Is It a Good Idea to Give Away Your Best Content on Your Blog?

When I first started Blogging, way back in 2006, I wondered if it was a good idea to give away some of my best content for free on my Blog.

I wondered if maybe I should hold back some of my best ideas and content and put them into a book or course or some kind of info product instead of sharing it on my Blog.

Each day when I would sit down to write a Blog post, I would think to myself “Hmmm…is this something I should just give away for free, or should I charge for this information?”

I mean as a student of personal development I’ve easily spent over 6 figures on educating myself through books, audios, courses, seminars and mastermind groups, and then I also invest a lot of time in researching and testing various things I learn to see what actually works and what is crap.

So for example if I spend $1,000 – $5,000 in “education costs” and 3-6 months in “trial and error costs” to learn something new, like a new technique or something that I apply and produce personal results with, that is “intellectual property” that cost me time, energy and money to develop.

So my thinking used to be “Why should I give that away for free to someone on my Blog?”

Right?

But then, I decided to try something out…

…I decided to just start giving away some of my best content, my little “secrets” and strategies to my Blog audience for free.

Of course if what I was referring to was intellectual property that is owned by someone else who sells some kind of course or seminar, I wouldn’t give away THEIR secrets, but I would refer people to the source of the information that they could then decide to buy if they wanted to.

But if it was MY intellectual property that I created from my personal experiences and trial and error I just started sharing it with people, not worrying about someone else knowing my “secrets”.

And here’s what happened…

#1 – I Manifested More “Best Content”

The funny thing with the Universe is that it doesn’t like a vacuum.

So what started to happen was that as I started Blogging and giving away some of my “best content”, a lot more NEW “best content” started flowing into my life.

Every time I would “empty the cup” giving away my “secrets”, I would attract NEW secrets to give away.

I find that when we try to “hoard” information or “secrets” because we think they are way too valuable to give away for free, or because we think later on in life we might put together a course or something, we tend to stagnate.

If instead we just give it all away in a sense, we start to create MORE new “Best Content” to Blog about.

Try it yourself and you’ll see what  mean.

#2 – People Will STILL Buy Your Coaching / Training

I have studied many top trainers in the industry who put together $10,000 – $25,000 seminars that people GLADLY pay to attend.

They pack their rooms and “sell out” pretty much every time.

But you know what I’ve heard many of them say?

Many of them say that pretty much EVERYTHING that they teach is already summarized in their books which most people can buy for $10 – $15.

Even if they write 10 different books, that means you can learn everything they teach at the seminars for $100 – $150, not $10,000 – $25,000!

So why do people pay $10,000 – $25,000 to attend their seminars if the INFORMATION is inside their books?

And why do they give away all their information in their books?

Well, it’s because first of all MOST people will NOT ever read a book.  They find it too boring and time-intensive.

They would rather pay $10k to sit at a seminar and be essentially “forced” to learn the information in an entertaining way – and not just read about it in a book.

Secondly though, transformation doesn’t just happen when people are presented with new information.

A big part of transformation is HOW the information is delivered and with what energy.

For example, I guarantee that attending a Tony Robbins seminar is going to have a MUCH higher transformational effect on a person than simply reading his book.  Even if his book contained ALL the information from the seminar.

It’s the transfer of ENERGY from one person to another that is important as well, not just the information.

So when I started giving away some of my best info on my Blog…essentially free of charge, it actually INCREASED the amount of people who wanted to get coaching / mentoring from me – not the other way around.

The MORE I give away for free, the more people want to PAY me to coach / mentor them!

This is still happening to this day.

So if you’re a coach, mentor or someone who puts together events.  Don’t worry about giving away your best content.

Just do it.  Give it all away.  People will STILL want to pay you for your ENERGY, and your PRESENCE.

Finally, there’s one other reason why giving away essentially EVERYTHING on a Blog will never replace one-on-one or group coaching.

And that is the concept of information overload.

When people pay me to coach them, they don’t want to spend 100 hours reading all my blog posts… they have a very specific challenge that they want to overcome RIGHT NOW, and they are willing to pay me to coach them through it.

The time savings alone is worth the investment for them.

And for those people who are short on cash right now, and who can’t afford one-on-one coaching, they just read my Blog and get access to some awesome content which builds trust with them.

It’s a total win-win situation.

#3 – You’ll Connect with Better People

When you become a Blogger who is not afraid to give away their best content on their Blog or on Google Hangouts you host etc. not only will you start to attract a better, more loyal client base, but you’ll also start to attract better people around you in general.

