|
“Free”
I live in a city with tons of specialty food stores wherever you turn and one thing specialty food stores are known for is free samples.
I really enjoy getting free samples of food and one of my favorite gourmet items is cheese. It’s a snap for a store to set it up for sampling – just cube it, add a toothpick and you’re done.
That’s how I got to sample a gourmet version of pepper jack for the first time. I admit to eating about seven free samples. (It was really good). But the next time I found myself at that shop, I bought a package.
That’s how “free” translates into dollars. You sample something, you like it, you buy it. This is also known as “try before you buy” and it builds a sense of trust between a company and its’ clients.
The cell phone industry figured it out. I used to wonder how they could afford to give away such cool, feature-rich phones for free. They’re not crazy. “Free” translates into a monthly residual backend of $50, $90, $150 or more per customer via the service contract, and it builds a sense of loyalty between the company and its’ clients.
Then there are the free bonuses that come with your purchase of online and offline retail and service products.
Not long ago, I bought a name brand juicer and received (at no additional charge) a beautiful and very useful kitchen appliance – a food chopper. Since I eat a lot of salad, I figure that was a pretty good deal for me.
In marketing circles, this is also known as “over delivering” or “exceeding customer expectation” and it builds a sense of real appreciation between the company and its’ clients.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, “free” is the new “profit”. Giving away something of great value for free says a lot about you as an entrepreneur.
- You care about your customers
- You’re not just about making a fast buck.
- Relationship is very important
- You’ve learned that receiving is the result of first giving
Jack Humphrey, a well respected master of “social marketing” has a free digital product he’d like you to have. If you’ve ever wanted to know more about:
- Web 2.0
- How to become an authority presence on the web
- How to get and use the tools and resources you as a web 2.0 marketer need to create “buzz”, search engine rankings, links and all the traffic you could ever want at any site and in any niche...
You can download that information right now by going to tinyurl.com/4ez2a4
It’s all free content – and it works!
________________________________________________________________________
Marsha Sneed reviews business opportunities and online resource tools that can be used effectively by newbies and experienced marketers alike to reach their marketing and financial goals. She can be reached at jcsneed@onebox.com.
