The internet is teaching people that things should be free. How does this work in practice? On the Psychotactics blog, Sean writes:
"We used to have free marketing courses at a cafe and we called it ‘BizBrew.’ Each of the Biz Brew courses were complete in every detail. It was the kind of course that you’d readily pay $75-$100 for, without the coffee. I say, without the coffee, because the coffee brewed up a latte, a frappe, or just about any coffee you wanted. And yes, it was free.
Think about it: A free course. Free coffee. And a pretty decent presenter. Would you miss sessions?
You’re shaking your head thinking there’s no way you’d miss it, but the converse is true. When given a free option, people turn up sporadically, and then not at all. In fact, we were so sure we were wrong about this concept, that we started a new course series called the ‘Learning Rock’. While every session of the ‘Learning Rock’ was full, they were filled with 60% of new customers. Only 40% of the customers were repeat customers.
Then we had paid courses. And 95% turned up for every course. Without fail. Come rain or shine."
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I've had a similar experience. A while back I offered my Breakthrough Strategy online mentoring program free to people who were having financial problems. I had so many applicants that I expanded the original number I had in mind. Some of them were passionate about taking this opportunity. Guess how many followed through and actually used the material and participated in the free group coaching calls?
About one in five. Twenty-percent.
Of course not everybody who pays for the course follows through, either, but I'd say it's 75% compared to 20%.
It's an old saying that people don't value what they get for free, but it still seems to hold true.
(Just to make sure you value my book, "Your Writing Coach," the publisher isn't giving it away. You can buy it, though, from Amazon and other book sellers.)
