Why “Free” is a Dirty Word

Some people always want one more thing for "free"...

There’s been a lot of talk over the last few years about “moving the free line”. In short, marketers advocating giving stuff away to build their list. I don’t have any problem with this concept except some people really don’t understand it, and they get hurt.

The problem is that there are plenty of people who will optin just to get something free not because they need it, but because it’s free. I remember working retail (*puke*) years ago and we’d have ladies come in and ask, “what’s on sale?” to which I would usually reply, “well, what are you looking for?” only to hear, “whatever’s on sale!”. In short, the deal was more important than whatever it was they needed. A powerful psychology lesson for me.

Online, there’s plenty of people who are more than happy to download all your stuff, send you tens of emails and otherwise expect hands-on help for free. If you offer them help with a price you will instantly be accused of being greedy. Obviously, only THEY can sell stuff. Aaron Wall of SEO Book has dubbed people like this “Freetards” which I find hilariously appropriate. (check out the graphic on that page)

How then, do you avoid “freetards”?

In short, there’s no surefire way. However, placing a small barrier of entry between yourself and your audience works wonders. A list of people who have paid you $10 will often out-convert a list ten times its size of people who signed up looking for freebies. I’m not saying it’s bad to give away freebies to build a list (I still do), simply that it’s better to build a list of customers whenever possible.

The bigger lesson though, is to not create an environment that fosters the growth of “freetards”. I see many marketers build huge lists with freebies, then provide weeks of free content only to be shocked that their first promotion results in few to no sales and lots of complaints. The key is that it’s always about managing expectations. If you’ve trained your list that you’re the “free guy” you can only blame yourself when they fail to respond (and even get mad) when you send out a promo.

Instead, I recommend always using a mixture of quality and sales. Keep people enthralled with good info and great storytelling but never be afraid to make an offer to them.

Make sure you aren’t moving the “free line” into a noose that sinks your business. Create a culture where customers value you, and where you let them know they are valued.