Ep 157: Design the first yes: a tiny offer that sets up the big result

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We walk through the full gateway offer system—from defining the first-step win to naming, pricing, selling, and turning it into a bridge to your signature service. You’ll leave with a clear template to stop giving away free discovery and start getting paid for tangible value.

• gateway offers as the paid first step that proves value
• why clients trust faster when they get an actionable deliverable
• three traits of a strong gateway: repeatable, aligned, preparatory
• examples: audits, blueprints, benchmark reports, assessments, mini workshops
• pricing guidance using 10–25% of the main offer and founders pricing
• packaging with a clear name, tagline, and simple description
• selling via discovery calls, social teasers, and invite-only email
• upsell tactics: fee credit, fast-action bonus, clear timelines
• systematizing with scheduling, templates, and canned emails
• pipeline planning with scheduled follow-ups at 3, 6, and 12 months

Grab the replay-turned-course with step-by-step directions to launch your gateway offer for $97.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Tiny Marketing.
This is Sarah BlackBlock.
The podcast that helps B2Bservice businesses do more with
less.
Learn lean, actionable, organicmarketing strategies you can
implement today.
No fluff, just powerful growthtactics that work.
Ready to scale smarter?
Hit that subscribe button andstart growing your business with

(00:20):
Tiny Marketing.
Hi, and welcome to episode 157of the Tiny Marketing Show.
I am Sarah Noel Block.
I'm feeling much better thisweek.
Well, I wasn't, but I'm feelingmuch better today than I was
last week.
Today, we are going to talkabout gateway offers.

(00:42):
And before we dive into the meatof it, I want to tell you a
little bit about a workshop thatI put on last week for the Old
Girls Club, which is a reallyawesome community.
And if you are a female in amale-dominated industry, it's
such a good community for you tojoin.

(01:04):
You can meet a lot oflike-minded people.
But any hoozle, I put on aworkshop for that community and
I broke it into a course, sobite-sized pieces.
And that is now available forpurchase.
So if you want the replay ofthat workshop, which has now

(01:26):
been broken down into coursematerial, step-by-step
directions on how to launch yourown gateway offer, that is
available right in the shownotes, and you can grab it now
for$97.
Okay, let's jump into it.
Part one.

(01:58):
So you might also hear it calleda wedge offer or a lead off or
an entry offer.
It's all the same idea.
We're all just renaming the samething.
It's the very first step thatpeople need to take to work with
you.
So it directs new prospects towho want to work with you and

(02:21):
builds out a foundation forthem.
So think about breaking off thebeginning of the discovery piece
of your work and the onboardingpiece of your work into a
singular offer.
That is what a gateway offerlooks like.
So instead of spending hours onfree discovery calls and writing

(02:45):
a proposal that goes nowhere,um, a gateway offer lets you get
paid for the initial work whileyou're proving your value.
So it creates a win-win.
The client walks away withsomething actionable.
They have the foundation and Pin place to be able to solve the
problem that they're goingthrough right now.

(03:07):
But they also walk away withtrust and insights and a natural
upsell path.
So it's a win for both of you.
When I started using gatewayoffers in my own business,
everything changed.
Within four months, I was bookedout for six months in advance.
There was a wait list, and thatpipeline has stayed full ever

(03:28):
since because gateway offers area big win for both you and the
client.
The idea behind a gateway offeris the client needs to be able
to walk away and implementwhatever is in that gateway
offer.
And if they choose, then theycan choose to work with you on

(03:50):
your high-ticket offer and haveyou do the execution of it or
manage the execution of it.
What makes a great gatewayoffer?
There are three criteria thatyou want to hit in order to have
a really great gateway offer.
One, it needs to be easy toreplicate.
If you can create a template,create a template.

