The internet is a fantastic medium to use and it lends itself to the idea of giving things away. To an extent, that’s the expectation of your potential customers. But there’s also several other reasons that you should consider.

Who should give things away for free?

In a nutshell, anyone who wants more business.

It may sound counter-intuitive to do this – the nagging doubt that goes through a lot of people’s minds is the thought that if they give away the farm for free, there’s nothing left for people to spend money with you on.

Actually, weird as it may sound, the opposite happens.

The more things you can give away for free – and the more valuable those things are – the more likely people are to spend money with you on other products.

Think about it for a minute: if you’re in the market for a product and there are two near-enough identical suppliers but one takes the time to educate you about your potential purchase by giving you free reports, showing you “how to” videos and generally putting your mind at rest about your potential purchase whilst the other potential supplier just pitches you all the time, which supplier would you choose?

If you said the person who’d shown an interest in teaching you more about the product or service you were about to buy, you’re in the majority.

That’s the case even if you didn’t read or watch everything that was on offer.

The fact the information was available and that you could avail yourself of it, even if you didn’t do so, almost always sways the decision if all other factors are equal.

It can even tip the balance in favour of spending more money with the person who has taken the time to educate you.

Most of us prefer to do business with people we know – or at least feel we know – rather than faceless corporations.

So the quick answer to the question of who should give things away for free is anyone who wants more business.

The free “stuff” operates as a business card or a foot in the door of the potential customer.

The more impact it has, the better.

That will vary according to your market and your sales margins.

Food and drink often give small samples for free – that happens all the time at most supermarkets.

Software often gives a free trial or a demonstration product that has certain features disabled but enough features available to allow you to decide to buy the higher levels.

Adult television channels use free shows to encourage people to subscribe to their channel.

It works in near enough any market where you can offer a sample.

If you can’t offer a sample – maybe because you offer a service of some sort and it’s not practical to go round to someone’s house and change a fuse or mend a dripping tap – then you need to figure out something else you can offer.

There will be something – it could be a free report or a checklist or even some kind of decision process – maybe a flow chart that you’ve had designed on a site like Fiverr – that enables them to make an informed decision about whether or not they should use you.

Sometimes telling a potential customer that they don’t need you and would save time or money by using a different solution can tip the balance for the potential customer to use you for a more appropriate – and more expensive – job in the future.

If you’d like to work with me, check out my internet marketing coaching. If you qualify, I  offer a free initial strategy session 🙂