My story . . .

I have been tinkering around with websites since 1991. Since I never took the time to become a hardcore coder, I was always looking for the newest template or software that would allow me to quickly and easily turn my ideas into webpages.

For almost 10 years, my tinkering didn’t produce many good looking websites. Sometime around 2000-2001 I started to play around with blogging platforms, and after a few years I landed on WordPress as my blogging platform of choice. By 2009, I was using blogger on every website I created due to its flexibility and the multitudes of templates available.

After a few years on WordPress, I found it difficult to stick with any one template for more than a few months. I kept having to switch as WordPress was updated or I found something that seemed a little more flexible than my last template.

Constantly switching stopped when I found Headway.

What got me hooked on Headway was the ability to visually modify my website without having to make changes to any code. With a few clicks and drags, I was able to create my layout, insert new widgets, and make changes to my navigation bar. With a few hours of playing around, anyone with a basic knowledge of wordpress can easily set up their blog.

Why Am I Telling You This?

Headway launched 2.0 today and I want to encourage you to check it out. I have been beta testing 2.0 on a new site I am launching next month and they have made setting up a professional website much faster than any previous version.

What I Want to Do For You

Until Friday, October 29th, 2010, Headway is offering 30% off the Headway theme to celebrate the launch of this major step forward in simplifying setting up a website.

All you have to do it go to the Headway page and use the offer code: woot

What if you don’t have a website?

If you don’t know how to set up a website or blog, then let me do it for you. All you need to do is sign up for hosting on dreamhost, grab a copy of Headway with the offer code woot (until Friday, October 29th, 2010), and I will set up a webinar next week to walk you through setting up a basic website or blog using Dreamhost, WordPress, and Headway.

To qualify for this, you have to sign up for a hosting (a free domain name is included) at Dreamhost then grab a copy of Headway. Once you have done that, contact me with my contact form and we will make sure to sign you up for the webinar next week that will run through setting up your blog (some verification will be required).

If you don’t want to be included on the webinar, I still recommend that you pick up Headway today, because it might never be discounted 30% again.

I hope you take Headway up on this, because it is awesome!

Contact me if you have any questions on signing up for the webinar.

Get Under The Hood of My Blog is a post from: As A Dude Thinketh
As A Dude Thinketh is written and edited by Chris Elliott. Chris helps small businesses figure out what their big idea is, how to get it to market, and how to get people to notice their wonderfulness. He is also a dynamic speaker and trainer in personal growth and public speaking. Do you need help with your next big idea or speech? I encourage you to talk with me to see how Chris can be of service.

No related posts.

Not me.

I am having a sale because the processor in my desktop computer decided to have a meltdown and it just happened to coincide with a holiday for someone with the same first name as mine.

So my loss this Columbus Day weekend (or Thanksgiving if you are Canadian) is your gain and hopefully it is enough of a gain that I can replace my desktop computer and not try to edit the videos for an upcoming launch using my clunky old laptop.

Here is the deal.

A few months ago I released, “INSERT YOUR TITLE HERE: A Step by Step Guide to Creating a Product this Weekend.”

While most get rich quick products will sell you on using other people’s content to create a product. This e-book and accompanying demos lead you through the process of creating a product with your own material in far less time then it takes to create one with content you scraped off article directories.

For you feature junkies, here is what the product contains:

• A 39 page workbook that gives you a step by step plan for creating a product this weekend.
• An audio demo of the reverse interview process I have developed to help you create your product idea, an outline, and the content for your products.
• Demo videos and PDF instructions on how to set up a domain name, hosting account, and shopping cart so that you will quickly get your product created and ready for sale.
• An html template that you will use as the sales page for your product.

The sales page for the product lists it at $37.

Since it is a long weekend for many people and I need to make some money, I thought I would give it to you for 50% off.

Sound good?

