You’re walking through a crowded farmers’ market and you see someone you vaguely know, sitting in an overstuffed tapestry armchair in front of my Arabian Nights tent and gesticulating wildly. I’m curled up in the other chair, listening intently. (Intently. In front of a tent! Ha ha!)
You sneak in and eavesdrop.
“Hello lovely, what’s the problem?”
Generosity, they say. I want to use generosity to sell my work, and I thought it would be easy, but it isn’t. And you said it would be easy.
“Did I? I probably did. It is easy, my sweet, but only if you do it right. What did you do?”
Well, you know… I did a competition to give away two of my offerings. And I didn’t even get two entries! It was a big fat failure.
“Oh dear. That would have been frustrating. Okay, a few questions then, so we can figure out what happened.”
Sure.
“How many readers do you have?”
Oh, about a hundred?
“And what did you offer?”
Two of my older offerings, I have some left over that didn’t sell.
“Alright. And how did you put the word out?”
I emailed my mailing list and I mentioned it on Facebook three or four times.
“And what did they have to do to enter?”
They had to sign up to my list if they weren’t on it already, and share my site with someone, and send me an email saying why they should win.
“I see. How long did you give them to do that?”
Three weeks. I figured that would give them more chances to enter.
“What was your goal for the giveaway?”
Umm. To get more readers and traffic and sell some stuff?
“And did you?”
I definitely didn’t sell anything. And I think I got a couple more readers?
“Did you look at your metrics before and after?”
Metrics?
“Your measurements. You know, like your visits per day, and your mailing list subscribers.”
Oh. No, not really. I should have, though, I guess?
“You guess correctly.”
So what did I do wrong?
“Oh, pretty much everything, my dear.”
What?
“But don’t worry, we’ll fix it. Your next act of generosity will rocket-charge your business, I promise.”
It will?
“Yes indeed. I have just one thing to do and then we’ll get started…”
At this point I turn and stare directly at you, with a smile.
“This isn’t your session, my dear. Shoo.” I shake your hand and firmly point you away from the tent.
You’ve walked past two pumpkin stalls before you realise that there’s a piece of parchment in your hand. You unfold it and it says:
“I gave you some clues about what NOT to do. Think about it and come back to me.”
So you check out the gardenias and the hand-blown glass and you return to my stall. I pull up a chair and ask, “So, are you thinking of trying for yourself?”
Well, it sounds nice and all. But… I don’t know. Using generosity in my marketing? It sounds a bit… unnecessary.
“Well, it is.”
Huh?
“There is nothing that says you have to use generosity in your marketing; it’s one tool in a big-ass toolbox. And not everyone should use it, really.”
Because it won’t work for them?
“Yes and no: generosity can work in any business, but it doesn’t sit well with every business owner. If it doesn’t appeal to you, you don’t have to use it. Or if you think that – even with some structure – you wouldn’t do it well, then it’s best for everyone if you don’t.”
I don’t think that’s me, but who do you mean?
“It’s hard to do if you’re desperate, because it feels like anything that you give away is a mortal wound. And people who don’t respect their audiences should avoid it like the plague.”
Alright, tell me this then… why are you such a fan of generosity as a marketing tool?
“Because it built my business.”
Really?
“Oh hell yes. I built my first momentum on my old website by giving away free 30-minute sessions to anyone who signed up in five days. I did 40 sessions, and gained my first audience. (And my first buyers.) Did it again when I went full time, and did ninety-odd sessions. I documented that one month later… let’s see, in the first thirty days, as a direct result of my generosity, I added 40 visitors a day, 58 more RSS subscribers, 23 new email signups, 19 to the advance notification list. 187 new Twitter followers. One new service that I still offer today. Also $1800 in new business. And I was TINY then.”
Okay. Well, that’s pretty cool. But what about now?
“Have you seen the free 30-minute Marketing Check-up on my website? I still offer it, and it’s still the single most effective tool I have to reassure my audience that I am fan-fricking-tastic enough to be worth paying hundreds of dollars to. I could count the number of people who have paid me money in the last year who hadn’t done the free session first, and I would not run out of fingers.”
I guess. That sounds like a crapload of work, though.
“To me, it isn’t. I love talking with my audience. I learn so much about them and what they need and how I can serve them best, and I have a blast doing it. It’s not the only way to use generosity, it’s just the most effective and happy-making for me.”
Okay, you’re sounding pretty convincing.
“Hooray!”
Do you have any last rah-rah about why you love generosity marketing so much?
“Yep! You always, always avoid one of the pitfalls that make so many people wince when they hear the word ‘marketing’.”
What’s that?
“Every piece of your marketing is valuable, in and of itself, and not just “Hey, over here! buy my thing!” noise. You’re always giving away something worthwhile, and that feels clean. And powerful.”
Oh. Wow.
“Yep! I want that for you, my darling. I want you to feel like your marketing is a Good Thing, not a Nasty Chore.”
I… want that for me, too.
“Then try generosity.”
I’ll think about it. Thanks.
“Thank you, my lovely!”
I realise I didn’t actually tell you how to use generosity well.
But if you do the complete opposite of that client in the first part of the story, you’ll probably be okay.
Want more tips and a chance to experience the awesomeness of generosity for yourself? Well, you definitely should be signed up for the weekly Mo’Cash, M’Joy newsletter and that free session.
