The 'Secret' That's Costing You New Customers
I was sitting down with a cabinet maker in Geebung a few months back. Great bloke, unbelievable craftsmanship. His workshop was spotless, and his finished kitchens looked like something out of a magazine.
He told me, "I spend three hours every Sunday night writing these detailed guides on how to choose the right timber and what to look for in a kitchen renovation. I put them on my website, and heaps of people read them. But the phone isn't ringing any more than it used to."
He was making a classic mistake. He was giving away the 'milk' for free and wondering why nobody was buying the cow.
In the marketing world, people call this "gated content." But let’s call it what it actually is: An exchange.
You have valuable information that helps a homeowner or a business owner. They have a problem they need solved. To get your best advice, they should at least give you their name and email address so you can follow up with them.
If you just put everything out there with no way to capture a lead, you aren't running a business; you're running a library. And libraries don't pay the mortgage.
The Myth: "People Hate Giving Their Email Addresses"
You’ve probably heard this one. "Oh, I never fill out those forms, so my customers won't either."
That’s rubbish.
You don't fill out forms for boring stuff. You don't fill out forms for a "monthly newsletter" because nobody wakes up in the morning wanting more junk mail.
But if you’re a parent in North Lakes looking for a reliable electrician because your switchboard keeps tripping, and you see a guide called "5 Signs Your Home Wiring is a Fire Hazard (And What it Costs to Fix)," you’re going to give your email address in a heartbeat.
Why? Because the value of that information is higher than the "cost" of an email address.
Most business owners fail here because they try to gate things that aren't valuable. If you gate a basic price list, people will just go to your competitor's site. But if you gate your expertise—the stuff that actually saves them money or stress—you’re building a list of people who are literally raising their hands and saying, "I have this problem."
What Should You Actually 'Gate'?
Don't hide your 'About Us' page or your basic service descriptions. That’s just silly. People need to know who you are and what you do before they trust you.
Instead, you want to hide the "Deep Dive" info.
Here are three things that work like a charm for Brisbane tradies and professional services:
1. The Budget Calculator: People are terrified of being ripped off. A simple PDF or tool that helps them estimate the cost of a deck, a new roof, or a legal consultation is gold. 2. The 'Avoid These Mistakes' Guide: Talk about the three biggest blunders you see people make in your industry. For a landscaper, it might be "The 3 Plants That Will Destroy Your Retaining Wall in 5 Years." 3. The Checklist: A simple one-page sheet. "The Ultimate Pre-Auction Inspection Checklist for First Home Buyers."
When you use content that actually gets jobs, you stop being a commodity and start being the expert.
The Trade-Off Nobody Mentions
Here is the honest truth: When you put a form in front of your content, fewer people will read it.
If 100 people visit your site and the guide is "open," maybe 80 will read it. If you put a form in front of it, maybe only 15 will fill it out.
Marketers get obsessed with the 80. They want "traffic" and "views."
I don't care about views. I care about your bank account.
I'd rather you have 15 names and phone numbers of people who are genuinely interested in your service than 80 anonymous visitors who read your tip, said "thanks," and then forgot you existed. Those 15 people are leads. You can call them. You can email them. You can turn them into money.
How to Do It Without Being Annoying
You don't need a fancy IT degree to set this up. You just need a way to collect an email and a way to send the file.
1. The Hook: A clear headline on your site. "Want our 2024 Price Guide? Enter your email below." 2. The Form: Keep it short. Name and Email. Maybe Phone Number if you're a high-end service. Every extra box you add makes people less likely to finish it. 3. The Delivery: Your website sends them an automated email with the link.
This works 24/7 while you're on the tools or out at a job. It's like having a salesman who never sleeps and never asks for a commission.
Why Most 'Gated Content' Fails
Most businesses fail because their "bribe" is weak.
If you're a mortgage broker and your gated content is "Why You Need a Home Loan," you're going to fail. Everyone knows they need a loan. It's boring.
But if your guide is how your story wins customers by showing how you helped a local family save $400 a month on their repayments despite the interest rate hikes, people will fight to read that.
You have to solve a specific, nagging problem.
Stop Wasting Money on 'Brand Awareness'
I see so many small businesses in Brisbane spending thousands on Facebook ads or Google ads just to send people to their homepage.
That is a massive waste of money.
If you're paying for clicks, you should be sending that traffic to a page where they can download something valuable. That way, even if they don't buy from you today, you've captured their details.
You can then use list articles to get quotes by emailing them once a week with helpful tips. Eventually, when they are ready to pull the trigger, you are the only person they think of because you've been in their inbox helping them for the last month.
The Bottom Line
If you are serious about growing your business this year, you need to stop being a free information kiosk.
Start valuing your expertise. Put your best advice behind a simple form. It will feel weird at first. You might think you're losing people. But look at your phone. If it starts ringing with people who already know, like, and trust you because they read your guide, you'll know it's working.
It takes about a day to set this up properly, and it can change your business in a month.
Ready to stop chasing leads and start having them come to you?
At Local Marketing Group, we help Brisbane businesses build systems that actually make money, not just look pretty. We don't do fluff, and we don't do jargon. We just get results.
Contact us today and let's get your phone ringing.