There is more

Since I want to help as many people have a productive weekend, I am going to run a contest now through Sunday, October 10th, 2010 at 12:00 PM. The sale will run until Tuesday if you don’t win and want to get a copy of the product after the contest wins.

To enter the contest:

1. Tweet a link to this blog post and include #ccontest and @chris_speaks in your tweet. You can tweet it as many times as you would like, but I will limit your entries to 4 tweets per person so that you don’t spam the crap out of your Twitter followers. That means if you have four tweets, you get your name entered 4 times to win the product.

A sample tweet would be:

Oy! @chris_speaks is celebrating the death of his trusty desktop with a contest and a sale check it out http://goo.gl/SmFL

Want to write a better tweet? Just make sure to include the link to this post, the hashtag #ccontest, and @chris_speaks.

2. You also need to leave a comment on this post telling me the biggest challenge you face in creating and selling a product. Make sure to leave your Twitter nick name and use your real e-mail in the comment so that I can match your comments to your tweets and e-mail the winner.

What does the winner receive?

I will pick one of the tweets from a commenter at random ( I am a dork so it will be with a random number generator) and they will receive:

1. A free copy of “INSERT YOUR TITLE HERE: A Step by Step Guide to Creating a Product this Weekend.”
2. Two free hours of consulting on creating, marketing, and selling a product (Usually $97 / hr).

Let the tweets begin.

I know, I know, you want to get INSERT YOUR TITLE HERE: A Step by Step Guide to Creating a Product this Weekend, but don’t want to wait for the contest to end on Sunday.

Here is the deal.

If you have bought the product and you win, then you will get the 2 hours of free consulting and you can help one of your friends out by giving them a copy as well.

Are you ready to get your hands on INSERT YOUR TITLE HERE: A Step by Step Guide to Creating a Product this Weekend?

Enter the coupon code: CONTEST50 and click Buy Now to get started.

The sale will last from now until Tuesday, October 12th, 2010 when everyone has returned from Columbus Day stuffed with whatever people eat to celebrate Columbus Day.

Now I am wondering, do they eat Turkey this weekend in Canada?

Good luck.

Computers, Christopher Columbus, and a Contest is a post from: As A Dude Thinketh
As A Dude Thinketh is written and edited by Chris Elliott. Chris helps small businesses figure out what their big idea is, how to get it to market, and how to get people to notice their wonderfulness. He is also a dynamic speaker and trainer in personal growth and public speaking. Do you need help with your next big idea or speech? I encourage you to talk with me to see how Chris can be of service.

If you liked this post, then you should also check out:

1. Contest Winners and A Huge Dose of Fail
2. You Don’t Want to Be Famous

Who Are You Listening To?

Early last year, I was listening to a copywriting teleconference with Sonia Simone of Copyblogger and Naomi Dunford of Ittybiz. While on the call, they told us to sign up for Paul Myers’ TalkBiz News, which is a newsletter on Internet Marketing.

So for over a year, I have been getting e-mails from Paul Myers that talk about Internet Marketing with a pitch here and there for a product that he has created or is promoting. I really didn’t think too hard about it until the past week.

Late last week, Paul sent out an e-mail about his new product, the Email Affiliate System. After reading the sales page, I realized that he was selling something that I wanted to know so I spent the $27 to get a copy of the report. The report is amazing and if I can put the tactics into my marketing, then the product will pay for itself many times over. I am not joking; the Email Affiliate System got me to think about my marketing in ways that I have never imagined.

Then Something Happened

While the product is great, Paul’s follow up e-mail to his list amazed me. On Sunday, September 26th, Paul sent a follow up e-mail to his list about some, “Interesting Responses,” he got about the product.

The “interesting responses” talked about how there was little new in the product or that it didn’t add up to what Paul had already given away for free. His response was an awesome lesson for anyone that gives information away for free.

Since you can subscribe to Paul’s newsletter to get these thoughts word for word, I am not going to copy them here, but I am going to tell you the lesson learned and how most people screw it up:

Lesson Learned: You have to create a clear distinction between what you give away for free and what you make people pay to receive.

