Results: How to Monetize Your Reports
Written by Alice Seba
Short reports can be a great business builder and you may use reports for a variety of reasons in your business. The problem is, many report publishers often wonder the same thing – how can they monetize their reports effectively?
The good news is when people tell me they published a report, but got no results…it’s often simple to see where they can make immediate improvements for better results. Sometimes it’s just a matter of a few tweaks you can easily implement into your own report marketing.
If you’re looking to monetize your reports (by the way, you can get PLR reports or we can ghostwrite reports for you), let’s start by breaking this down into potential monetization goals. Because after all, if you want results – you need to know what those desired results are. You may want to:
- Build a List: You know the deal. You give a free report when your visitors sign up for your mailing list. It’s one of the most powerful uses of a free report.
- Promote a Product: Reports are a great way to promote a products – whether it’s your product or something you promote through an affiliate link.
- Generate Leads: If you’re looking for people to contact you for more information (think biz op, a service, etc.), a report can be used as a very effective lead generator.
- Recruit Affiliates: You can create affiliate training materials that teach about affiliate marketing and draw people into your own program.
Of course, it’s not enough to simply have a monetization goal because despite what people say, great content doesn’t speak for itself. Great content speaks (in conversion terms) when it’s combined with smart marketing & in particular, good salesmanship.
Here are some tips to increase your conversions with your reports:
Download Page: Depending on the nature of your offer, a call-to-action on your download page can go a long way. Invite your reader to sign up for updates, give hard-to-resist offers…something that they aren’t going to want to miss. This is something we’ve used for clients and ourselves with great success.
You just want to be careful that your prospect doesn’t get confused (i.e. FRUSTRATED) trying to find the download amongst the offer. As you can see in the example below, the download link is clear, but the offer is above-the-fold and designed to get plenty of attention.
(Partial screenshot of page – Offer continues below on screen)
2. Create a Visual Brand for Your Reports. Of course you want to include things like your logo, but if you release multiple reports (and I assume you do!), go for a consistent and familiar design and layout. Your readers will come to know your reports and offers as great quality…and immediately know they’re in the right place when they see your familiar brand.
3. Include a Forward Foreward: Don’t be shy…introduce yourself to establish your authority and let your readers know about your desired call-to-action. For example, if you’re selling a blogging coaching program and the report is about blogging…tell them what they will learn in the report and how they can get even more hands-on, one-on-one help through your coaching.
4. I FORGOT – FOOTERS! Silly me, I forgot to mention adding a footer to your reports that can also include your call-to-action. And thanks to Laurie Neumann for the reminder. The footer allows you to repeat your message several times over and keeps it in your readers mind.
(formerly 4.) 5. Body Reminders: You don’t have to beat them over the head with it, but remind people about your offer where it’s appropriate in the body of your report. You might even put these benefit-laden reminders in a colored box to make it stand out. But the key is to give a new benefit or a new reason to take action. Don’t simply keep repeating yourself.
For example, if you have a report on toddler discipline and you’re selling an info product for parents of toddlers, mention the product in a few key places. If the report includes advice on tantrums, highlight a key part of the product for sale that gives parents practical solutions to tantrums. And then when you’re giving advice on sharing, include information on how the info product helps with sharing issues. In other words, make your promotions relevant to exactly what you are talking about.
**TIP** Have one main monetization goal for your reports. Yes, you can link to other products in the body of your report, but for best results stay ultra-focused on getting them to take action on the most relevant and most desired call-to-action.
(formerly 5.) 6. Call-to-Action Conclusion: Have a well-defined conclusion that incorporates your desired call-to-action. Don’t mention the offer as an afterthought. Instead, make sure you integrate what was taught in the report with what the reader should do next. If your report gives advice on selling a home in a tough market, include some information on how you help your clients overcome this obstacles. You might also some statistical information about how quickly, on average, you’ve helped your clients sell their homes and encourage the report reader to give you a call.
(formerly 6.) 7. Follow-Up: If you captured an email address when you gave out the report, be sure to follow-up. Mention the product or offer you are promoting again – giving your readers even more reason to take action.
The key to making monetization for your reports work is great content, a relevant and hard-to-resist offer along with consistency. You can’t expect to put one random link in a report and your work is done. You need to keep showing your prospect just how compelling your offer is…all the while delivering them the satisfaction from useful content.
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Everybody says "Content is King", but what does that mean for you? 
Donna says:
Really excellent article Alice thanks so much! I have put affiliate links in reports, and they haven’t been really effective, and now I can see why. Points 3, 4 and 5 are especially interesting and relevant to me. I’ll definitely apply them to the report I’m currently working on. It sounds like some of this advice (if not all) can also apply to articles on my site.
Laurie Neumann says:
Good points, Alice. I put something in the footer of my reports, but these points will help me do this better.
Thanks!
Alice Seba says:
Doh! I forgot the footer…thanks for the reminder. I think it’s a good addition to the consistency thing. They see it over and over again.
I will add it to the post later today…with credit to you for reminding me!
Anita DeFrank says:
Great tips Alice! Some I knew, some I’ve forgotten and some are new but regardless, having them all in one spot together really got the creative juices flowing.
