FREE doesn't work anymore!

[Pedersenmt]

I have been racking my brain with this. The "standard" approach to list-building is to "give away" a FREE report, ebook, vidoes, etc...

In my humble opinion, normal web visitors, not IM'ers are not going for the FREE anymore. They are blowing right over it, and not giving their email addresses to get the FREE item.

With that being said, what is working "today" in IM that we can use in other non how to make money (or B2B) niches?

I have been on the net for 10 years doing this so I am not a newbie by any means, but am stuck with what to do to get the email address.

It seems FREE is so the "norm" that it has a much lower perceived value for people.

Would love to hear some comment, opinions and suggestions, as for most of us making a living online, this is critical to our success (list building).

Cheers!

[TMG Enterprises]

If the free report is information that they actually want, it will work. It won't if it's the same old info they can get anywhere, though, or at least not nearly as well.

Tina

[patJ]

Funny.. i'm promoting a free offer right now.. hm.. it made me over $100 just today with a conversion rate of 50%. I'd say free still works, you just have to promote it the right way.

[Pedersenmt]

Originally Posted by patJ

Funny.. i'm promoting a free offer right now.. hm.. it made me over $100 just today with a conversion rate of 50%. I'd say free still works, you just have to promote it the right way.

Well...what's your secret? Please do tell

I know my market, as I am my market, so what I am offering is what I would consider valuable. If you are in any kind of how to make money, people are "desperate" for money; many other niches are recreational (hobby) and they do not NEED the information near as much as someone who is broke and needs MONEY.

I think I would like to hear from people in 'normal' niches, not any B2B or how to make money.

Thanks

[Louise Evans]

This is an interesting thread..

I no longer build lists of 'regular' subscribers.. now all my lists are made from 100% customers.. i.e the only way to get on my list is to become a customer.

Free still works really well this way, my customers love freebies.. they value them more. Sure I'm probably missing out on a few sales by not bribing people to join the list, but I value the information I give them, and now, so do they more than ever.

[MarkLloyd]

Your best customers will like to pay. But even the most wealthiest of people STILL like getting deals...so heck yea free still works. Just check out the company vistaprint haha everything is "free"...it's ridiculous but it WORKS!

[goliathseo]

It eems to work for me, but the one problem I am having is that conversions are non existant. I had put out ads for a free webinar on local search, had 16 people sign up but either there was a glitch in the system or no one showed up... Any suggestions?

[Pedersenmt]

I think having some scarcity in the free offer would be very good also. And maybe a dollar value of the freebie.

[SeanSupplee]

Works for me but you gotta rebrand those ebooks and free reports or give away something unique something you created yourself. All that PLR crap is over promoted and people just dont want it well a majority of them I still get some opt ins from plr ebooks

[patJ]

Originally Posted by Pedersenmt

Well...what's your secret? Please do tell

I know my market, as I am my market, so what I am offering is what I would consider valuable. If you are in any kind of how to make money, people are "desperate" for money; many other niches are recreational (hobby) and they do not NEED the information near as much as someone who is broke and needs MONEY.

I think I would like to hear from people in 'normal' niches, not any B2B or how to make money.

Thanks

No secret...

Step 1: Check your cpa network for some free stuff email submits.
Step 2: Find a few blogs in that niche (gaming in my case). You can use ad networks like adbrite to find niche blogs and then contact the owner personally.
Step 3: Contact the owner and say you want to advertise on his site.
Step 4: Profit!

[Fun to Write]

Originally Posted by Pedersenmt

I have been racking my brain with this. The "standard" approach to list-building is to "give away" a FREE report, ebook, vidoes, etc...

In my humble opinion, normal web visitors, not IM'ers are not going for the FREE anymore. They are blowing right over it, and not giving their email addresses to get the FREE item.

With that being said, what is working "today" in IM that we can use in other non how to make money (or B2B) niches?

I have been on the net for 10 years doing this so I am not a newbie by any means, but am stuck with what to do to get the email address.

It seems FREE is so the "norm" that it has a much lower perceived value for people.

Would love to hear some comment, opinions and suggestions, as for most of us making a living online, this is critical to our success (list building).

Cheers!

It totally depends on the free offer. I have a list of free recipes that people continuously sign up for. The catch is that the recipes are not your typical ones on thousands of sites.

You need to really think about what you can offer them that's related to your niche, but a little bit different than what they can easily find elsewhere. Uniqueness gets attention.

[Fun to Write]

Originally Posted by MarkLloyd

Your best customers will like to pay. But even the most wealthiest of people STILL like getting deals...so heck yea free still works. Just check out the company vistaprint haha everything is "free"...it's ridiculous but it WORKS!

