How to Create a Freebie for Your Blog (and Grow your List!)

Long gone are the days when a simple “subscribe to receive our newsletter” type of form would work. People get hundreds of emails in their inboxes and need a good reason to hand out their personal details.
That’s where a free offer comes in! 

An irresistible offer is what will drive readers to give up their information.

From there, you can tactically nurture those relationships and turn casual blog readers into active followers (or even potential clients).

In this post, I’ll go over everything you need to know to create your first freebie:

• What a freebie is
• Why bloggers use freebies
• The types of freebies you can consider, including real-world examples of freebies other bloggers have created 
• How to come up with an irresistible offer 
• How to create a freebie and deliver it

Let’s get started!

What is a freebie?

A freebie – otherwise referred to as a lead magnet or an email opt-in – is an incentive that you offer to your audience in exchange for their email address.

It is normally a digital product for instant download: an e-book, a checklist, a template, a free trial, etc. 

It can also be something more robust, like a drip campaign, an email course, or a challenge. 

In the e-commerce space, companies often promise discounts in exchange for a subscription, so people sign up for their newsletter to receive a coupon code that they can use on their next order.

Why do bloggers create freebies?

If you’ve been in the digital marketing or blogging space for a while, you may have heard the experts say that “the money is in the list”. Some will even suggest that you should make $1 per month for every subscriber you’ve got on your email list. 

That’s huge, right?

And that’s the number one reason why so many bloggers prioritize email marketing over social media or any other type of marketing.

Offering an irresistible freebie makes it a no-brainer for your blog readers to become subscribers. And, if they like what you have to say, they’ll want more – especially when you’ve already offered so much value for free!

But, you see, the beauty of this is that once those casual blog readers join your email list, you can take those relationships further and make them more personal. 

Once they know, like, and trust you, choosing your paid products over anyone else’s will be easy.

This means that if your goal is to make money blogging, you need to get serious about email marketing!

Creating a purpose-driven freebie and building a list can be your first step toward blog growth and monetization.

What could I offer as a lead magnet?

As I mentioned, lead magnets (or freebies – we’ll use both terms interchangeably) are generally delivered as digital products for instant download.

There are plenty of options for things that you could create! 

In fact, I have published another blog post with 70+ freebie ideas for several blogging niches that you can use as inspiration.

As to the types of resources you could create, here are a few of the most popular, with examples:

• Printable – example “Coloring Pages for Toddlers”
• Checklist – example: “Backpacker’s Packing List: 20 Things you can’t miss”
• Cheat sheet – example: “Homeschooling Cheat Sheet”
• Guide – example: “The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing”
• Planner – example: “Birthday Party Planner”
• Workbook – example: “Find Your Ideal Client”
• Spreadsheet – example: “Small Business Finance Tracker”
• Free Video Training – example: “How to design your logo in Canva”
• Masterclass – example: “Money Mindset Makeover Masterclass”
• Quiz (with results delivered via email) – example: “What Book Should You Read Next?”
• Challenge – example: “30-Day Workout Challenge for Busy Moms”
• e-Book – example: “30 Dinner Recipes in Under 30 Minutes”
• Email course (5-day automated email sequence) – example: “Digital Product Creator Mini Course”
• Consultation – if you offer services, you can have people schedule complimentary discovery calls using this tool, give away some free advice, and then upsell those warm leads into your paid services

What makes a good freebie?

There are several factors to consider when brainstorming ideas for a freebie.

However, in many ways, it is similar to brainstorming for any other type of content.

The most important thing to keep in mind when you’re thinking about your first (or next) lead magnet is that it should be a no-brainer for your blog visitors to sign up. 

Your freebie must appeal to them, offer a quick fix to their problems, and be strategically positioned on your website’s pages and within relevant blog posts.

The Anatomy of a Great Freebie

→ Value

First, you need to determine your ideal audience’s pain points.

If you’ve done your research and chosen your blogging niche strategically, you may already have a good idea.

• Will this lead magnet solve those pain points?
• Will it improve their life somehow?

It doesn’t need to be huge or life-changing. In fact, if it was, you’d probably be creating a paid product instead. 

But the best way to turn your readers into loyal followers is to offer them a quick win with every piece of content you create. Whether it’s a blog post or a downloadable file, you want it to help them accomplish something fast.

