If you’ve ever been to a mall food court, Costco, BJ’s, or Sam’s Club, odds are you’ve had a free sample of some kind of food you didn’t plan on trying that day.

And odds are you’ve bought more of at least one of the free samples you’ve had in your lifetime.

While I don’t have any hard data on how much those free samples increase sales or anything, I do know they work.

For example, a big part of the sales process at my day job is essentially offering a free sample of the product, and because of those free samples…

I’ve sold over $70k worth of product.

And when it comes to digital products…

Here are a few ways you can use the free sample funnel:

1. Content to paid product – This is the most direct way and works really well for a lot of people where you treat your content like the free sample of what you do then offer your paid product right out of the gate. The only problem is you’re at the mercy of the algorithm and if it ever stops serving you, you’re out of a traffic source.
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2. Content to free product to email list to paid product – This is a much safer bet and a better long term approach in my opinion, because even if you lose a social media account, you don’t lose your audience. Your content is still a bit of a sample although it’s typically less in depth and spends more time promoting the free ebook, course, or community which also gets people on your email list. Both the free product and your emails will promote your paid product.
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3. Content to email list to paid product – This is also a good option and the only difference is you promote your emails themselves as the free sample instead of a digital product, then offer your paid product in your emails. This approach is usually slower, but often gets better email engagement which can lead to more sales.

At their core, all 3 of these options are simply basic online sales funnels, but…

When you think about them in the free sample way…

It makes it a whole lot easier to operate and it’s easier for your viewers and customers to follow the process as well.

Speaking of free samples…

If you found this helpful and want a free sample of how I help people launch digital product businesses, then go here:

​https://gabejohansson.com/launch-plan/

Any questions? Let me know.

Talk soon,
-Gabe