In Paul’s case, he gives away hundreds of pages of material a year that helps you build the skills you need to build a business. Information that many people charge for, he gives away for free.

What You Make People Pay For

What he makes people pay for are the specific tools and techniques that allow them to create a profitable business. It is a distinction that most people that market products online fail to make and it could be the one thing that is keeping them broke.

It is crazy how some people can figure out what they need to do from the free materials. They can take a 112 page e-book, build a website, create a product, market it, and then sell the product to thousands of adoring fans just from the information in the e-book.

However many people get stuck, they can’t figure out what we need to do next, or they are get overwhelmed by an inability to cut through a lot of technical jargon to get to what needs to be done online. That is were the paid products can come in to help you out.

How You Can Use This in Your Business

While your free content tells people what they need to do, the paid product tells you how to do it in a way your customers will understand. For example, you can walk people through a marketing plan, but charge them for the website they can use to put that marketing plan into action.

How are you developing products for your business? Are you making the distinction of what the free and paid products will do for your customers or are you “cutting your own throat,” and giving it all away for free?

Let me know with a quick comment.

Also make sure to check out Paul Myers’ TalkBiz News if you haven’t already and get the 112 page Need to Know Manual. Hopefully it will change the way you look at running your business.

Are You Cutting Your Own Throat? is a post from: As A Dude Thinketh
As A Dude Thinketh is written and edited by Chris Elliott. Chris helps small businesses figure out what their big idea is, how to get it to market, and how to get people to notice their wonderfulness. He is also a dynamic speaker and trainer in personal growth and public speaking. Do you need help with your next big idea or speech? I encourage you to talk with me to see how Chris can be of service.

If you liked this post, then you should also check out:

1. How Not to Do Free Content
2. Are You Trying to Trade A Monotonous Job for a Monotonous Business?
3. The Reason for Success

Christian is a 16 year old boy who has created million dollar software and ad companies before the age of 16. The companies sell bundles of popular Mac software and now he has started a company selling ads on websites.  It is a great story that you have to read . . . once you are done reading this blog post of course.

What I found interesting about Christian’s story was some of the comments that people left on the blog where it was posted. While some were positive, many comments are mocking him for not having a life, employing his parents, and most egregious of all . . . being unoriginal.

Common Business Beliefs

What the comments illustrate is a common business belief. When most people start their businesses, they think that they have to be 100% original. They believe that they have to sell products on one else is selling, have a store that is totally original, or create new intellectual content from original research. They have it in their heads that they have to be unique to make it in this world.

Let me let you in on a little secret . . .

The most successful businesses in the world are not unique!

A quick disclaimer; I am not condoning the blatant copying of other people’s copyrighted and patented materials for personal gain. That is stealing. What I am talking about is copying ideas about what works and using those ideas in your business.

There are two ways to accomplish this in your business:

Number One: Improve Current Products

For example, think about a few of the most successful technology companies in the world: Apple, Google, and Microsoft. All of these companies were late to the game in their original markets but are now the leaders in mobile technology, search, and office software.

They accomplished this feat by taking something that was hard to use, expensive to operate, and ineffective. They made those products easy to use, cheap to operate, and more effective. In essence, these companies took complex products and services that were specialty products and made them into easy to use commodities.

In the story of Christian Owens, he found multiple mac programs that people wanted to use but couldn’t afford to purchase them all individually, worked with the software authors to bundle them together, and sold the bundle at a major discount. He also used contests, referral bonuses, and limited time offers to give people a sense of urgency to buy the bundle.

Everything Christian did has been done before, but he made it simpler, cheaper, and more useful to his customers.

Could you do that in your business?

Number Two: Completely Copy What Worked for Someone Else (With Their Permission!)