→ Relevance

The next step is ensuring your freebie idea is relevant to your blog niche and target audience.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Does it relate to the free content you already produce for your blog?
• Will it solve your ideal reader’s problem or offer a quick win?
• What’s in it for them?
• But, also, how will it benefit YOU?

All of these are important considerations. You can say a freebie will benefit you because it will add subscribers to your email list.

However, that shouldn’t be the only goal, especially if you are further ahead in your blogging game. 

• Do you offer any paid products or services?
• Can that freebie be used to entice a purchase?

If you’ve just started and don’t have any products to sell, then introducing a freebie might, in fact, be a strategy to build your email list faster, and it’s a great place to start.

• In that case, what plans do you have for the future?
• Will you create an automation to nurture those new subscribers and have them return to your blog?
• Is it something you can add to several pages or blog posts within your site?

Think about your plans for future growth and set goals for each offer.

You want your list to be full of people who could potentially become customers in the future. For that to happen, you need to make sure the content is relevant to your ideal reader avatar and supports your vision as well.

→ Ease of use

Another important attribute of a successful offer is practicality.

Think about how you’ll deliver it and how easy it may be for your readers to use it.

I’ll repeat myself here: the most popular freebies are downloadable files. And that’s for a good reason. You can create them easily from your computer and send them out on autopilot (without spending a dime)!

Don’t worry, it is actually very simple, and we’ll go over some options in this post.

The dos and don’ts of a winning opt-in offer

To summarize the above, here are the key elements of an irresistible freebie:

• Short and sweet deliverable
• Instant download (effortless and fast)
• Gets your audience an easy win
• It’s closely related to your existing content
• Looks great (an attractive design is key!)

And here’s what you must avoid when coming up with a lead magnet idea:

• Making it too long
• Overpromising and underdelivering 
• Making it all about the upsell
• Not making it easily accessible for your readers to find

Alright, now that you know what you must keep in mind during the planning stage, it’s time to implement it!

This post contains affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you make a purchase after clicking one of those. I only recommend resources I use and love! Read my full disclosure.

How to create a freebie for your blog?

You may already be familiar with Canva and Google Workspace (formerly G Suite). They both offer free plans to get started, and I create most of my freebies using these tools.

If you can’t design (or can’t be bothered to), you could even consider hiring a designer or using a pre-designed template.

Option 1: Canva

Canva is a popular design app that you can use directly from your browser or smartphone. 

It is extremely beginner-friendly, includes tons of templates, and offers all the tools that you need to create attention-grabbing images or PDF files.

I have been using Canva for longer than I can remember, and I can’t imagine life online without it. 

It’s just great: affordable, easy to use, and convenient!

I think most bloggers can create fantastic offers, both free and paid, using Canva alone. And I can’t anticipate ditching it any time soon myself.

Option 2: Google Workspace

Now Google, well… it needs no introduction. 

While I continue using Canva for many things, Google Docs and Sheets are my (new) favorite way of delivering lead magnets to my subscribers. 

I can share a “copy” link so that everyone gets their own copy and can use the documents immediately, without printing them out or changing the original version.

Here’s why I am sold on giving Google Docs/Sheets a try, and prioritizing these over Canva for future offers:

• there’s no need to print anything
• most people are familiar with these apps already
• they can edit the contents as they please without modifying my original document 
• they get lifetime access 
• they can actually find those files again easily by searching their Drive

Since a copy of the doc or spreadsheet is saved to the recipient’s Google Drive account, I get fewer emails from people asking me to resend those links too.

Emails get deleted and downloads get lost on your computer. Your searchable Google Drive, however, makes it a lot easier to manage documents at any time!

I used to create everything in Canva and then deliver the PDFs using a sharable link from Google Drive… but I have been wanting to create fillable planners and editable workbooks for a while. 

I tried PDFescape, and it does the job of adding text boxes to PDFs.

But guess what happens if you spot a typo or want to make an update…? You’ll have to get into Canva, make the changes, grab a new PDF, and then add text boxes to the entire document again from scratch.

That’s why I was on a hunt for a solution. I’ll be honest: It took me a few months to find it…

However, I’ve finally taken this short and sweet course to learn a few new tricks for Docs. More recently, I also learned some mind-blowing stuff about Sheets with this one. I can highly recommend both trainings!

These courses have opened up a new way for me to create and share digital products that are a lot more effective for me and useful for my readers.

Option 3: Hire a Designer or Use a Pre-Designed Template

All right, I know it’s a freebie. Why would you even consider spending money on it?

