What Does Your Free Content Cost You Anyway?
Didn’t your daddy tell you that nothing in life is ever really truly free? That’s never more true than when it comes to marketing. There’s always; I say again always, a cost to be paid, whether it’s cash or your precious time.
So when you’re tempted to offer something for free, make sure and count the cost in every way you need to, so that you can make sure your free content, bonus gift or other promotional label you chose to give is affordable. It’s time for you to take a hard look at the costs you’ll bear along the road to a freebie.
So what “free” promotions are we referring to?
Many times in online marketing we are offered something for free in return for our email address or attendance at a webinar. (Email given there too!) Most marketers go with choices like ebooks, free reports, whitepapers, videos and podcasts.
If you’ve ever created any one of these, you understand the true costs involving them. Unless you’re a one-person business operator who loathes to outsource, you’ll be faced with the prospect of paying somebody to create and set up for delivery your freebie. Just so you know…
- Actually writing or otherwise creating the content – There is someone who is responsible for getting this done, and you’ll very likely need to pay them. There may also be ancillary costs that go along with this, like software or hardware to help produce your content.
- Designing the marketing funnel pages – This can be done with software programs, but someone has to understand how to do it, and that takes time, money and talent. Then there are web designers, and that could cost a bundle.
- Marketing hard costs – You’ll need an email autoresponder company, webinar charges, and a way to deliver your freebie, whether it’s off your site or hosted elsewhere. Someone has to set that up. Shipping and hard costs for physical products have to be considered too.
- Advertising – You may well want to advertise to get the best response possible, and of course this costs time and money.
Using a freebie, or freemium content as people are referring to them these days, continues to be a great way to build a list or audience for your products and services. We just thought you ought to know you’ll need to count the cost of “free” when producing your freebie.