A Simple Trick That Will Boost Your Sales

I love this simple technique Natalie Bradley shares on her guest blog post over on the Black Star Rising blog.  You can check out her video here: Use a Free Gift With Purchase To Drive Your Photography Sales

I am a HUGE fan of free.  It just works so wonderfully well.

Why?  We get really irrational when something is available for free because there is no risk involved.  We’re not giving up our hard-earned cash or bartering something of value.  It’s just FREE.

Try saying the word out loud.  Doesn’t FREE make you feel a little giddy?

In an experiment Dan Ariely recounts in his book, Predictably Irrational, customers were given a choice of two chocolates available for purchase: a gourmet Lindt truffle for 15 cents or a Hershey’s Kiss for one penny.  73% chose the truffle and 27% chose the Kiss.

Then they decided to offer the Lindt truffle for 14 cents and the Kiss for FREE.  Guess what happened?

69% of customers chose the Kiss and only 31% chose the truffle.  That is decidedly NOT a rational choice for a one penny difference in price!

Free is so compelling that it makes us a little crazy.  When you use it in your marketing, with strategies like the one Natalie shares in her video, it can lead to a big increase in profit.

What experiences have you had with using free in your marketing?

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