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How do you justify a free gift?

by Matt MacPherson
6 replies
List some "reasons why" you are giving a gift away for free (ebook / audio / etc).

How do you give it perceived value in an opt-in subscribers mind?

Cheers,
Matt
#free #gift #justify
  • Profile picture of the author GopalG
    Just a simple copy saying why they need it and how they can't live without it. Advertising this
    as classified info can bring in a lot of opt-in subscribers. People love to hear secrets.

    You have to give something free to provide value to your target customers. All sales on the Internet are by providing some sort of value to the end user.

    If you can provide value in your free products, people will buy from you when you recommend other products or affiliate products.

    Another way is to give away the gun and keep the bullets with you .
    Give away something valuable. But for it to function, they have to buy the bullets from you.

    Originally Posted by Matt MacPherson View Post

    List some "reasons why" you are giving a gift away for free (ebook / audio / etc).

    How do you give it perceived value in an opt-in subscribers mind?

    Cheers,
    Matt
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  • Profile picture of the author Aleksejs Zuravlovs
    Why do You need to justify? Maybe I don't understand what really You are asking, but You don't need to give a reason in Your e-mail follow up or optin page WHY You giving this product away, people don't care as long as it is something free and valuable.
    In optin page You need a list of product benefits, and a problem that Your product will solve, that's my view on this topic.
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  • Profile picture of the author Les Tatum
    The free gift is to give the subscriber a taste of the value you will provide them in your paid products and to give them an incentive to join your list. You could pitch it like, "I'm giving this away to build our relationship online, so you will know the kind of high value I provide in my products." If the gift is something they want or need, it will already have a high perceived value to them, but showing them a really cool technique or "trick" within the free gift is a great way to make them understand the value and want more.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matt MacPherson
    This is actually for a not-for-profit venture I'm currently undertaking. I won't be selling anything to the subscriber but I still want to attach value to the information apart from saying "this is worth $XX".

    Matt
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    • Profile picture of the author Kevin Rogers
      Matt,

      You're asking a smart question that many people overlook. While in niches like biz op and IM the free gift has become a (potentially gratuitous) standard, any marketer who fails to SELL the free gift is missing a golden opportunity.

      How you pitch the gift IS how you "build the relationship" with your prospect, but merely saying those words directly to justify the gift is a flaccid approach.

      What you're looking for is the formula for explaining the "reason why" you're giving them the free gift in a way that exemplifies your character. Done well, the short pitch for a free opt-in gift will leave the recipient thankful and eager to hear more from you.

      I can't give you the exact answer without knowing the details of your offer and the relationship you hope to build ("not-for-profit" can be a tougher sell than "feed my greed")... but one quick example formula for an effective opt-in offer is John Carlton's "simple basics of a great sales message':

      Here's who I am
      Here's what I've got for you
      Here's why it's important to your life right now
      Here's what I want you to do next

      That's the minimum amount you need to cover to compel a prospect to take action.

      If this is a charity, then you might amend the message in steps 2 and 3 to say:

      Here's who needs your help (and why)
      Here's how helping them will improve your life today

      As far as the "reason why"... this is were you want to be sure your gift is relevant to your mission.

      "... that's why I've created this special report: 7 Ways To Avoid Bankruptcy and Keep Your Home. It contains the most powerful and proven tactics I share with my clients for ending their mortgage crisis nightmare... and it's yours free just for entering your email address in the box to the right."

      (Then avoid the mistake of over-explaining why you want their email. The justification can be as simple as expressing the benefit...)

      "Your mortgage trouble doesn't have to ruin your life. The information in this report will arm you with the facts you need to fight for your rights and take back control of your financial future."

      Hope that helps,

      Kevin
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  • Profile picture of the author wcmylife
    Hi Matt,

    Your are absolutely correct. You need to justify your reason for giving away a freebie in order to increase it's value so that the subscriber feels compelled to act now. Robert Cialdini talks about this when he says when you give people a REASON you make the sale faster. The easiest way to justify a reason is to use one of the most powerful words (quoting Cialdini again) and that is

    Because
    a. I was broke busted and disgusted when someone helped me out and now it's my turn to give back
    b. Because I am selfish - I am giving away this freebie for you to find out what can be done and when you see the value, you will end up buying what I am going to sell you. Jeff Walker uses this in his sixinseven auto responder.
    c. I give away 100 free e-books each month or I give away this stuff only from the 1st to the 3rd of each month...

    I listed some stuff, obviously you need to condense it and use a hypnotic headline to push things further. Stick with the truth...cant go wrong.
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