When you drive down any main street in the United States, what do you typically see? Do you see a McDonalds, a Subway, and an Applebees? More than likely you will find a chain rather than something unique.

Why would someone buy a franchise rather than start something unique?

People open franchises because they are proven businesses. Most people that have started a unique retail or restaurant business will tell you, that if they had to do it again they would buy a proven franchise. While it is great when a unique business succeeds, the failure rate is much higher than if you would have bought a franchise.

If you are desperate for a business of your own, a franchised business might be what works for you since you are copying what worked for someone else.

Can you be successful by being original?

It is possible, but with so many people being successful by being unoriginal, why risk it? Do what others are doing, but take it one step further. Make it easier, make it more accessible, and make it more desirable. If that doesn’t work, then consider what licensing and franchising a business could do for your freedom.

Whatever you do, remember to keep moving forward.

P.S. Here is the story on Christian Owens from Gizmodo.

P.P.S. If you are looking for a tool to get you started in creating a totally unoriginal Internet Marketing business, then make sure to pick up a copy of my step by step guide to Creating a Product this Weekend.

Got another minute?

Do you like what I have to say in my blog posts? If you do, then leave a comment and click on one of the share buttons below and let your friends on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn know about my blog. You can also Like me on Facebook by clicking on the like button to the left of this post.

Thank you so much for helping spread the word!

The Secret to Business Success: Don’t Be Original is a post from: As A Dude Thinketh
As A Dude Thinketh is written and edited by Chris Elliott. Chris helps small businesses figure out what their big idea is, how to get it to market, and how to get people to notice their wonderfulness. He is also a dynamic speaker and trainer in personal growth and public speaking. Do you need help with your next big idea or speech? I encourage you to talk with me to see how Chris can be of service.

If you liked this post, then you should also check out:

1. The Reason for Success
2. Why Your Business is Like Most Chinese Restaurants
3. Is This How a Business Helps Their Community?

Why Massive Action is Important

Here is the kicker; taking massive action to get something accomplished is the only difference between successes and failures. It is only in action that we are able to live the life of our dreams.

My Story

When I graduated from college, I barely achieved a 3.00 GPA. The quarter before graduation, I had a 2.97 GPA and earlier in my college career, I was heading towards a 2.00 GPA. From the look of my transcript, you would have thought that I wasn’t cut out for success in higher education.

Fast forward four years. After begging on hands and knees to get into graduate school, I graduated with a 3.93 GPA. If you would look at my transcript from graduate school, you would see that I had one B and the rest were A’s.

Was I A Bad Student?

If you had looked at my undergraduate grades, you might have thought that I didn’t spend much time on my studies. Here is the thing, I rarely missed classes or assignments. If you had seen me in class and working in front of the computer at the library, you would have thought I was a star student.

What was my problem?

The problem was that I wasn’t taking action.

Instead of actually taking the action to read what the professors wanted me to read; I was studying how to study, looking for simple explanations, or trying to find out how to better schedule my study time so that I could be a more effective student.

I was studying everything about studying, but not actually taking action on the materials I had in front of me.

Success Comes From Massive Action

I succeeded in Graduate School, because I spent hours in the library reading my textbooks, taking notes, summarizing notes, and working through my homework problems. I took the action required and worked my butt off in order to get the grades I wanted.

What do You Want?

Do you want to create and sell your own products online? Then stop spending $2000 on products that tell you how to create and sell products and start creating them.

Do you want to find a better job, lose weight, or fix your relationship? Spend 12 hours writing and revising your resume, exercise, or talk to your partner about the problems you are experiencing in your relationship.

Too often we know what we want and we don’t take the action required to get what we want. Instead we head to Google and start reading about how to find a better job, lose 10 pounds in a week, or what we need to say to our spouse to fix our relationship. Instead of spending 10 hours taking the action required to do something, we spend that time reading about how we should be taking action.

This post will not help you unless you are willing to help yourself.

