Would giving something away for free give a return?

In general it devalues your service. You want to attract customers that understand the value of what you do and can pay for it, giving value away for free doesn't do that.

I've seen many people in many businesses give things away, I think they've run themselves ragged without return.

I'm glad you asked this question, Neil.
I am just getting started & have been thinking of giving services free in exchange for a testimonial or even just for practice while I improve my skills.
Kevin's answer has giving me pause... I'm interested to hear more about this.

I think that it is sometimes necessary to not charge for services when you are starting out, just to build a portfolio. If you are going to though, make sure you get a decent testimonial and can write up a more detailed case study of working with them, how you worked with them and how the results helped them.

Or, charge from the start. If you are getting into something you obviously have some skill in the area already. Maybe you can charge a lower than standard rate (but make sure they know that) just as an introductory thing, or offer them free bonus's that really add value.

Don't feel bad if you are going to be learning during the process of the job, because the learning should carry on forever anyway. Make sure you really weigh up if you are going to get something out of the job that is going to be of value for you, whether it is a case study or portfolio items or cash.

If you don't have some reward for your effort you are more likely to come out of it feeling ripped off, which is bad for everyone.

I'm with Kevin on this one. Giving away with the unspoken hope that continued business will come devalues you in both the clients eyes and your own. I know this from lessons painfully learned. Percentage off coupons have proven to be useless as well, they bring in just the kind of people I usually want to avoid. They come once and rarely return.

Solution? Know your value, demonstrate it to the client, have them realize for themselves, then unleash them to do WOM for you!

I've had both good & bad experiences with this question, Neil. Well, I think giving free services depends on the type of business. Are you talking about a B2B or B2C model? Your strategy depends on business your model. As we talked later, you know that I believe in:

"Stop Discounts! Promise Discounts!"

It is because (as Michael mentioned too), they come once and rarely return. But it doesn't mean that Kate pause her plan! On the contrary, Kate has to continue but define some indexes for future assessments. Because, someone else just observe your business and even may hold on for several years to make their final decision! This is because, people's habit change by the time. There is no constant formula to solve the problem.

This is a long process. So start to do something (with a plan) and collect the feedbacks.

I think the key is making iterations to the idea after defining an effective assessment tool.

So, a good business charges from the start and gives free services simultaneously. This is why when my name is Shahin I never think about a charging thingy, but as my name is "MixofTix Developers Network" charge from the start (with some extra free services to encourage them for future return).

I've seen it both ways; for better and for worse. For my experience as a chiropractor it has worked for the better. Many people either don't have any idea what I can do for them as a chiropractor and/or have a negative viewpoint or experience with 'alternative medicine'. Allowing people to come in with no-out-of-pocket expense, I find, enables more people to let their curiosity win them over rather than their fear. I feel as though I'm helping educate the community with the ripple effect if nothing else.

I think it would depend on your business whether you could effectively offer a free service.

Neil, in your case I would think a reduced or 'packaged' deal would work better than offering a service for free.

In Amy's case, yes I agree that a free consultation of sorts would work best...it could very well win people over who are a bit squeamish about going to a chiropractor or acupunturist!

In our case we have given free full sized products to potential wholesale clients to try and have gained their business by doing so.

I dont see in the above situations where offering a discount or free consultation/product would cheapen the business.

I think the answer/question about free service (freebies) really depends on the service that you are providing.

If you are fortunate enough to find yourself in an environment where the value of your service is well understood, then it's much easier to charge for service from the start. If you are trying to establish a business that is new or otherwise unconventional in the market, you may need to cultivate some degree of awareness via "hints" and freebies.

$.02 -Cere

In general, I vote for charging people your full fee. But if you are going to give something away for free or at a discount (perhaps this is a ?practice? client) I would still send them an invoice that lists your service and your full fee. Then you can put something like ?new member discount? or whatever. But you should invoice them and list the full fee they normally would pay. Otherwise, people don?t know all the time you really put in on something, and they don?t know what a great deal they are really getting. They end up taking you for granted, if they only get the scaled down invoice, or no invoice at all.

It does depend on industry but here's a bit more of my thoughts:

1) If you give away valuable knowledge they can take it elsewhere. It happens all the time - get the knowledge from the experienced expensive consultant, take it to the cheap inexperienced guy/buddy

2) Giving away services or discounts to break into an industry generally doesn't work because of the people you attract. Would you take your car to a guy starting out who say's he'll do it for free? I wouldn't, because its too important.

3) You'll meet people who will explicitly ask for discounts and promise they know tons of people they'll hook you up with. They're full of @#$% - in four years not a one gave me a single worthwhile referral. These guys will take advantage of free offers.

If you're running an ice cream shop, sure give away free cones to get the word out. But people who value what you're working on (their car, computer, health, whatever) generally care more about the quality of the work and convenience.

I would have to weigh in as saying "Don't go there"... In my experience (and in counseling the newer provider that work @ Gracewinds,) I have found that people do not place a high percieved value on pro-bono services. Loss leaders are one thing; offering a first class for free or sliding scale program... When I see an advertisement of promotional piece of marketing that throws in free stuff, I typically think that it's a "newly wed or nearly dead" business that is getting desperate for clients. People do respond well to package deals though- bundling services or items where their is a percieved discount. I would reccomend this over a freebie. Good query!

I think that's a great point Mikelann.