{"id":3836,"date":"2021-07-11T18:29:19","date_gmt":"2021-07-11T18:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rjlewisdigital.com\/?p=3836"},"modified":"2023-03-17T23:23:07","modified_gmt":"2023-03-17T23:23:07","slug":"pdfs-can-suck-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rjlewisdigital.com\/pdfs-can-suck-it","title":{"rendered":"TOP REASONS Why PDFs Can DEFINITELY Suck It"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Introduction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The internet largely agrees that attraction and engagement plans are two of the most important things that you can develop to create a sustainable business, right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A big part of that strategy for most businesses begins with a downloadable PDF, because<\/strong> as a business owner, you recognize that your time is finite and that you need a scalable way to attract, engage, and nurture budding customer relationships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just like Baskin-Robbins’ little pink spoon delivers free ice cream samples, your opt-in is a brilliant way to deliver a free sample of your services and can tell people a lot about what to expect from your business.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to a 2017 study from Episerver<\/a>, 9 out of 10 people aren\u2019t going to buy something the first time they visit a website, even if they went there JUST TO BUY SOMETHING. Additionally, 32% of those same people will never make a purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When is the last time you bought a service from a company without really knowing who they are and what they\u2019re about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But does your pink spoon HAVE to be a pdf?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Signs point to no and here’s why:<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason 1. PDFs aren\u2019t digital.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I get it. PDFs are easy to make! All you need is access to a word processor and \u201cSave as\u201d to convey your thoughts and ideas pretty quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, providing people with a PDF is, essentially, just giving them a piece of paper in the digital space. A PDF that, once delivered is just there… incapable of providing the end-user with an experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason 2. No feedback loop.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Your audience has the information \u2013 now what? If your free sample has an actionable purpose, you’ll find that you can prompt people to do things, but other than that PDFs are mostly cosmetic and don’t make a great medium to lead people back to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The whole point of signing up for email marketing and figuring out how to make a link that people can use to download that thing and all the other things you created around this content is to nurture your relationship by engaging with those people<\/strong>. A couple of hyperlinks (if you\u2019ve got some in there) aren\u2019t encouraging that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason 3. You actually like your people.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The idea of delayed gratification is lost on most of the internet. Content creators, in particular, bow to this perceived need for immediacy by making sure that \u201cGet it now!\u201d is an incredibly literal phrase<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 BUT \u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your opt-in is a free sample of your business. Delivery of a product or service, i.e. doing<\/em> business, is all about moving nouns (people, places, & things) from one state to another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you run a restaurant you move people from hungry to fed. Giving them a free sample of the food still puts food in their mouths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You like your potential customers so you’re not going to give them an excuse to use up some ink, fill their trash (digital and physical) with more paper, or give them questions or checkboxes that they can’t complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other strategies for your free sample<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Send people to a web page.<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This page [the one you’re reading now] is publicly available on the internet. I have it set to non-index, meaning you can’t just google it, but if you have the link, you can visit anytime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE WORKFLOW \u21d2<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Create a page and set it to NOT be indexed by search engines like Google, et al.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Create your subscriber sign-up form with a nice call to action<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Set the form to redirect to the page when the user signs up<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    ONE MORE THING (optional, but a great idea)<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Set up an email to automatically go out to new subscribers with the same link and an additional call-to-action to discuss their thoughts with you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2. Share a private podcast.<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    I HIGHLY suggest this for people who already have a podcast, or whose work is largely coaching and facilitation-based.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    THREE (3) WAYS \u21d2<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Tools like Hello Audio<\/a> make it easy because you can use Zapier to automatically give people access (and take it away) when they use your subscriber form.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. You can use CloudApp, Zoom, or Loom to record, download the recording (audio and\/or video) and just send them a link to a public file in Dropbox, or Google Drive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Another great idea for a LIVE version of this is to send new subscribers an invite to a closed Clubhouse room<\/a>!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      3. Make a Notion template.<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      Now, THIS is another one of my favorite BOSS moves. If you’re not familiar, allow me to introduce you to a power tool that I love \ud83e\udd70\u2002  It\u2019s called Notion<\/a><\/strong> \ud83d\udca1 and Notion is a versatile and freemium online tool for creators that is kinda like old-school, pre-ribbon Microsoft decided to merge Word, Excel, and Access into one program AND make it easy to use \ud83e\udd2f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Here are the opt-in use-cases that I can think of in the next few minutes that would get an automatic, “use Notion” from me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n