Some free advice about freebies
Some free advice about freebies
In fact, when it comes to marketing your product or service, “free” can take on near magical proportions. It’s amazing how four little letters can open doors and pocketbooks the world over.
Whether you’re giving away a free newsletter, free samples, buy-one-get-one-free, or a free widget, use the word “free” in your advertising materials, and you can watch your response rates soar.
By now you may be thinking that offering something for free sounds like a smart idea. Well, before you do, here are some guidelines:
1. Make your free offer something of value.
Never give away junk…it just ticks people off. Not only that, but then they’ll tell other people how cheesy your freebie was. You could end up doing yourself a lot more harm than good. Free shipping, free booklets, free pens, free service…make sure your offer is quality, desirable, and usable.
2. Get something in return.
Most freebies are made to either generate a sale, a referral, or something else of value to the company making the offer - even if it’s a simple email address or customer goodwill. Decide what you want to get in return before you decide what you’re going to give away for free.
3. Don’t attach strings.
The freebie itself needs to be truly free – otherwise, you risk losing repeat customers. When you attach strings to a free offer, you become suspect in the customer’s mind. Do you really think they’re going to continue doing business with you if they don’t trust you?
4. Make the offer relative to your brand.
Your free offer becomes even more powerful if it builds your brand in some way. For instance, when people go to my website and sign up for my weekly ezine, they receive a free, downloadable e-booklet called “11 Quick Ways to Build Business.” Hopefully, they find it valuable - but it’s also valuable to me from a branding standpoint because it reiterates the fact that my website is about helping small businesses grow. If you can, tie your freebie into your brand.
5. Keep it simple.
Don’t complicate your offer. If you make it difficult, you will chase people away, and leave them with a bad taste in their mouths regarding your company. Keep it real, and make it easy.
6. Deliver.
If you are offering a freebie that has to be sent to the customer, send it in a timely and efficient manner. Take this opportunity to dazzle your customer with efficiency. Nothing impresses a customer more than a company that keeps its promises.
7. Follow up.
Again, we offer freebies not only to make sales, but also to build repeat business. Don’t be shy about following up your free offer with another offer, or checking to see how they liked your free offer.
8. Cater to the skeptic.
As much as free can be a powerful consumer trigger, it can also turn some people off. So if you’re in a business where there are a lot of skeptics, experiment with offering an some alternative to free that still gives an incentive, but doesn’t scare them away…like a money-back guarantee, or a discount.
Can you think of ways that you can start putting the power of “free” to work for your small business? Because in this day when money is tight, I believe “free” might become even more powerful than ever.
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Some free advice about freebies - To learn more about this author, visit Donna Williams's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Out of all 616,500 words in the English language, one of the most powerful – if not THE most powerful – is the word “free.”
In fact, when it comes to marketing your product or service, “free” can take on near magical proportions. It’s amazing how four little letters can open doors and pocketbooks the world over.
Whether you’re giving away a free newsletter, free samples, buy-one-get-one-free, or a free widget, use the word “free” in your advertising materials, and you can watch your response rates soar.
By now you may be thinking that offering something for free sounds like a smart idea. Well, before you do, here are some guidelines:
1. Make your free offer something of value.
Never give away junk…it just ticks people off. Not only that, but then they’ll tell other people how cheesy your freebie was. You could end up doing yourself a lot more harm than good. Free shipping, free booklets, free pens, free service…make sure your offer is quality, desirable, and usable.
2. Get something in return.
Most freebies are made to either generate a sale, a referral, or something else of value to the company making the offer - even if it’s a simple email address or customer goodwill. Decide what you want to get in return before you decide what you’re going to give away for free.
3. Don’t attach strings.
The freebie itself needs to be truly free – otherwise, you risk losing repeat customers. When you attach strings to a free offer, you become suspect in the customer’s mind. Do you really think they’re going to continue doing business with you if they don’t trust you?
4. Make the offer relative to your brand.
Your free offer becomes even more powerful if it builds your brand in some way. For instance, when people go to my website and sign up for my weekly ezine, they receive a free, downloadable e-booklet called “11 Quick Ways to Build Business.” Hopefully, they find it valuable - but it’s also valuable to me from a branding standpoint because it reiterates the fact that my website is about helping small businesses grow. If you can, tie your freebie into your brand.
5. Keep it simple.
Don’t complicate your offer. If you make it difficult, you will chase people away, and leave them with a bad taste in their mouths regarding your company. Keep it real, and make it easy.
6. Deliver.
If you are offering a freebie that has to be sent to the customer, send it in a timely and efficient manner. Take this opportunity to dazzle your customer with efficiency. Nothing impresses a customer more than a company that keeps its promises.
7. Follow up.
Again, we offer freebies not only to make sales, but also to build repeat business. Don’t be shy about following up your free offer with another offer, or checking to see how they liked your free offer.
8. Cater to the skeptic.
As much as free can be a powerful consumer trigger, it can also turn some people off. So if you’re in a business where there are a lot of skeptics, experiment with offering an some alternative to free that still gives an incentive, but doesn’t scare them away…like a money-back guarantee, or a discount.
Can you think of ways that you can start putting the power of “free” to work for your small business? Because in this day when money is tight, I believe “free” might become even more powerful than ever.
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Some free advice about freebies - To learn more about this author, visit Donna Williams's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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