Any thoughts on this marketing strategy?

[RR151]

It uses a physical product as a free gift and only requires payment for shipping and handling.

The strategy is used to find buyers and not newsletter prospects that want to save 10% from somebody they are not comfortable with yet.

Its $9.95 for shipping and handling, the cost of the gift is $5.30 and the mailing is $2.00 plus envelope.

I want to use the promotional 4 gig USB as the free gift and add a PDF E-Book of the top 30 advertising tips within my niche.

I want to get the tips from my subscribers and as pay I will offer two things: 1) a link to their website with their name attached to their tip, 2) $10.00 Amazon or Starbucks email gift card.

Any thoughts, RR

[Freelancier]

It uses a physical product as a free gift and only requires payment for shipping and handling. Then it's not really free.
The job with marketing and sales is to reduce sales "friction" that gets in the way of closing the deal. Saying something is "free" and then charging $10 for it is friction for many people, because it's starting the relationship by lying. It might work on infomercials for the weak-brained, but I'm pretty sure that's not your target audience.

[Harold Mansfield]

I agree. If you've ever ordered a product off of TV where the 2nd one is supposed to be free, you know that you end up paying double the price in the end anyway. I call it a scam. To offer something as free and then charge $10 shipping, $20 processing and so on is nothing more than a scam in my eyes. It may not be a scam according to the FCC, but to the consumer it's BS.

The problem with your offer is that it's not free, it's not original and it's cumbersome. You don't need to deliver a USB stick just to give away a PDF. So it's not likely you'll get a lot of people to pay for that. Also, as I said above, people hate the bait and switch "Free" offer. It's old school snake oil stuff.

Last but not least, subscribers aren't customers. I applaud you for trying to come up with a way to build subscribers, but tricks aren't going to work. People subscribe in what they are interested in. The best way to get subscribers is to both create great content worth subscribing to, and ( if you want to spend money) develop a way to let your audience know about it.

IMO 2 things you have correct here, building a list of advertising tips (if they're any good and not just a rehash of old tips everyone already knows), and trying to build a list.
If I were you, I'd skip all the dramatics and USB's and free gifts and write that great tips article, put it on a very well designed blog and use the article to attract subscribers.
OR, offer the 30 tips as a gift for signing up for your newsletter.
Or have them sign up for the newsletter and then send them the PDF, but actually for free. No S&H.

Keep in mind building a good list is hard and takes time. Great content builds lists. Not tricks and gimmicks.

However, one could argue that if you find people who will pay $10 for a "free" $5 flash drive just because it has a PDF on it of things they can probably search online, then they are likely to buy anything.

[RR151]

Hummm...So paying for S/H used to get the physical item to your door is not considered free, okay interesting thought. Remember the main goal here is to find buyers and not freebie seekers. Getting a free gift for signing up doesn't always get a desirable subscriber. The free E-Book tactic in exchange for the email address usually gets you a free account like gmail or hotmail, which is not their real email address.

Next I was hoping to get a two way communication channel opened with my subscribers. The content is coming from a variety of subscribers and I can't use their ideas on my blog.

Maybe each contributor can add a coupon that is 10 to 25% off their services. Their advertising tip is a direct relationship to the services they offer within our niche. Again, the resource box has all their contact information plus their optional discount offer…This is exclusive to the physical USB offer only.

Maybe a message Like: "Let us have success by working together. Henry Ford has said, “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” To start working together email us here…"

I forgot to add the value of the stuff on the FD. If you want the download offer it costs: $14.95.

The breakdown: 1) E-book Value $7.00 with a 2) 6 day E-Course value $4.95 and 3) 1 E-Coaching Lesson value $17.95. Total download cost is $29.90 with a 50% off coupon = $14.95 cost. All the coupon offers are only included inside the E-Book on the physical USB offer.

Any other thoughts? RR

[Harold Mansfield]

Hummm...So paying for S/H used to get the physical item to your door is not considered free, okay interesting thought. Remember the main goal here is to find buyers and not freebie seekers. Getting a free gift for signing up doesn't always get a desirable subscriber. The free E-Book tactic in exchange for the email address usually gets you a free account like gmail or hotmail, which is not their real email address.

I agree with your points on subscribers, but mailing them a flash drive doesn't solve any of those problems.


Next I was hoping to get a two way communication channel opened with my subscribers. The content is coming from a variety of subscribers and I can't use their ideas on my blog.

Maybe each contributor can add a coupon that is 10 to 25% off their services. Their advertising tip is a direct relationship to the services they offer within our niche. Again, the resource box has all their contact information plus their optional discount offer…This is exclusive to the physical USB offer only.

Maybe a message Like: "Let us have success by working together. Henry Ford has said, “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” To start working together email us here…"

I forgot to add the value of the stuff on the FD. If you want the download offer it costs: $14.95.

The breakdown: 1) E-book Value $7.00 with a 2) 6 day E-Course value $4.95 and 3) 1 E-Coaching Lesson value $17.95. Total download cost is $29.90 with a 50% off coupon = $14.95 cost. All the coupon offers are only included inside the E-Book on the physical USB offer.

Any other thoughts? RR

It all depends on how people value the information. It's hard to say what people will respond to without knowing how informative or beneficial the information is. Like I said, you can offer anything if the content is great. If it's not there's nothing you can offer that will make people want it.

I think you're missing the point on convenience. I don't understand why you're stuck on sending a flash drive in the mail, rather than just allowing them to download or access the content online. I'm not against mailers, but good content doesn't need gimmicks. People expect to get digital content immediately.

I think you're going to have a hard time getting people to pay $14.95 for anything. It's just not that easy. Ask any e-book publisher. The promos you're suggesting may work for established authors or experts in the field, but it's hard for a nobody to pull that off. You have to build credibility in the industry first, or do a lot of advertising to get perceived credibility.

If you want people to participate or take a chance you have to keep it simple. Very simple. Don't give them time to think, or have to figure out what the deal is. Instant gratification works better than making them wait. No one is going to give you their information just to wait on yet another e-book or PDF by mail. I just don't see it happening.

Maybe if you were Stephen King giving out free copies of his next book.

It may help to know what your business model is. Right now all you're doing is telling us ideas for building a list.

[RR151]

Harold you have given me great insight on the use of a FD and downloadable content as a free gift. It just isn't going to work.

Ryan Deiss uses this technique with physical widgets that have nothing to do with a downloadable product. He says it works perfectly and finds buyers from this offer are very responsive to future offers. He says: A small responsive buyer list is much better than a large list of freebie seekers.

RR

[Harold Mansfield]

Harold you have given me great insight on the use of a FD and downloadable content as a free gift. It just isn't going to work.

Ryan Deiss uses this technique with physical widgets that have nothing to do with a downloadable product. He says it works perfectly and finds buyers from this offer are very responsive to future offers. He says: A small responsive buyer list is much better than a large list of freebie seekers.

RR

OK, then do it. I'm not trying to stop you from doing it, I'm just giving you the advice you asked for.
Ryan Deiss is a well known marketer who is selling his own products and strategies.
No one has ever heard of you (that I know of), so you'll have to work harder and put in the work that led up to where he is to be able to do what he does.

What works for one person doesn't necessarily work for a completely different person with different circumstances. Odds are you'll try a few things before you find what works for you. The odds of you one timing it based on what one person says works for them are pretty slim. Especially online.

Try it and see what happens. If it works, great. If not, learn, adjust, and try again.

[RR151]

Hey Harold,

Don't misunderstand me, you are right the download deal is not going to work. You shouldn't set up barriers to stop people getting this immediate download fix. This might work with the physical widget but I see your points about the download product....thanks for the insight, RR