Thoughts about “free stuff”
I’m inspired by one of Seth Godin’s recent blogs, “The Thing About ‘Free’.” Actually, the idea of “free stuff” as it relates to marketing must be in the air today, because my client also mentioned something about it today.
First of all, I loved Seth’s post (I usually do; hence, the RSS feed in my sidebar…) and it reminded me of my own marketing strategies and my own attitudes toward free stuff. When I consider a new marketing campaign, I’m always this close to offering something free as an enticement. But he’s right: “the most powerful brands are the ones that earn the right to a transaction.” One thing I have experienced in my own business is that you deserve to get paid for what you do, and the clients who have that same mentality will be your most loyal.
So as I embark on my website re-design and brand building, I’ll remember that. “Free” is definitely attractive. But so is information, expertise and execution. Like Seth discussed in his post, while “free” goes wasted, things that are paid for are tended to, used, or otherwise considered. One thing my beau and I are always reminding ourselves is that anything worth having is not easy to come by. You can replace “not easy to come by” with “not free” and it will be, essentially, saying the same thing.
Cheers!
Tia Peterson, Virtual Assistant
