Avoid attracting gift seekers

People love free and I love giving things away, but over the years I’ve learned that focusing too much on free just to attract visitors and signing up for my newsletter attracts more freebie seekers than potential buyers, you know the people who really aren’t that serious and never intend to make an investment.

As internet marketers we’ve been taught that giving away free stuff is a good thing, and for the most part it is, but there is a downside to giving away too much free stuff that can have a less than optimal effect on your business.

First, if you base your business on offering lots of free stuff, you’re much more likely to attract freebie seekers. People will come to expect only free stuff from you all the time, so your chances of spending money on your products or endorsements will be much lower.

Second, attracting interest with free offers is fine, but if you provide something old just to attract visitors, it won’t do much for your reputation and instill confidence in the buyer that your paid referrals will be better. Unless you keep your free offers at a high-quality standard, your viewers may soon become desensitized to your offers or recommendations, meaning you’ll lose their interest altogether.

Third, don’t give away the store. Keep your free content as a subset of your paid content. Your free content should be used as a promotional strategy that builds goodwill and attracts a potential buyer. Give away the idea, sell the product.

Don’t get me wrong, I love free and I like finding free or cheap information and tools, but if you’re looking to make substantial sales, don’t use free as your business tagline. Be free with your information and continue to offer quality free guides, tools and content, but also market yourself to attract the serious customer who has money to burn and isn’t afraid to spend it on quality information, which of course you have.