I'm a Vista print customer and they do suck you in with their free business card offer, but once you take them up on it, you'll find that you spend lots more money in renewals, plus, finding other cool personalization stuff on their site.

[Frank Donovan]

Are you certain it's the "free" aspect that isn't working?

Have you tested all the other variables, such as your squeeze/landing page, quality of offer, competition, quality of traffic, positioning of opt-in, general responsiveness of visitors, copy on your home/landing page etc.

I have found that "free" is still attractive if it's something that's in demand by your target audience and "sold" effectively.

Originally Posted by Pedersenmt

I know my market, as I am my market, so what I am offering is what I would consider valuable.

You are not your market, unless you'd consider a sample of one to be in any way representative.


Frank

[steve39]

I have a list in the weight loss niche and I was in exactly your position until I really looked at what I was doing. I was driving article traffic to a squeeze page that promised a free ebook and 10-part course on losing weight. The problem was, no one was signing up. It seemed incomprehensible that people weren't taking me up on my amazing offer - I mean, I would have signed up in a minute.

Needless to say, the weight loss niche is highly competitive and I eventually came to the conclusion that my target audience was jaded. They had seen it all and my offer was just like a hundred others. There was no incentive to lift a finger to fill out their name and email.

What eventually worked was changing the copy to make it seem like this was something they couldn't live without. Sounds easy, but it took a lot of testing before I saw a change in my signups.

I had to make myself stand out and convince them that they absolutely had to have my report in the next few minutes no matter what.

So, for me, it came down to actually selling the customer on my free product - as funny as that sounds. I changed the report title and gave the e-course a snazzy new name and then spent hours overhauling the copy on the squeeze page. A lot of effort, but it worked.

Bottom line: convince them that you can give them something of great value - something they can't get anywhere else.

Steve

[MichaelHiles]

Give away more free content in the form of a blog that links to a free report squeeze page at the end of every blog post.

[tryinhere]

Originally Posted by Pedersenmt

Well...what's your secret? Please do tell

I am sure I seen that answer in a free report somewhere, will see if i can find it

[Asher]

Free always works.

It's just whether you actually know how to work
it. If you're doing it in the IM niche, it's PRECISELY
because of the junk and lousy little reports going
out that's harming the "free report" giveaway kind
of thing.

I am not dissing your experience but there's
nothing better and more attention grabbing
than the word free.

When people get it and they check out the free
stuff... it better be good stuff. Since IMers are a
biting crowd with nary a care about asking for
refunds (because they know they can, heck,
heard of people asking for a refund for FREE
stuff delivered online simply because they've been
at it so long, they forgot they got it free? I have).

I recently got a free report from a well-known
IMer and I was shocked at the free report... because
it truly delivered great content and it even included
a 2 hour 45 minute recording of himself... reading
that report.

Free is just a way to get more people into the funnel.

Personally, I don't think you should focus on whether
free works or not. Rather, focus on giving more, than
you can get more.

If you are getting people who would rather get the
free stuff and not give you their email address... while
you are TRULY giving great content... AND they don't
repent from their wicked ways after checking out your
content and turn around to give you their REAL email
address...

... then you're probably better off without them.

Asher

[JohnMcCabe]

Originally Posted by Pedersenmt

Well...what's your secret? Please do tell

I know my market, as I am my market, so what I am offering is what I would consider valuable. If you are in any kind of how to make money, people are "desperate" for money; many other niches are recreational (hobby) and they do not NEED the information near as much as someone who is broke and needs MONEY.

I think I would like to hear from people in 'normal' niches, not any B2B or how to make money.

Thanks

Given my avatar, I don't think I'm shocking anyone by telling you that one of the niches I work in is fishing (I won't get more specific than that, too many sharp operators here...)

No one in the specific areas I work in NEEDS related information. Many of them DO crave it, though.

You just have to push the right buttons.

Some generic angler, let's call him "John", might have justified spending a pile of money on a new rod and reel by saying that it would allow him to put food on the table. Coming home with the "catch" wrapped in butcher paper from the local fish market is a downer, and John will hunt down information he believes will help him avoid that particular humiliation in the future.

John also likes to put away some suds with his buddies, and loves showing off pictures of his catches. Suddenly, the new guy in the group starts showing up with pictures of bigger fish in bigger quantities. John will spend a lot to regain his position as the master angler in the group.

There are a lot more angles, but this isn't a tutorial on marketing to fishermen. One thing to note - while the target may be 'how to catch more and bigger fish', the motivation in both scenarios has nothing to do with actually catching more and bigger fish. It has everything to do with status, image, ego.

