How do you make your free giveaway something that people actually want?

There was a big problem with the item that I saw with the big sign on it that said, “Free.”

I didn’t actually want it.

I certainly wouldn’t have paid for it. I wouldn’t have even wanted to carry it home. Sure, it was free, but I didn’t want it at all. In fact, it would cost me something to carry it home, store it, not use it and it would further cost me the guilt over never using it.

Save people the guilt of getting your free item and not using it, not even opening it.

There’s a technical name for giving people stuff they don’t want: spam.

But things have changed. Free is the new price of admission. Your free product download is my introduction to your work. I’m not yet willing to pay $4.99 and especially nor $49.99 for anything of yours until I know what kind of quality I’m getting. If that’s the case, then there’s no reason to not:

Make your free work some of your best work.

“But it’s free!” You whine. “What will I create for my paid work?”

Ah yes, it seems counterintuitive. Here’s an example you will probably understand.

The Freemium Model

Think of how things work on the app store. More often than not, there is a free version of an app, but then for the more advanced version, you pay a small fee. So do the app developers make their free option junk? Do they spend less time on it? Of course not. It’s the same concept.

Make it some of your best work, but then go even further above and beyond for the premium version of your work. Don’t spend forever on it, but spend some time on it. Get something good, something you wish you were charging for, then make it free. Give it a go.

• Possible: give away low quality work
• Impossible: charge $49 for low quality
• Repossible: give away some of your best work