Moving the “REAL” FreeLine
Seriously, when you say something's for free, don't be foolin' around..
“Anything that is of value in life only multiplies when it is given.”
~Deepak Chopra
Pretty deep, eh? Packed with Deep-ness. Deep-Packed.
Thank You, Thank You – I’m here all week.
You! You have seen the promotional technique called “Moving the FreeLine” (MTFL for short) in action. It happens like clockwork during product launches.
It goes like this:
1 – “Bing Bong, you got your emailz!”
2 – You read your emailz. Emailz haz link to super-awesomeness.
3 – The super-awesomeness is a Free Video, or a Free Report. You consume it, think the author is super-awesome, and the next time you get a communication from the author, you’re TWICE as likely to consume the content (Even if it’s a straight-up sales message) as you were before you munched up all their free stuff.
4 – And so, the odds of you making a purchase from that author increase because the FreeLine content caused the prospect to have 3 specific emotions about the author:
- Trust
- Integrity
- Authority
MTFL is so powerful, that you can literally give away your best stuff, and still sell a product that’s LESS impressive than your FreeLine content.
Like Deepak says, value is multiplied when it is given [away for free].
But here’s the thing about MTFL…
WARNING: Screw up The FreeLine, and you’ll literally do DAMAGE to your sales process. (Again, pretend I have first hand experience…)
I got Ole’ Pirate Dan Thies to explain The REAL FreeLine in these next 2 videos.
In these videos, Dan-O shows 4 case studies, each MTFL’ing.
He’ll show you what worked, what failed miserably, and the 3 types of prospect you MUST consider when you’re constructing your marketing campaign. So now, you can have all of our secrets. 
It’s VIDEO TIME!
Video #8 – The REAL FreeLine. Part 1 of 2.
Video #9 – The REAL FreeLine. Part 2 of 2.
And leave me a comment, pretty please.
Andy “The hardest part about singing in the shower is waiting the appropriate amount of time for the guitar solo to end.” Jenkins
Andy,
Interesting comments and points you make here.
Surely the optimum results could be gained by sending out a message which has dual functionality towards the newbie, and the seasoned marketer.
Now that is a challenge, but it can be done with sufficient tweaking.
All in all however, I agree with your analysis that it is best to give info out to the newer marketers, and if anything, it serves to reinforce the message to those who already Know, Like and trust you.
Great blog by the way.
Jack
Dan, Thanks for sharing. Great stuff as usual.
Andy… Thanks again.
Great Vids and Catchy tune loop too (Chinese Man – Artichaut).
Don’t forget to keep them coming!
Your friend,
Aly…
Jack, understanding your audience is clearly very important. We’re playing around with it a bit here, using multiple videos and stuff like that. Of course, it’s a little safer to play around when you aren’t trying to get a response.
My next real test will use some “on the fly” segmenting (there’s another video on doing that around here somewhere…) with the Link Liberation “home study course” launch.
Dan… Will there be a new brand for the stuff that you and Andy are working on at the moment? The content is killer and you are obviously attacting the vast majority of stompers to this blog… But what is the end goal here… A new company launch?? If so, where (and when) do we sign up??
Great freeline content guys!
Seems there’s so many launches, and so much freeline content, I ignore most except for the few I’ve already had experience with.
And in some recent launches, the freeline stuff is over the top – who’s got the time?
I felt in video #9 Dan was framing the question of “where to set YOUR free line” in a very thought-provoking way. Who IS my customer? What’s the most actionable content?
I will definitely be considering these questions for my next launch.
By the way, can you track metrics like who read which email, viewed which video, and bought what- from Aweber, or is that the domain of higher end CRM like infusionsoft?
Thanks, guys!
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Dan,
Thanks for the interesting test results.
So many launches lately I don’t really pay much attention anymore.
But I still follow a few marketers.
A lot of insight gained from this video set.
regards,
george
Hi Andy,I don’t suppose you can tell us the type of player or software that you are displaying the videos in with the social bookmarking etc at the bottom?
Cheers
Ed
Edmund, all the players and little widgets around the players are part of the EZS3.com service.
Hi
I downloaded the movies but could not play them with real player.Is there another way to get them play with realplayer?
great insight by the way
The media is a .mp4 – I doubt that real player supports it. You can turn an mp4 into just about anything you want, however.
I found that video interesting and helpful. Currently I am following a free line business model with slight variations on the method described in your video…
Always looking to be better so that could change!
One thing you havn’t really covered is affordability of the products launched by stomper et al!
Are you only interested in the high end market?
What about a product that increase’s in cost as the users can afford to upgrade?
Through success using the product for success?
That is a business model, I mean to build!
Ok just watched video two! covered my question somewhat… and I’m hooked coming back for video three…. Thanks!
Andy them’s some groovy tunes you have on these videos. Is this something you came up with yourself or is there somewhere you’d recommend for such funky tunes?
Hello,
Onload of page my antivirus put alert, check pls.
The Javascript that’s used to serve the video from EZS3 will trigger some security alerts in Norton and MacAfee. They’re safe, you can ignore and the video players will appear.
Excellent timing! I was just wondering about the type of freeline I should be looking to put out before I launch my course.
Dan, I really like the thought process of “Put out some stuff that a newbie can apply, rather than trying to impress the guy who was already gonna buy, or the guy who was never gonna buy!”
Good stuff and a massive help – an excellent webinar, broken down into actionable pieces!
Nikki
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Great discussion. Personally I get 10x more value out of a “Case Study” type of discussion like this. Much prefer this to the “7 Deadly Mistakes…” type of free-line stuff.
I find one of the hardest parts of singing in the shower is holding my head in the correct position so I don’t drown myself during those really powerful parts of the song.
Kathy
Oh yeah, I really love the videos too. Keep them coming, pulleeeeeze.
You must be better than me coz my toughest part is dealing with the police the neighbors call and with the howling dogs.
But I absolutely agree with you, this whole series has been amazing. Very good stuff. Actionable. Makes sense. Treats our business like a….business!
Super post, Need to mark it on Digg
Have a nice day
Great info, guys.
I feel like a jerk for asking because I’m sure it’s been covered, but what’s a good resource for learning the basics of e-mail list management? Is Campaigner a good service to go with?
Thanks,
Matt
Hello,
Thanks for article. Everytime like to read you.
Thanks
Nadine
Hi Andy and Dan,
Beware, hard testing ahead.
Just a hint for you test fanatics:
As far as I know and see nobody uses Gary Halberts 30-day hold technique online.
In short this works like this: Customer pays with credit card but the card is charged with a 30-day delay. Thus giving them 30 days to “return” the product. This is emphasized in the salespitch. This technique dramatically increased the conversion rate (for Halbert).
In reality people order because they are completely on the safe side and they are not really spending the money. But they tend to forget about the “Don’t charge me” option immediately or until it’s too late.
How’s that for a testing subject?
Karl
PS: Get lots done.