224: The #1 Mindset Shift to Turn Free Content Into Consistent Revenue
If you’ve ever wondered how to turn your free content into real income, you’re not alone—and I’m breaking it all down in this episode.
This week on the Creator’s MBA podcast, I’m answering a powerful question from one of my members: “How do I know what my audience will actually pay for?” If you've been giving away your knowledge for free and you're ready to shift into a for-profit digital product business, this one’s for you. I share the mindset shift that made a huge difference in my business and the practical strategies you can start using right away.
You’ll learn how to identify what’s already working, test paid offers quickly, and turn your content into consistent income—all without feeling like you're constantly “selling.” Whether you're just starting out or looking to grow, this episode will help you take that next step with confidence and clarity.
What You’ll Learn:
Why giving away free content isn’t enough to build a profitable business
The mindset shift that helped me stop waiting and start earning
How to identify what your audience actually wants to buy
Three simple ways to test paid offers fast
What a tripwire funnel is—and how to use one effectively
Why your newsletter is one of your best sales tools
How to make every piece of content lead to revenue
You don’t have to overhaul everything overnight, but you do need to take that first step. If you’re ready to turn your free content into consistent revenue, this episode will show you exactly how to do it. Press play and let’s dive in!
Mentioned in this episode:
Newsletter Profit Club – Learn my Teach and Pitch Method to monetize your weekly emails
How I Turned Free Content Into a Consistent Income Stream (And How You Can Too)
If you’ve ever wondered how to turn your free content into real income, you’re not alone—and I’m breaking it all down in this post.
This question came straight from one of my members: “How do I know what my audience will actually pay for?” It’s a common challenge, especially if you’ve been giving away your knowledge for years. I’ve been there too. The good news is, you’re not starting from scratch—you’ve already built trust and helped people. Now it’s time to make that shift into consistent, predictable income.
Let’s walk through the mindset shift and simple strategies that can help you turn your free value into a thriving digital product business.
The Mindset Shift: Value Is Only Part of the Equation
When I started out, I believed that if I just gave enough value, the sales would follow. But here’s what I’ve learned: people don’t buy just because you’re generous. They buy when you give them a clear opportunity to go deeper—when you make an offer.
So every piece of content I create now points to something they can pay for. Not in a pushy way, but with a clear next step. I still give away tons of free value, but now it has direction.
Start With What’s Already Working
Your audience is already giving you clues. What content gets the most engagement? What are people constantly asking you about? That’s gold.
Instead of guessing, build on what’s already resonating. If your audience is loving a particular video, post, or tip—there’s your opportunity. Create a workshop. Build a simple course. Offer a printable or guide. Meet your audience where they already are.
Test Paid Offers Quickly and Simply
You don’t need a huge launch to start monetizing. One of my favorite strategies is running a small, low-cost workshop—$7 to $27—to gauge interest. You’ll quickly see what people are willing to pay for.
Another method I love is using a tripwire funnel. When someone joins your list from a freebie, offer them a low-cost digital product right away. It’s a powerful way to start generating revenue from your warmest leads.
Your Newsletter Is a Sales Tool (Yes, Really)
If you’re not already using your newsletter to sell, let’s change that. I teach something called the Teach and Pitch Method inside my Newsletter Profit Club. It’s all about offering value while weaving in a natural invitation to take the next step—whether that’s a paid workshop, digital product, or even an affiliate offer.
It doesn’t have to be pushy. Just consistent.
The Big Picture: Give Your Content Direction
If you want a business that supports your life, every piece of content you create needs to guide your audience toward a paid offer. Your blog posts, podcast episodes, emails, and videos should all have a clear next step.
This is exactly how I’ve built my brands, and I know it can work for you too.
And if you want help putting this all together—your tripwire, offers, funnels, and content strategy—I’d love to have you inside the Digital Product Growth Lab. Let’s build your profitable digital product business together.
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] Welcome to the Creator's MBA podcast, your go-to resource for mastering the art and science of digital product entrepreneurship. My name is Dr. Destini Copp and I help business owners generate consistent revenue from their digital product business without the need to be glued to their desk. Constantly live, launching or worrying about the social media algorithms.
I hope you enjoy our episode today.
Hi there, Destini here and welcome back to the Creator's MBA podcast. And today I want to address a really important question that I got this week from one of my members. Basically here's what she was asking. The question was twofold. How can I know what my [00:01:00] audience would actually pay for? I've given away my knowledge for free for a long time, and I'm not sure how to shift into a for profit business.
