The Marketing Message Blog

The Value of Free

I'm always on the lookout for ideas that big companies use to great effect, that can be used equally well by small and medium size companies.  In the article "Loyalty at Work" by Kevin Zimmerman in the Sept/Oct issue of www.1to1media.com he reports on the success of Best Buy's Reward Zone program. 

Originally, when Best Buy conceived their 'points' program they charged a one-time fee of $9.99 to join.  In an effort to grow and revitalize the program, they made it free. "Membership jumped from about 8 million to just shy of 30 million."  This increased the buyer pool of customers looking at offers by almost 4-fold.

Ok, so you see the obvious benefit of 'free' in that case.  But perhaps you are struggling with the issue of 'bird in the hand' revenue for your business. You want to get the short-term revenue you derive from a one-time membership fee vs. increasing your potential buyer pool. 

How do you decide what's best for your business:

If you are in the position of trading a smaller one time membership for potential larger long-term sales, consider the latter. 

If you are thinking about an ongoing stream of monthly revenue in subscriptions vs. free, consider the former.  Make sure to apply the value of 'free' when it makes the most sense.  Not everything can or should be a free offer, contrary to what you are hearing online these days.

Innovation "The Contrarian Effect" Way!

Innovation, Goodies, Gifts and Giveaways Galore (including one from me)

and its never been done before, so I love it all the more! 

Here's the scoop...starting today, you have a chance to grab a
Canon PowerShot SD850 Digital Camera and a MindMapping Strategy Session
with me (worth $815)!  Here's how...

I've offered this special product for a very worthy cause:

http://www.contrarianeffect.com/auction <-- CHECK IT OUT

It's one of a huge collection of products and programs being
offered as part of Michael Port and Elizabeth Marshall's
never-been-done-before book launch for The Contrarian Effect: Why
it Pays (BIG) to Take the Typical Sales Advice and Do the Opposite.

In addition to my special giveaway, be sure to look at all
the good stuff that's yours for the taking, including:

* two tickets to the Inc. 500 Conference in Washington, D.C.

* a seat for Michael Gerber's Dreaming Room Workshop (worth $3000)

* premium business software from Mindjet, Daylite and iThemes

That's just a taste of all the cool items available, so visit the
link above for the full scoop.

This book is important.  It's all about how you can sell more
effectively without selling out.  And, how you can ditch the
typical sales tactics you didn't like anyways and start selling
the contrarian way.

Not interested in my giveaway or any of the other cool business
products?  That's ok.  Grab a copy of the book ($13 at Amazon) to
learn how to sell more than ever before:

    http://snipurl.com/contrarianeffect-866 <-- GET THE BOOK HERE

Because the Contrarian Effect is a must-read for every
entrepreneur, I'm doing a special teleseminar with Elizabeth and
Michael later this month.  On the call, I'll share the specific
strategies I've used to be a contrarian and sell by doing the
opposite.  You can register here:

http://www.contrarianeffectbooktour.com <-- SAVE YOUR SEAT

So, go ahead and check out the auction and
see what other great products are being offered.  Then, be sure
to buy a copy of the book and save your seat for the upcoming
teleseminar.