If your strategy for validating a feature is to track whitepaper downloads, you are measuring vanity, not utility. It is time to start building engines.
PDFs were never my thing and I’m happy I’ve never had to create them. Question, in the world when everyone is creating a product it’s definitely a challenge to find the signal and stand out. I’m thinking about what really brings value and what is unique from others creating it more and more lately. Great article Elena!
I'm with you! People use the PDF format like a wrapper to make a bad post feel more valuable than it is.
Honestly? I was doing the same when I opened my paid tier. 🙈 My "brilliant idea" was to give full deep dives as PDFs. My conversion was really low and they just stay there rotting because they're so hard to update for me.
I'm starting to think the goal should be: if you're going to give someone a PDF, it better be something they can actually feed into their AI to get work done.
That's how you stand out these days. You aren't giving your audience a reading assignment; you're giving them an engine. If it's not reusable data, maybe it's just clutter.
And most of those PDFs end up as one more unopenned file in the Downloads folder while just adding a row in the creator's excel for keep sending emails that won't be openned because the moment of curiosity or instant of need had passed for the consumer and now is on something else. Very insightful and actionable post, Elena!
Totally, Antonio! I can relate to that! 😂 At least the ones about research are those that I consume almost instantly, but the rest are just consuming space on my machine. Not worth the time compared to fill the form to download it!
Getting answers from AI is fast. So, it makes sense that people now want fast results from everything - including lead magnets. This was a timely message for me, thanks Elena.
I'm glad it was timely! People have lost patience for 40 page guides. They want to see the result right now, not after reading a chapter. If the lead magnet doesn't move as fast as the AI they're using, they just move on.
It makes so much sense that in an AI world, information alone isn’t enough anymore. People want to try something, test it and see a result immediately.🩷🦩
I couldn't agree more, Pinkie! Information is everywhere now, so the value isn't in knowing things anymore. It's in doing things. :) Like you amazing animations!
I think people want to touch the logic and see if it actually works for them before they commit to anything.
Great post Elena! The distinction between a tool for the "moment of execution" and a PDF for the "moment of reflection" is the clearest reframe of this I've seen, it makes the PDF defensible again instead of just obsolete. Curious how you think about the ceiling on that: at what point does a free interactive tool start cannibalizing a paid product instead of feeding it?
Thanks Mike! I love how you split the "doing" part from the "thinking" part. It makes a lot of sense. I want the tool to be there when you're in the middle of a task, and the PDF can be for when you've finished and want to look at the big picture.
On the "free vs paid" stuff: I think the free tool should just solve one small, annoying problem. It proves the logic works, pum. The paid tier is for people who want the whole system. It's the difference between a tool that handles one step and a system that handles the whole project.
Your energy and depth of product thinking in this article really hit home, Elena; I had almost the exact same realizations while building the Valentine App this February. Now I really want to build something together!
Do it Yana! It's such a game changer compared to a static PDF. Once you start focusing on the logic instead of just the words it changes how you see the whole product.
I’m obsessed with it. So let me know if you want to bounce some ideas around. :)
Okay so first of all, I must say this - the "paste your article in AI" thing ... I'm obsessed with checking that metric. I always look at how many shares my articles get, especially in the first few mins and I can almost pinpoint when people "share" them to AI!
Some articles, which are more tech heavy, ALWAYS have more shares. I don't think it's a coincidence haha.
Second, amazing post, thank you so much. And I'm thrilled that you featured me ❤️
Building the thing instead of describing it has been the single biggest mindset shift for me this year. Every time I almost write a how-to guide now I stop and ask: could this just be the tool? Usually yes. Sometimes both.
But thinking about the tool always comes first now :)
Hey Mia! II think you're the perfect example of this shift. I do the same with articles but haven’t gone deeper as you with AI for metrics, anyway, it's a brilliant way to prove the theory.
Yet I think it shows that people are using your writing as a starting point for their own work. If they're feeding your articles into a tool, it means you've already done the heavy lifting for them.
I also love your new filter: "could this just be the tool?" It’s the same wall I hit back in Sep-October last year. Why spend time explaining a process when we can just build the engine that runs it?
Thanks for being such a great partner in crime on this. It's much more fun to build the thing together than just talk about it! 🙌
PDFs were never my thing and I’m happy I’ve never had to create them. Question, in the world when everyone is creating a product it’s definitely a challenge to find the signal and stand out. I’m thinking about what really brings value and what is unique from others creating it more and more lately. Great article Elena!
I'm with you! People use the PDF format like a wrapper to make a bad post feel more valuable than it is.
