Give 51%.Take 49%. Is this the best way to build an audience?

and as long as you keep not asking you will continue to not receive. Your numbers 51 and 49 percent are arbitrary and meaningless.

al

JOB Stands for Just On Broke !

You apparently think reciprocity is a scale, or a teeter-totter.

You are going to put the weights on their side, until they are above the even point, then you will jump on and balance it out?

Silly, silly, silly.

Yes, Give to get is a good rule of thumb.

But billions of dollars exchange hands daily because people want stuff. My supermarket gives a SMALL sample of food, if I like it, MAYBE I buy it.

Online, this is giving a free report or something to capture a name, to build a list. And YES, you basically did say what agmcall pointed out...and if it is a metaphor for giving and reciprocity, it is a silly one.

You asked for our take, this is mine.

GordonJ

The way I see it it is this...

You have a list for a reason and that's to make money from it right?

Yes its true that reciprocation is powerful persuasion tool, along with Social Proof, Commitment and Consistency, Liking/Trust, Authority and Scarcity which should all be used as well but ultimately it all boils down to what you are selling, if they want to buy it they will if not they won't but if you never ask you will of course never sell anything.

A lot of people are afraid to sell to people on their list in case they unsubscribe but the way I see it is if they aren't going to buy from you anyway why have them on there costing you money each month?

Junaid.

I just wrote a post a few hours ago asking a simple question but the answer will be a hard one

I have a list and when I decide to put out a new product it only goes to them and no one else and you know what 98% purchase , now I dont come on here blowing my own trumpet about my marketing just to prove that if you dont spam the crap out of a list
you get a good response

Jason

Another point to remember is we are not "Taking" from out audience. We are suggesting a product or service that could be of value, probably more value than we can provide. If they make the purchase then we make a sale or commission. And, like Daniel has said, this suggestion is, or should be, high value to our audience

al

Yes, it's not like "selling" is on one side of the balance scale and "value" (or things you give away) is on the other.

"Value" comes in many forms. It could be what you give away, what you recommend (affiliate sales is just one example of many), what you sell (your own product), a service you provide, or even just a tip or short bit of wisdom in and email that helps someone in your niche.

The 51-49 percent analogy is meaningless. Forget about it. So is any other formula. During my marketing career I have given away way more than I have ever sold. Have I missed out on a lot of potential income? Yes. Do I recommend this pattern? No. It's just me and what I am comfortable with.

You have to learn that Internet marketing is not a one-size-fits-all occupation. Every business is different and unique. You have to experiment, test, track, modify, and find out for yourself what works best for you.

Don't believe every marketing formula or cliche that you hear.

Steve

I was just reading a kindle book on email marketing and one of the chapters was about giving too much away for free. Here is the meat of the chapter

al

Or any other kind of phors.

OP, you focused on reciprocity. "I do you a favor, you do me a favor." Right? If you want them to do you a favor (buy what you offer) you have to ask for the favor (ask for the sale).

If you give, give, give without even a hint of wanting something in return, you'll run afoul of another principle - consistency. If you never even hint at wanting something back, you train the people on your list that you're the guy who always gives value and never asks for anything in return. When you finally do get the cojones to ask for something, it's inconsistent with your past behaviour. Your list members, some of them anyway, feel betrayed.

You don't have to pitch something in every email, but you do need to plant the seed that you will be asking them to do something at a later point.

The PS link Robert mentioned is a great way to do that. So is adding links to posts on your site, videos, etc. because it teaches people that clicking on your links leads to a positive outcome. And if you're an affiliate, you just provide the link along with a suggestion/recommendation - let the vendor do his thing with the sales pitch.

The problem, besides the odd and meaningless percentages, is that you're focusing on giving.

You're a marketer, a seller. You should be focused on selling, getting them to take the next step.

How you phrase things has consequences, because it changes your focus.

Then, the the giving must be done to the right people,
it must have a purpose besides itself, a clear purpose,
and it has to be appropriate to the purpose.

For instance, if you're a new commercial mortgage broker, you never give the contact info of the best 3 commercial mortgage loan officers that you know. I know, I know, nobody's that stoopid. Actually, without being stupid, a lot of people put a lot of effort into giving something that's equally wrong for the goal they're after.