So if you have ever felt this way. You are not alone. I have been there too, and I know how tricky this can feel, especially if your business has been built around free content up to this point. So what I wanted to do today was talk about to make that shift without really feeling weird about it. First of all, I want you to know that you're not starting from scratch.
So if you have been sharing your knowledge for free, maybe on social media, YouTube, in person, wherever you are already ahead, you have built trust, you have helped people, [00:02:00] and that is so valuable. But now here's what I want you to do. I want you to take that knowledge and start building consistent income from it.
And for that to happen, we need to change two things in your business. One is your strategy. And the second is your mindset. So I'm gonna first start with the mindset. So when I first started my business, I was told that I had to give away tons of value so that people would trust me enough to buy. And let me tell you, I took that advice very seriously.
I gave and I gave and I waited. But here's what I eventually learned. People don't automatically buy just because you are generous with your content and with your knowledge they buy because you give them an [00:03:00] opportunity to do so with a clear offer. A clear next step. So if you've been wondering why isn't this converting?
That could be it. You've built the relationship, but you haven't made the offer consistently. Everything you create should point to something that you get paid for, and that is the shift that I made in my business Now. Nearly everything I create today has a next step, a call to action that leads to one of my offers.
And that doesn't mean that I am constantly pushing a cell. It just means that I am guiding people. For example, when I record a podcast episode. Just like this one, I am thinking how can this help someone [00:04:00] and what is the best next step that they could take? This might be joining one of my memberships, signing up for a workshop or checking out.
I. A digital product that I have is helpful content, and I'm always giving them a gentle invitation to go deeper, and that's how I approach it, and that's exactly what I want for you too. Let's answer the next question. So her question was, how can I figure out what my audience will pay for? And I wanna get very practical here.
Here are a few things that you can do to find out what your audience will buy. The first thing I want you to watch what's already working. If there's something that you're doing. That is working and it is going very well. That tells me that there's interest in demand. So then that question [00:05:00] becomes, how can we bring that success into your business so that you're actually making money from it?
You could offer a workshop to teach it to others. You could create a printable, you could build a beginner friendly course. You really don't have to guess. What I want you to do is to build upon. What people are already engaging with. That tells me that they like what you're doing and if you give them an opportunity, they're gonna wanna take it a step further.
And that brings me to my next point, is I want you to pay attention to your most. Popular free content. So what are people asking about? What videos or posts get the most response? What do people thank you for when you're helping them? That is your signal. And then three, I want you to test [00:06:00] a paid offer and test it quickly.
You don't need to build a big course or launch a signature program right away. I want you to start small. It can be like putting together a simple workshop pricing at seven $27. Invite your audience. See who shows up, and that alone will tell you what people are willing to pay for. The other thing you can do is use a trip wire funnel to test demand.
So if you're already getting people on your email list, you can add in a low cost trip wire funnel. It might be something like a $19 product that. Shows up immediately after they opt in for your lead magnet. That's a great way to start generating revenue from people who are already interested in what you have to offer.
The other thing you can do is use a trip wire funnel to test demand. So if you're already getting people on your email list through like a lead magnet, you can add in a low [00:07:00] cost trip wire funnel, something like a nine or $19 product that shows up immediately after they opt in. So that is a great way to start generating revenue for people who are already interested in you and what you're doing.
The other thing I don't want you to forget about is your weekly newsletter. So if you are sending emails to your list. And I hope all of you are, you're gonna be selling in those emails too. Not necessarily in every single sentence, but really as part of your regular rhythm. And I teach this inside the Newsletter Profit Club, and it's called My Teach and Pitch Method.
You're offering something valuable and then you're inviting them to take the next step. It might be a workshop, a digital download, and an affiliate product, whatever. Fits for the value added content that you're giving them. The point here is you are making it easy for them to go further with [00:08:00] you if they want.
Now, here is the big takeaway. If you are serious about growing a. For-profit business that every piece of content, your emails, your videos, your blog posts, your podcast episodes, are going to point people to one of your paid offers. That doesn't mean that you're gonna stop giving value, it just means that your value.
Has direction, and that's how I have built all of my brands. And I know that this can work for you too. And if you want help putting this together, whether it's creating your tripwire, putting together your offers, and building that consistent income from your digital product business, I would love to have you inside of the digital product Growth Lab.
That is where we will turn free content that you have into predictable income and help you build a business that supports your life. Thanks so much for listening [00:09:00] today, and I will see you in the next episode. Bye for now.
Thanks for listening all the way to the end. I hope you enjoyed this episode today. If you love the show, I'd appreciate a review on Apple Podcast or your favorite podcast platform. Have a great rest of your day and bye for now.