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Why Give a $50,000 Report Away for Free?

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Free Report

“Free” has freed my life. The concept of giving out free content in order to improve visibility, obtain new leads, and gauge interest has served me rather well in my blogging career.

My latest example of “Free” can be found in the $50,000 Website Report, which goes into great detail surrounding the building and selling of my first website for, you guessed it, $50,000. It doesn’t get much “Free-er” than this report, with no sign ins required to access the valuable PDF document.

“Free” was my secret weapon that I used in the process of growing my site to the point where it could be sold for so much. Too often today, internet marketers and bloggers alike have a “tit-for-tat” mentality. They think that just because they link to you or discuss your site that you should in turn link to them. The reality of the situation is that the internet just doesn’t work that way. People, successful or not, will link to what they care about because they care about it, not because they owe you anything. “Free” happens to be one of the few things that people universally approve of and will therefore be more likely to link to.

So what is “Free” and why is it so useful?

1. Free Off Site Content Builds Web Presence

This is content that engages others in conversation about problems in your niche. The key is that the content is in no way hosted on your own blog. Over time these pieces of content act like a trail of breadcrumbs leading back to your site and create a social presence that testifies to your expertise in the niche. By the time someone actually visits your blog, they will have seen you on numerous other websites and social circles that have convinced them that you are the right person to fix their problem(s). “Free” allows you to reach people in their comfort zone without spooking them.

2. Free Creates a Great Reputation

“He gave his report out for free?!” “Wow man, you really care about your audience!” “You could have charged serious money for this… thank you.” These are the kinds of responses I saw when my $50,000 Website Report was released. They were right too, I could have charged probably $10-$25 for the report. Why didn’t I? Because I do actually care about helping others and sometimes I am willing to do it for free in exchange for great visibility. I also could have required a sign-up for people to download the report. Why didn’t I? Because I would rather you took the time to visit my site to do that, otherwise I don’t want you to subscribe and fill up my list with unresponsive emails.

3. Viral-bility Increased

It has been my experience that free content spreads very quickly among social media and people are more willing to talk about it than they would be with a paid product. If you want to maximize the number of people who see your content, then “Free” is the way to go.

There is a time and place for a well constructed sales funnel, as I go into great detail with my $50,000 Website Report, but don’t knock the power of “Free” in your marketing plans.

Have you used “Free” at all? In what way? Was it far more successful than you thought it would be?

About

A professional blogger and writer who specializes in building online communities. Chris focuses on helping people to understand how to better drive traffic, develop relationships and earn revenue online.

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{ 17 Responses }

  1. Philos says:
    Free stuff is good, and people should give them for free, without expecting a favour back. I remember back then when i started blogging, I downloaded one ebook from Lisa Irby that really motivated me. So I pushed myself and kept learning new things (on blogging, marketing and business) on my own. I don't regret. So free things have great power I guess.
  2. Kavya Hari says:
    Free that will allow you to reach people in their comfortable zone. It has an lot of benefits in it. Worthy part too. Thanks a lot for given up here :)
  3. sudha says:
    it is always correct, when we provide "Free" it allows to interact with people easily .“Free” has freed my life. The concept of giving out free content in order to improve visibility, obtain new leads, and gauge interest has served me rather well in my blogging career.
  4. Dontaine says:
    quote: "Free Creates a Great Reputation" - depends on the industry sector. E.g. musicians are often forced to offer songs for free. So it became an average act in music industry and a greater reputation is linked to non-free offers. For example, if you sell your record to a company so they can play it in a waiting loop by using such a service you can get a better reputation but not a lot of money.
  5. jessica says:
    Very true! 'FREE' always gets all our attention the first time. Then just make sure to have a hard to resist succeeding business offer afterwards.
  6. Jeff says:
    Offer something 'free' and people will very eager to know what that 'free' is. Giving away something for free may be one of the best promotional activity and still one of the most effective ways of advertising.
  7. Ming Jong Tey says:
    Hi Chris, "Free" is the 1st step to pull people in and let people know who you are before you are trying to sell them anything. Viral effect, reputation, and lead magnet are what Free Stuff can bring to us. Thanks for sharing your pdf. Just downloaded and will give it a good read :) Why don't you put up a web form and collect the leads or at least make us like or tweet to get that to increase the viral effect :) Just my 2 cents. Cheers, Ming
  8. Jack says:
    Ah, of course. Take a look at WarriorForum's WSO's - the ones that say "[FREE WSO] blah blah] almost always get like 20,000+ views within a short period of time. People LOVE free stuff. Simple fact. But yeah, you've gotta be smart. Depending on the market you're in, leads (like in case of e-mail giveaways) can be worth it. As they say, money's in the list. Maintain a good relationship with this list (you already make the first required step when you offer them free stuff anyway!) and they'll consider you their guru. The key is to keep that credibility for LONG - by only marketing those products that you KNOW are GOOD. But ah I'm probably getting bit far from the topic. Anyway you got me :)
  9. Allan Nkata says:
    Hey Chris, A free gift definitely still remains the best way to get exposure and to grow virally. I like the fact that you can download your report without leaving a name and e-mail add. This is certainly different from most online marketers and you are almost guaranteed that the people that do visit your website thereafter are highly targeted people who will be loyal followers and perhaps paying customers down the line. This is one of the best strategies an online marketer can adopt.
  10. Bishwajeet says:
    By giving free you can always get affliate money which is hidden is most cases.
  11. Steve says:
    Chris, Great points. "Free" itself is even beginning to become a bit passe', though. Where once if you put something up fro free it would go immediately viral, these days that is not so much the case. Now your free items also really needs to be very high quality. The type of thing you COULD sell.
  12. Bruker says:
    Its became human nature and in search engines whenever i want any thing i always use" Free Download" .
  13. Jeanie says:
    "FREE" is everyone's favourite word))) Sometimes giving something for free can be a good opportunity to get more clients and more people interested in your activity. In this case you can make a great number of people to find out something about your activity or business
  14. Ricardus says:
    Free is definitely everyone's favorite word. And do check out the Elegant Theme giveaways by us as we are giving away for FREE
  15. Dave Lucas says:
    Hi Chris! "Free" is my favorite 4-letter word!
  16. Bethany says:
    I've done that, in a way - we sell physical products on Amazon, which I know is a little different than internet marketing itself. Mainly, we sell funny travel mugs and those clear to-go tumblers with a straw. I'm also an ex-barista and so I created a free report/eBook that I give away with each purchase but I also have out there on the internet for free download at Smashwords. It basically teaches people how to make their own iced espresso drinks and frappuccinos. I've had great response to it, though I don't think there's any way for us to see if there's been an increase in sales because of it. I think, though, that since there's loads of people out there selling similar products as ours, this helps ours stand out a little and is also a potential income maker, since I do have links to our products placed within the ebook itself.
  17. Raj says:
    People have won elections offering 'freebies', so I guess their worth in promoting an online business cannot be under-estimated. Even Seth Godin has very similar views to those expressed in this post. I appreciate your free report, more so for giving it without an email sign in form.