I would be interested in your views. My theory is that people don’t value ‘for free’. If we are given something, often we don’t appreciate the time, cost and effort involved – or do we? I have recently offered a free photo shoot on my blog and haven’t had a single response. Do you think people are suspicious of such offers? Are you always expecting a catch? I would really value your thoughts. They can’t be as bad as my brother in law who sugested that the offer seemed ‘creepy’ lol. Good job we love him lol.
I was wondering the same thing recently I was especially thinking that it’s a shame that swap schemes (where you don’t pay for a service or an item with money but ‘pay’ either with another item, or with your time or effort) never seem to really take off. I just came across a Bring and Take event which will be held at Onlsow Village Hall this month – why don’t we have more things like this? It feels as if we don’t trust a product or service unless we actually pay for it… madness!
Nothing sells better than something that’s Free, but even marketing something that’s free takes a bit of effort, and "Free" can have a negative impact when marketed ‘incorrectly’ Just my 2 pennies: I think often, when you see the word Free, it can give the feel of "spam"/ "con"/ "something that’s not quite right". I think that’s probably associated with the amount of email spam (or even websites) offering something Free, that turns out not to be free at all. I think if I was going to offer something Free, I would first get people interested in the product, and then ask "If you help me market XYZ, by telling as many people as you can about it, I’ll give you this one free and you’ll be doing me a favour in return, helping me build up my portfolio of XYZ" Doing this, you’ve not only given them a good feeling of "I’ve just gotten something for nothing today", but they are more inclined to do it (they only have to put a little effort in to get this for free, instead of just being suspicious of a completely free product) As a side, you’ve potentially also promoted your self and avoided the negative impact. Although, I wouldn’t rely on word of mouth using this tactic (in your case, the excellent product will be the reason they will want to spread the word) Alternatively, you could hand out cards with "first time free" / get involved in raffle prizes / or prizes at charity fairs, Prizes at charity fairs, I think would work out really well in your case, and not only would you be building a portfolio, but it will be for a good cause too. People are far less suspicious of Free when they win it
You have a good point. If someone were to try and give me money walking down the street I probably wouldn’t take it – you are right I would think they were dodgy. If I won it on the radio I would be delighted. So possibly you need to be a respected brand also before you can really successfully do give aways……and we are back at the start lol. The great news is that I have had three very worthy contacts from people who will value their photographs so the important part of the mission is accomplished. It is going to have to be names in a hat – I couldn’t possibly choose. I wish I had said the end of April now then I could get on and do their shoot.
It’s more an apathy thing, people think they have to do something for it. I run a local magazine and each issue I have a Business Focus feature; it’s a whole page for a local business to really sell their wares for free, gratis and for nothing. Other advertising covers costs and all they have to do is write about themselves and get it published to about 5000 new customers… now ask how hard I have to chase people to fill the slot! As said, it’s all in the marketing or phraseolgy and building the trust.
How do you go about submitting your Business to the magazine, and what is the criteria? You’ve given me an idea for a thread: http://www.surreyforum.co.uk/thread…ote-your-surrey-business-event-for-free.1143/ (you can add details there ) Anything that can promote local businesses is great, anything that does this for free is better
Well first off, it’s a village or town magazine and the criterion is that it is only open to promoting businesses within that area (start small, build big). I am considering another publication but there are a few that cover my area and Surrey so it may be a non starter. In terms of getting the submissions, the invitation is in the magazine, communicated on the accompanying website and I actively encourage businesses to consider writing some words for us.
I am just building up my portfolio for a small vintage prop hire and venue dressing business and recently offered a FREE service of the afore mentioned things and have so far had 3 people interested in having me make their special day more special. All I asked for is that I am allowed to use copies of some professional pics for my portfolio and the rest would be FREE. I am happy to do this because I need something.. and so do they.. so right now this is a mutually beneficial process. I think if people know the reason why it is free, they aren’t so suspicious?
Ooh that sounds intriguing. We (another professional photographer and myself) are shooting themed photographs atm. We have a couple of models lined up but need themes and locations. It would be great to speak to you but I can’t find you contact details. It would be great to hear from you: Nicola: 07793207768.
I’m a behavioural economics junkie and a huge fan of Dan Ariely who is a leading light in this area. He talks a LOT about the power of free in his book. I’ll post the link below and an article all about this very thing. Yes, it seems we (humans) are sceptical of free. That being said, I love to give back to my clients. I am a specialist in Body Waxing which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but for over 65s I am half price and entirely FREE all year round for over 75s. I figure if you get to 75 and love waxing then it is the least I can do for these very special OAPS.
Oops.I can’t post links just now. Neurosciencemarketing has the details if you’re really interested in the gnarly science bit!
I have two a very simple views on "free" passed down from my Father; 1. if something is free then what’s the catch? 2. If something sounds to good to be true then often it is too good to be true. Saying that I often accept things for free & I am in general grateful. Happy new year all. Joe www.calljoe.co.uk
As noted by some posters above, the trouble is that ‘Free’ is mistrusted because the meaning is often stretched by businesses who aren’t really giving something away for free. And that means that sometimes, when something really is given away for free, there are less than the expected number of takers! Also a giver can benefit in non-monetary ways from apparently giving something away for free: your profile/reputation is often raised. But my personal feeling is that it’s good to offer some things freely, can often make you feel great!
