The Free Myth. Why You Shouldn’t Give It Away.
Categories: Business, Business Lessons, Marketing
FREE PDF. FREE DOWNLOAD. FREE MEMBERSHIP. ALL YOU CAN EAT FOR FREE!
Some of us may really love that four letter word that starts with “F”, but I personally get repulsed by it. I was reminded this morning why this is so by a great post written by my great friend, Becky McCray. Becky addresses the backlash that Chris Brogan has received for charging for his newsletter and her argument couldn’t be more valuable and concise.
Here is a hill I will die on and my beliefs about the “Free Economy”.
1. People deserve to get paid for thier experience, training, or skills. PERIOD! I didn’t go into business to go broke and neither should you. If all you want is to feel good about what you are doing then make it a hobby. Chris Brogan has put in hard work and made sacrifices to get where he is at. The man deserves to be compensated for it. And the truth is that all of us who have been in business for some time have invested time, money or education into our ventures. There is nothing – absolutely nothing – wrong with charging for your talents.
2. People are not entitled to get it all for nothing. This is my soap box … I am tired of our country believing we should be entitled to whatever we want for nothing in exchange. Handouts from the government, amnesty for illegal aliens, compensation for natural disasters, and free products from business owners. Damn it, this asinine behavior and mindset has got to stop! Everything comes with a cost so please quit the insanity.
3. People who freeload usually abuse it. The unfortunate side of getting handouts is that people tend to only want more and never consider the consequences of their actions or requests. I used to get asked by pastors to provide my church branding services for free because they were a church. My reply was always, “Sure I’ll do that, but you have to agree to not take a check for a couple of months.” Guess how many took me up on that offer? I also find it sad that we put down the people who stand on a corner asking for money, yet at times we do the same to business owners. #doublestandard
4. People don’t really value free. I have rarely seen a person who valued a free service or product I provided. And I’ve talked with other entrepreneurs who have experienced the same. When you have to pay for something you value it more and treat it better because you had to give something for it. How many of us have downloaded folders full of PDF books or signed up for BETA accounts only to never use them? I have and the stuff I always use for my benefit are the ones I paid for.
This post was going to be educational and less of a rant, but I guess I botched it. But after all, it is free.
REMEMBER: YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!
How do you feel about free stuff and the backlash at Chris Brogan?
Man, that was an incredible blog. I loved it. It was raw and honest and really gave the rationale behind free versus paid. Good stuff!
Two types of people complained about Blog Topics:
* those who wouldn’t be my customer anyway.
* those who wish they’d done it first.
I’m okay with how it works.
BTW, I like your church branding services. Interesting way to help out, James. : )
@Dion – Thanks! Sometimes writing in the heat of the moment can burn you, but this is something I am passionate about!
@Chris – Hey man, it’s been a while since we talked. It’s funny how people want to complain even after doing so much for them. I applaud you for setting new standards and for believing in YOUR value enough to charge for it (and still I remember the speaking fee post). More people should follow suit. And thanks for the feedback on Branding Shed.
I do agree with all of your points, but I have been struggling lately with what to come up with to “entice” people to sign up to a mailing list… everyone is always seeing how important it is to build a list, and I haven’t even started yet because I don’t know what to offer my readers in return for them signing up… any thoughts on this?