Book review: Tell customers about your 'free prize'
By Dana Zurbuchen
During “tough times,” entrepreneurs explore new marketing strategies, many of which come back to the basics: customer service, and giving clients that something extra.
That something extra. The thing they aren’t getting from your competitors. The “Free Prize Inside.”
The author of several successful marketing books, Seth Godin is a serial marketer and the person who popularized the topic of permission marketing. This book opens the mind of a reader to the idea of providing a “free prize” in his or her business.
Let me boil down the title of and information in “Free Prize Inside”: Remember, as a kid, choosing your breakfast cereal based on the Free Prize Inside? Or, choosing Cracker Jacks for the same reason?
Now, translate that idea to your business. What is the Free Prize Inside your business?
This idea blows traditional thoughts around marketing (a.k.a. advertising) out of the water. What exactly is that traditional thought? Create something average and spend half the GDP to make the most noise possible to tell people about it.
Remember when Jeff Bezos and Amazon.com abandoned TV advertising and put that budget into free shipping? After 12 months, their sales were up 37 percent.
Then there’s Dyson, the vacuum cleaner company, that broke sales records without obscene ad spending. Notice I said “without obscene ad spending.” I didn’t say “without ad spending.”
If these ideas are so effective, these “free prizes,” why don’t all businesses have them?
Simple – it takes creativity, innovation, change and understanding of how to do it.
Every product, service, feature and benefit is open for improvement, whether the improvement appears obvious to you or not. Who is responsible for coming up with these free prizes (also known as soft innovations in business)?
Nobody. That’s good…and bad. Who takes the reins? Anybody. That’s the opportunity.
Throughout Godin’s book, he shares thought starters on how to uncover the soft innovations. Too many ideas to share here, this book will spark the mind of any entrepreneur.
Don’t save this book for the “tough times” in your business, and don’t get complacent when your business is chugging along. Find your own free prize, make it stand out, make it yours.
Inspire your clients to talk about it, and watch the word spread.
