Free That Costs Too Much

Late last week I allowed myself to follow an advertisement on a website.  Very rarely do I follow an online ad, but the advert offered something for free.

Believing that I may enjoy the product that was being offered for free and decide to become a user of the product, I followed the link.

However, the page the link took me to required that I give my full name, mailing address, and e-mail address before they would let me try their product.  This is not the same as free.

The cost to try their product (giving away my direct marketing information) was still a higher price than I was willing to pay — even for a product that I believe I may like and become a loyal consumer of.  I left the website and will not be trying their product.

Try Before You Buy

Last night I had the opportunity to visit the new Raleigh Airport Cambria Suites at the expense of the Choice Hotels company.

The cost to try their product was getting to the Suites.

Additionally, there were several added values.

• Although I attended their half hour pitch of why I should become a Cambria Suites developer, attending the pitch was not required.
• After the pitch was an extremely expensive cocktail hour and steak dinner at the Capitol City Chophouse across the street that was comped by Choice.
• I was able to make wonderful use of their featured common area to mix and mingle with others in my field, making valuable contacts.

Cambria let me try their product without asking for something from me first.  This is truly free.

Cambria now has a new customer with a moderate to high sense of loyalty as well as a customer who, having tried and liked their product, will recommend their product to friends.  Additionally, my company is now seriously considering being a Cabria Suites developer.

The Rules of Free

If you’re going to give something away for free to drum up new business, have enough faith in your product to give it away and expect your customer to love it so much they won’t be able to stay away once they’ve tried it.  It’s only free if there’s nothing required in return.

If you don’t have enough faith in your product to expect a customer to try it and love it, you need to find a new product.

Ordering a French Press from Starbucks always elicits one of two reactions from the barista.

• “Huh?” from the newer baristas.  I’m not sure if French presses aren’t very well covered in training or if they just hit it so infrequently and/or it’s in such an awkward place on the cash register that it’s difficult to find.
• “Good choice!” Again, I’m assuming that it’s a lesser made beverage and a change of pace is nice.

The allure of a French Press to me is that for about three and a half bucks you can enjoy a cup of coffee whose oils haven’t been filtered out.  It’s fresh, it’s hot, and it’s whatever blend you want it to be (not just whatever blend they happened to brew today).

It’s a time out in the day where you can simultaneously relax and focus.

You can chat with a friend, strategize with a co-worker, or sip while you read a good book.

For all the talk about “$5 coffee” and Starbucks’ drinks just being milkshakes, I still find that my favorite beverages are either around $2 (iced coffee or espresso con panna) or about $3.50.  In this economy, it’s nice to find something that will increase your quality of life at that price.

Today I designed the backs of the business cards of one of our newer brands, the Signature Team.

This team is a group of retired GSA personnel who has spent significant time as GSA employees and are known as the most experienced in their field.  Each team member has 25+ years of experience as a GSA employee.  These highly experienced contractors work part time on difficult or highly specialized projects from GSA.

The front will look like our usual company business card, but the back will be more representative of the message we are trying to convey with the Signature Team.

When designing the card, I considered that we are selling the services of our government “premium brand“.  Each of the members of the Signature Team has a significant and very personal set of experiences that they’re able to pull from.  Each member has also spent significant time serving GSA and the government.

With that in mind, the back of the cards were created to:

• Conjure the idea of a premium label.
• Keep the company logo as the most prominent part in the hierarchy of the card.
• The Signature Team “Edwardian Script ITC” font is used as the next most significant piece of the card to solidify branding with our Signature Team branding effort.
• Each card is personalized to emphasize the idea that the experience of each member is unique; no other person has their collection of experiences and it’s what makes them most suitable for certain tasks.
• Each card contains the real signature of the card holder adding value to the card by highlighting that each team member has abilities as unique as their signature.
• Next to their name is the number of years they were public servants gaining experience and leading up to their ability to be the leading expert in their respective field.

I was recently told that there was some surprise that I wasn’t at the Fusion retreat at WISP this past weekend.

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend as my $140 was earmarked to go elsewhere.

After much consideration, I decided that my $140 should really be spent on the less fortunate, so instead of attending the retreat I sent it to assist in the bailout of AIG.

Additionally, I will be holding a charity auction this weekend to benefit AIG.  The auction will be done through the Mutli-Billion Dollar Corporation Relief Fund, a 501(c)3 I set up to help the corporations.

If you have anything that you’d like to donate to be auctioned off or if you’d like to attend the auction, please let me know.