There’s nothing better than having a question and having a stranger come to the rescue with an answer. Whether the answer comes in the form of a blog post, a response to a Facebook question in a group, or an e-book, we often rely on the kindness of strangers to answer our most pressing business questions. This has become the norm for most of us using social media. But how often do you think about just how much free information, tips and resources you use, that your business can’t do without?

How Often Do You Transition From Lurker To Client?

Does the constant offer of free information lead you to make a purchase?

I often have this quandary. It revolves around the give something great away for free and clients will pay to get more concept. It’s not that I dispute this. It’s just that we’re so bombarded with free content that we take this information for granted. Think about how much free content is consumed every day.

• Tweets and Facebook links
• Blog posts
• Teleconferences
• Webinars
• Virtual Summits
• Ebooks

Now think about:

• How many times you use a tactic you read about in an article or blog post?
• How many times you listen to a free teleclass or attend a free webinar?
• How many times you post a question in a Facebook group and get answers?
• How many times you visit a website, download their free offer, and never return?

All of this free content. Think of all the time people spend creating these free offers for you.

What is the value of this free information to your business?

Yes, let’s get to the meat of the matter. How many times have you hired the free-info-giver for their products or services? How many times do you use free resources and free information before you make a purchase from the provider?

That’s the real question. So the next time you find a great resource, that you seem to use time and time again, consider actually hiring that company or buying their product.

Purchasing a product is not always possible. So what if you absolutely love a resource, but you can’t afford to buy it outright? Enter social proof!

Think beyond cash, think Social Proof!

Just because you can’t afford to hire an information provider doesn’t mean you can’t show your appreciation for their content. Social proof is quiet the valuable commodity when you can’t spend cash.

So what can you do to say thank you?

• Write a testimonial about the product
• Send a thank you email
• Comment on their blog
• Write a recommendation
• Share the valuable content across social media

Sometimes, the offerer will include a sharing link like “If you found this useful, please tweet here” or something along those lines. It takes you less than 2 minutes to do this, but that’s another easy way to say thank you for the content.

We have to remember and exercise the manners we learned as children: When someone gives you something valuable, say thank you. Social media has made the sharing of content and information so easy, that we expect all the answers we seek to be available to us 24/7. Let’s be sure to express our appreciation for the simple, every day information we take for granted.

Ciao,
Miss Kemya