Dan Kennedy gives (used to give?) a series of emails about email marketing and a bunch of other stuff he said was worth over $600. All of the stuff gave good info about marketing (at the end, most receivers came to several conclusions:
This guy knows what he's talking about
I want me more of what he does
I can't do it myself (unless I get more of his stuff or hire him directly).

What you give might have no value whatsoever to you but could be highly valuable to your target audience.

If you're dealing with brand new marketers, giving them one of your old and useless (to you) landing page templates would work. The same templates will not work for advanced marketers. To those, you might give your analysis of a successful email message you use(d). (With the reasoning and test results of how you got it to have 21 of every 100 recipients buy whatever you were selling.)

And, as others have said, no matter who you're giving to, don't forget to ask them to take whatever action you want them to take.

Always take more. It's how you'll get rich. No need to be Mr. Humanitarian.

I think there’s another issue at play here as well, at least to a certain degree. Many of us have been taught from when we were kids that asking for something isn’t nice or polite. And it’s definitely not safe to ask for anything from strangers.

Of course, logically, as we grow up and move into areas where we have to ask for the sale, we know that mentality should no longer apply. Unfortunately, oftentimes, what we know logically and what our subconscious thinks are two different things.

The result is that some people constantly find a reason to justify to themselves why they’re not ready to ask for the sale, why it isn’t the right time, and why they need to offer even more value. And they keep justifying it until they work themselves to the bone and simply can’t go on anymore because they’ve been offering value but have asked nothing in return and now can’t pay the electric bill or the internet bill.

I guess you could say it’s a form of conditioning that you have to break. Learn from people begging on the street. They have absolutely no issues asking for things without offering anything in return. I’m not saying you should adopt the same strategy, because you’ll never build a sustainable business without offering value.

And before people slam me that I have no heart and that beggars are homeless people who have no other choice, let’s just say I have experience with people who use begging as a job. They dress up for their job in the mornings and change out of their ratty clothes and have a good shower at the end of the day in their nice home. I know there are plenty who have no other choice, but there are enough folks out there who are more than happy to mooch off others. They’ve got the art of the ask down to a science.

Just remember that if you’re offering value, the worst thing that can happen if you ask for something in return is people will say no. Well, not literally, they’ll just not buy whatever you’re pitching. But you won’t lose them because they still want to get that value. Then again, you have to wonder if you really want to keep someone on your list who might never give back.

How about, I give you a landing page linked to what you need, and you give me money?

Works for me...

You're describing inbound marketing techniques. Why not out together an e-book using your articles - something like 10 ways to build organic traffic or whatever - and have a pop up that asks for an e-mail in exchagne for your invaluable info? You should be able to get leads easier this way.

You should always provide value. Reciprocation is one of the "6 weapons of influence" covered in Robert Cialdini's book. People are more willing to do something for you if you give them something first.

based on the principal that the client is the most important role player in the business cycle, you should ask exactly what your clients feel they need, that way you will get a faster result because they're more compliant.

Give a more value before they finally ask for a sale...?

Hi Junaid,

Seems to me that mentality is just a psychological crutch based on the age old "Give a little get a little"

https://www.psychologytoday.com/arti...et-little-more

It you give first, before taking, it makes you feel good... but not necessarily going to improve your commercial viability. It's just a way of warming things up a little bit, which can be useful if you are pushing valueless junk.

Its work. We say it "No Profit, No Loss" . It will work If you a balance of Incoming and Outgoing.

Uuummm....
I use and give away good content in order to increase my Brand (and get more sales back)

what ever percentage you have given if you have given more to your clients like honesty, truthfulness.sincerity, all your efforts will pay back and the result is double

True, Well Said Here

Thought this was a thread about UK's EU referendum at first glance

yes I think give and get should be done both. Don't just do only one thing

I don't give any E books or anything to get someone to 'subscribe' to my list. But I do give value constantly to the marketplace. I 'invest' energy everyday to the marketplace that helps many people.

So as Daniel said above...

There is absolutely nothing wrong with telling people to buy your product even 'daily' just as long as you are giving value 'daily'. I don't ask people to buy my stuff. I tell them to. I don't tell them everyday but there is nothing wrong to tell them everyday (just as long as you KNOW there is value in your products).

If it is your list that you will be selling to, some people will unsubscribe. But you are not here to be a 'people pleaser'.

You are here to make money online.

But just as Randall said above...

Don't try to be a humanitarian.

Be a marketer.

And a marketer sells stuff online to make money.