Give It Away

Direct marketers have this one down cold. They know that one of the best ways to develop a pool of qualified prospects is to offer something for free.

We’re not talking about the logo emblazoned coffee mugs or cheesy baseball caps that are forced upon us at trade shows. We’re suggesting that you give away something much more potent, much more powerful: Information.

Providing information benefits the giver in a number of ways. Most notably, it is an easy way to build credibility, and gain trust. The concept is “Show, Don’t Tell”. Prospective clients can assess your capabilities much more readily when you show them what you can do for them than when you simply tell them.

But there's an even more important reason to give away information that can help your prospective clients. When someone downloads a report, registers for a white paper, or writes in for a free book, that's a good clue that the information relates to a present or potential future need. The very act of requesting the information qualifies your prospect as a candidate client.

The best information items to give away are white papers, reports, and practical guides on how to solve common problems. Excel spreadsheets are also popular, if your services have a quantitative element. For example, one DC-area CPA offers a series of spreadsheets that help clients in a range of areas, including estimating corporate valuations, or creating a balanced scorecard model.

You may think it impractical to give away information for which you could charge clients. Though not uncommon, this worry is unfounded. If all of the value you have to provide can be summed up in a 10-page report or spreadsheet, you probably don’t have much worth selling, anyhow. On the other hand, leading prospective clients into an environment of mutual trust is the way to develop a business that bears plentiful fruit, season after season.