Is the word ''free'' a positive, or a negative?

30 replies
Hi Warriors,

Recently I have been developing a project which is unique, slightly gimicky, but also has a lot of potential. I wanted to develop a portfolio of clients before we launch the website to build trust with post-launch clients, and I am happy to offer advertising to companies 'completely for free'.

Considering the number of companies that I have contacted and the genuine risk-free nature of my offer, I have started reflecting over whether the word 'free' is a good thing or whether that is outweighed by the connotations that my offer could be a scam (or not believable) or could be low quality. I suppose it is related to popular sayings such as ''you get what you pay for'' and so on,

So my question is whether to you the word 'free' is a positive or a negative and by extension whether or not I should contact companies highlighting that I would advertise them for free pre-launch.

I'd love to hear what you think!

Ryan
#free #negative #positive #word
  • Profile picture of the author marcelr77
    I think that in the actual economic crisis it is a good word... People are looking for free things, or discounts... And it is a good approach to people to establish a nice relationship

    But the crisis does not affect everybody... so for those who have money, a bit of financial effort is welcome...
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  • Profile picture of the author entrepreneurjay
    Not necessarily!

    Offering your services free of charge could be a very good thing now, and in the future, it could lead to some more lucrative endeavors with these companies down the road if they like your work.

    Go for it!
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  • Profile picture of the author DotComBum
    There is nothing wrong for giving free service to get feedback and testimonials, just be honest by telling them that they will get the same quality service as paid service, and I am sure many will give you a chance to test you out.
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  • Profile picture of the author Matthew Owen
    There are sayings such as "Nothing is free", furthermore people know that if it is 'free' it's either trying to entice them to stay with you rather than competition or you will require them to participate in something after some time.

    Personally when I see 'FREE GIFT VOUCHERS" I steer clear. In your case, provide them with some info to back up your claim: give them the reason why it is free. This will build a honest relationship and I would be 10x more likely to apply for your advertising.
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  • Profile picture of the author RCHumphrey
    Interesting feedback guys, I was more of the opinion stated ''Offering your services free of charge could be a very good thing now, and in the future, it could lead to some more lucrative endeavors with these companies down the road if they like your work.''

    Matthew: When I was contacting the companies I gave a brief overview of our website and how it works but one problem is that as it is pre-launch (the very reason why I can offer it for free), I can't give complete details/info. The site is active so I do link to the website but I can't explain the exact functionality without forcing them to sign an NDA, and on an ''opening'' e-mail I don't want to be throwing an NDA around.
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  • Profile picture of the author BloggingPro
    I don't think its really negative per-se. Depends on what you are doing with your free gift. If your trying to build a list, one could argue that your simply building a list of freebie seekers, and thus when you finally offer them something of value with a price tag--you won't see much of a response.

    I've used FREE things to drive traffic to websites and it's always worked out in my favor. People like getting free stuff! I don't think its a negative, but again, depends on how you use it.

    Some people do consider FREE stuff to be cheap and worthless, but if you build a reputation of providing kick-ass free goodies--that negative connotation wouldn't apply to you.

    BP
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    You're going to fail. If you're afraid of failure then you do not belong in the Internet Marketing Business. Period.
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  • Profile picture of the author vCr8
    It is positive if you are targeting quite a good traffic... but then again, declaring such extension you should have the stuff to back it up. Make sure your freebies are actually worthy of the trouble of signing up and all... if not then this strategy will most likely just back fire..
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      It depends on the context.

      From a marketer's perspective, "free" isn't always a good word to use in autoresponder email, and especially not in the subject line, because its presence greatly reduces the chances of the email arriving in subscribers' in-boxes (i.e. it's commonly a "spam-trap" word).
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  • Profile picture of the author BocaKenK
    Banned
    The word free can be positive or negative depending on who your customer is. So if 50% of your customers feel that it is negative than the other side will think positive of your ad. You can see this as warriors comment on the post.
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  • Profile picture of the author RCHumphrey
    Thanks again for all the new feedback.

    Just to clarify the site is a gimicky advertising portal and is likely to go viral on launch (already had media attention on a national level in the UK). What I'd be offering is a free advertising slot, I'm not offering free gifts, rather advertising websites for free. But I think part of the issue is highlighted by javajunkie.

    The word free can suggest that it is not 'actually worth' the trouble of signing up, but I don't know how to convince companies that it definitely would be. This is where I'm stuck.
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    • Profile picture of the author BloggingPro
      Originally Posted by RCHumphrey View Post

      The word free can suggest that it is not 'actually worth' the trouble of signing up, but I don't know how to convince companies that it definitely would be. This is where I'm stuck.
      Hire a damn good salesman! Not joking their either. If your stuck on that aspect of selling your services, get someone who can take you to the moon and back.

      Use the free use of service as a trial for potential clients. Sell them on how your service can benefit them, and then show them exactly how! That is how I would approach it.

      BP
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      You're going to fail. If you're afraid of failure then you do not belong in the Internet Marketing Business. Period.
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  • Profile picture of the author RCHumphrey
    Fair point BP, but one of the issues I mentioned earlier is that it is difficult to sell because we are pre-launch and can't give away all the details of our plans nor any verifiable numerical statistic of traffic etc... Thanks for the advice anyways
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  • Profile picture of the author JimDucharme
    I think what's more important is what follows the word "free." It's not that people don't believe that something can be free, it's that they may not believe that some things can be free.

