Moving a Business Relationship from Free to Fee: Power of Freebies - Part 2

In the last issue we looked at 5 reasons why giving stuff away is a great tactic for filling your pipeline.

Now let's take a look at the kind of things you may want to give.

What Kind Of F'reebie Should You Offer?

You should aim to offer something tantalising to spark the relationship but that doesn't necessarily mean giving something that costs you in a big way. You need to put yourself in your prospects' shoes and ask, "What problem would I be grateful to have solved right now and without cost?". The more closely you can provide something that's a genuine solution to people who may need what you sell the more powerful your offer will be.

My particular favourite is a special electronic (low cost) report, guide or information pack. They're relatively easy to produce, can have a high perceived value and if delivered through a website you don't even have to pay to produce them. So you can deliver value, set yourself up as an expert and do it for a very small outlay once the initial investment in creating the content is done.

Sometimes it isn't practical or appropriate to offer f'ree information, so below I've tried to categorise a few of the more common ways to provide a f'reebie.

Note: It's a good idea to have your pipeline handy. You can get the pipeline here...

Different F'reebie categories...

* Information (on website, information pack, toolkit) It's valuable to your target, but if packaged correctly costs you nothing! The added benefit is they'll give a little more information to you if they really want it!

In order to get the f'ree information you request that they provide you with their contact details and permission to contact them with regards to their enquiry.

So, they get something useful for f'ree and we can begin a relationship with them. The MWR with this technique is to move them from "Stranger" to "Know Who You Are" plus it gets them to divulge some 'needs' information.

* Sample Service (consultation/training/coaching session) This costs you more than simply providing information but you can also move your target through the pipeline more quickly. You'll be using this freebie to move the target from 'Stranger' or 'Know Who You Are' to 'Sampled Your Work'.

Coaches usually use this approach with varied results. I'd suggest making it clear up front, how much this would usually cost and also being choosy about who you allow to take advantage of your offer.

A self-selection type questionnaire, designed to screen out people who you don't want to work with or probably won't get the full benefit will help.

One client, a training firm, uses this approach to get into large organisations by providing a f'ree training masterclass with decision makers and a small group. Their MWR is that the company takes part in a consultation first (an opportunity to learn more and make the sample work.)

* Healthcheck Free evaluations and audits for IT, people or systems is a high risk approach to offering a f'reebie. We did this once by offering f'ree website evaluations. On the surface it seemed good. find people who aren't entirely happy with their website and then tell them how we can help them get it working. The reality was a lot of work to attract uninspired and desperate clients who weren't prepared to pay for a 'proper' job.

A healthcheck can be great if you want to be inundated with enquiries but you could end up being a busy, unpaid fool. Most of the enquiries we generated from our healthcheck were from desperate people. In our experience you don't want desperate clients but more on that later.

* Workshop/Seminar A f'ree (or low cost) workshop/seminar can be a fantastic freebie. You get the opportunity to work with a captive audience, let them sample your ability and create a close, personal relationship with you.

You'll convert many from 'Stranger' to 'Sampled Your Work' in one shot which is sometimes easier than doing a whole load of one to ones.

* Paid For - Low Cost Although not exactly a f'reebie, having introductory services or providing a low risk opportunity for prospects to sample you could be a good way to move the prospect on quickly from 'Stranger' to 'Paid For Your Work'.

Some people will try to take advantage if you're not careful though so, be very clear that this is a special price and if possible put certain terms on your offer; for people who buy before a certain date or because it's a cut-down version of the full service.

* Bonus Incentive Something that's better than Paid For - Low Cost is the bonus. Basically, when somebody agrees to pay for your work they'll get an additional bonus: ie a f'ree report, book, bonus session, discount off future course etc.

* Newsletter/Regular Updates This is an example of something we call a Ping. Basically it's a way of sending information to someone to see if they're still listening and interested. When you get people to agree to receive f'ree information from you on a regular basis in return for their contact details you have permission to give them the occasional gentle nudge.

Our tips ezine has been going since 1997 and provides a great source of leads and prospects for our various business offers.

Delivering this by email, using a form on your website, will keep the cost to you low and provides genuine value to your potential customers.

