How To Create Freebies For Your Blog
So you're wondering how to make an opt-in freebie. Then you've already been way past the phase of starting a blog and you're ready now to embark on a new blogging journey which is – how to create freebies for your blog.
Even if you're still an amateur blogger, I see no reason to avoid creating freebies or putting them off.
If you can manage everything while you're still in the phase of creating or improving your blog, then it is better to create a freebie or what other bloggers coined as a lead magnet and content upgrade as soon as possible.
Blog freebies are not merely a decoration on your blog but they exist with a purpose. And we'll discuss that later on.
But first…
What is a freebie in blogging?
Freebies are the lead magnets, opt-in offers/freebies, content upgrades and an opt-in bribe. As the name implied, these are bonus content, gifts or incentives that you give away for free to your readers and visitors in exchange for their email addresses.
If you have already encountered or heard the term list building, then you might have already guessed or known that having blog freebies is one of the methods to grow your list of subscribers. Freebies are digital files that you can easily give away through an email marketing tool like Mailerlite.
Why do you need a freebie for your blog?
-Freebies are an attraction
Let's admit it – we all want to get things for free. So having a freebie on your blog is an attraction to readers and visitors, thus it boosts your traffic as well.
– Freebies show your expertise
If you are skilled in something, you can show it through your lead magnet. Think of it as an appetizer for your readers to what they will be getting more in the future. So make sure, you're going to give them something of value.
– Freebies lead to sales
When your reader has already subscribed to your list and got a freebie from you, and he likes what he got. There's a chance that he might be spending for your next offer. But, you should also first build a rapport with your subscribers and give relevant content in a form of a weekly or daily newsletter. And do not bombard your subscribers with products to sell kind of emails.
List of freebies you can offer on your blog
- Digital stickers
- PDF version of a blog post or content
- Journals
- Planners
- Checklists
- Templates
- Resources
- VIP Library
- Coupons and discounts
- Case study
- Audio files
- Email course
- Challenges
- Free consultation
- Worksheets and workbooks
- Quiz
- Free membership
- Ebook
- Free trial
- Stock photos
- Kits or bundles
How to create freebies for your blog: Tools and Resources
Microsoft Office
This is one of the most affordable ways to create freebies like printable journals, planners and even wall arts. Although Microsoft Office could be expensive to many creators, you can always download a free version or a trial then you can start from there.
But if you have been using laptops and computers for years already, you might have already a Microsoft Office installed on your computer and even old versions can be used to create freebies.
Check out these websites and posts to help you create freebies through Microsoft Office:
Picmonkey
I used to create printable freebies on Picmonkey which you will find on my resources page but then I switched to Canva. Not because Picmonkey is not a good tool for creating printables but I didn't want to pay for multiple tools online and wanted to focus on Canva first.
Though it is not a free tool, its price is still affordable which amounts to almost 11€ per month. If you want to try it and see if it suits you, they also offer a free trial.
Check out these websites and posts to help you create printables on Picmonkey:
Ipiccy
Compared to other tools mentioned above, Ipiccy is a free tool and only a few people use this tool. It is known to be a photo editor website or tool but through researching and also applying it myself, I found out you can also create printables on the platform.
If you want to learn how to create simple freebies like printables on your blog, you can watch this short tutorial on YouTube.
Google Docs
Like Ipiccy, Google Docs is accessible to everyone as long as you have your Internet connection. If you're still a beginner and want to create and offer simple freebies, you can create journals on Google Docs and even Recipe Cards like what this website shows.
If you want to create worksheets using Google Docs, you should watch this detailed tutorial by Teachable on YouTube.
Creating freebies like printables may seem overwhelming at first, but if you start learning and creating now using these tools, you can even create an online shop for your creation like what some bloggers are doing now.
Canva
This is one of the most famous tools nowadays in the blogosphere. Canva is easy to use, very affordable and you will get a lot of ideas on the platform in case you're running out of ideas on what to offer to your visitors.
Outsourcing
If your problem is not only the lack of skills but as well as time, you can also outsource and hire a graphic designer to create your freebies. One of the freelancer websites you can turn to which is very much affordable for beginners is Fiverr.
Use ready-made templates
If you love creating designs but have too little time to do that, then using ready-made templates that you can edit easily is the solution for you.
The most common ready-made templates can be customized on Canva because it is easy to use and also very beginner-friendly.
Samples of freebies from bloggers and websites
Money Saving Mom – Free Cheat Sheet
Tracie Fobes – Free Course
Glitz-Grammar – Free Find Your Writing Voice Guide
Blogfiti – Free Checklist
Kimi Kinsey – Free Elementor Template
The Write Life – Free Training
She Means Blogging – Free Case Study
What Blogs Her Mind – Free Pinterest Audit Checklist
How To Create Freebies For Your Blog on Canva
Before you start creating a freebie, you should decide first which one you'll make. Let's say you want to offer a free daily planner to your readers, you can check for inspirations on Pinterest and Google.
You should not copy a design but you should create your own version of the planners that caught your eyes.
After that, if you don't have an account yet on Canva, you can start for free or try the Pro version for 3 days.
You can sign up using your email address or Facebook account after clicking the Get Canva Free or Start your free Pro trial.
After creating your account or logging in, you can start creating a design. Since we'll be creating a daily planner, we use the A4 size. You can also decide on what size you want and that's also possible on Canva.
For example if you want it in A5 format, you can choose the custom size and enter the appropriate size.
But you can also create other freebies on Canva like social media templates, resume templates, ebook templates and many more.
On the left side of the screen you can see elements and that's where I got the marble background, just type in Marble and you will see different designs and you can use as the background of your planner.
You can also search Google for marble backgrounds but you should download a file with a good quality so it will look good on the planner and you should indicate that the finished product should be for personal use only.
You can also buy premium patterns on CreativeMarket, CreativeFabrica and HungryJPEG if you want to create freebies and products for commercial use.
Canva has also a great selection of fonts that even if you don't have a pro version, you can still use them.
Select ”Effects” at the top so you can achieve this curved design or even to apply shadow behind the text.
If you don't want to spend a lot of time on deciding how your planner should look like, you can create a draft on a piece of paper and use that as a guide.
Creating this planner and its elements, I only used lines but you can use a square form which is faster and easier than what I did here. But it is really up to you. You can also find the shapes and other objects you can use in the ”Elements” at the left side of the screen.
When you're adding elements like lines and texts that you have to repeat throughout the design, you can copy a couple of elements and past them so you can work faster.
To align your design properly, you can go to ”Position” and below ”Space Evenly” click ”Vertically” if your elements are in vertical order or ”Horizontally” for horizontal design and then click ”Tidy Up”.
If you know these basic tips on Canva, you can already create your own freebies and maybe your own digital products as well.
Conclusion to the topic on how to create freebies for your blog
People always love free stuff – no matter how repetitive the stuff is – journals, planners, templates – we just like receiving free goodies in our inbox.
And you have to take advantage of that fact and give your readers and visitors something they would look forward to be using every day or in their everyday life.
If you're done with freebie creation, you need to make it public and start growing your list. With that, like I mentioned above, you need an email marketing provider like Mailerlite which I use and I also recommend.
