I’ve been dealing with giving stuff away for FREE for years now and thinking that sometimes, it’s just not a good idea.

Here’s why:

Point #1 – Let’s say you give away a book that you’ve written to someone that’s not even interested in the topic or what you had to say about it. Chances are, they’ll throw it away or stick it in their next yard sale for a nickel.

Point #2 – If you’re hosting an event in your local area and you decide to “GIVE AWAY” all your tickets, people are more than likely going to register and then become a “no show.”

Point #3 – You decide to continue giving your teenager/young adult every new thing that comes along. They never had to work for it, do chores, or make an investment so they may or may not, take care of the darned thing. Maybe it’s tires on their car, and they run the wheels off, cause they didn’t have to pay for them. Things change when they have to start paying for it all.

My point is, if folks don’t make some kind of investment (mostly monetary) then there is no value in it for them. They don’t have anything invested in it, so they don’t have to show up (like they said they would – after you held a spot for them and so graciously agreed to participate), and they can chunk all your hard earned blood, sweat and tears you put into that fabulous book, webinar, or whatever – because they didn’t ask for it and never wanted it to begin with.

Now, that being said, their certainly are times when giving away freebies come in handy and are totally appreciated.

Let’s say you have someone who has loyally read your articles, commented on your posts, been an all around cool guy in your circle of trust, or perhaps are a new subscriber. Having ebooks or short project giveaways can be a great way of getting your message out there to your connections.

Or perhaps, a connection asks to purchase your book and you decide to give them the book instead. They are already willing to support your work, find it interesting, and want to support you in your endeavors. This happened to me recently while at a conference.

I love supporting my friends and connections in their work and one of the ways in which I like to do this is to PURCHASE their shit (no offense by the shit comment). Their shit, is actually – good shit.

It’s cool to invest in the amazing stuff that your friends and contacts are putting out there. We shouldn’t always want FREE stuff. Chances are, if they gave it to you, you’d throw it in the pile of the other free shit given to you and never read.

Support your connections. Buy their shit and pay for their conferences. (Unless you can get in on it as a blogger)