With their freemium models, software providers give away their hard-earned products and services all the time, slowly build a critical mass of customers, hoping that some, once impressed, will upgrade to a more bespoke and powerful offering.
In a nutshell, it is about showcasing. It is the road test, wandering around the garage forecourt kicking the tyres before you choose to buy.
However, many “experts” and self-appointed “gurus” have a sticking point when it comes to giving away their content and/or advice for free. They don’t see the benefits of thought leadership and of establishing themselves as experts and focus instead on the negatives, the glass half empty approach – “they’ll steal my ideas/content”, “I’m worth £X an hour”, “they can find that stuff online themselves” etc.
That is precisely the opportunity. They can find it online anyway so at least give yourself a chance of being the person they get it from. If you don’t, well, they’ll go and find someone else and Johnny full-glass will have a potential sales lead rather than you.
I give away lots of free advice and content, whether it is on how to write an effective press release how to select the right PR agency or how to handle a PR crisis and I don’t ask for email addresses or insist on you subscribing to this blog or newsletter. You can though, just look up to the top right of the page, but only if you want to!
Next month I will be giving away more free snippets, nuggets, tips and tricks on all things PR at InAFishBowlLive it is a concept I like, based on giving away your expertise to people and businesses that might benefit and establishing yourself as the go-to person in your specialist field. I’ve been blogging via the website for a couple of months now and it is a major part of my marketing campaign.
I will be on a panel with a wide variety of other experts, including internet marketing genius Susan Hallam who knows a thing or three about this “free “concept. If it is good enough for Susan (and I’ve seen her speak 3 times) it is certainly good enough for me.
In essence, giving away content is about establishing credibility and giving your take. I hope mine gives you food for thought. If you disagree, no problem, but at least let me hear your voice.