How much do you give away for free online and offline?

The Internet is a space where much – Youtube videos, Wikipedia information, news articles – is expected for free. At LCP we’ve found giving away material for free – in the form of advice, information and research on our blog, in our newsletter and on our website - invaluable for raising our profile and attracting potential clients. We’ve also offered parts of our services for free and promoted this online.

Simultaneously, we certainly benefit from those who share online e.g. through Twitter discussions, blogs or Creative Commons (e.g. images or our caption competitions) - with individuals such as musicians, photographers and novelists increasingly sharing in this way online.

Of course, the continuous problem for those who invest in social media is how much to give away, how much time (and therefore money) to invest and how to measure ROI.

We could argue that ROI is not exactly relevant in a business world where organisations are expected to be blogging, tweeting etc. and could put off clients and miss opportunities if they are not (just like offering customer services or attending networking events) – perhaps we’re not there yet but there’s a strong argument that this is where we’re headed. Regardless, we still have the question of how much to give away for free and what to give away.

Which information should we only offer to potential clients who contact us? What information would we not want others to copy? How much time should we put into Youtube videos or tweeting?

Offline, should we offer free trials, free training design or free workshops? Is offering free work a worthwhile way of pitching for a contract?

LCP’s Claire asked this question two years ago on our blog when our venture into social media was recent:

In knowledge-based service sectors where there is no tangible product it can be difficult to decide how much information to ‘give away’ in order to demonstrate your firm’s ability to deliver the goods, so to speak.

One comment we saw that summed it up nicely was ‘Would you ask a plumber to put in a couple of free radiators before deciding whether or not they got the job?’

We understand that customers and clients will wish to feel absolutely confident in a supplier before investing large amounts of money in them. But there is a limit as to what is fair and reasonable to expect before paying for the work.

There is a danger that in today’s harsh economic environment consultancies are prepared to give more away than ever before in the hope that it will eventually lead to paid work. Initially, for clients this may seem like a good thing, but doing a lot of work for nothing is not a good business model and will eventually result in a lower quality service as companies struggle to make a profit and ultimately cut corners in other areas to make up the short fall.

A good consultancy will be able to demonstrate their expertise through references and examples and if required to do some work up front will most likely agree to refund these fees if they are successful in getting the contract.

Since that initial blog we’ve been thinking more about giving one’s time, ideas and resources away for free online. Whilst this is a dilemma, I would argue that the Internet and Social Media are a way for organisations to cheaply attract a high volume of potential customers, appear generous and establish a squeaky clean brand image, whilst allowing clients to gain trust thanks to the transparency online and the impossibility of hiding negative comments on review websites or social media.

There will always be the question of how much time to invest, but ‘giving something away for free’ through social media is no longer questionable for us and something we’d encourage any organisation to do.

Image credit: tungphoto

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