How To Create A Paid Sample Offer For Your Work

For a while in 2019, I offered a $33 blog post sample as a test in my business. I’ve since stopped doing this. I even did an update on the podcast as to why I stopped doing this. Before I did that update, though, I recorded this episode about how to offer a paid sample and why I was doing it.

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In today’s episode, we’ll be chatting about how to create a paid sample offer for your work.

Prospecting And Working With Different Companies Is Fun

I started creating a paid sample offer because I wanted to work with a few different HR tech companies. I wanted to see what it was like to work with new companies and write about various subjects. I got to work with a few exciting companies during this test.

Make Sure You Are Clear About The Terms And Conditions

If your paid sample offer is lower than your typical rate, you need to be clear about the terms and conditions. I spent considerable time on the page related to my sample, letting people know that this was not my usual rate. I let them know this was for one blog post, and that the price would return to my usual number afterward. I also made sure that this wasn’t a huge article. The samples were around 500-words, not my typical 800-1000 word articles.

Automate As Much Of This As Possible

Since your paid sample is likely lower than your typical rate, you don’t want to do a ton of back and forth. I used the forms block on Squarespace to automate the question asking process. I gave examples of the kind of sample requests I was looking for. After a client filled out that form, I got the form in my inbox. From there, I was able to reject or accept the sample and send an invoice.

Accept Money Before You Start Working

Since my samples were $33, I always accepted the money before I agreed to write. I sent a PayPal invoice along with my response, letting them know that I would begin work as soon as the invoice was paid.

Don’t Over-Advertise Your Sample Blog Post

You shouldn’t use your sample blog post as the initial offer. Instead, it should be the tipping point that gets people over to your side if they are still on the fence. Don’t put it at the top of your hire me page. Put it towards the bottom.