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Make money like Google by selling it for free
| Guest post by: Larry Mandelberg |
Article Overview: Google has recently been trading in the mid-$500's. Their market cap is approx. 180b...yes, b, like billion. And when was the last time you paid for a search??? You can read my article on selling for free, or you can listen to Chris Anderson's book "Free - The future of a radical price." Better yet, do both!
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Free Download - It's not about who you know... By Larry Mandelberg |
Make money like Google by selling it for free
The fastest way to increase sales is to give away something of value. Not something you think is valuable; something your target market thinks is valuable. I'm not under the influence of drugs and I haven't lost my mind...yet. This approach has been around for centuries and it works just as well now as it has throughout history.
If you think I'm crazy, go online and look up the stock price for Google. Their ticker symbol is GOOG and their stock has recently been trading in the mid $500 range. Total market capitalization? 178.85B That's Billion with a B. That number looks like...
$178,000,000,000.00
When was the last time you paid Google for a search? Their latest offering is free 411 service...have you used it yet? I have.
There are many examples of companies that have made fortunes offering value for free. From Gillette to Jell-O; Southwest airlines peanuts and pretzels to cocktail lounges with free happy hour snacks, there's free stuff popping up everywhere.
The trick is to give real value without asking for compensation. If you can do that, if you can make people feel good, when they get that feeling without spending any money, they're going to remember it.
You have to be careful with this idea and do some solid planning before you jump in. First, you have to know what your customers and prospects are looking for, and you need to find a way to get it for them without consuming too much of your own resources.
A Case Study
When a new supermarket came to town a few years back, they struggled to gain a foothold. Their philosophy was a big departure from the stores they acquired. Customers went through a culture shock as did existing staff and management.
The experience customers had come to expect was no longer being delivered. It wasn't a matter of better or worse, it was a problem because people's shopping expectations weren't being fulfilled. Corporate came up with a brilliant idea - give food away for free.
The way it worked is this: Purchased $25 worth of merchandise, you get a free half-gallon of orange juice. Spend $50 and you get the OJ and a 5lb bag of potatoes. Free. Spend $75 and you get the OJ, the potatoes and a 3rd item all for free.
Huge displays of 'free' merchandise were right by the checkout stands and baggers fetched it while you were checking out. I had no idea what was happening the first time it happened to me. My bagger put something I hadn't picked up in my bag. I asked what he was doing and both he and the clerk said "It's free. Are you sure you don't want it?"
Of course I took it. Didn't really need it but I took it and went home and told my wife. I also told my friends. Then I told the attendee's at the Rocklin Chamber of Commerce when I was their program speaker a couple of weeks later. You would've thought they were paying me a promotional fee.
Guess what happened to their average customer total purchase amount.
Bottom line, it worked. Sales came roaring back and they're growing at a steady pace. Checkers are happier, and so are the shoppers. I know this because that very store has become my favorite supermarket even though it's not my closest.
Another Example
If you're selling a service or providing a skill, the same idea works. Tis' the season for taxes and Turbo Tax, one of the more popular tax preparation tools, is giving their services away...for free. Just go to their website and look for the ‘Free Edition' - it even includes free eFile.
They're giving away their software for free so the people who are starting to do their taxes become familiar with TurboTax. The idea is as these low wage earners increase their income and the complexity of their reporting needs, they will go to Turbo Tax and become paying customers.
By the way, they also offer fantastic online technical support for free.
What can you do?
Whether you're selling B2B or B2C, you have knowledge and information of value to your customers. Capture some of it and put it into a nice format and give it away.
Start with your customers, then find other vehicles for free distribution. There are many places you can have your material distributed if you're not trying to sell it.
From Chambers of Commerce to the bulletin board in your local grocery store, find a way to get your valuable knowledge into the hands of people and if they perceive it as having value, they'll be back for more, I guarantee it.
And when they come back, they'll feel a whole lot better about spending money with you because you have already done your part - you gave them something they found value in for free!
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Article Tags: billion, free, google, market cap, money when was the last time, the last time
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About the Author: Larry Mandelberg RSS for Larry's articles - Visit Larry's website Larry Mandelberg is a business consultant specializing in helping entrepreneurial companies through the go-go stage of development and become professional organizatoins. With over 30 years experience as CEO and consultant, Mandelberg has has launched 4 start-ups, led a merger, and headed a successful turn-around. He is a frequent speaker at business events throughout the western U.S. Larry has been writing his 'Eyes on Business' column for the Sacramento Business Journal for 6 years. As a student of organizational lifecycles, Larry has developed a system to help business owners create sustainable growth. He has been a guest on television and radio programs talking about business and entrepreneurship. Mandelberg is the Board Chair for Innovative Education Management, a charter school management firm, teaches the team building class for the Sacramento Entrepreneurship Academy, and has served as the Vice President of Administration for his synagogue. E-mail larry@mandelberg.biz or call (916) 798-0600 for more information. Click here to visit Larry's website   Should Leaders Ask Questions or Have Answers The Impact of Culture on Acquisitions High Performance Project Teams Clarify Your Purpose with a Business Plan The Executives Dilemma |
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Revenue Streams for Websites
- Too funny, I was just reading a book: Multiple Streams of Internet Income: How Ordinary People make extraordinary money on line, by Robert G. Allen. 2001
That's a misnomer, though - they're not ordinary people, they're people with established careers who can take their expertise and exploit it on the web.
Ways to generate income?
1) Sell your own material on the site. Ebooks, etc.
2) Join various affiliate programs that match what your website is about.
3) Google adsense - All my money comes from this... it's started out slow but as readership of my sites grown, the income has grown. Nothing to write home about yet...
4) Google adwords - the advertisers whose ads show up on Google Adsense. Unless you're selling big ticket items on your site you don't want to use it, your keywords can cost from 20 cents upwards.
Greetings and Emancipations
- Greetings to all.
My name is Woody Quinones and I am in the beautiful state of Florida. I have been selling since the age of 10. I am now 51. My selling, like my life, as been very diverse. I've made lots of money and I've lost lots of money. As a student of making money I'm always looking for expert advice.
I've recently stumbled onto Evan's site. I've been going through the archives to get some idea of the content posted at this forum and have read some interesting posts. I look forward to being apart of this group and hopefully some long term friendships.
Re: What is Email marketing?
- You can use something like constant contact to keep in touch with your clients or customers.
I find it's a better tool for providing knowledge and staying connected, versus selling -- though a small ad at the bottom of your newsletter doesn't hurt. I wrote email marketing campaigns for companies in a past career life (before becoming a coach), and the response rates were much better when the newsletter was more like news and less like a sales pitch.
For instance, write an article about a new study showing how healthy running is, and then offer a discount coupon for running shoes on the bottom of the email.
People are bombarded with ads and they are usually boring. Make your email more interesting and you'll improve response rates, which are typically quite low for email.
You can build an opt-in list by providing some value first. For instance, get a free (fill in the blank) when you subscribe to this newsletter. Make sure it's something fairly small and easy for you to deliver. Or attend events, offer a contest, etc. "win a ___ and get a free newsletter." That's a great way to capture a lot of emails.
Also make sure your subscribers can easily opt out, as nothing is more annoying than being caught on someone's list who has made it impossible to opt out.
Should I invest in a patent or marketing?
- Hello Evancarmichael forum members. I'm hoping you can help me out. I have a new invention that I would like to promote but am limited in my startup funds. I'm wondering if I should use my money to get a patent and protect my idea or put the money into marketing to help generate revenue?
I've been told that if I start selling without a patent then I can never go back and get a patent for the idea... but if I don't start selling I won't have money to build my company.
any suggestions?
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