Well, you really don’t have to! 

As you’ve seen, my first couple of suggestions were actually for free (and easy) tools. I assumed you would be creating the lead magnet yourself. 

But that’s not to say it’s a must! If you have an idea but are unsure how to implement it, lack the necessary design skills, or simply don’t have time to put it into action, outsource it. 

It’s often not that expensive, and it can lead to fast and professional results!

You can connect with designers on Fiverr or Upwork and get it done in no time.

Alternatively, you can grab a pre-designed template from Creative Market. All you have to do, then, is change the colors and images to match your blog’s branding and, of course, replace the wording with your own content.

That makes it a lot faster to launch a value-packed freebie and make it look gorgeous without all the effort!

Here are a few things I like!
These include templates you can use to create your own lead magnets, as well as promotional templates for the launch:

• e-Book Template (for Canva)
• ​Workbook Template (for Canva)
• Lead Magnet Bundle (for Canva)
• Freebie Mockups (for Canva)
• Course Creator Bundle (for Canva)
• Opt-in Page Template (for Elementor)
• Freebie Library Template (for Elementor)

Also, visit The Blogging She Thrives shop for more digital resources and templates for your projects! Enter the coupon code BST15 at checkout to get 15% off any order.

How to deliver a freebie to your subscribers?

The first thing you’ll need to build a list and deliver your opt-in freebie to your new email subscribers is to sign up with an email service provider (ESP), such as:

• MailerLite
• CovertKit
• Flodesk

These tools allow you to send out email campaigns to those who have signed up to receive your freebie and deliver the files on autopilot.

Besides a welcome email, you can create automated email sequences with several follow-up emails so that your new subscribers continue to hear from you long after downloading their incentive. 

This helps you nurture your relationship and stay top of mind.

But before any of that can happen, you’ll need to create a sign-up form (either static and embedded on your pages or a pop-up) with an enticing call to action. 

If you’re not sure how, read this post next, where I share my step-by-step process for making that happen on MailerLite.

12 Freebies worth grabbing

Ready to check out some free stuff by others? 

I thought I’d come up with a list of things other bloggers are offering so that you can see firsthand how they do it. I’ve also kept these blogging and business-related so that you can learn something new as you go!

Here’s a list of lead magnets from a few of my blogging friends. These are all intended to help you start and grow your blogging business, so be sure to join their lists. You’ll learn a lot from them!

• Start a Blog Course
• Start a Money-Making Blog Online Course
• Legally Blogs Course
• Productivity Hacks for Bloggers
• Weekly Newsletter Planner
• Affiliate Marketing Tips for Bloggers e-Book
• SEO Email Course
• Email List Mini Course
• Supercharge Your Email Open Rates Mini Course
• Start and Grow a Profitable Blog Checklist
• Stock Photography Resources
• 25 Free Stock Photos for Women Entrepreneurs
• 6 Things to Sell When You Can’t Be Bothered to Create Something New

Pro tip: consider joining the lists of bloggers in your own niche, too, so that you can see what they are up to and perhaps take some inspiration to create your own offers. 

Don’t copy them, though; that’s not cool!

But learning from those you look up to is the best thing you can do. Connect with them and let them know you appreciate their work! 

Most people love hearing from you, and it’s always great to network with other bloggers. Who knows, maybe they’ll even give you some good tips or consider a collaboration along the way!

Conclusion

Now you know what a freebie is and what will make yours stand out.

You’re ready to brainstorm on your first (or next) offer and implement the systems to grow your email list faster than ever! 

Head over to this post, where I’ve put together 70+ opt-in freebie ideas for you. 

And, if you need help setting it all up, I’ve also created a step-by-step guide on how to do it with MailerLite (the email marketing platform I use for Blogging She Thrives).

Wondering about the next steps?

Well, after you’ve got your lead magnet up and running and you actually start seeing traction (a.k.a. getting people onto your email list), you’ll need to keep in touch.

I am the first to admit that I’m not the best at that, both in life and business. I am not super social, and I don’t email my list every week. But, oh well, what can I say…

I understand the theory, and I realize that many of my purchases from fellow bloggers happen because I am on their list. So I’ll make this a priority for sure!!
If you’re on my list, please come back to hold me accountable for what I’m saying here… and if you’re not, click here to grab one of my freebies and join the tribe!

Now, please let me know what you intend to create! And as usual, if you have any questions, drop them in the comments below. I am here for you!