Honestly? I was doing the same when I opened my paid tier. 🙈 My "brilliant idea" was to give full deep dives as PDFs. My conversion was really low and they just stay there rotting because they're so hard to update for me.
I'm starting to think the goal should be: if you're going to give someone a PDF, it better be something they can actually feed into their AI to get work done.
That's how you stand out these days. You aren't giving your audience a reading assignment; you're giving them an engine. If it's not reusable data, maybe it's just clutter.
Thank you Anna! 🙏
And most of those PDFs end up as one more unopenned file in the Downloads folder while just adding a row in the creator's excel for keep sending emails that won't be openned because the moment of curiosity or instant of need had passed for the consumer and now is on something else. Very insightful and actionable post, Elena!
Totally, Antonio! I can relate to that! 😂 At least the ones about research are those that I consume almost instantly, but the rest are just consuming space on my machine. Not worth the time compared to fill the form to download it!
Getting answers from AI is fast. So, it makes sense that people now want fast results from everything - including lead magnets. This was a timely message for me, thanks Elena.
I'm glad it was timely! People have lost patience for 40 page guides. They want to see the result right now, not after reading a chapter. If the lead magnet doesn't move as fast as the AI they're using, they just move on.
It makes so much sense that in an AI world, information alone isn’t enough anymore. People want to try something, test it and see a result immediately.🩷🦩
I couldn't agree more, Pinkie! Information is everywhere now, so the value isn't in knowing things anymore. It's in doing things. :) Like you amazing animations!
I think people want to touch the logic and see if it actually works for them before they commit to anything.
Great post Elena! The distinction between a tool for the "moment of execution" and a PDF for the "moment of reflection" is the clearest reframe of this I've seen, it makes the PDF defensible again instead of just obsolete. Curious how you think about the ceiling on that: at what point does a free interactive tool start cannibalizing a paid product instead of feeding it?
Thanks Mike! I love how you split the "doing" part from the "thinking" part. It makes a lot of sense. I want the tool to be there when you're in the middle of a task, and the PDF can be for when you've finished and want to look at the big picture.
On the "free vs paid" stuff: I think the free tool should just solve one small, annoying problem. It proves the logic works, pum. The paid tier is for people who want the whole system. It's the difference between a tool that handles one step and a system that handles the whole project.
What are your thoughts on that?
I agree. And it’s always been a crap lead magnet since you can’t measure how many people actually read it. 😜
I'm with you Brian. It's a total black box. You send a PDF into the void and just hope for the best! 😆
Your energy and depth of product thinking in this article really hit home, Elena; I had almost the exact same realizations while building the Valentine App this February. Now I really want to build something together!
I'm so glad it hit home Karo! Building different apps has been the big unlock for me too.
It makes everything feel so much more real when you stop describing the process and just ship the engine instead.
I'd love to chat about building something together. Let's do it! 🙌
Great post Elena. I've been thinking about creating some kind of an app as a lead magnet, will see :))
Do it Yana! It's such a game changer compared to a static PDF. Once you start focusing on the logic instead of just the words it changes how you see the whole product.
I’m obsessed with it. So let me know if you want to bounce some ideas around. :)
oh that’s a great idea, I’d love to have you as a sparring partner. :) Will ask for sure
Okay so first of all, I must say this - the "paste your article in AI" thing ... I'm obsessed with checking that metric. I always look at how many shares my articles get, especially in the first few mins and I can almost pinpoint when people "share" them to AI!
Some articles, which are more tech heavy, ALWAYS have more shares. I don't think it's a coincidence haha.
Second, amazing post, thank you so much. And I'm thrilled that you featured me ❤️
Building the thing instead of describing it has been the single biggest mindset shift for me this year. Every time I almost write a how-to guide now I stop and ask: could this just be the tool? Usually yes. Sometimes both.
But thinking about the tool always comes first now :)
Hey Mia! II think you're the perfect example of this shift. I do the same with articles but haven’t gone deeper as you with AI for metrics, anyway, it's a brilliant way to prove the theory.
Yet I think it shows that people are using your writing as a starting point for their own work. If they're feeding your articles into a tool, it means you've already done the heavy lifting for them.
I also love your new filter: "could this just be the tool?" It’s the same wall I hit back in Sep-October last year. Why spend time explaining a process when we can just build the engine that runs it?
Thanks for being such a great partner in crime on this. It's much more fun to build the thing together than just talk about it! 🙌
I love this, thanks for including me in this post!
Thanks Claudia, your conversation with Michael was very enlightening!
https://chandrakantkotadia.substack.com/p/my-life30-days-without-the-internet?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=5vlakc