Freemium Guides
Hello! In the spirit of giving, I thought I’d share with you one way that I work to incorporate giving into my own business model every couple months.
Did you know? GIVING is a big part of sales.
It’s practically expected by customers. And while putting together FREE resources or small gifts may seem like a hassle, customers inevitably feel indebted to you for your kindness/knowledgeability. And it makes a sale to them that much easier later on. So- while we know and embrace the phrase, “You have to spend money to make money.” I’d argue that we also have to know and embrace “You have to GIVE to get.”
So, this is my guide to making guides:
When I set out to make a freemium guide, I do so with the intention of designing a useful resource that solves a current and pressing problem for prospective clients. Now— since most of my clients are people like you and I who have a small flower farm / farmer-florist operation, my guides a geared to helping you. They IN NO WAY help me sell more flowers. And I think that is a REALLY important distinction.
WHO ARE your trying to reach?
I see so many growers investing time and energy into teaching skills to people who aren’t going to buy their flowers. So — think about WHO you want to reach and WHAT problem your guide will solve for them.
I try to release a new guide every 2-3 months (a good goal). And when I’m thinking about these guides, I’m thinking about them in a seasonal sense. I want to be offering solutions to a problem that is current and relevant for my customers.
Here are some ideas for flower-buying retail customers:
(The numbers are arbitrary— make the lists as long as you like. I recommend 6-10 topics.)
10 Simple Ways to Decorate Your Home for the Holidays (a few items might be things that just happen to be available in your web shop!)
10 Great Locally Made Gifts for the People you Love (again— spoiler, a few of the things on the list will be from your farm.)
10 Local Experiences You Can Gift Your Family for the Holidays (add in a farm tour, a farm photo session, an on-farm workshop, etc.)
6 Beautiful Ways to Wrap a Package (oh weird— all of the gifts in the guide are things you also sell! — and you can also offer to do the wrapping in this guide, too!)
8 Gift Subscriptions from Local Businesses (be sure to list your CSA programs along with options from other small businesses)
7 EASY Homemade Ornament How-to’s (include at least a few that could be made with things you sell)
Here’s how I make Our guides:
Next, once I settle on a topic, I (shhhh, here’s my big secret) pull up a magazine layout that I’ve purchased from Etsy. They cost about $20 and can come with around 60+ pages of beautiful layouts ready to receive your text and photos in Canva (free web-based drag and drop design program). This is how I ensure that my documents look beautiful and professional. I trust someone else to lay out the pages.
Good news: you can re-use that one magazine layout over and over again for other freemium guides you make. And I encourage you to do this so that your guides show a consistent look over time.
Sharing your resources:
When you’re ready to share your guide, download it as a .pdf file and put it on a hidden page of your website. I have one page where I keep all my guides.
Post a short newsletter sign up form on your homepage or on the page you’ll direct people to. Set the form to “redirect” after submission and add the link for the page where you’ve shared your guide. Now you’ll grow your email list with customers who are genuinely interested in the kinds of products you have AND your prospective customer has touched base with you and received something of benefit to them.