How to Launch Your First Free Product
and still make money with it
People tend to dismiss the idea of a free product.
Why should I give away my work for free?
I used to think like this until I actually started launching products.
Shortly after the launch, my third free product already made $5. Earning this money won’t break the bank, but it might teach you something new.
Here’s how I’m launching free products, why you should do it, and what mistakes you should avoid.
If you’re anything like me, you just love to sit there and write. You know someone at the other end of the wire needs what you write.
During my college years, I was the top contributor to a forum for an operating system. I spent most of my free time just going there and looking for questions and answering them the best I could. Sometimes I got an occasional thank you. This is how I knew I didn’t ruin their machine because they could log back into the forum. There was no reward, tip jars, or products I sold.
There’s nothing like helping people succeed. It often goes unnoticed, but if you truly love it, you don’t care.
There’s no secret to why you should be offering a free product.
Building them strengthens your authority in your niche. Teaching other people to do something builds trust, and they will most likely learn from you in the future.
This is one way to grow into an established personal brand.
But how to occasionally get paid for your free product:
The Pay What You Want Model
Platforms like ConvertKit and Gumroad let you price products based on the Pay What You Want Model. Here’s how this looks like in ConvertKit in the New Product wizard:
And here’s the same thing on Gumroad:
Both of these products have excellent and up-to-date documentation on how exactly to set up these things:
If you run into trouble, let me know in the comments. I’m happy to help.
Now that your product is set up, you should tell people about it.
How To Promote It The Right Way
Once you set up your free product, the only thing left is to craft an announcement and share it on social media, your email list, or your blog.
When sharing such a message, make sure you make it about the people you want to help, not your product or that you’ve succeeded in making a product.
So instead of saying:
I made this product. You can download it here.
You can say something like:
I created X to help you achieve Y. You can download it here.
What Format To Use?
Products come in many different sizes and formats.
I picked an email sequence for my blogging course for the following reasons:
- emails stay in your inbox, they are searchable, and you’ll always know where to find them
- email platforms already support tagging and sync between devices, making the content reachable wherever you go
- I love emails
If you want to make a motivational poster, people can hang it on their walls; an email sequence isn’t the best. The same goes for teaching a highly visual skill, where a video is a better choice. Or, in the case of heavily technical content with lots of formulas or even code, a book is perfect.
Pick the right format for the right content.
Launch
I made every mistake you can make with launching any product. Luckily I summarized them in a Twitter thread:
But to give you a summary:
- Pick your launch day carefully (don’t launch on national holidays…)
- Have ways to reach your audience besides Twitter (email list is king)
- Sell where buyers are (Gumroad, Amazon KDP, depending on audience)
- Share your best stuff for free to build credibility (before you launch)
- Don’t stop marketing your product
Conclusion
Take advantage of the pay-what-you-want model always. You’ll run into people who value, can, and want to support your work. Give them a chance.
Make the promotion about the people you’re helping, not about yourself.
Pick the right format for the right type of product. Don’t make a product into a longer form than it needs to be. Giving away a single-page PDF cheat sheet is fine, but if the product justifies it, go with a full-length book.
Think about where and when you’re going to launch. A well-executed launch will motivate you to start working on your next product right away.
Thanks for reading my blog, and I wish you success with your first launch!
Cheers,
Akos
