In answer to a query today from an entrepreneur about freebies, here are a few ideas.  There are many reasons to give a class for free. Yes, always to help people with your information, processes, products and services. Of course.

And sometimes, it helps people more to charge for your materials! Because charging for it…

1.   makes people look at how much they value the info and processes they’ll get,
2.   how much they value their own commitment to growth
3.   how much they value the info related to their own value – will it help them serve, or is it just hypnotizing fluff that keeps them from doing their work?

Here are some reasons to offer freebies:

1.   to introduce yourself to a new market
2.   to get your message across to new prospects so they sign up with you
3.   to introduce a new product to a market you already serve
4.   to practice before you start giving classes or teleclasses big time

If you observe well, just about all of the free teleclasses or videos marketers / practitioners / coaches present are all related to products and services offered by that person. Even the freebies on Youtube.

Be careful of your attitude: “all they want to do is sell me on their stuff!”

Yes, they do. Because they believe in it, that it’s good for someone, and they want to get it out there. There’s nothing wrong with that. You want to get people to sign up with you, too. Nothing wrong with that.

What we, as consumers, need to be careful of is getting sucked into stuff with which we don’t resonate. We look at a freebie intro and think, “I need that!” And then when we don’t get immediate results – because you just won’t from a little freebie – we feel ripped off, like victims, blaming the marketer. It’s not the marketer! It’s US we need to look at, and our clear intentions and boundaries!

Here are some reasons we need to charge for our services:

1.  When we place a high value on our own work, people respect our work more, because they understand what it took to get to the point that you could charge however much it is.
2. Think about it – who do you expect to give you credible information? A certified lawyer? Or a very opinionated cab driver, or neighbor? Who worked hard to get credible, spent thousands studying, years developing expertise? Which of them would you expect to pay more for his knowledge or expertise? It’s a no-brainer.
3.  Charging automatically deletes the tire-kickers and freebie-seekers who sign up and never show up to the class or do the work you are offering them help with. I can’t tell you the number of freebie calls I’ve done where literally thousands signed up, but 3 or 5 showed up. It’s not worth your time.
4.  Charging attracts the people who want to pay more for high value. They think no-charge, no-value. Look at the people who go to WalMart, and then look at the people who go to Tiffany’s.
5. Which crowd do you want to work with? Each one needs what you have. The rich have as many problems as those who have less – the problems just manifest in different ways. But who can pay well?

Those are some thoughts to consider when you think about freebies and fee-bies.

.