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As a marketer you want people to say yes to your offer. By creating a course and giving it away for free you are using a powerful principle that makes it easy for people say yes.

Let me try and explain: 

A free course is a gift; we know that when we accept we feel obliged to return the favour. This is what Robert B. Cialdini calls the Over Powering Rule Of Reciprocation.

"The rule possesses awesome strength, often producing a “yes” response to a request……"

Let’s look at the mechanics of a free course from an online angle and assume you sell advertising:

• You have a blog/website (if you must you can also use a fax).
• You have an auto responder that can send out, say ten emails, scheduled over 20 days, two days apart.
• The ten emails are relevant marketing tips related to your audience and service.
• You market your free marketing course as and when you approach your target market.
• The idea is that even if you do not do the deal on the day the prospect can still subscribe to your marketing course, for free.
• Now that you have the prospect on your contact database you send him the free course.
• If your course is presented well and the prospect gets more than expected he should be more inclined to say "yes" in order to return the favour.
• After your free course your success rate should be lot higher.

And extra feature of the free online course is to use a squeeze page. One of the best examples of a free online course and a squeeze page is the one from Perry Marshall on Google Adwords. Have a critical look at the landing page, study it and take a serious look at the way he constructed his free course. At then end of the course look out for the request to take action. You may want to duplicate these ideas when you implement your free course.

Regards

Johan Horak

P.S. To create your own squeeze page go and create a free blog at iLocals.info.

Image by nate steiner via Flickr

For one reason only; to make you feel obliged to return the favour. And that means that should you taste, you will put your hand in your pocket and pay to get more than the sample.

Nothing wrong with that.

That’s why copy writers / direct marketers shower you with free gifts. These gifts have a high apparent value but it may have no real cost implication to giver. For example: have you seen all the “FREE Gifts” as copy writers like to call it, before they ask you to buy.

Online you get showered with free content, free tips, a free newsletter and the real killer is a free training course.

I will get back to the free training course idea in another post because I now I want to discuss the Over Powering Rule Of Reciprocation.

Robert B. Cialdini, wrote,

"The Old Give And Take ……… And Take"

The rule says that we should try to repay, in kind, when another person provide us with something. By virtue of the reciprocity rule, then, we are obligated to future repayment of favours, gifts, invitations, and the like. 

and he continues…

"There is no human society that does not subscribe to this rule."

A friend of mine invited me to the local farmers market, although I did not want to buy anything I owed her a favour and showed up. The market was great with lovely cheeses, game carpaccio, olives, biscuits and jams. At each of these stalls I had to stop and taste.

Mistake. As I tasted I felt obliged to return the favour…..

It was difficult to impossible to say no to their offers.

The moral of the story:

• Are you using the Over Powering Rule Of Reciprocation when you market or sell your business/service?
• Are you giving free "tastings" away?

If not, you may not be as successful as you can be.