The bottom line is that, at this point, your visitors don't know you. They don't know the quality of information you provide, or if they can trust you.

You might be part of your market, but there's one big thing that makes you different - you already know what's behind door #1.

You have to step back and join the conversation going on between your visitor's ears. Why is he on your landing page? What is he looking for, and why is he looking here for it? Answer those in a way that both establishes trust and teases that the solution is indeed behind Door #1, and the opt-ins will flow...

[MichaelHiles]

Here's the problem.

In another thread running right now, yet another person has contended that you don't have to really have passion for what you do. Just work hard to come up with a product that you really don't care a lot about, and go sell it is really all it takes.

Well, if it's a grind to come up with the product that you don't necessarily care a lot about, then you certainly aren't going to continue to produce quality content related to the niche.

If you're not regularly producing any volume of content, then you don't have material to allocate to giving away for free. You've got to make a penny on your one product that you labored over because you're not really passionate about the market.

Guess there's this thing called cause-and-effect after all.

[robfoster]

Free works most of the time. Unless some people think it's not good and ignore it but that's rare case.

[ronakshah]

FREE works anyway. Did you even check my thread here within the copywriting forum?

Giving people what they want is exactly what you must do.

It's true, people don't value FREE stuff. However, someone who's actually curious or desperate will even go through the FREE stuff to get desired results. If it helps them, they'll take it.

Look, If you were given a FREE holiday in Hawaii when you purchased a flight ticket to California, how would you respond? Whoaaa~!

Giving people stuff for FREE is a tool. You must know how to use it. So, what's your sales offer? What's your sales strategy? What's the end value or result of the offer?

Answer the above questions and you will be done quite nicely with building lists i.e. for FREE. My 2c.

[Pedersenmt]

All very good suggestions and feedback! Thank you

[actionplanbiz]

Its not the "FREE," its what goes before or after it.

"Free Report" is kinda played out though

[Paul McQuillan]

To be honest I have got some killer free ebooks lately for
joining a list. One was a great swipe file.

Most of it I pass by, but as a copywriter I do not pass up
a butt-load of winning ads.

The problem is that the traffic that hits the page with the opt in
are not always interested in that topic (or have 50 just like it already)

Free absolutely works. Free beer at a party goes fast

[Pedersenmt]

Originally Posted by ronakshah

FREE works anyway. Did you even check my thread here within the copywriting forum?

Giving people what they want is exactly what you must do.

It's true, people don't value FREE stuff. However, someone who's actually curious or desperate will even go through the FREE stuff to get desired results. If it helps them, they'll take it.

Look, If you were given a FREE holiday in Hawaii when you purchased a flight ticket to California, how would you respond? Whoaaa~!

Giving people stuff for FREE is a tool. You must know how to use it. So, what's your sales offer? What's your sales strategy? What's the end value or result of the offer?

Answer the above questions and you will be done quite nicely with building lists i.e. for FREE. My 2c.

Can you insert a link to your thread

[JohnMcCabe]

Originally Posted by Paul McQuillan

Free absolutely works. Free beer at a party goes fast

My favorite brand!

[DogScout]

when 'FREE' doesn't work in your niche, that could be a good sign. The affluent tend to prefer 'NO COST'. worth testing.

[DogScout]

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

Given my avatar, I don't think I'm shocking anyone by telling you that one of the niches I work in is fishing (I won't get more specific than that, too many sharp operators here...)

No one in the specific areas I work in NEEDS related information. Many of them DO crave it, though.

You just have to push the right buttons.

Some generic angler, let's call him "John", might have justified spending a pile of money on a new rod and reel by saying that it would allow him to put food on the table. Coming home with the "catch" wrapped in butcher paper from the local fish market is a downer, and John will hunt down information he believes will help him avoid that particular humiliation in the future.

John also likes to put away some suds with his buddies, and loves showing off pictures of his catches. Suddenly, the new guy in the group starts showing up with pictures of bigger fish in bigger quantities. John will spend a lot to regain his position as the master angler in the group.

There are a lot more angles, but this isn't a tutorial on marketing to fishermen. One thing to note - while the target may be 'how to catch more and bigger fish', the motivation in both scenarios has nothing to do with actually catching more and bigger fish. It has everything to do with status, image, ego.

The bottom line is that, at this point, your visitors don't know you. They don't know the quality of information you provide, or if they can trust you.

You might be part of your market, but there's one big thing that makes you different - you already know what's behind door #1.

