If you’re wondering how to stand out online, position yourself as an expert, and fill your schedule with clients, this post is going to be a huge help.

As a health coach, you may be feeling frustrated with low engagement on social media, slow growth of your email list, and not enough new clients.

This scenario can be the result of several issues, but one of the biggest problems I see is a lack of high-value, free content being created and shared.

By “free content”, I’m referring to tips and resources that your ideal clients would absolutely LOVE! Keep reading for ideas and examples of what you can do.

Why is free content so important and why should you be giving it away?

I believe offering free content is no longer optional in today’s world. Your free content gives people a sample of what you do and what you’re about. Most importantly, it can show people that you may have the solution to their exact problem.

Don’t you love getting free samples of goodies like skin care products, make-up or even food samples at Costco? OMG…I love it when the Vitamix guy is at Costco! If I didn’t already own a Vitamix, I would buy one because I get to see some of the tasty, healthy things I can make with it.

What do samples do? They allow you to try out something so you can decide if you might like to purchase it at some point. Without that sample, you may have never known it existed, right?

Rather than thinking: “Why should I give away my valuable information for free?” (Scarcity mentality that leads to very few people finding out about you). Reframe it to: “What incredibly helpful and valuable information can I give away for free to blow people away?” (Abundance mentality that leads people to appreciate you, be drawn to you, and want to learn more about what u have to offer).

See the HUGE difference there?

When I hear people say “I don’t want to give away my information for free” I see a red flag that tells me they will continue to struggle to build a business because they won’t be able to get themselves out there in a big enough way.

Successful marketers know one of the best ways to let people know what you do is to show them – give them a sample of your BEST STUFF for FREE!

Why?

You see…people can find ANY information they want about healthy living on the internet, so I’m pretty sure any tips you have aren’t completely earth shattering.

But here’s the thing – people need YOU to help them implement the changes they struggle to make on their own. So, your free information probably isn’t “breaking news” but you can present it in a way that only you can, through your experience and personality.

I’ve heard it said before that your free content tells people what to do, but your paid content (or your coaching services) shows them how to do it, and that’s the missing piece for your clients – the how (and the accountability).

The purpose of your free content is to inform and educate, but you also want to have a plan of where you are going to lead people to learn more about what you do. You want to provide a simple solution that gets people eager to find out what else you offer. Ideally your free content will lead people to the next step, such as getting on your email list, signing up for a webinar, joining your free Facebook group, and then ultimately, becoming a paying client.

Now that you see how important this is, let’s look at what type of free content you can create and share with the world.

Free content can be offered in many forms, so decide what appeals to you the most.

Here are just a few popular options for free content:

1. Blog posts – include an opt-in within the blog post to build your email list
2. Videos – add a call-to-action to sign up for your freebie
3. Webinars – these can be value only (education, no selling) and you’ll grow your email list as people sign up to join the webinar. You can also offer a paid program at the end of your webinar.
4. Live streams – add a call-to-action to sign up for your freebie or webinar
5. Podcast – add a call-to-action at the end of each episode to sign up for your freebie

Note: Find places where you can submit guest blog posts or be a guest on a podcast that your target audience would listen to.

The idea behind your free content is to get exposure, showcase your knowledge and personality, then lead people to sign up for one of your free offers. This is a great way to build an email list of loyal subscribers that look forward to hearing from you.

You know the saying “When you give, you get” or “Givers gain” right?

People like those that provide helpful information for free.

So, here’s the 4-step process for growing your business with free content:

1. Create your high-value awesome free content (see list of 5 options above) and share it (keep reading for ideas)
2. Invite people to your freebie (lead magnet, opt-in)
3. Offer your services at some point in the follow-up emails and/or at different times throughout the year
4. Rinse and repeat

Promoting your free content

Okay, so now you have your awesome, irresistible free content, how do people find it?

1. Post on social media – I like Hootsuite or MeetEdgar for this because you can manage multiple social media platforms in one place, and each post can be used more than once. One blog post can be seen over and over again during the coming weeks and months when you use a 3rd party social media scheduling tool.

2. Live streaming – My preferred live streaming platform is Facebook live, but you can also do this on Instagram or Periscope. The key is to be consistent. Use your Facebook business page for this so you can maximize your reach. Even if you have under 1,000 followers, you can potentially reach thousands of people with your live broadcast. Part of the magic happens AFTER you go live and your video lives on for people to watch, like, and share (this will get more eyes on your video, as well as more likes on your page). Select a topic or theme to talk about (3-10 minutes is great), then at the end of your broadcast let people know how they can get your free resource (this freebie needs to be related to the topic of your live stream so it seems like the next logical step where they can get more help and ideas on the topic).

For great tips on how to use FB Live for your business, be sure to check out this post: Everything You Need to Know to Start Using Facebook Live for Your Health Coaching Busines.

3. Invest in Facebook ads – I like running ads to my blog posts because these ads usually cost much less than running ads to cold traffic for a lead magnet. I also get to retarget these website visitors (using the Facebook pixel) so I’m creating a custom audience of those that come to my website (these people will now be somewhat of a warm audience since they’ve been to my site and now know a little bit about me) and I can show them another ad (to a freebie/lead magnet). Ads to this custom audience will typically cost less than running ads to “cold” traffic, so it’s a win-win. I include an opt-in in all of my blog posts, as well as a place for people to like my FB page (you can run ads to target your Facebook followers, but this is only effective when you have at least a few thousand followers). I do also run ads to lead magnets, but I like to mix it up and invest in ads to my blog posts too, so I’m growing that warm market audience.

4. Let your email subscribers know – Even though your free content will help you grow your email list, be sure to let your current email subscribers know about your awesome resources. This will make them love you and appreciate you even more!

Be selective and strategic with your free content. Share some of your best stuff so people can get a glimpse of how awesome you are. I noticed that the better the free resources I provided, the more I grew my email list and the more raving fans I had.

You want your free content to be so good people reach out to you to thank you for it.

You know you’re on the right track with people comment and email you that your content was helpful (I LOVE it when this happens!).

Okay…now it’s your turn.

What amazing free content can you share with your audience in the next week or two? People really do want what you have to offer – they just need to know that you and your solution exist.

You’ve got this!