Chuck’s Note: It’s easy to go broke giving stuff away. Anyone who’s ever had a table at a trade show knows how bums who’ll never buy a thing from you will come down and scoop up 20 “free” pens. Are they really so stupid as to think you’ve put them there for them to pilfer en masse?
Chick-Fil-A used to be housed in local malls and regularly gave other stores free coupons to reward their customers and offered samples outside their own store. That’s strategic gifting, the kind Margie suggests, not the willy nilly gifting that will leave you penniless!
Giving Stuff Away – Good Idea or Waste of Money?
by Margie Zable Fisher
In January I attended a conference where Katrina Markoff of Vosges Haut-Chocolat spoke. I was impressed with Katrina and the company, and wrote in my blog that the company missed a P.R. opportunity by not including some of their chocolate in the goodie bag. Natalie, the company’s P.R. person, said that chocolate was indeed included in the gift bag and asked, since my gift bag was missing the chocolate, if I wanted her to send me some. The answer, of course, was yes! I got the exotic truffles on Valentine’s Day, and they were very yummy.
A few weeks ago I suggested to one of my clients (Saba Fine Asian Dining) that we offer food samples during a Saturday morning “Green Market” across the street from the restaurant.
Businesses often struggle with “giving stuff away,” whether it is a product or some of your time or expertise. They wonder if it is worth the time and money.
I thought I might demonstrate how, if done strategically, it is well worth the effort.
1. Give away your product or service to people who are willing to buy, and are in your target market. For example, we decided to give samples from Saba to people shopping across the street, since most people who go to restaurants live or work within a few miles of the restaurant. Also, the people were shopping at a “Green Market” and were looking for healthy food, which is also a Saba specialty, so we could mention that the restaurant uses no trans fats. Similarly, the attendees at the January Women in Charge conference, where the Vosges founder spoke, were women business owners, who are buyers of chocolate. After hearing Katrina Markoff’s inspiring speech, we felt warmly towards her and her company. Getting a sample of her chocolate just clinched our interest and the likelihood that we would buy her company’s products.
2. Provide donations to charity events only if they fit with your interest or your product or service. Before you start booing and hissing, hear me out. If you have a personal interest in a charity, I believe you should always feel free to donate your product or service, since this is something you should be doing all the time. Beyond that, however, many businesses often get asked by charities for donations for events. If you don’t feel a passion for the charity, provide a donation if it can help your business. For example, if you are a plastic surgeon whose clientele consists mostly of affluent women over 40, you could offer a gift certificate towards your services for a charity event that will be attended by that market. If an event will be attended by lots of male business owners, donating tickets to some local sporting events makes sense. Just make sure that you get listed on the donations page of the event booklet as well, for added exposure.
3. Offer complimentary reports if you are promoting your expertise. This is an easy way to offer a “taste” of your knowledge, without giving away your consulting, and without spending a lot of your time putting the information together (since your time is worth money). It also allows you to ask for e-mail addresses and contact information, so that you can market to these people who are already interested in you and your information, and may be ready to buy at a later date.
By all means, do consider offering some of your stuff gratis. Build product and service giveaways into your P.R. budget and watch your sales grow!
(c) 2008 Margie Zable Fisher
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