by Mazarine Treyz, Wild Woman Fundraising
In the cold, rainy winter of 2004, I started my fundraising consulting business in Boston with one client. I had no idea where my journey would take me. I had writing and researching experience, and some fundraising classes under my belt, but not a lot of fundraising experience. My business soon grew to three clients, and all the work that I wanted. I didn’t have a website, or even business cards. It was all word of mouth, and I was happy to learn on the job.
Then in 2006, I packed my bags, loaded up my little red Saab, moved to Portland, Oregon, and began to work full-time for nonprofits. Fast-forward three wild years later, when I went back to my consulting business. Things had really changed since 2004, both online and offline. I had just moved to Austin, Texas, and I couldn’t count on word of mouth anymore. I didn’t have a network, and people didn’t know my business existed.
Free to Start Over
So when I started Wild Woman Fundraising in late 2009, I did the unexpected: I began offering my hard-earned knowledge on my website, for free. I started with just one or two posts a week. Within a few months I was posting 5 days per week. And I still am. The results?
- 7,000 monthly readers this month.
- 25,000 pageviews, which means people are finding lots of good content.
- Over 100 newsletter sign-ups.
- Offers to write magazine articles.
- Workshops at fundraising conferences.
- 10 speaking engagements in Austin.
- More than 5,000 reads on my Scribd documents and 2,000 reads on Slideshare.
- Consulting work and about 10 inquiries.
- A webinar with the Texas Association of Nonprofit Organizations.
- 200 people raring to try my videogame.
Why Free Works
I’ve got a place to help people and tell them about me, all at the same time. And I’ve got a platform for my book when I publish it. Now, just like the first time I started my consulting business, my success is being driven by word-of-mouth. The only difference is that this time, it’s online. People appreciate what they’re learning on my site, and they tell their friends. And when your website becomes a resource, people come back again and again for your wisdom about their problems. And they start to have a conversation with you.
Recently, when I went to a 501 Tech club meeting, two of the people there were already following me on Twitter, and said, “Hey! We love your blog! And our friends love your blog, too!” I felt like quite a celebrity for the first time. All of this happened because I was willing to put myself out there online and offer—for free—everything that I had learned.
Knowing When to Draw the Line
Every once in a while, a nonprofit will ask me to work with them for free. And I have to decline. Because while there is a power in free, free has a limit.
You have to have good boundaries when you offer things for free on your website. My Free Stuff page is still one of the most trafficked pages on my site. I love giving free advice, and helping people find things of value. And my hope is that they’ll find my work so useful that they’ll ask me to speak, or buy my videogame, or buy books, or all three.
People value something they pay a lot for. They feel that “you get what you pay for.” And even though that’s not true, they will attempt to steamroll you until you tell them your bottom line.
For instance, when I worked at a social services nonprofit, we noticed that if you tell someone she needs to pay $10 for that counseling appointment, she’s going to keep that appointment. If it’s a free appointment, she’s much less likely to keep it. If you make people pay in advance for a networking meeting or talk, they are much more likely to show up.
When you offer something for free, make sure you’re helping others, but that it will also help you in the long run.
So in keeping with today’s topic, here’s a free 17 page e-book on how to turn your knowledge into a profitable brand. It tells you exactly how I got all of my traffic, and how you can emulate my success with marketing your business this way.
Do you have any free offerings in your business? Why or why not?
Mazarine Treyz is co-owner of Rocket Horse Tea, a mobile iced tea business in Austin. She is also a nonprofit management consultant with over 7 years of experience. She runs a nonprofit job club in Austin, is the author of The Wild Woman’s Guide to Fundraising book and blog, and is developing a video game to teach people how to fundraise.
