Brogan, Ferriss and The Free Line

February 21, 2011 By 17 Comments

Four Hour Body

thanks, fourhourbody.com

Heard of The Free Line?

On one side of The Free Line is information that you get for free. On the other side, information you pay for. Pretty simple.

Information marketers such as the uber-successful Eben Pagan like to talk about “Moving The Free Line.” Instead of giving away a nickel’s worth of information, give away hundreds of dollars worth of information. Then, the theory goes, you can sell thousands of dollars worth of information. (Or, if you’re Pagan, tens of millions of dollars of information.)

But there are a couple of rockstar types – actual rockstars in this new digital world, not just guys or gals who say they are rockstars – with, arguably, completely different approaches to The Free Line.

Chris Brogan. Most things he touches turn to gold – he wrote a best seller called Trust Agents, and he’s constantly out there speaking and meeting with people. (Gee, he even has a Small Business Newsletter.) (And he gave us one of the more popular posts from the Area 224 blog last year; an interview you can read here.)

A Brogan Approach to The Free Line – a $9.97 a month blog advisory service. Which is interesting because, as someone who has been out there in the blogosphere since before it was called that (1998, according to his site), there is a TON of information out there from Chris, about blogging, that you can get for free.

Here, The Free Line is moved way into the expensive category, and the “Pay Line” is at under $10 a month. So the value here is not just in the how-to you’ll get from the newsletter, but in the fact that Chris Brogan is aggregating his own information, sharing with you the good stuff in regular intervals, and using the service to help “coach” you along.

Timothy Ferriss. To say Area 224 has a desire for a “bromance” with the author of The 4-Hour Workweek is an understatement. [Here's our affiliate link - I think if you buy the book from this link, we make about 52 cents. But, honestly, there's never been a book that we have recommended more. The 4-Hour Workweek, Expanded and Updated: Expanded and Updated, With Over 100 New Pages of Cutting-Edge Content.]

So, when we learned that Ferriss was coming out with a new book called “The 4-Hour Body,” we pre-ordered it. So, apparently, did about a zillion other people, as the book is now number 4 on the Amazon best-seller list.

A Ferriss Approach to The Free Line – One concept in his newest book is called “The Slow Carb Diet.” Given my own age and newfound need for middle management, I am diving in with both feet and giving this diet a whirl.

Now, Ferriss has always been a proponent of “the companion site” – where anyone with a copy of the book can login and get so much more information than is found in the book. Worksheets, tools, links, those sorts of things. NOTE: “anyone with a copy of the book” meant, in the case of The 4-Hour Workweek, a password would be something like “the fifth word in the third chapter.” If you can’t find that somewhere, you probably don’t deserve all of the “free” content.

What intrigues this cub reporter about The Free Line for The 4-Hour Body is the Slow Carb Cookbook. Cookbooks are a unique animal – and another one that has changed because of the onset of the Internet. This one, available via instant, free, PDF download, is one that could be dressed up in hardcover and sold in stores for $20.

What he’s giving you is less of a cookbook and more of The Manifesto to the Slow Carb Movement.

Your Own Free Line

Where do you draw the line? How much do you give away? How much is free?

Maybe you’ve got a $30 E-Book, but you need to explain to the world that you can deliver on $3000 worth of content first.

Maybe you’re a high-priced consultant and you charge hundreds an hour – but you need to demonstrate that you are indeed worth that much.

In any event, don’t be afraid to draw The Free Line – and figure out when to move it, what to hold back, and how much to charge for your expertise.

[NOTE: Here's another Affiliate Link, this one for The 4-Hour Body. The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman]

 

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  • http://678Partners.com Parissa Behnia

    Great post… Much as I respect Chris Brogan sometimes I feel like he’s nickling and diming the public. It feels cynical to me – or perhaps I need to drink more coffee. I feel like the free line moves depending on the person with whom you’re speaking. Sometimes you don’t give anything away and sometimes you give a lot. It’s more art than science.

    • Anonymous

      I’ll respectfully disagree on the nickel-dime thing…here’s why:

      I think of nickel-dime behavior as the type that sells you item X, but
      constantly tries to upsell to X-plus, or Y, or X-Y or whatever. This
      happens to be really simple to me: $10 a month, cancel anytime. Now, if,
      after you buy it, you’re asked to upgrade to the $11.50 service, or
      asked for an additional maintenance fee of 39 cents, then we’re looking
      at a case of nickel-diming. Or nickeling and diming. However you spell it.

