It’s the cost of doing business – everyone who is anyone is also trying to build a solid thriving business knows that you’ve got to do it.
I’m talking about offering a free sample of your product or service so prospects will want to purchase the “full size” option. Now, this free sample could take on various forms from a free white paper, a special report to a CD, video training series, or even a free workshop. Which medium you use is up to you but it also will determine the caliber of the prospect you attract. This one strategy creates a conundrum for entrepreneurs.
The question that frequently arises via AskDarnyelle.com was much the same – how do I balance the amount of “free” I give away?
I’m actually glad that someone asked this question because this is an intricate challenge that many entrepreneurs face as they endeavor to build their businesses. To add fuel to the fire, if you are doing business using social media you see tons of free offers, classes, webinars, video series, etc. every single day and as a result it’s easy to get caught up and believe that you can to do the same.
Free. Free. FEE. I tend to be of the belief that you have to give in order to get; you know the law of reciprocity. When you give tremendous value for free, when well positioned strategically, your ideal client prospects should say, “OMG, if I got all of this for free, what will I get when I pay for his/her service?” And that, Incredible One is exactly what you want to occur: that they will pay for your service at your regular price.
Well, actually you do need to do the same, BUT you must also know the strategy that goes along with the freebie so you can get the ultimate results of sharing your amazing content at no charge to your prospects. And let me be clear, the ultimate result is for them to buy into your paid solution. Unfortunately most entrepreneurs are not using this strategy effectively and therefore they are just wasting their time, content and energy.
The key here is to use your free offer (marketing – yes it’s all marketing) to 1.) Provide a ton of value and to educate your Audience of One™ [ideal clients] while positioning yourself as the only solution they need and 2.) Position a purchase by making it clear how they go about securing your services via your call to action in your free offering. You should know that by doing these two things strategically, you will see an immediate lift in the amount of people who begin to buy but you should also know that doing just these two things are not going to flood your bank account with new income. As with everything that goes along with business development, it’s a strategy. And it’s quite possible that you will have to try a few things before you find the perfect mix for your ideal client prospects.
The most important thing I want you to garner is this: every marketing piece (this includes your free offers) must be magnetic and it must position a purchase. Magnetic marketing must be educational, emotional, based on a problem and experiential.
Your Assignment:
1. Think of your free offer. Now, to ensure that the offer is magnetic, list how you will ensure your free offer meets all four components of magnetic marketing:
- Experiential
- Emotional
- Educational
- Problem Focused
2. Next, write down how you will position your next level offer using a call-to-action via your free offer medium. Get clear on what should happen after they utilize your free offer and then make them an offer they can’t refuse!
If you take the time to do this before you offer another thing for free, you will begin to create offers that get results and more importantly help you to get paid.
To have Darnyelle take you by the hand and walk you step by step through creating a free offer campaign start to finish that is magnetic and leads to paid results, click here to learn more about her consulting options.
©2012 by Darnyelle A. Jervey. All Rights Reserved. Darnyelle A. Jervey, MBA, The Incredible Factor Speaker, Business Coach and Marketing Mentor, is the founder of Incredible One Enterprises.com, Incredible Factor University® the Leverage Your Incredible Factor System® a proven step by step program for more clients, more income and more leverage in your business. For more information and a FREE audio CD “7 Critical Mistakes Entrepreneurial Business Leaders to Avoid When Unleashing Your Incredible Factor So You Attract More Clients, Make More Money and Gain More Leverage” visit https://www.incredibleoneenterprises.com