(04:11):
You don't want to reinvent thewheel every time.
So templatize.
Maybe you do an interview and adocumented.
Have those questions preppedahead of time and they need to
be able to be usable for everysingle client.
And have your document templateavailable in your Google Drive.
So all you have to do is open upthat template when you're ready

(04:32):
to document it.
Maybe it looks like an audit.
So you have that checklist doneahead of time.
So you know exactly what youneed to look at in order to
create that audit.
Two, it should be a piece ofyour signature offer because all
roads lead to that signatureoffer.
Look at your core service.
Is there a discovery phase,onboarding step, or prep work

(04:56):
that could stand on its own thatwould be a valuable thing to
complete for a client beforeever working with you on that
signature offer?
That's the best place to start.
And three, it needs to preparethem for the bigger work that
you can do for them.
So a gateway offer should getyour client ready for your

(05:17):
signature service.
So for example, if you're a webdesigner, your gateway offer
might be website copy prep.
So you walk them through whattheir copywriting should be.
It could be a usability audit.
Maybe you're going through theirwebsite and you're doing an
audit so you know exactly whatchanges need to be made.

(05:37):
So here's some examples to justspark ideas on what your gateway
offer could look like.
One, it could be an audit, likea website or a marketing audit,
or maybe a campaign audit whereyou're going through and you're
seeing what changes need to bemade.
And then your signature offerwould be making those changes.
It could be a blueprint strategywith like an interview plus a

(06:00):
short plan.
Here's an action plan of whatyou need to do next.
It could be a benchmark report.
You are comparing this businessto the industry's averages so
that you can help them see wherethey need to be and maybe build
out an action plan for them tobe able to get there.
It could be an assessment or asurvey with an analysis.

(06:22):
So they complete thatassessment, you analyze it, and
then you have a call together towork through what action steps
they need to make in order tohit this goal, hit this
challenge.
If you have more of a scalablesignature offer, then a
challenge or a mini workshopcould be good for you.
It's more of a one-to-manygateway offer.

(06:43):
Here's the kicker.
Your gateway offer should mirrorthe experience inside of your
main offer.
So if you normally workhands-on, make this interactive.
If your main program includes astrategy doc, give them a taste
of what that would look like.
You want them to have a taste ofwhat working with you is like.

(07:07):
Part three, why gateway offerswork.
So there are two main reasonsthat they work really well.
One, they build trust.
So when a prospect is cold, icecold, they've just come into
your world, they're often priceshopping.
Without trust, they'll justchoose the cheapest option.

(07:27):
A gateway offer proves yourvalue quickly and gives them
confidence that you're the rightpartner.
Two, they reveal upsellopportunities.
So during a gateway offer, youuncover not just what they need
now, but what they'll need inthree, six, twelve months from
now.
That means that you can planyour pipeline and time out when

(07:49):
upsells would make sense forthem.
A pro tip for you is to keep arunning list of future needs for
your clients.
In every gateway offer, likethis is what you're gonna need
at the six-month mark.
Have that prepared.
Then schedule a follow-up emailsix months later.
It's like planting little seedsthat blossom into projects.

(08:12):
Part four, how to package yourgateway offer.
So the simplest way to packageyour gateway offer is to name
and claim it.
First thing, you don't want tocall it a strat a strategy or an
audit because people tend topull away from that.

(08:32):
It feels like paying forsomething intangible to them,
even though it's very necessary.
So you want to name itsomething.
Choose a title that's clear,catchy, alliterative.
I like alliteration, minusstrategic spark, and then choose

(08:53):
a tagline, something that'sthree to five words and
describes the transformationthat you're providing.
And then you need a description.
So what does the container looklike?
What's the outcome?
And what's the client win thatthey can expect?
That's it.
Tattle, Taddle.
Title, tagline, description.

(09:14):
Don't overcomplicate it.
You can sell it with just thosethree things in mind.
At first, you don't need a salespage, so don't worry about that.
Just create a simple Google Docand make it feel like an
invite-only experience.
Just share it one-on-one.
Once you've got some traction,then you can build a more formal

(09:36):
landing page.
But at first, just a Google Docis fine and sending it to people
who would make sense in price.
Let's talk about that.
I remember I recommend that youstart with a founder's price at
the beginning.
That's in like the$250 to$450range.
It's just enough to prove valueand get your reps in and then

(09:58):
later raise it strategically tofilter clients who can afford
your full offer.
So I like to give a rule ofthumb of your gateway offer
should cost somewhere between 10and 25% of your main offer.
That's a good place to start.
Um, I always like the 995 mark.
I call it the why not price.

