1 / Smoother Workflow

Rather than having to create separate lists for every single freebie that I offered and having to customize the settings and welcome email, I just add the new freebie to my gallery and that’s it! I use one form to capture emails for new peeps that sign up, so it’s the same code being used each time. There are still times when I want to capture a little more detailed information from people that sign up so that I can tag them appropriately in Convertkit for future reference, but otherwise everyone is a part of one list.

It's also nice to have all of your resources in one place for your own sanity and organization. Rather than having to hunt down different documents on your computer, you will always have a place that you can get to on a whim no matter where you are. I often find myself logging into my library to access documents for various reasons. If I had to wait until I got home to get onto my computer to get them, I would have to press pause on whatever I was working on, and that doesn't help with productivity at all!

2 / Greater Value Provided

People like free stuff. People also like a lot of free stuff. Would someone be more likely to sign up to receive one download or to receive access to various types of resources that they can download at will? I’m going to go with the latter. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s okay that people like free stuff because ultimately they are still giving up something that is very valuable...their email address! Also, having a collection of resources gives you the opportunity to showcase how knowledgeable you are in your niche. This may help people to trust you more because they will see that you know what you're talking about. If you have various resources that people can access that will help them along in their journey AND for free, they may wonder how awesome your paid content is and be more likely to purchase from you.

Some think that the majority of people that sign up for free resource libraries are only in it for the login deets then they unsubscribe after they get it. While this is true in some cases, it really boils down to how good the freebie that you're offering is and what your plan is to keep them engaged after they sign up. I will tell you, I rarely have people unsubscribe from my list after signing up for my library. Like...hardly ever. And since I have a plan of action to keep in contact with them consistently AFTER they sign up, they are more likely to stay on my list. So rather than deciding not to offer freebies, focus on planning out your email marketing flow in order to keep people on your list.

3 / Email Topics

People don’t generally go into the resource library after their first couple of times simply because they forget about it or there is nothing new there. Instead of the interaction coming to a screeching halt, you can keep your list informed when you add new resources so that they will always be up to speed (and so they don’t forget who you are and unsubscribe from your list). Send an email letting them know that you have added something new to the library and tell them why and how they will want to use it.

Tip: When you do this, make sure that you include the link and login details because they probably have the info buried in their inbox (or deleted!) somewhere. Instead of making them search for it, just add it to the email. They will appreciate it.

4 / Create a Dedicated Landing Page

You can create an awesome dedicated landing page for people to join your library on your website. On this page, you can go into details of what they will get from it, how often you update, why they should sign up and even include share links so that they can share the page with their friends. Also, by creating a dedicated page, you can post the link on social, add relevant hashtags and get discovered by even more people! Here's mine for example.

You can also create a promoted pin that links to the page so that you can directly reach your target audience and increase your chances of gaining new members.

5 / Future Possibilities

The scope of a blog/biz can change over the years. You may have a free resource library today, but in a year you may decide that you want to charge for access to it. Luckily everything is already set up, so all you have to do is change the existing password for the page then give the new one to people that pay for access. Or maybe you decide that you want to keep the free library but also offer a paid one that has more meaty content, new resources being added more frequently and monthly live stream training. The thought behind this is if the content in your free library is awesome, the paid resources must be even more amazing. This is something that would entice someone to purchase access.

So these are the main reasons I decided to offer a free resource library on my website. If you have been wondering how to set up a resource library and if you are a Squarespace user, I have a step-by-step guide on how to create one here.

Raise your hand if you’ve tried running an ad for your blog/biz at one time or another? (Meee!!! I’m raising my hand!!!) I’ve tried a few types of ads on different platforms, but the one that I liked the most was the promoted Pinterest pin. Today I am going to share with you 7 reasons why promoted pins are so lit!

The thing about Pinterest is that their algorithm changes. So back in the day when you logged into your account, you would see a feed of the most recent pins being pinned. This meant that I could pin something right now and everyone that logged into Pinterest right now would see it sitting there, no matter who you were. Well those days have changed and pins now appear based on criteria that the Pinterest bots are looking for (popularity of pins, visually pleasing images- size and clarity, etc.). Unfortunately, this isn’t always enough to get you to the top especially when you’re just starting out. So what are you supposed to do?

