3 Reasons Why Sharing Resources and Freebies on LinkedIn is a Good Idea

If you’ve ever wondered if “free” downloads work for LinkedIn or if it comes across spammy to promote them, then this blog is for you!

Are you in business for yourself? If yes, then you sell. Depending on the type of business you have you’re constantly selling yourself, your services, your products, etc. Let me clear the air here and say, you don’t have to come off “salesy” to properly sell. 

When most people in business say, “I don't want to come off salesy”, what they haven’t identified yet is a relationship nurturing, sales funnel. 

The tippy top of that “let’s be friends, I gotchu” funnel starts with adding value to your audience. This is achieved on LinkedIn by sharing content on the platform that educates and gives actionable takeaways for them. 

Here are 3 reasons why sharing your freebies on this platform is not only a good idea, but something your audience will thank you for!

Reason 1: 6:10 users are looking for insights

Did you know that over half of the 800 M users on LinkedIn come to the platform every week looking for value, insights and education? As a business owner wanting to share your freebie with the world, that’s HUGE! Educate your audience and ideal clients with your wisdom and knowledge in the form of a freebie. Obviously, we will ask for their email in exchange for these bits of wisdom, but it’s a small ask AND you’ll be building know like and trust with them by sharing valuable content on your profile already!

Reason 2: It’s okay to do business on LinkedIn, promote your free guide

The mindset on LinkedIn is NOT of that on other platforms. If you look at social media holistically, people show up on different platforms with different “glasses” or perspectives. For example, when you’re on Instagram, most people want to be entertained, we like how “aesthetically pleasing” the gram is. Facebook, (regardless of how you feel about the platform post-2020) is a place people can be in a community; Pinterest is all about inspo in the form of pictures, and LinkedIn is all about BUSINESS. Because of that, it’s more “socially” accepted here to talk about business, be intentional about collaborations, and sell your offers. 

Reason 3: Remember - LinkedIn is a top-of-funnel tool, sharing your freebies is a great way to build relationships and build know like and trust. 

We’re going to do this 2-fold, by continuing to share knowledge and insights in our weekly content AND by offering the free thing that you offer that deepens their knowledge on that topic you teach. Again, it’s top of funnel, so we need an email in exchange for this info, but it’s a super small ask AND it gets the qualified leads into your nurture sequence (AKA let’s get to know each other, can we be friends, can I share more goodies in your inbox too? type of funnel). It’s all about having the opportunity to build a relationship with your peeps. 

Now, if you’re wondering what types of freebies do well on LinkedIn (or anywhere, honestly) I’ve listed out the top 5 I think are most attractive to your ideal clients and audience!

Freebie 1 - Guides

Guides are a great way to expand on a subject you teach and give someone more insight into a particular topic. The goal here is to elaborate on the what and the why (hint: the HOW someone will accomplish something is by working with you!). We can still add value and educate the crap out of people with these free guides. Step-by-step (queue New Kids On The Block) guides or manuals do VERY well for your ideal clients who want to know more about what something can do for their business and why it can make a difference for them. Sprinkle in little “how” bits for sure, but we don't want to give it ALL away. Keep in mind, the longer the guide the more valuable your audience will perceive it to be.Do you want to create a free guide for your business or a launch you have coming?! Sometimes putting together a guide can be cumbersome and overwhelming… where the heck do you start?! Check out mine (HERE) and use it as a guide to follow! 

Freebie 2 - Checklists

Checklists help your ideal clients feel like they have a tangible list of things they can accomplish to get them from point A to point B. This can be one of the simplest freebies to create for your ideal client that helps direct their attention to the thing you sell. Essentially, once they accomplish these things they will now be primed for your offer. It serves them and allows them to “level up” while priming them for the next step in your funnel. 

Freebie 3 - Masterclass or Webinar

Are you better on video? Do you feel like you can explain things better in a 30-minute video, workshop training style? Then a masterclass could be a great fit for you! The same concepts you might use in a free guide, you can use to teach a free masterclass. If you go through the process of mapping out or creating a framework for a free guide, you can use this as a structure or script for your Masterclass. Identify the key takeaways someone will learn how to do when they spend the time watching your masterclass. Providing a PDF or worksheet to use/follow along with helps make your masterclass super juicy!

Freebie 4 - Templates

Templates give your clients something they can immediately use for their business… AKA this is seen as a HUGE win for your potential clients. It’s something valuable to them and can help them accomplish something that may feel like a current struggle or challenge. You immediately provide relief, a solution, a quick win and instantly creates know, like and trust for them of you. If designed well, you could help save time in their business which is the biggest win of all. Templates can be anything from Google sheets that track metrics, 5 social media graphics in Canva, or guided responses to help with selling. 

Freebie 5 - Quiz

Quizzes are probably the most powerful freebie of all. The psychology behind quizzes is astonishing. Around 82% of those that take quizzes to follow through with entering their emails to get their results. Those are great numbers for business owners looking to gain more email subscribers and add them to their sales funnel. Keep in mind that with quizzes, we want to make sure it leads people back to different offers you have. These can be different aspects of your value ladder. Maybe one option is your $7 e-book, your $47 per month membership, and your $197 mini-course. The most important thing to know when building out your funnel is understanding your clients best and what characteristics buy which products most. 

There are different options of freebies for every business owner, no matter what stage of entrepreneurship they are in. The most important thing is to create one and promote it every now and then on LinkedIn (1x every other week is a great start!) as long as it’s not the only thing you talk about.