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5d โข General
The Problem with "FREE"
This topic has been coming up a lot recently, so I want to share my thoughts on free communities,
resources, and work.
(Read time ~ 4 Minutes) This was written by someone else.
I started free, and I recommend everyone start free because there's value that comes from free.
But we should also talk about the cons of "free", because it's important to find the balance.
๐ช๐ต๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ
It seems easy to sell.
You think.. "I want people to trust me, so I'm going to give everything away for free."
๐๐๐ ๐ถ'๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐
๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ #๐ญ: You attract freebie seekers.
People who were never going to pay you anything ever, but will take something because there's no cost.
These people have no problem wasting your time, asking for more, while knowing they will never buy.
๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ #๐ฎ: The trust you were trying to build never gets built.
Why? Because you gave them something for free.
They only accepted it because it was free.
They probably forgot about it.
They'll probably never consume your free course.
Maybe they'll skim it, but chances are they don't care about it.
And tbh.. why should they?
Subconsciously, people think.. "If this thing is free, it's probably of little value to the person giving it away".
That trust was never built because the thing you gave away was never even consumed.
People form assumptions based on your pricing.
Your pricing shapes what people believe about you and your service.
For proof..
A few months ago, when I had hundreds of members in this group, NO ONE showed up to calls that were free.. I was the only one in the room.
I had the same information to share, but it wasn't until I held the calls in the premium tier that people began showing up and hearing what I had to say.
If someone spends money for something, they put more effort into getting something out of it.
That's where the trust happens.
The data backs this up too..
People who buy ONE thing from you..even if it's only $1..are 12-56X more likely to buy again.
Just a dollar.. Why? Because buyers are buyers.
So you have to treat people differently...
You may have a mission to help the anonymous masses, but it's the select few who contribute to your income that allow you to keep that mission alive.
You have to treat the people who fund the mission differently.
Go above and beyond for them.
Treat them as the people funding this mission.. because they are, and you need them.
Without cashflow:
- You can't invest in your product/service to make it great(er)
- You can't market the way you want to
- You can't invest in having a great team
- You won't survive long enough to complete the mission
At a certain point, you have to put the mission above your fear around charging..
You have to ask yourself:
"Who are the kinds of members that will show up for us in a way that lets us keep going?"
You can serve and help lots of people, but there are only a few who will show up for you in the same way.
In a way that allows you to profit and keep serving people.
I guarantee you will do your BEST work and make a lasting impact when you focus on doing A LOT for those selected FEW rather than doing a little for anyone curious enough to simply accept your free thing.
Look at Skool itself..
Skool only had a $99/month plan for years until they could afford to release the $9 hobby plan to begin serving the masses.
"The whales pay for the minnows."
Don't undervalue your service.
"Cheap" can be another way of saying "scared."
Selling cheap is very tempting because nothing is easier than lowering prices.
It doesn't require much thought or creativity..
It's simply cheaper.
I'm not saying free doesn't have its place..of course it does.
This community is still free to join and wouldn't have grown to this point if it didn't start free.
But there has to be a cap on what is offered for free.
Your free group should be a long term nurture mechanism.
Connect with people you like. Share your vision. Build awareness around the mission that everyone in your group should be on in their own way.
But know that eventually, you're going to have to sell something worth paying for to keep that vision going.
If you are lowering your prices or keeping them low whenever you can, really ask yourself why.
Do you think you're being generous?
Generosity in terms of free work, constant discounts, and uncompensated overtime isn't really generous. Because you can't sustain that forever..
Soon you'll be breaking the promises you made to people.
If you want to make a real change in someone's life, you'll have to charge to get it done.
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The Problem with "FREE"
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