One that really stood out to me the most …
“Don’t mention the offer as an afterthought.”
This is something I see myself doing often and could be one of my problems. Thanks for offering the solution!
Shannon says:
I am guilty. I slap it together and send it out. I really need to follow these guidelines. Thanks Alice!
Liz says:
Hey Alice,
This is definitely something to print out and keep as a reference. It helps to have these strategies tucked nicely into one post like this so we don’t forget. Nice, thanks!
Alice Seba says:
Thanks for the feedback guys and glad it was helpful. I added Laurie’s suggestion of footers for an even more well-rounded list.
Vera Raposo says:
Hey Alice, I really enjoyed this post! I would love to see you write on ideas where to distribute your reports for the best results.
I personally love reports too.
Alice Seba says:
For certain. Already have something in the works along those lines.
Vera Raposo says:
Awesome, looking forward to it.
Alice Seba says:
Here you go Ms. Vera: http://contentrix.com/distribute-reports/1383
I’m sure a lot of it you have thought of…hopefully it includes some fresh ideas and perhaps some reminders. I know sometimes we know what to do, but need a swift kick in the rear to get ‘er done!
Anita DeFrank says:
Awesome! Thanks Alice!
I’m very happy to see that I’ve done every preparation method in your list.
For the distribution list I’ve done every one but the last one. That’s a true gem for me! Never thought of those. Thanks a million!
By the way … can’t wait to see the list building tips too as giving away my reports in order to build my lists is exactly what I’m doing with my new site coming up.
Codrut Turcanu says:
I can’t emphasize how important it really is to create a visual brand for your reports; just imagine you easy it feels like to differentiate your stuff amongst all the competitors out there.
Question for Alice – do you think that even a poorly-written [weak content] PDF has any chance to make money through these monetization options?
Alice Seba says:
Interesting question and sure, I think poorly written reports with good monetization can produce results. I think where the reader has already been pre-sold prior to the download, the content won’t matter for many. For example, when there’s hype around product launches or an affiliate puts his seal if approval on a report writer ad their products, many people will just go along…never reading the content.
Do I recommend that as a long term business building strategy? Of course not!
Codrut Turcanu says:
I have this question that bugs me… since I constantly write “giveaway” products and stuff that others pay money for:
Should we keep a separate layout and colour [brand] for free reports VS paid ones so that potential clients know that’s a paid product simply by looking at the eCover?
What would you suggest?
Alice Seba says:
That’s an idea. What do you see as the value in distinguishing between free and paid? I can definitely see if it was the kind of thing you could upgrade to a paid product, it might be useful to keep it separate. I would love to hear some thoughts on how design could make the paid items seem more valuable too.
On the other hand, I also see value in keeping it the same. I subscribe to the theory that our free stuff helps create the wow factor that makes people buy from us. So a consistent message and quality helps. Of course, your paid products have to fill a different need/desire than the paid ones, but do they need to have a completely different visual look?
What do you think? Interesting discussion.
Codrut Turcanu says:
I think what counts the most is the quality of the information. I’d keep similar layout/colour/design for the free and paid product, but get more in depth or expand the free information in the paid product
What about you folks?
Anita DeFrank says:
I do pretty much the same.
This discussion is perfect timing for me personally. I’m in the process of building a new site with a lot of reports/ebooks. Each paid product has an accompanying free report.
I put as much effort in the quality of my free reports as I do with the paid reports. Of course the paid reports have a lot more information but the free ones are just a preview/taste of what I have to offer.
I’m a firm believer in the fact that if they’re really impressed with what I’m giving away … imagine what’s in my products that I’m charging for. And of course, I make sure I always overdeliver in my paid products that way I’m sure to get customers who will come back again and again.
So basically what I’m trying to say here is I feel you should put almost as much effort into your free reports as you do your paid. No, don’t give it all away but give them just a taste. I believe the return is much higher.
Anita DeFrank says:
P.S. This is how I try to think like a customer and deliver to my customers as I would like to be delivered to as a customer.
How to Distribute Your Free Reports : Contentrix – Content Marketing says:
[...] has great content, but compells your reader to take action (if you don’t have that yet, learn how to monetize your reports), you’ve got to get your report out there and [...]
Codrut Turcanu says:
For Anita DeFrank:
Yes, agree. Whenever I crank out reports, video tutorials or whatever I put myself into the “millionaire” mindset. I strive to focus on delivering the best content ever, the type of content I’d get paid big bucks for.
EXAMPLE: when writing my latest free PDF I’ve “fooled” myself into thinking that I’m going to get paid $1,000 [at least] to write that… and I guess the content would generate 5x times that income sooner or later.
P.S. If you need a helping hand in writing your reports, let me know!
Anita DeFrank says:
Great thinking!
The mindset I pretty much use is … the better my free content … the more paid content I’ll sell.
Thanks for the offer. I’ve been doing this for quite some time so help writing the reports isn’t necessarily needed. Now reviewers, that’s an entirely different story, lol!
Great discussion!
Build Your List: Autoresponder Promotion : Contentrix – Content Marketing says:
[...] A free report – We’ve got tips to monetize your report here) [...]