You have to step back and join the conversation going on between your visitor's ears. Why is he on your landing page? What is he looking for, and why is he looking here for it? Answer those in a way that both establishes trust and teases that the solution is indeed behind Door #1, and the opt-ins will flow...

Other than the anglers I know will spend literally thousands on equipment, tips, tricks and techniques to try and outwit an animal with an IQ of '5'.. That is a great post! If you continue the conversation the customer starts, and it makes sense to him, he will make the next statement (click the 'FREE REPORT' button) That is one reason PPC works so well, you get to decide the customer's first statement in your wording of the ad and only those that relate to that conversation click the ad, so you already know how to get anyone landing on your page to take the next step.

Thanks

[Online Bliss]

I usually don't Grab free stuff
But when I see something new like "Free Windows 7 Tips"
I am interested because it's something new and I want it.

[kmonster]

shoot! I'll take free stuff, for my email address! People are crazy now adays....

[Daniel Scott]

Originally Posted by Pedersenmt

I know my market, as I am my market, so what I am offering is what I would consider valuable.

Wrong.

No matter how much you think you are... you're never your market.

That's marketing 101.

You can be PART of your market... but you're not the market.

Just because it's valuable to you doesn't mean it's valuable to your subscribers... it obviously isn't... or they'd be opting in.

-Dan

[kevinfar]

if you manage to convince people that your FREE report/video/whatever is something that they need, you will be able to get them to hand out their email (if that is what you want).

You just have to look at it as another step in closing a deal. Therefore you need to be convincing as much as you are in a sales page.

[Sumit Menon]

Well, it depends. For Example:

1) "FREE! Nude Pictures Of Marilyn Manson's Ass. Sign In Now!"

2) "FREE! Get A Free No-Holds Barred Date With Sienna Miller. Guaranteed!"

I bet the second one would convert like cray.

Bottom Line: It's not FREE! It's just the thing that is Free...

Sumit.

PS. Fine.. I couldn't think of a good example!

[davis9461]

Research is key in knowing what your crowd wants and is looking for; find out what your competitors are not offering that the crowd wants and build a product, report, e-book, etc... and give the crowd what they want, not what you want to give them.

[Chris Pambos]

Originally Posted by Pedersenmt

I have been racking my brain with this. The "standard" approach to list-building is to "give away" a FREE report, ebook, vidoes, etc...

In my humble opinion, normal web visitors, not IM'ers are not going for the FREE anymore. They are blowing right over it, and not giving their email addresses to get the FREE item.

With that being said, what is working "today" in IM that we can use in other non how to make money (or B2B) niches?

I have been on the net for 10 years doing this so I am not a newbie by any means, but am stuck with what to do to get the email address.

It seems FREE is so the "norm" that it has a much lower perceived value for people.

Would love to hear some comment, opinions and suggestions, as for most of us making a living online, this is critical to our success (list building).

Cheers!

The only reason why FREE wouldn't work is that your free incentive doesn't contain enough perceived value that would make any visitor willing to enter their name and email address in order to gain access to your FREE incentive.

FREE is what the internet has moved towards to in today's modern society, FREE does work as long as the person offering the free incentive knows how to create a FREE offer that actually converts and has the required perceived value that will drive people to want to enter their information in order to get access to that FREE incentive.

[trakwebster]

Although what you say about FREE being less powerful is somewhat true, let me use an example: "FREE dog poo! Twenty pound bag. Act now while supplies last!"

It's not going to work.

Forget the free part. The part that makes or breaks the deal is what comes after the word free. And maybe I'm not very skilled at it, because I've found it tricky.

Originally Posted by Pedersenmt

... I know my market, as I am my market, so what I am offering is what I would consider valuable.

My friend, that's a logical error.

I'm reminded of years ago when I ran a very small business in San Francisco, an answering service. We used a new method that didn't involve switchboards, and so I figured we had cost savings, and I sold my service much cheaper than other companies. I got market share.

But again and again, we ran short of money, and reputable consultants told me to raise my prices. But I was just *sure* that if I did, we'd lose all our clients.

Eventually I learned that I could raise our prices and we didn't lose all our clients. My logical error was that I was trying to give *them* what *I* would have liked to have had. But I was much more of a cheapskate than they were. I couldn't read the universe accurately because I was looking at my own views and opinions instead.

If the universe is not responding as you imagine it would from your offer, that could well mean that you are looking at your own views and opinions instead of listening to the universe. It will tell you the truth. And right now it's telling you they actually do *not* want the thing you're offering. Free isn't the issue. It's that the thing is not tempting them.

