I love giving things away.
I know, I'm supposed to be a marketer. I'm supposed to know how to get the full value for everything I supply.
But every year, I give away tons of fantastic freebies. I give away content, e-books, videos, training sessions, teleseminars and all sorts of other wonderful things.
If I had to calculate the total value of the goodies that I pass out for nothing every year, I'd need to buy a wide-screen calculator.
And yet, I don't regret giving away any of them.
That's because not only do my users benefit, but I benefit too.
There are three ways that you can benefit from giving away free gifts.
The first is very simple: take money from advertisers. That's how Internet publishers do it and many of us are making very nice sums this way.
The rule for earning with ad-supported freebies is to make the ads useful. If the ads are obtrusive, users will go around them. Then they'll go away and they won't come back. If the ads are useful -- as Google's ads are -- users will read them and make the most of them. That means advertisers will pay you for them.
Every time someone accepts one of your free offers, they also leave their contact details. Over time, that gives you a valuable database for future marketing. Your non-paying customers might not be leaving money but they're still increasing your wealth.
The rule here is not to abuse the trust that someone gives you when they hand over their email address. Only use it for the purpose they intended.
And free items can also act as samples that show users and potential customers what you're offering. White papers, free reports and chapter samples can work this way. They let readers see the quality of your advice and understand what they'll get if they buy your products or become regular users of your sites.
The rule here is the golden rule that applies to every aspect of using freebies to drive sales: make sure that what you give away is valuable.
Hand out garbage, and you'll get garbage right back. Hand out quality products and the value of those products will come back to you in spades.
It's Del.icio.us!
Furl It!
March 7, 2009 12:21 PM
Giving stuff is fun.
Heck it's also a great marketing tool, especially when you have a continuity program ties to the back end. Say, like... oh, I dunno... giving away a FREE ebook that used to sell for $97 to have people opt in to a monthly subscription to a physical newsletter/magazine. Ring a bell?
It's great marketing!
I was just watching a presentation (a marketing genius who shall remain nameless), and he was explaining that his launch cost him an initial $65,000. However, once people subscribed to the ongoing monthly program, his initial cost calculated to be for every $32 +/- he spent, he got back nearly $600.
This is no secret.
Giving good, quality, valuable stuff away is key to any businesses success.
Heck, back in the day, razor companies would give you their razor. Why, because their worked so well & you still needed to buy the replacement blades. In fact, some still do this same practice today.
Keep up the great, FREE, work- like your weekly UStream broadcast!
Best,
-K
http://www.for-the-troops.com/shop/
Ever shop online? Check us out. We donate at least 10% of our after-tax proceeds to military charities.
March 7, 2009 03:40 PM
I've used the freebie technique successfully myself. One of my niche websites promotes a specific type of real estate. I offer a 17-page free report that has resulted in over 30,000 people being added to my database.
The one problem, however, is that among those 30,000 are competitors and also vendors who not only will never become my customers but who will use the information in my report and subsequent mailings to learn and profit themselves. I guess that's the downside of offering freebies, and you just have to make sure the good outweighs the bad.
March 7, 2009 06:36 PM
Luckily I have reach your website that provide the good information like this.
March 7, 2009 11:06 PM
yes. I love giving thing away too.. in both Holy Torah and Holy Al-Quran told that.... But people alway forget it.
Give charity(zakkat).
March 8, 2009 02:48 AM
Thanks Joel.
Looks like we have to go back to Internet Marketing 101.
'Give someone value, then take something in value'
A lots of websites or online marketers seem like manipulate this strategy quite well. They gave out ebooks, software, cd or dvd, etc...but
the consumers or takers knew the trick well too...
'There is no free lunch in the world'
It's getting tougher than previous to convince your subscribers to stay with you unless you can give more values just like our 'hero' here..JoelComm.com
;> Kent
March 8, 2009 09:41 AM
Hey Joel,
It's always a pleasure and inspiration to read your words of wisdom !
I've just started to get Bettermpg4me.com (my first web site)into gear ! Sometimes it's a little overwhelming at times,i want to provide quality
content and make a positive difference and make the site profitable all at the same time...
My time is limited,for some reason they want to work for forty plus hours a week before they will pay me...So i do my level best with the rest of my time building the site & list and your suggestions will help.
Thanks for all the good FREE advice,fits my budget perfectly at this point in time!
All the best to you,
Giz
March 8, 2009 09:48 AM
A most inspiring read.
I'm just starting with giving away stuff and it feels really great. But best of all is the feedback I'm getting as a consequence of my most unusual giveaway of posting a picture a day for a year on my blog...mostly of the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, where I live
March 8, 2009 03:11 PM
Great post, Joel.
I'm constantly giving free bonuses, gifts, and tons of information for free. Yes, I agree. It's a great marketing tool, but it also feels "good" when you are giving information of value.
Your marketing posts are free and very valuable!
Doesn't that make you feel good just because?
Good to go,
Tammy
March 10, 2009 06:52 PM
That's why I've been giving away things for years. My BookMarket.com website has so much content I could sell to authors and publishers, but I give it away free. It all comes back. Always comes back.
March 27, 2009 04:31 AM
Good post! It seems that the more you give away free stuff, the more money you will make.Just make sure the stuff you give away in exchange for their name and email address is high quality and no useless crap.
March 28, 2009 10:24 PM
Giving things away has helped me to grow an enormas database as well as keep my readers happy. Joel, you got it down pat, because you know the first secret of marketing ~ give value first...
Thanks for a great post and great reminder.
Heidi Richards Mooney, Author, Entrepreneur, Business Coach
April 8, 2009 01:51 AM
Hi there !
I do agree with your post. When people receive something nice out of the blue and love what they receive, you will most probably be stored in their memory bank and come back to you when they need something.
However I would rather host a lucky draw instead of giving freebies. I mean, if I were to give out bookmark (freebies) which cost 1 dollar each to collect their contact details in return, and having a lucky draw giving away a PS3, my cost price will be lower and I might even have the same amount of contacts
=]