Put Something to Buy Behind Your Free Gift
This is the part that turns a speaking spot into money the same week, and it's the part most speakers skip entirely.
Somebody watches your workshop, opts in for your gift, lands on your delivery page, and right there, while they're the most interested in you they will ever be, there's nothing to buy. So they take the free thing and leave, and the next time you ask them for money it's a cold email six weeks later.
This is part four of the Get Speaker Ready series. In part three we built the gift and put it on a page you control. Now we're putting something on that page.
Why the same week matters so much
Interest has a shelf life and it's shorter than anybody wants it to be. On the day somebody watches your workshop, they know your face, they remember your voice, and they just decided you know what you're talking about. Four days later most of that is gone.
So the small paid offer isn't there to make you rich on summit week. It's there because a customer and a subscriber are two different assets, and the cheapest moment to turn one into the other is right now, while they're still holding the free thing you gave them.
A buyer relationship on day one. Everything you sell to that person for the next two years is easier because they already know what it's like to pay you and get something worth having.
The first offer: something small, right behind the gift
This is usually called a tripwire, which is an ugly word for a very simple thing. It's a small paid product that solves the very next problem somebody has after they use your free gift.
What to price it at
Somewhere between $9 and $47 for most people. The number matters less than the decision it requires. You want a price where somebody can say yes without thinking about it, and without asking their spouse, and without reading a sales page for four minutes.
If you're at the higher end of that range, the offer needs to be obviously worth it at a glance, so it should be something concrete like templates, a short workshop, or a done-for-you version of the work.
What it should be
The next problem, and only the next problem. Your gift got them to a decision or a result, and now there's an obvious wall right in front of them. Sell the thing that gets them past that wall.
If your gift was a worksheet that helps somebody pick which product to sell, the small offer is the thing that helps them build and price it. If your gift was a check on whether their offer is ready, the small offer is the fix for the most common problem that check turns up.
What it should not be
A discount on your signature offer. I see this a lot and it almost never works at summit volume. A $497 course at $397 is still a $397 decision from somebody who met you forty minutes ago, and the discount also teaches people that your prices are soft. Sell a small complete thing instead.
"A tripwire isn't a cheaper version of your offer. It's a small finished thing that solves the problem your free gift just uncovered."
Dr. Destini CoppThe order bump: the yes people add on the way through
An order bump is the little checkbox at checkout that adds something to the order for a few dollars more. It sits on the page where somebody is already entering their card, which is why it converts better than almost anything else you'll build.
Keep it cheap, usually $9 to $27, and make it the done-for-you version of the thing they just bought. If the offer is a workshop on building something, the bump is the template that saves them the building. If the offer is a strategy, the bump is the tracker or planner that runs it.
One pattern worth knowing, and I've watched this across a lot of summit checkouts in my own business. Bumps that hand somebody a tool they'll actually use, like a planner or a tracker, consistently beat bumps that hand them more content to consume. Same price, same audience, very different attach rate. So when you're choosing between a bonus training and a bonus template, take the template.
The upsell: one bigger thing, right after
After somebody buys, show them one more offer. This is where the bigger product goes, and it's the natural home for the thing your workshop was pointing at all along.
Keep it to one. Two upsells and a downsell is a machine you'll build badly under time pressure, and this whole sequence has to be live before you record. One good upsell is plenty for a first pass.
If your signature offer is priced under a few hundred dollars, it can be the upsell directly. If it's a high-ticket offer, the upsell should be a step in between, something like a paid workshop or a small group thing, and the signature offer comes later through follow-up.
Free gift, on a page you control
They opt in from your workshop and land on your delivery page. The gift is at the top and it takes twenty minutes to use.
Small paid offer, $9 to $47
Sitting right below the gift on the same page. Solves the very next problem, priced so the decision is easy.
Order bump, $9 to $27
A checkbox at checkout. The done-for-you version of what they just bought, usually a template, tracker, or planner.
One upsell, right after purchase
The bigger thing. Either your signature offer, or the step in between if your signature offer is high-ticket.
What if you have nothing to sell yet
Plenty of speakers land here, especially the first time out, and it doesn't have to stop you.
The fastest thing you can build is the paid version of your own workshop. You're already making a 30-minute session for the event, so make the longer version, the one where you actually walk through the whole build instead of the piece that fits in the slot. Add the templates you use. That's a real $27 product and it takes an afternoon because you're already doing 80% of the work.
The second fastest is the thing people already ask you for. Most of us have one thing that comes up in every conversation, and usually we give it away in DMs. Write it up, price it, and put it on the page.
What I'd avoid is inventing something brand new for this. You have a deadline, and a rushed product you don't believe in will read as rushed.
If you only have time for one piece of this, build the small paid offer and put it on the gift page. The bump and the upsell add revenue per buyer, but the offer itself is what creates the buyer in the first place.
All of this has to exist before you hit record
This is the deadline people miss, so I want to be plain about it. At the end of your workshop you pitch your free gift and you say the URL out loud. That means the page, the offer, the bump, and the upsell all have to be built and working before the camera goes on, because you can't change what you said on a recording once it's submitted.
Recordings are usually due a few weeks ahead of the event, so that's your real deadline. Work back from it.
Test the whole path yourself before you record. Opt in with your own email, land on the page, buy your own product, check the bump, check the upsell, check the delivery email, check that the receipt looks right. Then say that URL on camera knowing it works.
Broken checkout on the day of a summit is the most expensive mistake in this entire series, because the traffic comes in a wave and then it's gone. You get one shot at that wave.
Next up
The last piece is what happens after the event ends, which is where the real money in a speaking spot lives. That's part five.
- What a speaking spot is actually worth
- Pick a workshop topic that leads to your offer
- How to pick the free gift for your speaking spot
- Put something to buy behind your free gift (you're here)
- What to do with your leads after the event
Map the whole thing out in your first month.
Inside the Creator's MBA AI Mastermind you get a strategy session with me in your first month to map the offer, the bump, and the upsell behind your speaking spot. $97 a month, cancel anytime.
Join the AI Mastermind →Frequently Asked Questions
A small paid product, usually between $9 and $47, that sits right behind a free gift and solves the very next problem somebody has after using it. The point is less about the revenue and more about turning a subscriber into a customer on day one, while they still remember your workshop.
Between $9 and $47 for most people. The exact number matters less than the size of the decision. You want a price somebody can say yes to without reading a long sales page or thinking it over. Toward the higher end, the offer needs to look obviously worth it at a glance, so lean toward templates or a short workshop.
The done-for-you version of whatever they just bought, priced around $9 to $27. Bumps that hand somebody a tool they will use, like a planner, tracker, or template, consistently outperform bumps that hand them more content to watch.
It rarely works at summit volume. A $497 course at $397 is still a large decision for somebody who met you forty minutes ago, and discounting also teaches people your prices are soft. A small complete product converts better and creates a buyer you can sell to later.
Build the paid version of your own workshop. You are already creating a 30-minute session, so make the longer version where you walk through the full build, add the templates you use, and price it around $27. That is a real product and it takes an afternoon because most of the work is already done.
