The Power of FREE – A Campaign Update

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about a marketing epiphany I had to a problem many of us small business owners face. Not enough customers, zero interest in my services, apathy to my offers. It all sounds so familiar, doesn't it?

So the light bulb flashed on with the aforementioned idea. Give Austin companies a taste of what I do best – press releases, in my case – in order to stimulate more interest, generate buzz and quite possibly write myself out of this customerless black hole I find myself here in Austin.

Side Note: I have customers, but most of them happen to be software resellers spread about the planet.

I began by posting announcements on several Austin LinkedIn groups and tweeting about it from time to time. Then lo and behold, a couple of interested replies trickled in. No, it wasn’t the landslide of inquiries I hoped I would get. The offer didn’t go viral or anything. I didn’t strike a common nerve among Austin businesses looking to break out of the recession-induced funk that has us all so clenched and paranoid about spending.

An observation: If it’s this hard to give away something with a street value of $300 and potential to bring much-needed attention and marketing goodness to a company, I can only imagine how hard it is to actually sell something right now!

I quickly realized that giving away what I thought was a great offer for a free press release was actually going to take a lot more sweat and ingenuity on my part. I mean it’s not like I was Starbucks telling everybody to come on Tuesday to get a free pastry then seeing legions of coffee addicts show up in search of free scones. I really had to work at giving my $300 worth of PR goodies away!

I plugged away at LinkedIn and Twitter, my two main social networking sites for business. I posted discussions on Austin LinkedIn Groups, then added updates to those discussions in order to keep them in front of readers.

A few more press release requests came in last week and I immediately set about writing them as though I were preparing a speech for a Nobel Peace Prize. Happily, I exceeded the expectations of my new “free” customers.

Let me be honest. Part of my end-game in writing free press releases for Austin companies is self-serving. In exchange for a professionally-written press release, I am having my “free” customers give me glowing testimonials for my website, as well as reviews on LinkedIn and Yelp. But to make it as painless as possible on them, I agreed to write the reviews. [See, I told you I was self-serving!]

One other item I expect in return for my free press release, an important item which I cannot do for them, is a warm referral of at least one other company in need of a free press release. This I have to earn. I realize that. Their reputations go on the line when they make a referral, even for a free service. If I disappoint their referral, it will invariably come back to haunt them.

Still, if I do a great job on my press release, if I please them and surprise them with how I capture their story, I know they will be willing to make that all-important referral. And referrals to new customers, even if they're "free" customers at first, are what this exercise is all about. The more “free” customers I can touch, please and impress, the more chances I have of gaining new business, a great reputation and a steady word-of-mouth source of new customers.

This week, I also attended a wonderful event organized by Rick L’Amie of Moxie Marketing featuring a talk by John Jantsch, renowned author of Duct Tape Marketing. Rick is a Duct Tape Marketing Coach and was helping John promote his latest book, The Referral Engine, which in my opinion promises to be another bestseller for John - he can’t help himself, really, the guy just oozes great ideas for small businesses.

I had contacted Rick the week before after reading his LinkedIn announcement for the event. I called and offered to give away a free press release as a door prize, which worked out great for him as he was looking for free give-aways. Attending the event turned out to be well worth my time. I got a new “free” customer and had several stop by and ask me for my contact information. John didn’t disappoint and gave an insightful presentation from his new book. In the era of virtual events, it’s nice to know a real live event can be so fruitful for all involved.

So here it is, Friday, and I don’t know where the last week and half has gone. Like I said, I never imagined that giving away something for free would take so much work. But at the end of the day, I’m still fighting against the competition for the minds of Austin companies.

I still have to go through the motions to get my name and message out there. Just like everybody else, I’m operating inside a jittery, if not jaded, market that’s waiting to see what the future holds.

Free is good. Free works. But free is not an excuse not to market, be creative, and deliver exceptional service.

So what do you think? Am I crazy to just give away my services like that? Have I completely lost respect for myself, my writing abilities and my PR profession?

Or am I onto something that just might work?

I’ll let you decide. But before you do, check out the testimonials and press releases I’ve done. Only three so far, but I’ve got two more almost completed plus a couple scheduled for next week.

Free Austin Press Release Testimonials.

If you’re an Austin company and think you’d like to have a free press release written about your great news, then go to my Free Austin Press Release page and fill out a request.

But most of all, tell me what you think on this blog. Hey, talk is free, right?!?