The Value of Free in Business Marketing
About five years ago, I “shut off” my main business web site (before it was a blog) Virtual Impax to the search engines. It was a conscious and deliberate decision. I hid my web site’s navigation bar inside a javascript and did not include an XML site map.
Why in the world would I do such a thing? Because at the time, the 2nd most popular search term after “web development” was “FREE web development”. My practice was busy and growing based upon client referrals and it got to the point where I really didn’t want to deal with the “gimme something for nuttin” crowd.
As a group, these people were a huge drain on my time and energy and they gave little back. The “freebie seekers” I encountered were relentless in their pursuit of obtaining free information and services. They wanted only the best and were an exaggerated case of “champagne taste on a water from the nearest stream” budget.
One thing I’ve noticed in my practice is that every time I raised my rates, the number of “problem” clients dropped dramatically. Fortunately, they were quickly replaced by a “higher quality” client. Betsy Talbot of the Small Business blog noticed a similar phenomenon:
When I stopped having all those free coffee dates my income went up and my interactions were more meaningful.
The Wordpress Pad seems to weigh in on the side of “anti-free”….. in The Value of “Free” on the Web:
The most natural thing as a consumer is to assume that pricey things are worth more than cheap things. This may not always be the case, but we’ve been trained well enough to believe it despite evidence to the contrary in some cases. Regardless, you shouldn’t expect to get a good website for free, just a cheap one.
Free web sites aside, is there value in offering “free” products and services in the name of marketing? Debbie Weil thinks there is. She heralds Tom Peter’s freely distributed promotional materials on his blog as a brilliant marketing move, calling it “cost-free viral marketing”.
I think this is truly a case of where the “brand” or “reputation” of the person or company offering the “freebie”.
In Seth Godin’s post The Thing About Free Godin says:
“When I do a non profit seminar (they’re always free), the number of people who say, “yes I’m coming” and the number of people who come is not the same. So, if I have room for ten, do I do a seminar for eight, or do I book 12 seats and play airline seat manager for the day?”
While Seth Godin’s “show up for free” ratio appears to be roughly 80%, I have clients who are not on “par” with Seth Godin’s or Tom Peter’s stature who consider themselves lucky to get 20% of “free” participants to show up for a seminar.
Bob Warfield writes in his post Does Free Really have Value?
“I’m concerned that free has become undifferentiated and that it now has a lot less value than we think. It is the last refuge when you’ve no idea whether you have a good idea or can sell it, so you loudly proclaim it’s free and wait for the huddled masses to assemble at your doorstep. Except, it’s not enough any more.”
It appears free just isn’t what it used to be in the age of Web 2.0, at least for the “little guy or gal”. The Blog Herald’s “free” marketing experiment yielded similar results. David Peralty writes in The Value of Free Information
“[my free video experiment]… really showed me that the community doesn’t really respect free things. I then added the video option to one of my paid consulting pages, and have had more requests for it since then, than I ever had when it was a free thing I was trying. As soon as I put a monetary value on my time and effort, people started to respect the offering much more.”
It appears there are two types of “free” resources. Those your visitors perceive as “worth while” and those your visitors perceive as “worth less”. If you’re a best selling author, giving away freebies is seen as creating a cost free viral marketing campaign. If you’re anything less.. then your freebie may be perceived as lacking value and a desperate attempt at attention.
What’s your experience with giving away things for free?
-
Get your copy of
Keys to Small Business
Marketing Success
When you sign up for
Keys to Website Success