keep your list informed when you add new resources so that they will always be up to speed (and so they don’t forget who you are and unsubscribe from your list). Send an email letting them know that you have added something new to the library and tell them why and how they will want to use it.
Tip: When you do this, make sure that you include the link and login details because they probably have the info buried in their inbox (or deleted!) somewhere. Instead of making them search for it, just add it to the email. They will appreciate it.
4 / Create a Dedicated Landing Page
You can create an awesome dedicated landing page for people to join your library on your website. On this page, you can go into details of what they will get from it, how often you update, why they should sign up and even include share links so that they can share the page with their friends. Also, by creating a dedicated page, you can post the link on social, add relevant hashtags and get discovered by even more people! Here's mine for example.
You can also create a promoted pin that links to the page so that you can directly reach your target audience and increase your chances of gaining new members.
5 / Future Possibilities
The scope of a blog/biz can change over the years. You may have a free resource library today, but in a year you may decide that you want to charge for access to it. Luckily everything is already set up, so all you have to do is change the existing password for the page then give the new one to people that pay for access. Or maybe you decide that you want to keep the free library but also offer a paid one that has more meaty content, new resources being added more frequently and monthly live stream training. The thought behind this is if the content in your free library is awesome, the paid resources must be even more amazing. This is something that would entice someone to purchase access.
So these are the main reasons I decided to offer a free resource library on my website. If you have been wondering how to set up a resource library and if you are a Squarespace user, I have a step-by-step guide on how to create one here.
What is your take on offering a resource library on your website? I'd love to hear; share in the comments!