(10:19):
It's just below a thousand andit's worth a shot for that.
Part five, let's sell yourgateway offer.
Okay, you've built it.
How do you sell it?
That's the question I get allthe time.
Now that it exists, how do Isell it?
So, first, discovery calls.

(10:40):
Say the first step to workingwith me is the gateway offer.
Here's what it looks like.
Here's what you'll walk awaywith, and here's the price.
Simple, confident, done to thepoint.
You can also do social media.
Use teasers like can I tell youa secret or polls where people
essentially raise their hands.

(11:00):
Whoever engages is a warm lead.
With email, treat it as aninvite only.
So send a short email.
I've got something new I'mtesting out.
Do you want in?
Give like some exclusivity.
So maybe only your list gets itfirst.
Or you could even segment it toa list of people who'd be most

(11:22):
likely to be interested in thatgateway offer.
And then last, let's talk aboutthe upsell strategy.
So once you've done, you've soldthe gateway offer, what next?
The next thing you want to do isupsell into your main offer.
So you want to apply all or partof your gateway cost to the

(11:45):
bigger project or offer a fastaction bonus if they move
forward within X amount of days.
So let's say your gateway offercosts$995.
You can say, okay, my main offerto be able to manage this
project and make sure it getscompleted just the way we talked
about in the gateway offer isthat's$9,000.

(12:08):
Since you paid$1,000 for thegateway offer, I'll apply that
to it.
So it'll be only$8,000 for youif you sign the contract within
30 days, because I can't hold itforever.
So remember, your gateway offeris not a one-off, it's a bridge
to your high-ticket offer.

(12:30):
So the last part, part six, issystematizing your gateway offer
so it runs smoothly.
So here are a few quick tips tokeep it running frictionless.
One, use a scheduling tool thatcollects the payment and the
intake information all in one.
So it's an easy to say yesthing.

(12:52):
You go from you send them thescheduling link, they do the
intake information, they pay forit, boom, done.
Have templates for yourstrategies, your reports,
everything so you don't have toduplicate the same thing over
and over again.
Create a canned email templatefor each step of your offer.

(13:15):
So you might want an emailthat's canned for someone just
signed up.
This is the email that goes out.
You just did the interviewportion of your gateway offer.
This is the email that goes out.
You just um completed the reviewsession.
This is the email that goes out.

(13:36):
So you can set all of that up inGmail.
You can set up templates whereit's easy peasy.
You just click on that templateand it'll apply it for you.
When you systematize, sellingyour gateway offer becomes
second nature, super easy foryou.
So this is the challenge I havefor you.

(13:57):
If you're listening to this andyou're thinking, Sarah, this
sounds amazing, but I do notknow where to start.
The course that I just told youabout, the workshop that I have
turned into a bite-sized course,is the place to start.
It is perfect for you, and it'llexplain exactly how to get
started with your gateway offer.

(14:18):
And right now it's only$97.
So I'm gonna have the link inthe show notes so you can get
right to it.
And as a bonus for anybody whobuys this workshop, you also get
an invitation to the next officehours.
So you can come in and have aconversation with me and make

(14:41):
sure that your gateway offer ison the right track.
That's a wrap for today'sepisode of Tiny Marketing.
If you loved this episode,please hit subscribe, rate, and
review wherever you'relistening.
And most importantly, share thisepisode with a friend because
more consultants need to stopgiving away free proposals and

(15:03):
getting ghosted so they can getpaid for their brilliance.
Join my Gateway Offer workshopright below in the show notes.
Until next time, keep it tiny,keep it mighty, and I'll see you
next week.
You love all things tinymarketing.
Head down to the show notes pageand sign up for the wait list to

(15:26):
join the Tiny Marketing Club,where you get to work one-on-one
with me with trainings,feedback, and pop-up coaching
that will help you scale yourmarketing as a B2B service
business.
So I'll see you over in theclub.