September 2009

Can you increase profits by giving away something for free?

by John D. Lewis

You've certainly heard the saying, "There is no such thing as a free lunch." Well, a new marketing trend suggests there is, and if you're a wise marketer, you should be giving away free lunches, so to speak, yourself.

I remember the first time I was introduced to this "giveaway" concept. I received a notification that a company was giving away a program that they had been selling for more than a thousand dollars (and selling a lot of them at that). My initial instinct was to wonder what the catch was and think, "This is too good to be true."

After looking into it further, I discovered I would have to pay for the shipping cost for them to mail the program to me, which seemed fair. After all, I would receive a program valued at nearly $2,000 for less than $15 in shipping. So, I ordered the program, and was it ever worth it!

When checking out (I ordered the program online), I had the chance to order another product the company was selling as well as pay to attend one of their seminars.

A few months later, I met a partner of that company and asked him how that promotion worked out for the company. He said, "We discovered a while ago never to sell anything anymore." He continued to explain that they now acquire all of their customers by giving away something of significant value up front (not just some nominal trinket) and then selling on the back-end.

I've since come to realize just how valuable this approach can be. In fact, side-by-side studies have been conducted on many different ecommerce-type websites where offers are being made to purchase something.

In one case, they'd use a traditional approach of giving away a "free bonus" with a purchase. This would require the website visitor to purchase whatever product they were selling in order to receive the bonus after the sale.

By contrast, the other test "gave away" the bonus to everyone up-front, and then made the offer to buy their product after the customer had requested the free product.

Which one do you think generated more profit?

It wasn't even close. The free giveaway! In fact, almost across the board, giving away something of value up front nearly doubled the profits.

Why?

Well, there could be several reasons. One reason is that people feel obligated to return value for the value they received. Another is that people will tend to trust you more after having truly received "a free lunch" (after all, who would really give you a free lunch?).

Regardless of the reason, who cares? The real question you should be asking yourself as a chiropractor is, "How can I incorporate this in my practice?"

Are you giving away something of value up front? A free consultation? A free exam? A free vacation package? A free movie pass?

You may have certain guidelines you have to adhere to, but the key is to be creative, bold! Be confident in what you do! Being confident enough in your services to give some of them away tells prospective patients that you know they'll be back. They'll sense this confidence and want to come back time and again.

I understand that it might seem counterintuitive at first, but it will definitely pay off in the long run when you've found the right giveaway.

In fact, I would imagine that the president of the www.free3DRXvideos.com website I told you about in the August issue of The Chiropractic Journal has discovered first hand just how powerful this giveaway principal can be. He decided to give away 20 of their most popular animations to a limited number of DCs to put on their own websites in hopes that chiropractors would come back to purchase his entire program after experiencing the power of the videos.

Since I see he is still giving away the videos for free, I can only assume it must be working.

It will work for you, too!

(Formerly a CPA specializing in designing, implementing, and automating accounting and operating systems, My Custom Video, Inc. Founder and President John Lewis has combined that experience and expertise with his true passion for direct response marketing. He's written and developed marketing products, videos, websites, software programs, and sales materials, which have generated millions of dollars of revenue for clients spanning a variety of industries. Mr. Lewis now teaches professionals how to enhance their lifestyle by learning to attract a steady stream of prospects and referrals through automated marketing techniques. Most recently, he developed a completely automated, done-for-you marketing system for the chiropractic profession that is offered through The Chiropractic Peak Performance Alliance.)