too much of a free thing

In previous articles, I have emphasized the importance of gifting things. The principle behind giveaways is that the more you give people for free, the more money you’ll make, keeping in mind your three-part goal:

• to create awareness at the top of the mind;
• to establish yourself as an expert;
• make people feel independent of you.

when are you giving away too free? “Too much” is when your gift program discouraged rather than to encourage people are buying from you. Here are three signs that you are giving away too much:

You leave them completely satisfied.
Let’s say I’m a magazine editor. You may have a free online version as well as a subscription-based print version. That is generally a good idea. However, if I offer the exact same material in both places, I’m going to lose some of my paying customers. Sure, there will always be people who don’t have internet access, or love to read in bed, and they’ll still pay for the print version. But my best strategy will be to offer two sets of useful information, with the online version whetting my readers’ appetite for the paid print version.

You give the impression that what you do is easy.
Now let’s say I’m a reflexologist. In addition to using my skills to pay clients, I decide to teach a class called “How to Practice Reflexology on Yourself.” What happens? I give the impression that what I do is easy to learn, and many of my potential clients will choose to learn how to do it themselves rather than pay me to do it for them. Instead, you could teach a class (write a book, publish a newsletter, host a teleconference) that educates people about the benefits of therapy…No that leads people to think that they can get by just fine without my help.

You give the impression that what you do has little value.
Finally, let’s say a copywriter colleague of mine, who has been earning seven or eight figures a year, decides to retire and spend his time writing promotions for startups and small nonprofits. free. Now, I’m not saying that people in service professions should never do gratuitous They work for causes they believe in. But they do need to make it clear to gift customers exactly how much value they are receiving. What happens when Mr. Generous sends Ms. Entrepreneur and Mr. Not-for-Profit into the real world? They’ll object to my fee, because they’re used to getting top-notch jobs for free. In that it is not good for anyone in our profession (or yours).

Remember that free is good, but only up to a point. When you start discouraging rather than encouraging paying customers, it’s time to put an end to the freebies.