Have Fun!

'Dangerous' Debbie Jenkins
debs@debbiejenkins.com

(c) Copyright 2005 www.BookShaker.com

SUMMER CAN BE SLOW FOR BUSINESS
But don't let that get in the way of your success.
This is the ideal time to work on your business
rather than in it. Get 2 F'REE eBooks and prepare
for more success with less effort here...
http://www.leanmarketing.co.uk

I'm wondering if... You Know Other People who should be reading this too? So do us all a favour (they get 2 free books - we get a new subscriber - you get to look good) when you Pass On This link... http://www.leanmarketing.co.uk

---

Strategic Internet Marketing

I met Sue at a recent networking event. She is... Read More

Meaning and Marketing - The Hurricane

I step outside my back door and look at some... Read More

Custom Lanyards - The Perfect Solution for Promotion, Branding, and Marketing

Lanyards are fast becoming the new "must have" promotional item.Events... Read More

Money Making Real Estate Marketing Ideas

Real estate marketing is a lot simpler than most Realtors... Read More

Whats Your Marketing Weak Link?

Your marketing weak link could be undermining the rest of... Read More

Inform vs. Excite

excite v. 1 a: to call to activity b: to... Read More

The Anatomy of Hype

On a copywriting board I frequent, someone expressed bafflement that... Read More

An Easy Start to Mail Order

Listing names of Big Mail Requestors, and sending out packages... Read More

Distinguish Your Business From The Competition

You followed time-honored online marketing techniques to the letter: you... Read More

Network Marketing Is Definitely A Relationship Business

Heavily branded websites like amazon.com are household names and carry... Read More

How to Use Flyers to Increase Your Business

What benefits will you get from flyers?Flyers are much different... Read More

Top Five 2004 Required Marketing Tips Needed to Succeed

When marketing your practice, as well as designing yourbrochure, web... Read More

Direct Mail Postcard Rules

It's a fact that your customers are your best leads.... Read More

Six Essential Principles for Marketing to Women Business Owners

Marketing to women entrepreneurs is not difficult. You just have... Read More

Marketing Success Defined

How do you personally define success? High income? Substantial net... Read More

Why Most Marketing Videos Dont Work

Every now and then I will meet someone who has... Read More

Sowing and Growing Your Network

The N-word! We all know the value of networking and... Read More

Keeping Pace with Business Marketing

Today's business marketing rules are different than they were in... Read More

Seven Common Marketing Problems Solved by Marketing Operations

Corporate marketing groups - especially bandwidth-challenged small-to-mid-sized departments - can... Read More

Whats In It For Me?

Sometimes, one of the most difficult things to teach beginning... Read More

Top 10 Ways to Create and Manage Opportunity

Most of us are used to the concepts of risk... Read More

The Biggest Problem With Your Marketing Is...?

What is the biggest problem most marketers have? Who knows.... Read More

Practical Advice to Generate Successful Campaigns Using Merged Lists

You could end up with poor results when designing a... Read More

Painless Marketing for People Who Hate to Market

Face it?you know you've got to do something to keep... Read More

How to Profit from Your Expertise (Part 1 of 2)

Are you looking for a natural way to market your... Read More

Ten Tips for Creating a Winning Proposal ? Part 2

Part 1 of this series described five critical components for... Read More

Comprehensive Marketing Details Not Found in Beginner Books

If this is the first marketing article you are reading,... Read More

5 Ways to Upgrade Your Existing Marketing Materials for Practically Nothing!

In addition to direct marketing strategies you want to be... Read More

Reasons Why People Usually Dont Buy Again

There are many psychological reasons why people will buy from... Read More

Business to Business Direct Mail Offers that Say Free

In direct mail, the offer is the incentive or reward... Read More

If You Do No Other Preparation

Far too often we see small businesses rush into doing... Read More

19 Ways To Attract Higher Paying Clients

Some people have little difficulty attracting and maintaining clients who... Read More

Ten Effective Ways to Capture Market

1.Evaluation of Existing Products / Therapies2.Assessment of New Products3.Market assessment... Read More