I Tried An Experiment, And It Failed
Won't do this again
Recently, I was toying around with the idea of building a newsletter around The Machine Method, and creating a separate audience to sell my digital products.
It was a huge failure.
I’m discouraged by it, but it has also been a valuable lesson.
The lesson is this. People don’t value free stuff.
In today’s issue, I’ll break down what happened, what went wrong, and what I will do to change it. I hope this helps you avoid the same mistakes in your business.
The Experiment
I created a framework around building businesses called The Machine Method. You can get an understanding of it from the video below.
My idea was to give away a free course that explained The Machine Method and use it as a lead magnet to build an email list. Alongside the course, there were community elements like an AMA section and a newsletter.
Once people joined, I planned to email them and upsell them into The Launchpad and Sales Training.
But as soon as I launched this, my sales plummeted. Practically to zero.
This shocked me, because I’ve used this exact strategy and funnel with Copyblogger and saw huge success. But there was one big difference.
You Can’t Give Away Too Much Free Stuff
Ninety percent of my content is free.
The idea is to create content to market your products. My newsletter, YouTube channel, and social media are always free. It’s not a good business model to put this content behind a paywall, although many people try.
But the products and services are never free. I’ve never done free work for people, not even when I was broke and just getting started. Every second I spent working for free was a second I could have used to create content or find paying clients.
This time I made an exception. I created a free course and gave away part of the community. I gave away a paid product for free.
There’s a huge difference between giving away content to promote a product and giving away the product itself.
It’s subtle, but it made all the difference.
I’m Killing The Free Community
Now, everything is being bundled into one offer.
I’m getting rid of “The Launchpad” and rebranding everything as “The Machine Method.” It’s a better name and strengthens my brand.
When you sign up for The Machine Method, you get four courses plus access to the AMA section.
It has been discouraging, but it’s a good reminder. People will always take as much as they can get. No one wants to pay for products if they don’t have to.
Ironically, people don’t value free products. It’s a strange duality of human nature, but it’s a lesson I won’t forget.
A Quick Side Note
I’ll write more on this later, but this is more proof that new entrepreneurs should start with a service business.
B2B agencies are far more efficient and a better model for generating real cash. Selling to businesses is scalable. Selling products directly to individuals is a completely different challenge.
I’m determined to help individual people because I feel obligated to pass down what I’ve learned. But if I were being practical, I’d kill the product side, focus on the agency, and live a simpler, lower stress lifestyle.
Still, I know this will pay off in the end.
Love you guys. Hope this helps anyone toying with the idea of selling products.
Talk to you tomorrow.
Tim
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