If you want to do something, take action to do it. Don’t think about it, don’t study the problem, and don’t buy a product that gives you a formula for figuring it out. Just take action and do the work required to get it done.

Will you have to work at it? Yes.

Will it be hard? Yes.

Deal with it.

This Post Will Not Help You is a post from: As A Dude Thinketh
As A Dude Thinketh is written and edited by Chris Elliott. Chris helps small businesses figure out what their big idea is, how to get it to market, and how to get people to notice their wonderfulness. He is also a dynamic speaker and trainer in personal growth and public speaking. Do you need help with your next big idea or speech? I encourage you to talk with me to see how Chris can be of service.

If you liked this post, then you should also check out:

1. Are You What You Eat?
2. Time is an Illusion
3. Are You Living Life On If . . . Then . . .

The problem is that most of the articles about procrastination actually keep us from doing whatever we are putting off doing. The articles recommend “getting organized to do it”, “getting motivated”, or telling us any number of mental lies we can use to hide the fact that we are not doing what we tell ourselves we need to be doing. Instead we are procrastinating by reading about how to overcome procrastination.

For many people that want to create a business, you can spend more time studying how to create a business than actually doing something to make that business a reality.

In my case, I have been procrastinating the building of a speaking, coaching, and consulting business for three years. For three years I have been blogging, writing free articles, incorporating my business, and discovering new accounting tools that make my year-end tax preparation for $0 in income much easier. It wasn’t until a number of months ago that I realized I was having a problem.

On a Monday afternoon, when I was getting ready to leave a Toastmasters meeting, one of my friends made a comment to me, “You have all these ideas for product, programs, and speeches. When are you going to actually follow through and sell something?”

I was floored and for three months I didn’t have an answer.

It wasn’t until I was meeting with a friend a few weeks ago that I had an answer. During the meeting, I realized what separated me from people that were successful with their businesses was not knowledge. I have enough of that. What the true separator was that successful people had an idea then executed it. They didn’t let procrastination get in the way. They took an idea and they executed it until they had created a complete product, service, or business.

I didn’t do that. Instead I jumped from idea to idea without completing anything.

After my meeting, I had enough of my mental excuses of why I couldn’t create a product, so for 6 days I spent my free time doing what I had never done before. I sat down and executed my idea for a product.

The result was an eBook and website that shows that it is possible to overcome procrastinating and create a product in a weekend.

The goal of the eBook is to help you overcome what I have overcome, the inability to turn ideas into products. It does this by giving you a plan for a Friday night through Sunday evening self-directed boot camp. During your self-directed boot camp, you will formulate an idea, get your idea organized, turn it into a product,and  then get your product packaged and available for sale.

The product you create isn’t going to be a massive product that will change the world, but I hope that it will be the product that shows you it is not as hard as you think to create and sell your products and your ideas.

Does this sound like it could help?

Then check out the sales page or just click buy now:

The cost is $37

How to Overcome Procrastination is a post from: As A Dude Thinketh
As A Dude Thinketh is written and edited by Chris Elliott. Chris helps small businesses figure out what their big idea is, how to get it to market, and how to get people to notice their wonderfulness. He is also a dynamic speaker and trainer in personal growth and public speaking. Do you need help with your next big idea or speech? I encourage you to talk with me to see how Chris can be of service.

If you liked this post, then you should also check out:

1. How Not to Do Free Content
2. That is Not How This Business Works
3. The Reason for Success

It has nothing to do with their current financial situation, their upbringing, or their intelligence.

The reason that someone else is succeeding and you aren’t is that they are working their ass off while you are sitting at home watching Lost.

I didn’t have to work today. Actually, I wanted to sit at home and watch reruns of Lost, but I got up and went to the library at 7:00 AM, because I had a goal of getting a product created and available for sale by the end of the week. I am almost there, but it is because I did what many others don’t do . . . I got up and started working toward my goal.

What did I get done today that moved me forward?

