"Free" means zero cost; "gift" means zero cost; and "bonus" means zero cost

Marcia, you bring up an important point. The phenomenon isn't just limited to the online marketing realm.

In a blog post, From the Desk of John McCabe... Post Topic Birthday Club Marketing - the Right Way and the Wrong Way, I raise a similar point for offline businesses. A 'gift' is not a gift if there are strings attached. The tab might say "no charge" for an item, but if I have to buy specific things during specific time frames to get the free item, it is not a gift.

Even the "free report for opt-in" model isn't free. It's a barter deal. The one making the offer is willing to trade an item of value for attention and space in the receiver's email inbox, quid pro quo.

You want to give me a gift, give me a naked link to a direct download. You want to lease space in my inbox, fine, just be upfront about it. You want to give me a discount, call it a discount.

Now let the parade of "I call it that because it works" posts begin...

I agree that sometimes some of the offers I have received for free things have still required I use my credit card and I was getting quite annoyed by it.

Things came to a head when I responded to a well know internet marketer's request for people to work with him - the email really gave the impression he was providing a mentoring service to a select group of people. When i answered his phone call he asked me what I wanted to learn more about and listened (i presumed), before sending me off to watch a half hour promotional video on his new product that if I spent over a $1000 on, I could promote with him. Nothing in the video matched any of the needs i had expressed - so I could not even give the guy the benefit of the doubt that perhaps he was showing me a business model as an example, rather than a sales pitch.

I don't blame people for wanting to make money - its what I want to do - but to suggest one thing, and then deliver another (especially something so expensive) was pretty lame to me. He even had the cheek to send me a follow up email about two days after I emailed him and told him thanks, but no thanks, reminding me of his offer once again. Now I realize that this was probably an autoresponder issue, but it still rankled me when it happened and even though this is guy is well thought of and what have you, I know I was disappointed in what happened and wouldn't buy his products again on principle.

I think I will stick to following advice from plain speaking internet marketers I can understand
Lisa

A punch in the face is FREE.

Quesion is....

is it of VALUE?

With regards to any proposition there are 4 parts to the equation...

COST
PRICE
VALUE
PAYMENT

Many forget about focussing on the real VALUE they offer, by demonstrating the cost of the PROBLEM the SOLUTION can fix, and the IMPACT of not buying the solution.

Quantify the value and demonstrate that it is less than the problem, and more importatnly that it works.

What use is something for Free, if it doesnt offer value?



Think about it.

Regards


Fraser

Marcia,

Good one from someone I've followed and respected for many years now.

I was going to quibble with you about "bonus" referring to something free, but you drove me to the dictionary to prove my quibble, and lo and behold, you are right.

It's not a matter of being a cheapskate, it's a matter of integrity.

Marcia, I totally agree with you. I had someone saying they were giving a free bonus which was worth 4 figures, but to get it you not only had to pay the $1 but sign up for their forced continuity program of $97 a month.

Follow up emails were then sent which basically riddiculed or belittled the person for not taking action.

The whole thing was geared to buy a product which was promoted inside the report. The report didn't do what it said, it was over 80% fluff, and when they did get to the point, they said ignore it because it isn't that good.

I do know that I won't buy from them again.

Hi All,

Great discussion, I haven't had my half cup yet so this is probably going to be another "I'll regret this" post. However even though it appears that everyone in the thread may be agreeing we are not.

Our mental processes are all different and even when we proclaim "we agree" we are agreeing to what we think we are agreeing to.

Hi Marcia,

I do see your point. However, and I did not see that email yet, there could be another side.

What about "FREE, just pay shipping?"

What about "Bonus, buy this and get that at half price" or $1 or whatever. It is a bonus if it normally costs $10 and because you bought product A at Regular price you get product B for a lesser price.

As far as gift goes, "My gift to you is a 75% discount if you buy today."

Personally, I don't do any of the above, at least not yet, however I'm not offended when marketers do it.

