Have you noticed one of the big differences between the guys, who make loads of money online, and those, who still have their day jobs?
Rich guys give a lot of value!
Not only do they over-deliver, when they sell something, but you can see them give away good stuff, even without asking for your credit card, and that is one of the main differences, I think.
Really rich guys write blog posts with lots of great content, you can learn from. Really rich guys write on the valuable forums, too, and they give away their help and knowledge for free.
So how do these generous people make money, when they give away so much for free? Ah, therein lies the real secret, and my guess is that it’s not where you thought it was.
When You Get So Much For Free, How Much More Can You Not Expect When You Pay For It?
It’s true. When you find somebody who’s giving a ton of knowledge away for free, you automatically consider his sold products even more valuable.
And it’s probably true, too, but not the only reason why these folks still are able to sell us things after having given away so much.
You Trust Them
Who would you buy an operating system from? Andrew Olsson? Or Bill Gates/Steve Jobs?
One of the two latter, right? Unless you go for Linux, of course.
But why? Why wouldn’t you buy from Andrew Olsson?
Probably because you don’t know him, and when you don’t know him, how on earth could you trust him?
Now, if Andrew started to write blog posts, or make podcasts, or video casts, and you either read him, or listened to him, you would get to know him.
And if what he said had a value to you, you would come back and hear or read more.
For every time, you come back, you get to know him better, and you get to trust him more.
One day, you would need a new operating system, and you would certainly consider the guy who’s given you so much value in the past, and whom you trust.
It’s the same about Internet marketing or any kind of marketing. When you turn to the same people again and again, because you just enjoy listening to them, you come to trust them, and the day you need the kind of product, they offer, you’ll buy from them, not from another.
It Doesn’t Matter What Market You’re In
This is not an Internet Marketing issue alone.
For years, my husband has written articles, people could read for free, he has made podcasts and video casts, and given so much knowledge away about psychology and hypnosis, that today, when people need a book or a video course about those subjects, they are truly happy to hand over money to him. (I’m happy about that, too, he, he.) Because they already feel that they know my husband. They know they can trust him. Because he’s always given so much away.
So don’t be afraid to give. Just take a look at the real successful people. They do it.
I couldn’t agree more. People fear giving away stuff, thinking that they will get their prospective customers habituated to receiving everything for free. This is where the skill comes in, of separating what to give for free and what to charge for.
Normally, one should give away useful but incomplete information, so that to utilize the information you give away reader will have to use your product or service.
Thanks for your comment, Amar.
Useful but incomplete information… maybe, but not always necessarily. I think the best is to give away a lot, and if people want to get into details with what you’ve given, they can buy it from you. That way, you truly give just to give, and not to sell. I think it shines through, if you have a hidden purpose by giving.