Since 7:30 this morning, I have:

• Set up a personal VPN
• Wrote, edited, and posted this blog post
• Drafted three other blog posts
• Edited three additional blog posts I have been working on
• Edited a 39 page workbook
• Set up a new website
• Wrote the draft of my sales page
• Read 50 pages of Alan Weiss’ new book
• Sent a draft of my product to my accountability partner
• Had lunch with my girlfriend

I don’t say this to brag. I say this because I think it is important to demonstrate how much you personally can get done when you put your mind to it. The problem is the people that think that sitting around doing nothing is going to get them rich. They believe that they can think their way to riches or outsource their product creation to someone.

The Problem with the 4-Hour Work Week

I have nothing wrong with Tim Ferriss or the success he has had with the 4-Hour Work Week (Amazon Affiliate Link). I am actually a huge fan of what he has accomplished and what he strives to inspire others to do. What I have a problem with are the people that think that creating a product or service is about outsourcing everything on elance for as cheaply as possible then sitting around on a beach while the money rolls in.

What outsourcing knowledge and product creation does is create a large volume of cookie cutter products devoid of originality and value. If you sit down and read4-Hour Work Week (Amazon Affiliate Link) and other books that have copied Tim’s idea, you will see that working 4 hours a week is not done on the front end. It is done after you have built a portfolio of knowledge and products that can be developed into an automated system for delivering that knowledge and product to your customers.

Are you looking at the amount of work you are putting in?

So if you are wondering why your boat hasn’t arrived, maybe you need to look at the amount of work you are putting.

Are you actively learning and developing new products and services as much as possible every day?

If not, don’t you think it’s time to get off your butt and get to work?

Stay tuned and hold on tight, because I am gong to have some more on this topic and how you can get off your butt and create a product in the coming weeks.

The Reason for Success is a post from: As A Dude Thinketh
As A Dude Thinketh is written and edited by Chris Elliott. Chris helps small businesses figure out what their big idea is, how to get it to market, and how to get people to notice their wonderfulness. He is also a dynamic speaker and trainer in personal growth and public speaking. Do you need help with your next big idea or speech? I encourage you to talk with me to see how Chris can be of service.

If you liked this post, then you should also check out:

1. Good is the Enemy of Great
2. 5 Reasons Smart People Fail at Creating On-line Businesses
3. How Not to Do Free Content

1. Create a niche blog.
2. Fill the niche blog with bought content.
3. Inflate your Google search rankings with backlinks.
4. Direct people that find the blog through Google to sign up for your newsletter.
5. After signing up for your newsletter, direct them to a sales page where you pitch them a $7 to $97 product.
6. Upsell buyers with private coaching or a membership site.
7. Never work another day in your life!

In my experience, most of the people that attempt to follow one of these formulas fail to create the financial freedom that they crave.

Why?

One word: Passion.

When you are starting your own business, you have to have a passion for what you are doing. When you are passionate about your business, you will find the energy to create a business that is uniquely you and that is what will sell your products or services.

Think about why you want to start a “freedom business” in the first place. Are you are in a dead in job that is draining you of energy? Why would you think that trading a monotonous job that sucks you of energy for a monotonous system of sourcing and posting crappy articles would be any better?

Successful “freedom businesses” are created with passion. They are successful because people can feel that passion in your writing, videos, and programs. Many of the people that follow your blog and business will pay you, because they see your passion for your business and know that you will provide them with a valuable product or service because of your commitment to your business.

If you are considering starting a business, then ask yourself, “Is this something I am passionate about doing?”

If you are, then go for it.

If not, then are you trading a monotonous job for a monotonous business?

Think about it then let me know if you agree or disagree with me in the comments.

I would love to hear from you.

