Need lots of new prospects and customers? Offer free items in exchange for an email address. Then follow-up with prospects until they buy.
It's an age old strategy and probably the most used in ecommerce. But it takes on NEW meaning today when so many businesses and consumers are extremely value conscious. In most markets, if it isn't cheap, they won't buy it. So you really aren't lying down by offering something FREE to have them opt-in to your future marketing.
1. Offer a free ebook. Prospects can download your 5 tips, ways to save money, how to spot value, or whatever else excites your customers. CDBaby, the site dedicated to selling CDs for independent musicians, offers several free ebooks on such things as promoting your career on Youtube. Customers love it.
2. Offer downloads of software, phone apps, ring tones, and other cheap items that appeal to enthusiasts. These can pull in your best possible prospects, people who will buy again and again. Even better, these items can display and promote your brand. That keeps you in the minds of prospects so they will think of you the next time they need your product or service.
This is the reason for "specialities." Those are the pens, coffee mugs, and refrigerator magnets advertising local plumbers, etc. that we've seen all our lives. And that's why we've seen them for as long as we can remember. These local promotional items offered free are a perennial favorite with people everywhere. They work!
3. Create a private members' only area on your site. There customers can get better deals, items that aren't available to the general public, or helpful information.
Recently Zappos.com started a VIP version of their site. They share the address with their most dedicated customers. In the VIP area you can get lower prices, special products not available anywhere else, and advance access to exciting new products. This appeals to their most active customers, keeping them coming back buying shoes monthly and weekly.
What do you have that you could offer free or at very low cost? Is there a very basic version of your service people would buy on impulse.
At times I have offered a $5 ad writing deal. Five bucks is a no-brainer for many people. I've written thousands of ads over the years and can knock out a killer pro ad in a couple of minutes.
Come up with your free offer and use it to introduce more prospects to your business. Many will soon come back to buy your more expensive services.