How Free Users Can Make You Rich... Very Rich
Your revenue will come from the top 10%—but only if you serve the rest
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Introduction
If you're in the service business, it’s time to get comfortable with a hard truth: Only 10% of your audience will ever pay you.
The rest? They’ll use your services for free — and that’s not a bad thing at all.
The economics of "free" users
Here’s the new game: Give more. Charge less. Earn big.
In today’s world, value-first marketing is everything.
- You’ve got to lead with value.
- You’ve got to show your expertise.
- You’ve got to win trust by giving away real help without asking for anything in return.
Still not convinced? Think Google. Think YouTube.
How many people pay for Gmail? Barely anyone.
How many people pay for YouTube Premium? A fraction.
But everyone uses them.
Billions of users rely on Gmail and YouTube daily.
Only a small percentage pays — yet the companies are thriving.
Why?
Because free users:
- Spread the word (free advertising).
- Add to the user base (increases perceived credibility).
- Help with monetization (ads, data, brand power), and most importantly
- Some convert into paying customers.
The real growth in service businesses is all about execution.
Build a great product, offer real results for free.
Focus on massive value creation — not just short-term revenue.
And when you're ready to charge — let the 10% come to you.
Here's what to do if you're in the service space
Share your knowledge, let people try your services.
Build loyalty and trust with your content.
Don’t worry about conversion rates right away.
Because in the long run, that 10% will pay you more than you ever imagined.
And the other 90%?
They’ll still be cheering for you, sharing your work, and expanding your reach.
Food for thought
Free value is your best sales pitch. Don’t hold back. Play the long game.
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Follow me on Instagram and drop me a DM telling me you came to my Insta profile through Substack. I promise you, that will make my day.
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Prompt used to create the image for the note
P.S.: Image made on Meta AI using the prompt, “Imagine a team of a SAAS celebrating onboarding 10 million users on the platform”