Saturday, April 4, 2020
Fee and Free
Let me suggest a marketing technique that I’ve found highly effective: Mix “free” and “fee.” That is, provide value for your customers and prospects in the form of advice, teleconferences, webinars, Zoom sessions, podcasts, or whatever. But also, concurrently, offer coaching, Zoom workshops, live-streaming sessions, etc, for a fee.These aren’t sequential, like the “bait and switch” hucksters on the internet, with three free videos and then the fourth as an “ask,” as if we’re all stupid sheep. All of them ought to be arrested.
Allow people to have their choice. Perhaps some will choose only “free” but will be very appreciative after the crisis is over and ask you to help them on a fee basis. But some right now will partake of both. If you demonstrate your great value doing something pro bono, you’ll create much more appeal to hire you formally.