Why should you create a "pay what you want" offer?

Each month in the Platform Launchers’ members club, we participate in what we call our “Monthly Challenge.”  The Monthly Challenge is a task that we agree to participate in at the same time to help facilitate the growth of our online platforms or to build a new tool that might have long-term benefits to what we’re building online.

Over the course of this past month, our challenge was to create a “pay what you want” offer.  If you aren’t familiar with that concept, it’s really as simple as the name would suggest.  After you create a digital product or service, you offer it on your website with no fixed cost.  Anyone who wants it can literally pay whatever they want to utilize it.  Many will pay nothing while some people will choose to pay for the resource you’ve created.

I believe in leading by example, so when I encourage our community to attempt a challenge, I participate as well.  This month, I decided to offer a 14 lesson course as my “pay what you want” offer, and here are the results in the first few days of making it available.

So far, about 30 people have downloaded the course and one person chose to pay for it.  It has only been a few days since the course was made available on my website, so I’m very pleased with the results I’ve seen thus far.  The course I’m speaking of can be found on my faith-based website, BibleStudyHeadquarters.com, and it’s the first of a series of Bible Study and Theology courses I’m going to be making available in the coming months.  They’ll all be “pay what you want” courses, and I’ll tell you why in just a moment.

If you’re a message-based online entrepreneur like I am and like the people in our online community most certainly are as well, there are multiple benefits to creating a “pay what you want” offer that I’d like to highlight.  I hope one or more of these benefits convinces you to create an offer like this at some point.

Benefit 1:  It can help you get over your fear of charging something.

For many of us, the early stages of our venture into online entrepreneurship can be fraught with fear and nervousness.  We might be afraid to make our content public because of the criticism or critique that we might receive.  We might also be afraid to charge something for the products and services we’re creating because we don’t feel worthy to do so.

Making a “pay what you want” offer available on our platform can help us overcome those fears.  We’re literally giving people the opportunity to pay nothing to gain access to our creative content.  For many people, it feels easier to promote a free offer than a paid offer.

Benefit 2:  It can help you stay focused on offering the help you’re called to offer.

I mentioned a few moments ago that I plan to continue offering courses on my faith-based website that have no fixed cost.  I have reasons for doing this that are more important to me than earning an income (even though I also champion the value of earning an income from your online platform).

One of my primary goals for BibleStudyHeadquarters.com is to provide resources that will equip people to understand the Bible and Theology so they can grow in their faith and serve others in spiritual leadership.  I teach theology classes at a Christian university, but I’m well aware of the fact that there are people who may not be able to take courses in a typical university context, either because they cannot financially afford to do so or because the present demands on their time make that nearly impossible.

I’m also aware of the fact that there are people who desire to serve in various forms of church leadership who are looking for resources that can help them grow in their theological understanding.  Many of these leaders have other careers they’re trying to juggle at the same time.  A series of free online classes can help equip them in their roles without burdening them financially or asking them to give up time they don’t have to give.

Benefit 3:  It can help build your email list.

Building an actively utilized email list is one of the most important tasks an online entrepreneur can do.  A solid email list allows you to contact your audience immediately and regularly whenever you have something new to offer.  It also liberates you from operating at the mercy of social media algorithms which may or may not place your messages in front of your intended audience.

When people download your “pay what you want” offers, they’re also going to be leaving their email address.  That will give you many opportunities to connect with them again in the future when it’s time to offer new products and services.

Benefit 4:  It can increase traffic to your website.

As word gets around about your “pay what you want” offer, more people are going to visit your website to get a copy for themselves.  It’s also likely that they’re going to share your website with others who might be interested in what you’re making available.

The increased traffic to your website will help you build online authority.  It will also help expose visitors to your other products, services, books, workshops, and anything else you make available online.

PWYW Do’s and Don’ts

As I wrap this up, let me just offer a few ideas of things I would share in a “pay what you want” offer and what I would not offer.

Courses, ebooks, pdf checklists, and other pieces of digitally delivered content that you only have to work once to create make good candidates for this kind of offer because they won’t demand further time from you.  And since you’re essentially offering this for free, it’s wise to make sure it doesn’t become overly time-consuming.

Coaching, mentorship, or anything that might take a lot of time or ongoing commitment to deliver would probably not be wise to offer on a “pay what you want” basis.  There may be some limited contexts where offering something like that still makes sense, but it’s usually wise to reserve your most time-consuming tasks for clients who are able to offer you financial compensation.

© John Stange, 2024