Today, we’re going to talk about giving away something free in order to draw traffic – the right ways, the wrong ways, and bumps in the road you should look out for.
So first, let’s go over why you’d want to give away something from your site, a sample of your product, valuable information related to your industry, or an ebook or software of value to your audience.
My take on the situation is partly based on what some call the Platinum Rule – Do Unto Others As They Want to Be Done Unto.
I don’t know about you, but I’m an info-junkie. And being addicted to information makes me quite particular… I want the Good Stuff. As a newbie, I was often unsure which way to turn, and what to invest in that would really make a measurable difference in my business. Like anyone else, I wanted results. I still do.
If you’re marketing to new people, or you’re the new kid on the block, one of the ways you can build trust with a new or newbie audience is to give before you get. For me, it’s the golden rule behind my every move online. Even if I’m not sure what I want in return, even if I don’t want anything specific from someone, even if I think that I’ll nothing in return directly, I extend my palm face-up to give.
Take this site for example. 90% of my knowledge is freely given, as I strive to serve three tiers of audiences.
1- People who are either tire-kickers, or aren’t in a position to move their business from part-time to full-time yet.
My goal there is to give those people a place to start, with the intention that the resources they get from me will help them leverage themselves into a buying position. They may buy from me eventually, they may become affiliates and sell my products, or they may never send money my way, in-directly, or directly, ever.
Any of the three scenarios is fine with me. Worst case scenario, if I can’t help their business in any other way than through my free resources, if they sign-up for my newsletter or feed, they have expanded my subscriber list, which makes my resource more valuable to advertisers.
These days of extra-sensitivity about spam, fewer people are willing to give out their email address. And rightfully so – a person’s contact information should be, in my opinion, something you have to earn. If I won’t give Radio Shack my zip code, what makes you think you’re getting my email address.
There has to be something in it for me.
Giving away something free is a great way to extend an olive branch of peace and trust. I like to give new subscribers an article with some type of free information they can use right away, and offer them one of my free ebooks in exchange for subscribing.
If they should find that what I offer isn’t for them, they’ll unsubscribe. If not, I’ve found that due to my hyper-targeting, they’re here to stay.
My unsubscribe rate from my newsletter is less than a hundredth of a percent.
This is because not just the first issue, but every issue, gives information, resources or free tools important to their business.
The second tier of people are those who may be interested in some of my premium information, and will probably pick up an ebook or two during the course of their travels here. They see that my free information works, and realize that the ten percent I hold back is the valuable variable in the equation that will explode their results. (Hopefully bringing them into the next tier of clients that I have).
With this audience, in addition to the trust issue above, a key thing to establish is credibility. You want to be able to show that even your free information can be helpful – though it is incomplete without the crucial, missing component. Or you want to give away a free resource that does a small job completely and successfully.
The third tier of people are usually small to medium corporations, occasionally large ones, that don’t have the time or the inclination for do-it-yourself jobs. A person whose time is worth $100 – $1000 an hour is more inclined to pay a specialist to do a project for them, rather than spend ten hours doing what someone who studies that field can do in two.
Trust and credibility is even more important here.
So, the reasons to give away (a little or a lot, whatever works for your business) are:
- to create trust
- to establish credibility
- as enticement to sign-up for a free resource
- as a micro-scale example of how much better the paid resource will perform
- to get publicity
Now you know why – what’s the right way how?