Are You Trying to Trade A Monotonous Job for a Monotonous Business? is a post from: As A Dude Thinketh
As A Dude Thinketh is written and edited by Chris Elliott. Chris helps small businesses figure out what their big idea is, how to get it to market, and how to get people to notice their wonderfulness. He is also a dynamic speaker and trainer in personal growth and public speaking. Do you need help with your next big idea or speech? I encourage you to talk with me to see how Chris can be of service.

If you liked this post, then you should also check out:

1. You Will Fail if You Are Not Passionate About Your Business
2. Why Your Business is Like Most Chinese Restaurants
3. That is Not How This Business Works

The Google Android Application Example

I love my Google Android phone. It is fast, lets me check e-mail on the go, and has a growing market of applications that I can download and use on my phone. I see a lot of potential for this device in the future, but it will have to overcome one major hurdle that all user developed application model platforms have to overcome . . . moving from free to paid applications.

The Problem with Many Free Applications

Here is the lifecycle for many applications on the Google Marketplace:

• A developer has an idea for a great application. The developer creates the application, tests it, and then posts it on the market for others to use for free.
• The application catches on and starts to get downloaded by thousands of users. A small number of those users provide feedback to the developer so that the application can be improved.
• The developer updates the application, posts the updates, and finds that even more people are using the application.
• The developer then has a dilemma. He or she has spent many hours creating this killer application, thousands are using it, but the developer has not gotten paid a dime for the application. They then have a brilliant idea.
• After spending a few days adding a feature or two, the developer re-releases the application as a paid application.  The old application is also updated to tell the users that it will no longer be updated and if they want updates, then they have to buy the paid version. Sometimes the developer will even make the free version ad supported.
• After a few months on the market, the developer realizes that a very small percentage of people are buying the updated version of the application compared to the numbers downloading the un-updated, old, but free version.

When Free Doesn’t Create Revenue

In the Google Application example, the developer is not converting many of the free users to the paid application because as long as the free version works, then the users have no financial motivation to move to the paid application. Even if the developer cripples the free version, the marketplace will create another free application that can do the same tasks but still be free. In this case, free is not going to put food on the developer’s table.

How Can Free Create Revenue

A free product can help create revenue when it is used as a corresponding component of a paid product or service. It can also be used to demonstrate your expert knowledge of the topic or ability to provide a great product or service. When you are adding non-essential components to a product or service to make it something you can charge money for, you will not convert as many buyers as a new corresponding product would.

How to Do it: Beginning with Your End Goal in Mind

In application development and your business, you have to begin with your end goal in mind and develop your product and services around that end goal. If you want to create the next killer application, then create a mini-application that demonstrates the final end goal of the application without giving away the entire application.

If you wanted to create an application that interfaces with a Customer Relationship Management system, then you could create an application that allows accessing just the contacts of the system for free and charge for the application that allows for managing contacts, creating leads, and assigning leads to team members. The free application demonstrates the greatness of your idea while the full paid application gives the killer functionally of the full application.

How You Can Make This Happen in Your Business

Other businesses can do this by creating a report, blog, or application that solves a small customer problem while allowing them to connect with you for solution to larger and more complex problems. Maybe you are a life coach, so you could create a free report that gives someone the ability to organize thirty minutes a day for exercise. This can then be part of a larger program that helps people with both physical and life goals were exercise is a component.

The key is that is that the free product is a small complement to the larger program. The free establishes you as a creditable source, makes you the expert, and demonstrates your wiliness to part with some knowledge now for the potential of stronger customer connections in the future. Don’t give the killer feature away, but give your customer proof that you have a killer feature by giving them some value out of your free content.

How Not to Do Free Content is a post from: As A Dude Thinketh
As A Dude Thinketh is written and edited by Chris Elliott. Chris helps small businesses figure out what their big idea is, how to get it to market, and how to get people to notice their wonderfulness. He is also a dynamic speaker and trainer in personal growth and public speaking. Do you need help with your next big idea or speech? I encourage you to talk with me to see how Chris can be of service.

If you liked this post, then you should also check out:

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The CFO says, “We need to donate some money to a charity to lower our total tax rate.”

