The Dirty Secret Behind My Marketing
Russ Henneberry | Feb 04, 2010 | Comments 8
I have received several emails over the last several months — all asking me the same basic question:
“Why do you give away so much free information? Were you dropped on your head when you were a baby or something?”
No – I wasn’t dropped on my head. Well… at least not that I am aware of. Actually, there is a perfectly good reason for giving away free information. A whole host of reasons. So listen up… I am going to tell you my dirty little secret.
Attention Deficit Disorder
I think the reason that I keep receiving these questions from people is that they know that businesses don’t make a habit of doing something that doesn’t have a positive return on investment.
This is Important: Giving away free, valuable, relevant and consistent information to people has a HUGE return on investment.
The reason is simple. We, as a society, have a huge problem. We are pelted with marketing messages at every turn. We couldn’t possibly pay attention to all of them. We couldn’t possibly pay attention to half of them. There is simply not enough attention to go around.
If you are a huge brand with a massive advertising budget you can still get away with carpet bombing people with advertising messages until they submit to your will.
But a tiny business owner (like me) has to take a different angle.
Getting Permission
What if someone actually wanted your marketing? What if people were demanding your marketing? What if these people loved your marketing so much that they told others about it?
That would be powerful. How do you do that?
- Create something valuable to your target market
- give it to them for free
- do this often
If you do this, people will begin to raise their hands in the air and say “I want your messages. Please send them to me via Facebook/Email/ Twitter/ RSS / iTunes” — or wherever they spend their time online.
I am not talking about giving someone a stationery pad with your logo on it here 
— I am talking about creating helpful information that has real value to your prospect.
So there you go — my dirty little secret.
What about you? How can you apply this dirty secret to your marketing?
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Filed Under: Marketing Articles
Great ideas Russ. I hope you weren’t referring to me with the pads, because I have to admit I have tried that.
You have, as usual, given me something to think about, now I just need to go step into my lab and think about how to apply this idea to my particular products.
-Greg
@Greg… ha ha.. no, not anyone in particular and not that there is anything wrong with giving away items with your logo on them. This is just not what I am referring to here. When you do this right, your logo will not be needed. When you do this right, you will circumvent the typical branding strategy that we all learned in business school. Your marketing and your communication with the prospect becomes desired.
The dirty secret behind my marketing is that I am marketing to you right now.
I happened to be dropped on my head as a kid. I also had a set of drums that fell on my head from above a cabinet. I agree with your Top Secret strategy though. I’ll be the first to admit that you were the person that electrified the light bulb in my head.
I don’t think people truly understand the potential of sharing information that you have expertise in with others. It yields huge ROI, only a matter of time until your strategy fully matures.
@Ivan — Sorry to hear about being dropped on your head.
That explains a lot. It is true — most people are very skeptical that marketing this way can work for their business.
I was skeptical of your intentions at first but you won me over quickly. I am still working on a free ebook taking longer than I thought.
@Tami — Great! I think an ebook would work very well for your business.
Words well shared Russ! The power generated through the give away is mighty. It propels action as the reader learns from the freely given content.
When we have a mind set to “hold tightly, get paid for everything, and be skeptical of anyone that even looks like they are giving value”, we are blocking our selves and our business from RECEIVING the abundance of return that the Giving created. The biggest secret here is no secret at all…just absolute truth! Givers receive abundantly. Thanks for sharing.
Jennifer
@jennifer — It’s really wonderful to know that by giving — we receive. It’s such an enjoyable way to conduct a business. Thanks for the comment Jennifer!