Attended a webinar with Chris Anderson of Wired Magazine this morning. The topic for today was “Is “FREE” the future of business?”
Chris went over some history about how some of the biggest companies started and flourished by promoting free stuff. Did you know that Gillette promoted free products to create a need for their disposable razors? And Jell-O began by giving out free recipe books with their main product as the key ingredient? Even in early 1900′s, marketers were looking for ways to appeal to consumer wants of “free” stuff. Nowadays, this idea can still be applied to digital goods and services.
This led to another topic that I found interesting – freemium. This refers to web services that are free for the general public, while the upgraded services come at a cost. Great idea, isn’t it? Take a look at Flickr and the New York Times. These sites are free to use but if you really want the good stuff, it will cost you. Free is not just a marketing gimmick, but a viable source that some companies thrive off of.
When it comes to your business or small businesses in general, how do you foresee the use of “free”?