      Here, he has a product or service that is affordable to a vast
      percentage of the planet that blogs. Whether you want it or not is
      another question. I’d imagine he has more expensive services, and
      consulting services, too, that all have different “free lines.”

      Cheers, Parissa! And thanks for the comment.

    • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

      I’ll respectfully disagree, too. I give away craptons for free. I charge for some products. You can have daily content from me for free without every paying me a cent. A good deal of that content can help you improve your own business. For free.

      What I sell is what I give that’s above and beyond my reasonable time. Baby’s gotta eat.

      And the fun part is, I have price points for everyone:

      blog – free
      blog topics – 10 bucks a month for 40+ topics a month plus writing advice.
      third tribe – 47 a month for marketing advice from 2000 marketers and me.
      new marketing labs – 12k a month for a team of marketing consultants.
      speaking/consulting – 22k a day for just me.
      speaking/consulting in europe – 30k a day.

      See? Tons of price points. You can stick with free if it’s working for you. : )

      • Anonymous

        Thanks, Chris, for the comment…and the insight…and the direct response.

        Funny enough, one of the LEAST successful webinars we’ve had here at
        Area 224 HQ? A FREE one for Realtors (a group of people I have a
        love/dislike relationship with; “hate” is such a strong word). I went
        beyond the free stuff that was on the site and was built into our focus
        on consulting to their industry, and aggregated it into a one-hour
        webinar. Marketed it like a banshee. Result? 5 people showed up for free.

        Had we put a price tag on it, it may have been more successful; and I
        wouldn’t have called it nickel-and-diming. FWIW.

        Cheers!

  • http://678Partners.com Parissa Behnia

    Great post… Much as I respect Chris Brogan sometimes I feel like he’s nickling and diming the public. It feels cynical to me – or perhaps I need to drink more coffee. I feel like the free line moves depending on the person with whom you’re speaking. Sometimes you don’t give anything away and sometimes you give a lot. It’s more art than science.

    • Anonymous

      I’ll respectfully disagree on the nickel-dime thing…here’s why:

      I think of nickel-dime behavior as the type that sells you item X, but
      constantly tries to upsell to X-plus, or Y, or X-Y or whatever. This
      happens to be really simple to me: $10 a month, cancel anytime. Now, if,
      after you buy it, you’re asked to upgrade to the $11.50 service, or
      asked for an additional maintenance fee of 39 cents, then we’re looking
      at a case of nickel-diming. Or nickeling and diming. However you spell it.

      Here, he has a product or service that is affordable to a vast
      percentage of the planet that blogs. Whether you want it or not is
      another question. I’d imagine he has more expensive services, and
      consulting services, too, that all have different “free lines.”

      Cheers, Parissa! And thanks for the comment.

    • http://chrisbrogan.com Chris Brogan

      I’ll respectfully disagree, too. I give away craptons for free. I charge for some products. You can have daily content from me for free without every paying me a cent. A good deal of that content can help you improve your own business. For free.

      What I sell is what I give that’s above and beyond my reasonable time. Baby’s gotta eat.

      And the fun part is, I have price points for everyone:

      blog – free
      blog topics – 10 bucks a month for 40+ topics a month plus writing advice.
      third tribe – 47 a month for marketing advice from 2000 marketers and me.
      new marketing labs – 12k a month for a team of marketing consultants.
      speaking/consulting – 22k a day for just me.
      speaking/consulting in europe – 30k a day.

      See? Tons of price points. You can stick with free if it’s working for you. : )

      • Anonymous

        Thanks, Chris, for the comment…and the insight…and the direct response.

        Funny enough, one of the LEAST successful webinars we’ve had here at
        Area 224 HQ? A FREE one for Realtors (a group of people I have a
        love/dislike relationship with; “hate” is such a strong word). I went
        beyond the free stuff that was on the site and was built into our focus
        on consulting to their industry, and aggregated it into a one-hour
        webinar. Marketed it like a banshee. Result? 5 people showed up for free.

        Had we put a price tag on it, it may have been more successful; and I
        wouldn’t have called it nickel-and-diming. FWIW.

        Cheers!

  • http://www.3hatscommunications.com davinabrewer

    First, you said Bromance which I love. Second, your modest tweet that got me here cracks me up. Lastly, WOW to the subject: The Free Line. I did a Coffee Consultation rules post, about to do another FAQ style to sort of spell out where that Free Line ends.

