3 minute read
Don’t Get Caught In The Free Trap
DON’T GET
Caught in the FREE TRAP
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By: Tania Fox Advisory Brand Advisor & Idea Architect TaniaFox.com Location: New York, New York
Meet Tania Fox. Tania is a strategist and secret sauce ingredient who inspires and ignites individuals and organizations to foster a better future for other humans. She’s always got her eye out for new opportunities to make happy happen. She is a 3rd generation native New Yorker, a fierce hoarder of green gummy bears and an unabashed critic of bad business practices.
The struggle to get noticed is real. Whether you have a product- or service-based business, there is the temptation - even pressure - to give things away for free to gain exposure, to get testimonials and reviews, even just to friends and family. But free is never FREE. Someone is paying for it and someone is profiting from it. And if the former is you, the latter should be too.
Your freebie is money. This means whatever the price you sell it for is, that is what you are spending to achieve the goal. Budget wisely. Just because you can always make more, get more or do it quickly doesn’t mean you have it to waste. Be strategic about where you put this money to get the highest return on your investment. A free thing must have a specific return goal. And you’ve likely already established a price for it… and it’s not free, so let’s say FREE = $100 for example.
With $100 to spend on marketing you want to get minimally $100 worth of something in return. Here are some common situations where you can use your money wisely:
1) Bartering: Everything has a market value. Barter based on price not cost or quantity. If your price is $300, ask for $300 of what you want from them. If one thing is more expensive than the other, bundle offers that add up to equal value.
Strategy tip: What do you need that you don’t have cash for? What’s something you need off your plate? What will get you ahead? Now find people who need what you sell.
Payoff: You have the thing you didn’t have before and a person who has experience with what you have to offer (building word of mouth!)
2) Social Proof: You can do your own version of influencer marketing by offering your product or service in exchange for usable testimonials from people who have the businesses, job descriptions or lifestyles that your target market trusts.
Strategy tip: Leverage your network. Do you know anyone personally with the qualities you need to get people to trust your business? Do you know someone who does? Ask on social and be specific about the kind of person you’re looking for.
Payoff: Solid testimonials build trust; put them on everything - your site, social media, bios, etc.
3) Friends & Family: The Oooh… can I have one? thing will come up and it can be awkward. But you are trying to build a business and they can help you do that in exchange. They can spread the word to their friends and family, share your posts on their social media, talk about it in their church, school, etc. They can help pack, ship, set up, break down, drive you to places. Do they have a skill they can barter?
Strategy tip: Make sure they understand your goals, vision and unique value proposition, so they can be a part of it and communicate it for you.
Payoff: Marketing, sales, shipping, transportation, anything that takes things off your plate so you can concentrate on what you do best is worth its weight in swag.
Keep records of everything you give away, what its purpose was and what the outcome was. Consult an accountant if you don’t already have one. These offers and exchanges may be accounted for as certain costs of doing business. This can help you come tax time. Make the law protect you against unnecessary charges.
