Giving It Away

Do you like free sh*t? Me too. Who doesn’t?!

Whether you’re sampling the latest double-fudge ewe-gooey brownie at the grocery store, previewing Jay-Z’s new CD on iTunes, or downloading a free chapter of Snooki’s book on Amazon (please don’t tell me you read Snook lit), we all like to test drive before we buy.

And while we love getting free sh*t, we aren’t always ecstatic about giving our hard work away. But I’m here to tell you that you should be! I’m also here to tell you why giving 50 percent of your work away for free is one of the smartest moves you’ll ever make, especially if you’re starting out.

One of the most effective ways to generate interest in you or your business is to give something away for free. Because everyone loves free sh*t! The objective here though is to give something of value to people you want to start a conversation with. For example, if you’re a web designer, offering a free website makeover is an opportunity to showcase your skills and to get people talking about your work. Encourage the world to sit up and take notice of you.

That all-important first nibble

Ever notice that people who have a product or service of value are happy to give you a trial run or a money-back guarantee? That’s because they’re confident that once you get a taste of what they’ve created, you’ll come back for more. It’s the classic “try before you buy” concept. You hook them with that nibble.
It’s sort of like a first-date kiss. (Well, minus the nibble unless you’re into that sort of thing.) The kiss should be good, but small. Just enough to make them want more, to convince them to say yes to a second date and keep the thought of you lingering. And just like you shouldn’t give it all away on a first date, you shouldn’t give it all away for free in business either, no more than 50 percent.

It’s true that if something costs money, people tend to value it more. That’s one reason why college degrees are worth more than reading a lot of books in the library. But I’m a firm believer that if you’re willing to invest in doing great work, people will eventually invest in you. And how do you get people to notice all the great work you have to offer? By giving 50 percent of your work away for free!

Think I’m preaching insanity?

Getting people to sit up and take notice is the first step. And nothing does that better than offering free work to the world.

Just because you’re doing “free work” doesn’t mean you aren’t providing value. The payoff will come later and in ways you never expected.

So keep doing free work. As much free work as you can. Worry less about the lack of dough and focus more on how the work could grow.