    For consultants, it’s tricky b/c it’s easy to say that the clock and money start when the “work” does except for a consultant, that’s everything. From the minute I review someone’s website, start asking questions based upon developing a program to target strategic communications goals, that is work. The Free Line does move, as you determine the ROI for each prospective client. Many of us do give away a lot of free advice; I just sent an email of helpful e-newsletter suggestions by way of marketing pitch. Maybe this person will hire me someday, or just use my advice to improve their own DIY efforts. I’m also learning where my Free Line is, and how important it is to sometimes NOT give things away for free, make sure the value is understood. FWIW.

    • Anonymous

      Hey Davina,

      Thanks as always for weighing in. And your perspective is always a good
      one to get — you navigate through this stuff every day.

      I’m also finding myself smack-dab in the middle of “Internet Marketing”
      and “Social Media Marketing.” The Internet Marketing people – you’ve
      seen their squeeze pages and the like – love to show the value in the
      fact that some guy made $652,381.26 (always an exact figure) using the
      “system.” So their perception of the “free line” is way the heck out
      there: you’re, in effect, getting $652,381.26 of value in the squeeze
      page, but For the Love of Mike it’s nowhere nearly that valuable.

      And – having watched some of these folks with their baits and their
      switches – The Free Line for them is actually just about nowhere. It’s a
      constant game they’re playing of selling you a “system” that ends up
      changing to another system that is even more valuable. But it’s not, but
      you’re in their funnel, and you paid to be there. Craptastic.

      Have a great week, and thanks again for the comments.

  • http://www.3hatscommunications.com/blog/ davinabrewer

    First, you said Bromance which I love. Second, your modest tweet that got me here cracks me up. Lastly, WOW to the subject: The Free Line. I did a Coffee Consultation rules post, about to do another FAQ style to sort of spell out where that Free Line ends.

    For consultants, it’s tricky b/c it’s easy to say that the clock and money start when the “work” does except for a consultant, that’s everything. From the minute I review someone’s website, start asking questions based upon developing a program to target strategic communications goals, that is work. The Free Line does move, as you determine the ROI for each prospective client. Many of us do give away a lot of free advice; I just sent an email of helpful e-newsletter suggestions by way of marketing pitch. Maybe this person will hire me someday, or just use my advice to improve their own DIY efforts. I’m also learning where my Free Line is, and how important it is to sometimes NOT give things away for free, make sure the value is understood. FWIW.

    • Anonymous

      Hey Davina,

      Thanks as always for weighing in. And your perspective is always a good
      one to get — you navigate through this stuff every day.

      I’m also finding myself smack-dab in the middle of “Internet Marketing”
      and “Social Media Marketing.” The Internet Marketing people – you’ve
      seen their squeeze pages and the like – love to show the value in the
      fact that some guy made $652,381.26 (always an exact figure) using the
      “system.” So their perception of the “free line” is way the heck out
      there: you’re, in effect, getting $652,381.26 of value in the squeeze
      page, but For the Love of Mike it’s nowhere nearly that valuable.

      And – having watched some of these folks with their baits and their
      switches – The Free Line for them is actually just about nowhere. It’s a
      constant game they’re playing of selling you a “system” that ends up
      changing to another system that is even more valuable. But it’s not, but
      you’re in their funnel, and you paid to be there. Craptastic.

      Have a great week, and thanks again for the comments.

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  • http://www.fellerandsons.com Wendy Pike

    All of my team members have extensive experience not only in the office supply industry, but in business, entrepreneurship, management, HR, budgeting – both on a business and personal level sales and social media. We give away alot of free information / advice / webinars etc because we are in business to help businesses succeed. My philosophy is that if I can help a business succeed, they will be able to hire more employees and hopefully need more office supplies! We work as a menotr in these areas not only for our customers, but we have worked with local chambers, and even with other office products dealers throughout the US.

    • Anonymous

      Great approach, Wendy! And yes, there’s a karma element to all
      this…Cheers, and thanks for the comment!

  • http://www.fellerandsons.com Wendy Pike

    All of my team members have extensive experience not only in the office supply industry, but in business, entrepreneurship, management, HR, budgeting – both on a business and personal level sales and social media. We give away alot of free information / advice / webinars etc because we are in business to help businesses succeed. My philosophy is that if I can help a business succeed, they will be able to hire more employees and hopefully need more office supplies! We work as a menotr in these areas not only for our customers, but we have worked with local chambers, and even with other office products dealers throughout the US.

    • Anonymous

      Great approach, Wendy! And yes, there’s a karma element to all
      this…Cheers, and thanks for the comment!