Thanks everyone for such honest comments. Liz yours especially resonate with us at the SWBN and you are SO on the mark (and that is really gratifying to know that there IS a group of people who prefer the “old fashioned” concepts)

Look out for the SWBN watching what everyone does, then doing the opposite

*wink*

Donna Fox was asked by another member of this shark pack where all the female marketers are. Frankly, I’m glad there were no representatives swimming in the bloody STSE2 waters. I’ve had enough and am ready to let the “secret” of the Secret Women’s Business Network be that there is an abundance of good honest work and reward for all of us and that there is a real and open way to share what we have and know.

Yes, we all need to move the free line…back on to the dry land of the real world of value.

Liz

Also, the selling anything and everything without at least reviewing it and preferrably put the tactics to work successfully is a burner.

I hate when they do that and insist on reviewing any product I’m going to represent to people who trust me. If the person won’t do a review copy to me them I’m outta there.

Now, you’re always going to get that in this game, there’s always a percentage of people who are inherently selfish in that regard, but the thing that compounds the issue for me is when I get emails from other marketers talking up their “buddy” and starting to devalue words such as “overdeliver”, “bargain”, etc, when most likely they haven’t even seen the product in question and are just promoting it in order to either grab some quick commissions and/or to garner favour when they are ready to promote their own product.

So here’s what I think about building and maintaining trust and loyalty. If you want your customers, prospective customers, mailing list members and website visitors to TRUST you, it’s not about just giving away something for free. It’s about BEING HONEST. I just personally start to feel let down by a lot of these marketers when they keep promising stuff that turns out to be subpar.

Giving away something for free is great, if what you’re giving away has true standalone value, but the I think the value in doing that is not so much in building trust and loyalty, but in the demonstration of the value that is to come. If people like what you gave away, then the assumption is what they’re paying for is going to be even better. I think trust and loyalty is only built over time by being honest, providing value and showing that you aren’t going to compromise people’s trust in you just to make a quick buck.

Anyways I could keep rambling but I think I made my point.

For me, too many people are paying lip service to the free line. They are throwing together any old rubbish – preferring quantity over quality – and then wondering why they have mass cancellations. They have, IMHO, missed the point completely. The free line is there to build trust and credibility not to hook reluctant people in and make it difficult for them to leave. Never has a marketing tactic had such a vicious backlash – ask any marketer who has gotten it wrong.

On the other side of the free transaction are those who haunt the internet seeking freebies, never willing to invest in themselves and bemoaning their lot. Sylvia Fortin recently published a couple of reports on IM sins and these turn the spotlight on both seller and buyer – which made them an interesting read.

I have either had a similar experience to Alison with a membership site or we are members of the same site. The doors were opened to extend the free line and to build trust but the timing I think was unfortunate as it came on the back of another free experience. The membership site is simply not structured to provide the handholding the new members need. The opportunity will be self levelling in the end BUT at huge cost because trust is broken. Those who step up for the trial are going to feel bitter and let down because their experience does not match their expectations. The vicious backlash strikes.

The underlying driver in the free line is to build trust. Trust can only be built if there is integrity in place. Anything else is smoke and mirrors and people will see through it. The free line is there as an opportunity for sellers to demonstrate that they know their stuff and are therefore worthy of the buyer’s investment (of time or money).

For me, the free line fiasco has come about as a result of people ‘lifting’ a tactic and implementing it without bothering to understand the underlying strategy. I don’t know whether it’s funny or sad.

Marketing may have evolved with the advent of the Internet but in true Darwinian style, those being marketed to have evolved as well! We forget this at our peril.

I believe the free line has a place and is particularly important in an anonymous market such as the Internet but I believe it is there to build long term business relationships over time not to create a quick cash fix.

Apologies for going on at such length.

I also think the free stuff dilutes the overall impact of the main content. Not the free stuff coming from the marketer themselves, but all the free stuff offered by other marketers to tempt more buyers. Suddenly you find yourself with a lot of diverse material to wade through (that doesn’t necessarily complement the main product) plus you are on everybody’s email lists (and sometimes tied into another continuity payment). If the marketer really wants to impress me, he should get all his “buddies” to let me have their stuff without having to sign-up to their lists and then let ME decide whether I am impressed enough to want to hear from them on a regular basis

Phew! Stepping off my soap box now!