Your reputation in the marketplace will begin to grow and you will be seen as a “giver” not a “taker”.

When this happens higher quality mentors and teachers will open their doors to you.

People who are giving and who want to help the world are attracted to other people who want to do the same.

If your reputation is that you are this secretive person who has some super amazing information they have discovered, but who is unwilling to share it with anyone, then people will doubt you and the value of your information.

If your reputation is that you are this giving person who just gives away amazing content and information, people will automatically start thinking “Wow, this content is amazing… what an awesome person!  If this is what they’re giving away for free, imagine the quality of information they must give away at their paid programs / coaching / products?”

Warning!  Do NOT Do This

There is one warning I will offer here of something you DO NOT want to do.

Do NOT give away someone else’s “best content” pretending that it’s your own.

I’ve seen some people take this concept in a totally wrong direction.

What they start doing is that they don’t want to give away any of THEIR best content or information, because they think they’ll save it for a future seminar or product that they’re putting together…

… but since they want to start building “trust” with their audience, they start giving away someone else’s “best content” as their own.

Meaning, they’ll attend a $2,000 seminar, and then they’ll come home and start giving away all of the content that they learned at the seminar, as if it was their own.

Don’t do this.

Another example of this is when people take copyrighted paid content and they “rip it” to a digital format and give it away to people for free.

When you do this, you are hurting the entire industry, including yourself, and soiling your reputation.

Don’t do it.

If there’s some amazing content you learned from someone, and you want to share it with your Blog subscribers, then POINT them in the right direction of where they can get access to this information.

But don’t just give them a stolen, pirated copy of that copyrighted data.

First of all it’s illegal, secondly it’s stupid, and thirdly it’ll ruin your reputation long term.

As a blogger for over 8 years now I’ve GIVEN AWAY so much of my best content for free.

In fact, at one point a few years ago I did a tally and I realized that I’ve written enough Blog content to fill more than 5 full-sized BOOKS.

BUT, even thought I’ve given away so much free content, when I come across a course or training that someone else put together, which they charge for, I don’t just give it away for free as it’s not MINE to give away.

Instead I recommend people go to the creator and purchase it.

Because of this, sometimes I’ve ran across people who have gotten mad at me for not giving them access to someone else’s work for free.

Meaning, they essentially ask me to break the law, and to illegally copy someone else’s best work, and rip it off and send it to them, and then when I say NO to that, they call me an asshole.

That’ll happen, but it doesn’t bother me.

Or they’ll say something like “Oh, well you’re just recommending this course and you’re sending me to your affiliate link because you want to make money when I buy the course.”

Here’s the thing…

I give away a LOT of free stuff on my Blog.

But I’m not going to give away someone else’s work, illegally, for free, without their permission.

I also don’t promote crap.

For every product, course, seminar, system or ANYTHING that I promote, I’ve filtered out and turned away probably 50 other products.

I only promote the BEST of the BEST out there.

And when I do promote a product or service as an affiliate, I believe that I deserve to get paid for my recommendation.

But I also believe that if anyone who reads my Blog doesn’t want me to make an affiliate commission on something that I promote, they are 100% FREE to buy the product through someone else’s affiliate link.

I’m 100% okay with that.  If you are going to buy a product I recommend, and you don’t want me to make any affiliate commissions on it, then go find someone else’s link and buy it through their link.

This is also what I recommend you do on YOUR blog.

Give away a LOT of great value on your Blog.  Give away your BEST content.

You’ll create NEW content anyways.

If you want to put together products or systems to SELL, that’s perfectly okay too, and don’t worry…people will buy from you because they like you ANYWAYS.

And when you find amazing content that is NOT your own, recommend it to others!

Don’t be shy about it either.

If whatever you’re promoting has an affiliate program – then promote it as an affiliate, so that you can get paid affiliate commissions for your well deserved recommendation.

And never let any WUSSIES make you feel bad for promoting something as an affiliate.

If they don’t want you to make the affiliate commission you deserve, they can go find a link from somewhere else.

🙂

So to summarize.  Is it a good idea to give away your best content on your Blog?

YES!

You’ll get more “best content” flowing into your mind.

You’ll build more trust with your audience.

You’ll make better connections in the marketplace.

And people will STILL be happy to PAY you for any paid products or services you create in the future.

And it’s also a good idea to promote the BEST products you come across from other people as an affiliate.