There's a popular and currently-fashionable concept among internet marketers called 'moving the free line'. It means pushing the boundaries of what you are prepared to give away for free, in order to tempt prospects into your sales funnel and build trust, as well as appear as an expert for your following.
I absolutely agree with and encourage giving value first in this business. There is someone trying to sell something in internet marketing at every turn, and it is important to stand out in the crowd as a trusted expert by giving away some value for free, up front. It is also true that the more value you give away (to a point), the more conversions you will have as people realise that you have value to offer and you know what you're talking about. People will pay you to solve their problems, regardless of the niche, once they are sure you can help them, which can be determined, in part, by the upfront free value you give.
I do however have massive reservations about the prolific splashing about of the phrase 'we need to push the free line'. The reason being that I am afraid of a free war, which is even worse than a price war, for everyone involved... even the end user, because I believe it can drastically affect the value that is ultimately delivered to the end user.
Too much time spent on unique content, that will be given away, takes time away from generating income-creating content, which proides the income needed to fund really great products. Rather some high-quality content at a price, than too much free stuff which can end up being devalued by the end user (because it is free), and ultimately not used to its full potential.
Moving your personal free line is important when you're not already giving anything upfront, or to gain competitive advantage over competing affiliates for example, but it needs to end when it becomes a competition of which internet marketer can give away the most free stuff. You need to gauge how much to give away for free based on what will produce the best results, in terms of conversions and maximising long-term residual incomes, for your own internet business.
Internet marketers are at risk of devaluing themselves as a whole if the building free war is to get out of hand.
Next time you're weighing up your options of exactly what is for free and what will be available on the other side of the PayPal confirmation page, consider whether you are trying to push your free line out of fear of your competition, or genuine tactical reasons.
My point: push your personal free line, give away value to establish your expert position and trust, but make sure you get the balance right and don't fall into the free war trap. If you are valuable, you will be paid what you are worth
Author Resource:
James Tudsbury is an internet marketing and social media expert.
www.jamestudsbury.com
Free Line Internet Marketing
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.look4articles.com/images/rss.jpg "XML Feed For RSS")