Some of the most famous words in marketing and advertising are: “But Wait… There's More!”

With TV infomercials, it's often associated with getting people to see all of the FREE extra stuff you can get if you act fast. Note… everybody gets that extra stuff—usually cheap crap to make you feel like you can't get this at any store.

Sometimes, you can buy a 2nd (whatever) if you pay only for shipping and handling. Guess what? The shipping and handling is where they make the most money.

Another trick is the, “For only 33¢ per day, you can help save these animals, feed these kids, and cure cancer” (or whatever they hope interests you). Again, they are hoping to get your credit card, get you to subscribe, and then try to upsell you.

No matter how you try to hide it, the goal is to get you to call and give your credit card number so they can sell you more.

FREE

Free is most people's favorite four-letter word that begins with “F” (that you can say in public). But wait, there's more! You may get a free trial or free use of a software tool. Their goal is to get your email address and try to use that to get your credit card. Then, they can upsell you to paid versions.

Here are some numbers to be aware of. Between 2-5% of people who grab the free version convert to paying customers. People in the free trial mode convert at around 15- 20%, and that's a bit higher for B2b products and if they find you through paid advertising.

I have a friend who works for a software company that constantly promotes free tools over paid tools online. I assume he is trying to get people to try his free trial and subscribe for between $25 and $150 monthly. The tool is worth that price, but there is a cognitive dissonance between pitching free versions of other tools and trying to get people to subscribe and stay subscribed to your AI tool.

Subscriptions

I think we all have subscriptions to free and paid-for tools that we just lose track of. Free tools will email you to remind you to subscribe. Subscriptions may remind you, but they will certainly charge your credit card when due. Most will alert you to an annual renewal, but most will just send you monthly reminders to use the tool to ensure you keep seeing the value of staying subscribed.

If you run a business, I know how hard it is to track everything. I created my own spreadsheet that lists both the monthly and annual subscriptions that have payments associated with them. I am sure I have dozens (if not hundreds) of tools with which I have free accounts but forgot about. I do have some of those logins in my 1Password (another subscription tool), which tracks usernames and passwords for some.

I spend almost $1000 per month on business subscriptions and another $1500 annually. These are all the tools I need and use to run my business and serve my clients.

Often, when I try out a new tool, I pay for it to access the full immersive set of options and see if it really works as promised and serves my or my client's needs. I don't mind paying for the full version for a month or two because it's probably going to be a long-term investment, and most free trials do not allow me to get the full scope of what to expect from the tool or system.

I recently did this with a LinkedIn tool called LeadDelta. I wanted to test it for cleaning out my contacts. I have thousands of connections I've never removed of people who only wanted to sell me something. Paying for the tool helped me realize that you can only remove 20-50 contacts per day. Even manually, LinkedIn can shut you down because they think you may be using automation. There are other uses I wanted to test before trying and buying for client projects.

The Needs

The journey begins with trying to solve a problem or improve your life. Many of the things I subscribe to include things I need to run my business:

  • Spectrum – Internet
  • Adobe – Stock media and tools like Photoshop
  • A2 – hosting for websites and email
  • Apple One – Music and Web storage
  • Dropbox – File Sharing
  • Asana – Project Management

There are so many others that I use almost daily or periodically to grow myself and my business. Tools like Audible, Blinkist, and Masterclass are examples of tools that I have used and then unsubscribed from because I have exhausted what I wanted to do or found them less than useful after a period of time.

Others, like Perplexity, Crystal Knows, Zoom, and Fathom, are ones that I use sparingly but still have considerable value for running and growing my business.

The Wants

I believe that we all want to improve our lot in life. Sometimes, it's about saving time. Others are about improving your skills to make things easier or flow better. There are also tools that I subscribe to because my clients use them. I also subscribe to some tools to test and learn what I can do with them:

  • Microsoft 365
  • Vimeo
  • Flipsnack
  • Active Campaign

Sometimes a need turns into a want. For me, that was Vimeo. I used it for years to build video classes and host coaching call replays. Since it's renewing for $300 a year, I jumped in and looked at what I am still using and really need. I realized I could downgrade my plan to less than $100 per year, which would house everything I wanted to keep and am using today! I was able to delete almost 300 videos that no longer served a purpose. Most of the classes I created have been removed or contained information that was totally outdated.

But Wait—there's more! Tools like Dropbox, server space, and CRMs cost money and make it difficult to download, back up, or maintain your files or data integrity.

The Goal

If you are using any tool (free or paid for), there is a cost of time. Time to learn and time to maintain that knowledge and learn the new versions, interfaces, and AI tools they are throwing at you almost daily.

I look at the goals of all that from three perspectives.

  • Does it truly make my life easier or my tasks faster?
  • Does it help me help my clients make more money from the services I provide?
  • Do I just enjoy the use and is it integral to my life?

Things like Amazon Prime save me time and money, as it offers free shipping. Prime Video, which offers entertainment and documentaries, is a bonus.

Ultimately, it's worth the investment if it saves me money or increases the number of clients I serve. After all, we are running businesses that fuel our lives, dreams, and fun!

Closing Thought

It is easy to keep playing with free stuff, and that does save you money. However, you must ask yourself: Can I improve my business by paying for it? If not, you may be using the wrong thing because it's free.

It may make sense to explore other options that may set you apart from your competition or help you make much more money than you are spending.

Be curious, be open to new ideas, and most importantly, be smart! Because… But wait… there is always more!

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Comment below and share your thoughts, ideas, or questions about business-to-business sales and marketing today! Do you have a sales or marketing communications strategy that works for you? What tips or techniques can you share that work for you and your business?

To learn more about this and other topics on B2b Sales & Marketing, visit our podcast website at The Bacon Podcast.

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