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Why Giving Stuff Away For Free Is More Profitable Than You Think

There’s a problem with blogging. A few problems actually. Big problems. Let’s look at what they are. These are the three main objections I hear:

• Blogging takes too much time.
• Blogging is too techy and difficult to maintain for an average business owner with no web marketing background.
• I don’t want to give away my best ideas for free (this is the big one).

You’re right to bring up these objections for blogging. There is a cost to running a business blog. It’s not free, and it does take some of your time. And yes, it will require you learn a few new things. But cost is not really the issue, is it? After all everything has a cost, doesn’t it? All marketing costs something.

Can we agree that blogging SHOULD require an investment, as all marketing does? If so, then let’s focus for a minute on what REALLY matters, shall we? Let’s look at whether blogging really provides a good return on investment. If it does not, and if I’m not able to show why it’s profitable for your business, then you shouldn’t do it. Pretty simple. If I can show you why it’s a good marketing tool and provides a good return on investment, can we agree that it would be kind of foolish to not get started? Is that fair?

So let’s hit it. I’ll address these three primary concerns, and we’ll see where it takes us. For reference, I did not just make these three concerns up. As I’ve begun to work with more and more small business owners on their web marketing, these concerns have crept to the top. There are many other peripheral objections to blogging, but they all seem to be offshoots of these three. If you have other concerns that are not addressed here, please leave them in the comments, and I’ll address them. I ain’t scared

Blogging Takes Too Much Time

To start, you can run a blog in just 10 minutes a day. Did you know that? It’s true. Yes, you can take more time than that. You can spend any amount of time you want, and as your blog becomes a more and more essential part of your business model, you will likely want to spend more time on it. But you’re not going to be running a world class blog right out of the gate. The first step is to just get started.

The fact is that blogging doesn’t take too much time, and with some coaching the chances are good you can learn to realize you’re probably ALREADY producing all the content you need for your blog just by running your business day by day. You’re just not putting that content to work for you.

Your blog is just a tool you learn how to use. It took time for you to learn how to operate a computer also, but you’re a lot quicker at it now than you were when you first started. Am I wrong? And where would your business be today without a computer? It’s become an essential part of your business, hasn’t it? Think of your blog similarly, and it will be a lot easier to see the role it really can play in your business.

Blogging Is Too Techy

Candidly, this objection is only uttered by those who have never done it. I’m not talking about installing and designing your blog. Pay someone a few bucks to do it for you. From there, if you’re comfortable using Microsoft Word or any other word processor, then you can write a blog. It really is very simple to write awesome-looking articles and publish them to your site.

I Don’t Want To Give Away My Best Ideas

This is the big one. Blogging is about sharing valuable information with your readers. If you’re not sharing information and ideas that are truly helpful, what reason do your readers have to keep coming back? Why would they tell their friends and spread the word for you? And without this kind of action, you’re blogging to no one, and no one wants to do that.

So in order to have a well-received and successful blog, you need to give your ideas away for free. How can this possibly be a good business model? How can giving stuff away for free be profitable? Why will anyone work with you or buy from you when you’re giving awesome stuff away at no cost?

Here’s the answer: Good ideas are helpful and inspiring. They establish credibility and build value. But they have no intrinsic value on their own. That’s why the best move is to give your best ideas away on your blog. No one is going to buy them anyway. After all, people don’t buy ideas. They buy products. They buy services. They buy systems and solutions. Ideas are often the building blocks and the inspiration behind great products and services, but they are not what people buy. Ideas are why people buy, not what they buy. Think about this carefully, because it’s really important. If you have this particular objection to blogging, it’s proof you need a blog. Here’s why…

The Role Of Great Ideas

By holding back your great ideas, you’re holding back something that no one is going to pay for anyway. You’re not allowing your ideas to work for you in the way they were meant to work. With a blog, you can publish your ideas and have them out there 24/7, inspiring and motivating your readers to take action. That is the real power of ideas. People don’t buy them, but they take action because of them.

And what action is it they’ll take? Will they take all your great ideas and knowledge you’ve shared with them and then go buy from someone who has given them nothing? If you’re blogging and helping your readers, inspiring them and taking care of them and your competition is not, you will be who the customer buys from every single time. That is the purpose of ideas. They are the evidence of value. They are not the essence of value.

In fact, learning the distinction between ideas and value is one of the most valuable things blogging will give your business. It puts you on the front line and forces you to learn what your customers and clients really value. The more you give, the more you get.

Conclusion

So ideas are the evidence of value, not the essence of value. And as such, shouldn’t you give your customers and clients as much evidence as possible that you actually have real value to offer them? If you don’t, why should they buy from you at all? Can you see that blogging is built specifically for this purpose?

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Published by: Grant Griffiths

Full post as published by Blawg for Profit on August 17, 2010 (boomark / email).