Promote your pins!

Promoted pins are advertising campaigns for your pins, so you pay to play. When Pinterest began offering promoted pins, the game totally changed. Pinterest is in essence a HUGE search engine, and the results from search terms tend to be more relevant than results from a Google search. This is one reason why Pinterest is so popular and why it has so many users. As a blogger/biz owner, you can use this to your advantage! So let me tell you why promoted pins are so lit:

1. Flexibility

There are three different types of campaigns that you can run, so there is flexibility depending on what your end goal is.

Awareness- this is when you want to raise awareness for your brand. These pins tend to have top placement with their desired target audience.
Engagement-this is when you want to get more people to engage with your pin meaning viewing a closeup, repinning or clicking it. You pay for each type of engagement.
Traffic- this is when you pay a set amount per click to your site. Basically whenever someone clicks your pin to visit your website, you pay for it.

2. Affordable

I know as a budding blogger/biz owner, lack of cashflow is a huge factor when you need to get things done. Fortunately Pinterest makes it affordable to drive traffic to your site when organic strategies just aren’t getting you the results that you want. You basically set your daily budget and depending on the type of campaign, you can set an amount that you pay per click, per repin or per view. It’s all up to you and what the intent for your campaign is. For example, for the traffic ads that I run, I only pay $.10 per click and have a $1 a day budget.

3. Longevity

When people repin a promoted pin, it stays on their board even if you stop promoting it. A pin is a pin and it’s there fo’ life. Some of my previous promoted pins still get some good activity even though they are no longer running on a campaign. It’s the gift that keeps on giving!

4. Targeting

You can get very specific with the audience that you want to target. You can choose to target a certain sex, country, city, interest, mobile device, language spoken, etc. You can also target certain keywords in searches. Pinterest makes it so much easier to reach your target market. The more specific you get the more successful and relevant your engagement will be. Remember, when you target everyone you target no one.

5. Tax Deductible

They’re tax deductible! This is considered a marketing or advertising expense if you file business taxes.

6. Impressions On Fleek

By running a promoted pin campaign, your pin is going to get waaayyyyy more eyes on it than through traditional means of pinning. This is helpful when you are just starting out and you need more exposure.

7. Analytics On Point

When you have a promoted pin, the reporting that’s available to you is very helpful. The reports tell you how many impressions there were (aka eyes on your pin), how many likes and repins and the number of clicks. They also tell you some information about the audience that is engaging with your pin. It tells you the percentage of pinners by gender, their interests, their location, etc. This can tell you a TON about the audience that you are attracting versus the audience that you intended to attract. Hopefully the two are in line with each other, and if not you may need to rethink your approach to target your ideal audience.

You can also compare results of different pins that you promote sort of like A/B testing. For example, you could create two versions of a pin, promote them both and see which one gets better engagement. You can also compare campaigns for different pins and for the ones that don't get much action, stop promoting them.

I began running ads on Pinterest in May of 2016 and have since seen a huge increase in traffic to my site as well as newsletter subscribers. I have only promoted pins for a traffic campaign which means that I pay each time someone clicks the link in my pin and visits my site. I’m cool with this because I created a budget of $1.00 a day and I only pay $0.10 per click (yes, ten cents!). This is probably going to be one of the most effective ads that you could run because they can be so inexpensive, and again, because the pins are always around even when the ad is no longer running.

Here is the data for my most popular promoted pin that started on 7/1/16 and continues today:

Even if I stop promoting this pin, it will still live on nearly 2000 boards and still has plenty of opportunity to be repinned further!

Pinterest can be an awesome marketing strategy if you know how to work it. The only requirements to run promoted pins are being in the US, UK or Canada and having a business Pinterest account (which is free).

I would love to know if you have used promoted pins in your marketing strategy and how the experience was. Leave a comment below!

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The 'Gram @LaurenMyersCo

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5 Reasons Why I Offer a Free Resource Library On My Website