I’ve heard it said that ‘Free’ is the most powerful word in the English language.
Well it’s certainly a useful one when it comes to marketing and I’ve used it many many times to great effect.
But there’s a downside to free when it comes to selling. Because it can cause expectation of more and more of your products being available for free. It can also seriously undervalue your work.
You remember how when newspapers went online they freely posted content on their websites? Or worse, they started their online versions by charging for their online content but then deciding to give it away for free.
Now those same newspapers are putting up ‘pay walls’ and desperately trying to charge for content that they once gave away for free. Good luck with that eh?
Presumably the decision to give away the same content they published in their newspapers for FREE was based on the fact that it costs money to print and distribute physical newspaper, but online content is much much easier. Big mistake.
Because as someone who sells information products for a living I’m fully aware that it’s the information
that you provide that has the value not HOW it’s distributed.
Free trains people to want MORE and MORE free because it undermines the perceived value. When Oprah gave away FREE cars for her audience, they got very angry and complained and even threatened lawsuits when they
realised they had to pay taxes ontheir FREE cars!
It’s a cliche that you have to learn for yourself as a marketer, but in my experience it’s 100% true that people do not value free.
It feels throwaway - after all it didn’t cost them anything so why look after it? Surely it can’t have any value if
someone is giving it away for free right?
The example Jason Marrs gives in ‘No B.S. Price Strategy’ is the well- known marketer who pitched:
‘When this was released six months ago it sold for $2,997.00 and 50,000 copies sold out in 3 minutes,
but you can get a copy for free by just entering your details below’
What about the poor buggers who paid $2,997 for it? Will they ever trust that marketer
again?? I wouldn’t.
But FREE still has its place and as long as it’s done carefully it shouldn’t hurt your business.
If the only thing you give away for FREE is some of your knowledge, then it doesn’t devalue your product,
but instead acts to educate your readers about what you do and why they should purchase more of your
goods and services.
