One of the most common ways to attract attention to your blog is to offer free stuff. Bloggers have used and suggested this technique for a long time, some with better results than other.
Offering freebies on your blog has its advantages, if done right:
- Generates traffic;
- Generates relevant backlinks;
- Creates awareness;
- Increases the readership;
- Improves the subscribers’ count;
- and so on.
Of course, not everyone is looking for all those advantages. Each one has his/her own reasons for putting free stuff on the internet. While some target the profit, others do it simply for the fun of it. I do it for both reasons.
Does it benefit me? It does, but in order to really benefit from this technique, one should really stick religiously to the following rules:
1. Offer useful stuff
The first and most important thing about a freebie is that there should be a real demand for it. If nobody needs it, then your investment in it will be in vain. The more useful it it, the more people will want to share it with their friends and spread the word about it.
2. Offer quality stuff
While there might be a real interest in the type of free stuff that you offer, it’s not enough to make it attractive, even if it’s free. There’s enough competition and if your freebies are not top notch, the buzz (if there will be one) will disappear quickly and people will forget about your stuff.
The first quality inspection you can do is through your eyes. Would you use that freebie for your personal projects? If you won’t, most probably no one else would.
3. Offer unique, original stuff
I’m not talking about creating a round RSS icon, while there are dozens more round RSS icons available online. If you do it right and add your own perspective, it might just succeed.
What I’m talking about is re-sharing.
If it’s not unique, most people have probably seen it already. It’s a fact that the one to benefit most from releasing a freebie would be the original source. Sure, “ultimate lists” have managed to attract a good deal of traffic over time, but in the end, they reflect that traffic upon the original sources.
4. Market it like a paid product
If the free stuff you offer manages to pass all the above expectations, you definitely have a good offer. But, as with any good product, it needs awareness and exposure. In order to maximize the benefits, you need to market it just as if you would with a paid product.
For example, when I released the 2.0 version of Simple Balance, I’ve sent a press release to almost every design magazine and blog, big enough to create awareness for my theme. It proved to be a successful strategy that combined with the quality of Simple Balance attracted a great deal of traffic, backlinks, comments, community involvement and, as of today, 3800 downloads.
This last point is my favorite, and I agree that it requires more time and more attention from your side, but the satisfaction is guaranteed.
The more serious you treat your freebies, the more successful they can become. Sharing free stuff can be a great technique, it done wisely.
Photo credits to Frank Hermers