COMMENTS
I could not agree more. One of my clients was terrified of giving away even the slightest bit of advice for fear he would have nothing left to sell. Once he got over it, he never looked back!
Yes, I think content is becoming more crucial than ever-- especially as search engines will begin to shape according to Google+ (at least, that's my opinion). Companies must put their brand out there-- that might be discussing their product or service, but it also includes discussing their mission, their company personality, surrounding issues/topics in their industry.
Very interested in this subject - free vs paid content/knowledge. Wondering though if/how this applies to gated vs non-gated content. In other words, in cases where we don't charge an actual fee for our content but rather instead "gate" it which requires our web site users to complete a registration form first in order to receive access to our premium content, or should we simply allow them access to it in the spirit of making our content easily accessible. I know conventional wisdom dictates that content registration is a good practice, but we have seen drop-offs in our conversion rates whenever we require registration so we've moved most of our content out from behind the gate. Thoughts? Experiences?
I whole-heartedly disagree with this article. It is irrational, and not based on facts. My business increased when I stopped allowing free access to my content. I sell content. Why would someone buy the cow when they can get the milk for free? Answer: They wouldn't.
This article is off-base and incorrect. Don't give away all your data. Hold onto it and charge for it.
dotJenna -- Well, I disagree. I sell content too (seven books plus my live speeches). Yet I have several international bestsellers and am usually fully booked with gigs by giving away some of my stuff. Yes, you have to buy my books and speeches. But the rest is free, Those are the facts. And it is very rational.
Larry -- When you gate content, my research suggests that you get between 1% and 5% of people downloading than you'd otherwise get without a gate. Some of my free ebooks have been downloaded a million times.
There is no doubt the free ungated content serves as terrific marketing.
We've found that the more helpful and relevant the content we provide to people landing on our blog or website, the more credible we become. In fact, every time we put out a newsletter that contains good, useful information about graphic design aspects, we almost always get one conversion, at the least, a good lead. It took a while to get the knack of it,(what people respond to, and what they don't) but absolutely worth the effort.
One good option is to make a part of your content available to everyone. If they want more then they have to pay for it. I personally have tried this method and it works perfectly fine, people do come back and pay for more content.
David -- following up on your reply to Larry. If your research suggests that you get between 1% and 5% of people downloading than you'd otherwise get without gating your content can you share any best practices you've deployed to turn the increase traffic you into identified known visitors for future nurturing? Thanks in advance!