    Regards,
    jim
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    • Profile picture of the author RCHumphrey
      Originally Posted by JimDucharme View Post

      I think what's more important is what follows the word "free." It's not that people don't believe that something can be free, it's that they may not believe that some things can be free.

      Regards,
      jim
      I don't quite follow your train of thought here. An example would be ''Free Unique Advertising'' or ''Free Advertising''. Do you think I'm going at it in the wrong way?
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      • Profile picture of the author JimDucharme
        Originally Posted by RCHumphrey View Post

        I don't quite follow your train of thought here. An example would be ''Free Unique Advertising'' or ''Free Advertising''. Do you think I'm going at it in the wrong way?
        Hi RC,

        I was addressing the the general topic so, sorry if I confused you by not being specific to your question. What I was saying is that you shouldn't focus so much on the word "free" as a pontential problem, but what the free offer is and just as importantly, how that offer is presented/explained.

        There's no way I'm going to believe that you are giving away a free cruise, but free unique advertising? Maybe. Depending on how direct you are in qualifying the offer for me and of course, depending on what my experiences have been with such offers.

        Regards,
        jim
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  • Profile picture of the author groho
    For the first time, free product will introduce who you are.
    After several people know you that you have great products, you can start to sell it.
    People who get free product before would help you to promote your product since they know you have a great product.
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  • Profile picture of the author Aksis
    If you want to sell or promote a product or anything else, use it to your best of your ability. I believe that people like to see that word as long as it is relevant to their needs. Just make it simple to satisfy to your target audience.

    On the other note, do not overdo it.

    My two cents worth.
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  • Profile picture of the author go4glory
    People love free stuff, but I personally would ask a lot of questions when a person offers free services/things. So it really depends from person to person.
    But overall 'free' word is treated as a +ve.
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    • Profile picture of the author joedirtsmullet
      you could offer a free trial & let them test drive it first before charging or offer a free version & a payed version
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  • Profile picture of the author RobIMJones
    Definitely a positive word in these times.. Even if what you are offering is free, if they then go on to see that it is of good quality, I don't see the problem
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  • Profile picture of the author Larbi Rahmani
    I think it might be counter productive, especially if your clients are big companies, because it's a sign of nonprofessional starter...

    but you can work this out, by offering a coupon that gives them free service, this way it wont look too noob.

    the "free" service will allow you to build a client base and good testimonials.
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  • Profile picture of the author Adie
    It depends...
    It's positive if you are offering "free" information, but negative if you are offering "free" money.
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  • Profile picture of the author penny_zf
    Offline market, it's definitelya good thing but could have some issues of Spam if you are sending out email blast. If you put too many "free" words in your emails, your email could be treated as Spam.
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  • Profile picture of the author RCHumphrey
    More interesting opinions here, much as I had suspected it seems that it can be either a positive or a negative thing. People are mentioning a trial, and perhaps an issue with me e-mailing companies is that I intend to advertise them for free permanently (the figures don't suffer too much as a result). Perhaps by offering them less (say 10,000 appearances) the offer will seem more realistic/trustworthy and therefore more successful. I may well try that out.

    As for the suggestions that the word 'free' is dependent on the people saying it, that's tough for me to alter, these companies are ones I've just met and contacted. If they knew me there would be no issue in them taking the free advertising.
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  • Profile picture of the author Imogene
    No one gives in free there would be some hidden cost as well..... so it is positive for seller and negative for buyer.
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    • Profile picture of the author RCHumphrey
      Originally Posted by Imogene View Post

      No one gives in free there would be some hidden cost as well..... so it is positive for seller and negative for buyer.
      This is the sceptical attitude which I suspect the word ''free'' is causing.

      When you say no one, I have clearly given an example (ie my project right now) which is definitely a positive for both parties-there are no hidden costs, no risk and no commitment to purchase.

      In fact that's how commerce/trade works-a deal that's a good thing for both people.
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      • Profile picture of the author myob
        In the context of a consumer market, the word "free" may indeed be a positive inducement, but for businesses it seems to have become maligned and jaded. I would avoid the word "free" completely until you have built up convincing value for your service, including solid market-researched benefits and price points. And certainly never mention you are in "pre-launch", which is the blaring siren of an amateur. Perhaps offer something like a scaled down free introductory trial, which clearly does not detract from the value of your full or premium service levels.
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  • Profile picture of the author TomYevsikov
    Free reflects "not-risky" and "I dont have to waste a dime out of my pocket, even if the offer is stupid, I got nothing to lose, lets give it a try"

    Free is always a good word, you just need to know how to monetize that word
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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    FREE used to be a great word. Nowadays people have become a lot more skeptical about things because of the advancement of technology and what is now possible. We hear about scams every other day of the week. So yes, I don't think the word free has the same power it used to. Nowadays it brings up mixed feelings for me. I much rather pay for quality than risk it with free stuff.
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    • Profile picture of the author AllanWard
      Dan Ariely outlines an experiment he did around the word 'free'. You can read more on his blog.

      Free is a useful strategy to use in some cases, but in the case you're outlining it may cheapen the offer, not enhance it.

      I work as a financial planner and we've offered free initial appointments for years. The problem is that 'free' can imply that there's no cost, and that's not the case. It costs us money to deliver that free appointment.

      So I've started calling it a 'complimentary' appointment. This implies that there's a value to it, but we're not charging for it. I've also seen planners put a dollar figure on the value i.e. complimentary appointment valued at $200.

      This could be a good thing for you to try.
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