How To Avoid The High Cost Of “Free”
Just what is “free”?
Something for nothing, no money paid out and no effort expended to acquire it.
How Much Can “Free” Cost?
My Ex-Step Son Robert has a Scrap Metal business. He has regular routes on trash days. It’s pretty amazing how much good stuff is thrown away every day.
He can make several hundred dollars a day picking up broken lawn mowers, old bar be ques, bicycles, anything made of metal. All for “free”.
The cost he pays for “free” is his time, gas, and knowledge. He spends the time and fuel to pick up his metal, breaks it down to separate metals from non-metals then uses his knowledge to sell it to the highest paying Scrap Yards.
He has a sign on his truck with his Phone Number, Free Metal Removal. People love that sign, they will call him up and ask “Do you pick up old cars?” Of course. At today’s prices a small car is worth about two hundred dollars in steel weight, if you know where to take them and how to prep them.
To have a junk car removed for “free” actually costs two to five hundred dollars in lost income.
How does this relate to Internet Network Marketing?
You see an ad for free traffic to your website, you click the link and all you have to do to get 100 visitors to your site is visit 200 sites. So, is it “free”? Cost? Time.
You see an offer to email your ad to X number of people and all you have to do is agree to get ten or so emails a day from other members. You don’t read the emails because you don’t know the person sending them, do you think anyone is reading yours? Is it “free”? Cost? Time.
You find a webpage asking, “Want some free leads for your business?” You bet. You sign up to a System. You promote the System, you get some leads. So does the Owner of the System. You gave free leads to someone that doesn’t really need them. How “free” was that? Cost? Time and money.
The less money you pay for something the more time you need to spend.
How to Know When “Free” Isn’t Free
Look at the site, does it have a really attractive person holding a fan of $100.00 bills with a big smile on their face?
Chances are that a lot of money was spent on web page design to get you to to join. Spend a lot of money to give away stuff for free, not very economical. Why would they do that?
Because you will quickly tire of all the extra work for your “free” traffic or email list. You then get an offer to stop getting the emails or having to visit all those websites for X dollars a month.
All of the benefits without the work. But will your message be heard or your website be paid attention to? Probably not, the people you email still don’t know who you are.
The people visiting your site have dozens left to go, yours gets lost in a haze of too many sites in too short a time.
The Real Free
Strange as it sounds the less flashy the page the more likely that is is truly free.
Free training is at the top of the list.
People willing to give you free training are not going to spend hundreds of dollars for the privilege of giving away their hard earned knowledge.
That being said, you will probably need some new tools to implement your training. The savvy trainer will provide links to these tools, and earn a commission if you buy. But there should no pressure to buy from them.
If your free training was valuable, and you get the tools suggested why not help the person that helped you?
The cost for your new tool will be the same no matter what link you get it from.
In closing, free is more like the honor system. You give something of value, you get a little back, maybe.