Give Away Free Stuff Without Getting Exploited

This is a guest post by Paul Rudo

Free samples and trial periods are some of the best ways to reach new customers. That’s why software companies offer limited versions of their applications, and supermarkets offer product tasting booths in their aisles.

But giving away free stuff can also do more harm than good if not executed properly. In particular, there are 2 risks that you want to avoid:

• Committing yourself to cheapskates that only want something for free
• Diluting your brand by cheapening your product or service in the eyes of potential clients

These concerns are especially important for service companies that sell to local markets. Manual labour is time-consuming and carries significant potential opportunity costs, and creating a first impression of being a “budget provider” might make it impossible to justify higher prices later on.

In cases like these, the key to offering free services is to exclusively target prospects who have already demonstrated a willingness to spend money on services like yours. This can be done by partnering with non-competitive organizations within your market who share the same target market as you.

• If you run a cleaning company, you could partner up with a landscaping service to offer 2 free hours of “high dusting” services on the condition that the client signs a contract for 1 year of landscaping services.
• If you’re a PHP programmer, you could partner with a Web Designer to offer a free contact form with any new website purchase.
• If you’re a cake decorator, you could set up a raffle box at a party supply store and give away 1 free birthday cake every month as a prize. (This is also a great way to collect a mailing list database)
• A nail salon could partner up with a beauty salon to offer a free manicure with every perm.

These are just a few examples of mutually-beneficial cross-promotion marketing opportunities that can help you build strong business alliances. This allows you to promote your brand to high-value prospects without spending any extra money on marketing or promotion.

Remember: In marketing, the first sale is always 5 times harder than every subsequent sale after it. By piggybacking on the success of a partner in this way, you can break the “first sale” barrier much more easily.

Here are a few extra tips that can help you get even more value from these types of free trial promotions:

• Any time you partner up with another company like this, you should negotiate a deal where they also give something for free to your customers. That way, you become inter-dependent and there’s additional motivation for both of you to succeed.
• Offer high-quality – but incomplete – free trials. This way, you leave a lot room for up-selling. (ex:  A cleaning company could offer free upholstery cleaning for just one chair, leaving all of the other chairs in the office dirty. If the client doesn’t upgrade their service, their chairs won’t match.)
• You could give away hard-to-sell inventory or by-products of your business. (The Ford Motor Company created the Kingsford Charcoal company as a way to make extra money by selling off their factory waste instead of sending it to landfills)

Movie theatres do this very well. They will team up with restaurants to offer free movie tickets with any meal on Tuesday or Wednesday. This helps the restaurant fill seats on slow days, and the theatres make their money back at the snack bar.

When you buy an album, record labels will often include bonus tracks or duets from other artists. This is great for generating awareness of other music properties on that label.

By thinking creatively and adopting the right mindset, you can reap all the benefits of “free sample” marketing, without any of the downsides.

About The Author: Paul Rudo is a professional writer and SEO consultant that helps companies such as http://ontariocleaning.com promote their services to local B2B customers. Check out Paul’s Blog.

Speak Your mind:

How do you give away free stuff without getting exploited? Feel free to comment below by sharing your opinion. Thanks so much!