I know the perfume counters in the local shopping malls have changed the meaning of the word "sample." I once overheard a lady ask for a "Free Sample," and the clerk snapped at her, "Mam, Sample means free, you don't have to ask for a free sample, just say sample!" Now the same stores have nice little signs up, "Samples, 50 cents each."

As far as "bending" the words goes. I guess Lewis Carroll summed it up. "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." -- Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass.

Of course we don't want to overdo it and end up like Mr. Dumpty.

One only needs to follow the link in your sig. Marcia, to see that many who have posted in this thread don't agree with your definition of free. You offer "free" eBooks and other "free" things if I join your membership for $69 to $99 a month.

I'm not saying you are wrong here I'm just saying your definition of "free" is not the same as others who have posted here in your thread.

For instance Bev. Said, "Marcia, I totally agree with you. I had someone saying they were giving a free bonus which was worth 4 figures, but to get it you not only had to pay the $1 but sign up for their forced continuity program of $97 a month."

I'm not trying to foment an argument here I'm just saying that sometimes we "call out" another marketer for offences that are based on our perceptions of words. Like Mr. Carroll, "Every word... means exactly what we choose it to mean.... nothing more, nothing less."

Respectfully,

George Wright

I agree with George - language is very malleable, and lots of people tack all kinds of personal meanings and contexts onto words that aren't necessarily part of the strict definition. Heck, those subtleties are why copywriting is as much an art as it is a science.

For example, the words you used in the subject: free, bonus, and gift.

"Free" to me means "I have a bunch, just take one, anyone can have it"

"Gift" to me means "This has value, but I'm giving it directly to YOU"

"Bonus" means "You can get it at no cost, but only as part of some other deal"

None of those things necessarily mean "zero cost" - I've given away furniture on Craigslist before for "Free" but they had to get their own truck and come pick it up. That's not "zero cost" but you can't say it's not "free".

Now say someone DID say they wanted a couch, but wanted a chair too. Tell you what - if you come and get the couch, you can take the chair too. I was going to keep it, but you're doing me a favor. That's a bonus.

Now say when he shows up, he happens to glance at my bookshelf and likes some knicknack I have on display. I say "Take it - as a gift for helping me get rid of this stuff". That's a gift because it wasn't available for him to ask. It was mine to offer, but not ON offer.

Instead of thinking about how the words are misused, use it as a lesson in how people can be convinced of the morphability of certain words in certain contexts. The marketing lesson isn't in noticing that they're doing it wrong - the lesson is in figuring out if it's working, and how to improve upon it.

But I'm not saying anything anyone didn't already know.

I am not an attorney. Heck, I don't even look like one. :-) So with that said, I am thinking about a seminar I attended a few years ago, and another one last week about what we can and can't say in our advertising.

"Free" has a meaning of zero cost and zero obligation.

"Free with" means the item is available without additional cost once a customer has made a particular purchase.

Both are allowed if it is spelled out correctly.

:-Don

So if I say I will mail you a check for a $1,000 with no cost to you then turn around and ask for your mailing address all of sudden you feel its not free???

Gift certainly implies free. Bonus implies something ADDITIONAL for no EXTRA cost.

As for FREE?!?!? The FTC in the US has codified that free means NO COST! And they HAVE fought people claiming the contrary, and WON! BTW reasd this CAREFULLY! It also covers some OTHER gimics advocated by some and says THEY are illegal.

FTC GUIDE CONCERNING USE OF THE WORD ``FREE'' AND SIMILAR REPRESENTATIONS

Steve

Well, actually, if you don't call it a FREE bonus, offering a higher value product for a dollar is a bonus. It's done all the time and nothing wrong with it as long as it doesn't say FREE bonus.

I agree in principle, but the world does not always operate in absolutes.

I think we need to act on the general acceptance of a word rather than the true dictionary definition.

A tomato is a fruit but we will always call it a vegetable.