If you are in any kind of how to make money, people are "desperate" for money; many other niches are recreational (hobby) and they do not NEED the information near as much as someone who is broke and needs MONEY ...

There is a whole lot of logic here.

That's too bad.

We humans don't buy things because it's logical. We buy things and seek things and get things because of our emotional and wholistic reaction to them -- you know that brunette Betty is going to be trouble but hubba-hubba-hubba oh you kid and you make a pass -- and we tack on some logic later. (Some fairly decent science shows decisions made and actions begun before the guy is even conscious of having made any decision logical or otherwise.)

Ask your universe what they want.

Then give them what they want.

Then they'll want what you're giving.

It may be easier said than done, but if you can do it, it will work.

Good luck.

-- Arthur "Wild Philosophy" Cronos

.

[Neromancer]

While I do believe free still works it is based on what free thing you offer;
the name of the game in my opinion is content marketing and a highly
focused niche -having a tight niche means the content alone will make
you a hero and will establish you quickly as an expert in your field;
this means if you provide meaty content over and over and build it to
focus on your top products you can't lose. This means quality opt ins
too.

[JohnMcCabe]

Originally Posted by Sumit Menon

Well, it depends. For Example:

1) "FREE! Nude Pictures Of Marilyn Manson's Ass. Sign In Now!"

2) "FREE! Get A Free No-Holds Barred Date With Sienna Miller. Guaranteed!"

I bet the second one would convert like crazy.

Bottom Line: It's not FREE! It's just the thing that is Free...

Sumit.

PS. Fine.. I couldn't think of a good example!

Sumit, if you define the market for your example as either heterosexual males or lesbians who like pretty women (as opposed to mannish women), you are probably right.

If your market is defined by gay heavy-metal fans, I'd bet your conversion results would be exactly the opposite...

[GuerrillaIM]

Free works, but you have to build ambiguity. tell them what the free product does without telling them too much. If you arouse their curiosity then they will bite.

[112designs]

For me the word "FREE" does wonders. I give away a 103 page report that i personally wrote, and i got subscribers every day.

If you want the word free to do wonders for you, you will have to give something of value upfront, if not it won't make any difference.

Hope this helps.

Tudor

[tpw]

I think that the answer to the question is "perceived value".

Some people perceive FREE as worthless, but that is not always the case.

Some people perceive PAID as worthwhile, but that is not always the case either.

If you will build up the perceived value of a product, then it does not matter whether that product is free or paid. People are getting the product, based on its "perceived value".

If people fail to value your FREE or PAID product, then that is your fault, because you did not create a perceived value for your product.

But then again, if your product is crap to begin with, there is not much you can do to change that.

[timer]

I'm with the majority. Free works but only if it's useful and preferably self created.

[wordwizard]

Originally Posted by MichaelHiles

Give away more free content in the form of a blog that links to a free report squeeze page at the end of every blog post.

Great idea! I'll try that.

Thanks!!!

[Michael Gentry]

free most certainly still works

[McManigal]

So many people say free, but you have to enter your credit card to risk getting billed later. Maybe people are just wary of things that are supposedly free nowadays.

[McManigal]

But I still think Free works better than most offers.

[Sumit Menon]

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

Sumit, if you define the market for your example as either heterosexual males or lesbians who like pretty women (as opposed to mannish women), you are probably right.

If your market is defined by gay heavy-metal fans, I'd bet your conversion results would be exactly the opposite...

Gay Heavy Metal Fans? There are people like that!

[davis9461]

Originally Posted by 112designs

For me the word "FREE" does wonders. I give away a 103 page report that i personally wrote, and i got subscribers every day.

If you want the word free to do wonders for you, you will have to give something of value upfront, if not it won't make any difference.

Hope this helps.

Tudor

Totally agree...You have to create value in the prospects MIND and create a CALL To ACTION they can not refuse.

[rainspeak]

This is interesting. Please follow with you findings.

[marin7]

I think someone else already suggested this, but are there are ways you can increase the perceived value? Maybe you could convert your free report into a free short video course or overview and test if that gets higher opt-ins. And I would try to put myself in the head of my target market and ask myself if I would bother signing up to get what I'm offering. Myself, when I come across a free offer, if it's a very generic, general topic I often ignore it, unless I think it will tell me something I don't already know. So perhaps emphasize some new angle or secret.

Or, instead of offering your report for free, offer it for $1. And show the original price slashed at a realistic price, say $27. This should also increase perceived value.

This is interesting though, because even though free can be hard to pass by, it's also easy to discount the quality of the free item even if it happens to be great. So by offering it for $1, maybe you could bypass the whole "another free crap ebook" filter some people may have.