Want to make more money?
Give your stuff away!
That’s right. Give it away. Not just some half-baked junk, either. Give away your best stuff.
The Internet has done a lot of great things for marketers – but perhaps one not so great thing is that the Internet has created an expectation that things are instantly available and free.
This actually is a great thing for you.
Why?
Because its gives you an opportunity to prove yourself and earn the trust of the market. That is something that you simply can’t buy.
So what do you give away?
Of course, that depends on what you sell, but the general rule is to give your potential customers something of value to them. Something from which they can benefit – even if they never pay you a dime. This will usually be information.
If you’re in business, it’s almost certainly true that you have some knowledge or skill that your customers need. So that’s what you give them!
- Are you an SEO consultant? Tell people what factors matter in search engine ranking.
- An accountant? Explain what the latest tax law changes mean to your clients.
- A caterer? Tell people the 10 things they really need to pull off a dinner party.
Get the idea? There are a bunch of tried and true ways to get that information out there. Here are a few…
- Blogging: Writing a blog is a great way to get noticed online. If you are a consultant of any type, this is basically a requirement.
- Articles: There are many online article submission sites where what you write can get very wide exposure. Write something of interest to your market and submit it one of these sites, or to an eZine publisher directly.
- White Papers: In consulting and technology, white papers are huge business generators. It is a format that allows you to showcase your expertise by explaining an issue or showing how a problem can be solved.
- Podcasts: Always wanted to be a radio personality? Does the thought of writing make you break out in a cold sweat? No problem. Record yourself talking about an issue (or interviewing someone) and put it out as a podcast.
- Video: Video is the next big thing. With the cost of digital video equipment falling every day – and many laptops coming with webcams already built in, it’s easier than ever to shoot and edit video. A short video clip can be a very powerful way to engage prospects.
How does this turn into sales?
No matter what medium you use, always include a response mechanism. A link to your website or some other way to contact you is the key item to include. It’s important that you don’t come across as some huckster pushing something. Make sure that anything you put out there has at least a 5 to 1 ratio of good content to sales message. Even then, this is not the place to beat people over the head with a sales message – save that for when they come to your site or otherwise contact you. The job of the “sales pitch” here is to get the prospect to contact you – nothing more.
Once you have an article or podcast or video produced, it needs to go somewhere. They can’t drive anyone to your site if they aren’t seen. My next post will give you some resources to use to get your stuff out there.