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Some Free Advice About Freebies

Some Free Advice About Freebies
By Donna Williams

Out of all 616,500 words in the English language, one of the most powerful - if not the most powerful - is the word "free."

In fact, when it comes to marketing your product or service, "free" can take on near magical proportions. It's amazing how four little letters can open doors and pocketbooks the world over.

Whether you're giving away a free newsletter, free samples, buy-one-get-one-free, or a free widget, use the word "free" in your advertising materials, and you can watch your response rates soar.

By now you may be thinking that offering something for free sounds like a smart idea. Well, before you do, here are some guidelines:

Make your free offer something of value. Never give away junk...it just ticks people off. Not only that, but then they'll tell other people how cheesy your freebie was. You could end up doing yourself a lot more harm than good. Free shipping, free booklets, free pens, free service...make sure your offer is quality, desirable, and usable.

Get something in return. Most freebies are made to either generate a sale, a referral, or something else of value to the company making the offer - even if it's a simple email address or customer goodwill. Decide what you want to get in return before you decide what you're going to give away for free.

Don't attach strings. The freebie itself needs to be truly free - otherwise, you risk losing repeat customers. When you attach strings to a free offer, you become suspect in the customer's mind. Do you really think they're going to continue doing business with you if they don't trust you?

Make the offer relative to your brand. Your free offer becomes even more powerful if it builds your brand in some way. For instance, when people go to my website and sign up for my weekly ezine, they receive a free, downloadable e-booklet called "11 Quick Ways to Build Business." Hopefully, they find it valuable - but it's also valuable to me from a branding standpoint because it reiterates the fact that my website is about helping small businesses grow. If you can, tie your freebie into your brand.

Keep it simple. Don't complicate your offer. If you make it difficult, you will chase people away, and leave them with a bad taste in their mouths regarding your company. Keep it real, and make it easy.

Deliver. If you are offering a freebie that has to be sent to the customer, send it in a timely and efficient manner. Take this opportunity to dazzle your customer with efficiency. Nothing impresses a customer more than a company that keeps its promises.

Follow up. Again, we offer freebies not only to make sales, but also to build repeat business. Don't be shy about following up your free offer with another offer, or checking to see how they liked your free offer.

Cater to the skeptic. As much as free can be a powerful consumer trigger, it can also turn some people off. So if you're in a business where there are a lot of skeptics, experiment with offering an some alternative to free that still gives an incentive, but doesn't scare them away...like a money-back guarantee, or a discount.

Can you think of ways that you can start putting the power of "free" to work for your small business? Because in this day when money is tight, I believe "free" might become even more powerful than ever.

Donna Williams is the founder and creator of BusinessBurrito.com - a website dedicated to helping small businesses grow to their maximum potential. She is also a 25-year advertising / marketing executive, creative director, writer, and producer. Together, Donna and her husband currently own and co-own five small businesses. To learn more about Donna and read more of her articles, visit her website at

http://www.businessburrito.com

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