The VP of Marketing then chimes in with, “What charity would give us the most publicity for our donation?”

“I don’t know,” the CEO says, “but make sure that the burden on the cost comes from our customers and not out of the bottom line.”

“We need to make sure that we reduce the cost of our product in line with the portion that we are donating to charity, the cost to change the labeling, and any marketing that is associated with this campaign,” the COO reminds the stuffy old codgers around the table.

“Agreed,” the CFO retorts, “make sure the total donation doesn’t exceed $500,000 or it will kill our run rate savings for this fiscal year and has no additional tax benefit.”

The VP of marketing ponders aloud, “What charity are we supporting?”

“I don’t care,” the CEO says, “just make sure that it is one that makes me look good. Git ‘er done. Meeting adjourned, because I need to make my next tee time and the corporate jet (which costs more in a month to run then we are donating) is waiting.”

Is This How a Business Helps Their Community?

In my experience, most corporations donate to causes in order to reduce their tax exposure, gain reduced cost publicity, and make their CEO look like he supports the less fortunate. The donations either come from a tiny fraction of the sales or through the consumer buying a certain product during a limited time period. The worst are the campaigns where the consumer has to collect and mail box tops, UPCs, or lids in order for the company to make a donation to a cause. That puts the burden of responsibility on the customer and not the company that wants to look like it is trying to do well in the first place.

Most Corporate Giving Doesn’t Engage Your Customers

Campaigns like the one above do nothing to get your customer interested in a cause, motivate them to select your product, or make them feel like they are making a difference in the world. What truly motivates your customers is your ability to make them feel really good about buying your product. Your customers want to know that every purchase they make from you might change someone’s life.

The Tom’s Shoes Example

An example of this concept in action is Tom’s Shoes. The idea that Tom’s uses is simple; for every pair of shoes you buy, they donate a pair to a child in need. Doesn’t buying a product with the knowledge that someone in need gets one of the products make you feel better? Doesn’t it make you want to talk about and write blog posts about this idea?

What is Your Motivation?

When companies are donating to causes, are they doing it just to look good or are they doing it because they can, and it is the right thing to do? Companies that are passionate about helping people with every product they sell are doing the right thing. Companies that are trying to reduce their tax rate or get cheap publicity by limiting how much help they provide are not doing the right thing.

Yeah, but I don’t Sell Shoes

You don’t have to sell shoes to make a difference in the world. There are other ways that you can help the world with your product or service. For example:

1. A restaurant can feed two people at a homeless shelter for every meal sold.
2. Barbers and stylists can donate a haircut to someone that is unemployed for every haircut they sell.
3. A publisher can plant a tree for every book sold.
4. Chair manufacturers can donate a new desk to a school for every chair they sell.
5. Football teams can buy pads for at risk students for every season pass sold.
6. A bike manufacturer can give a bike to a needy child for every bike sold.

There are Many Ways to Help

There are an endless number of ways that businesses can help people and engage their customers in the process of helping. Don’t be like the business that does it for their benefit. Be the business that does it to help people, engage your customers in the process, and be a good thriving business. Are your customers going to have to pay more for your product? Hell yes! But they will pay for it because it is the right thing to do and not just a marketing and tax gimmick.

What ways can the companies you buy from truly help people with your purchase?

Is This How a Business Helps Their Community? is a post from: As A Dude Thinketh
As A Dude Thinketh is written and edited by Chris Elliott. Chris helps small businesses figure out what their big idea is, how to get it to market, and how to get people to notice their wonderfulness. He is also a dynamic speaker and trainer in personal growth and public speaking. Do you need help with your next big idea or speech? I encourage you to talk with me to see how Chris can be of service.

If you liked this post, then you should also check out:

1. That is Not How This Business Works
2. You Will Fail if You Are Not Passionate About Your Business
3. Why Your Business is Like Most Chinese Restaurants