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Saturday, March 01, 2008

"Free" eh

This posting by Seth Godin, "May I have your attention please" is worth reading, but I'm not sure if you should go down the path and interpret it that the phrase"Free Estimates" is validated.

I don't think it is wise to spend hours preparing quotes, only for you to be one of several 'players' all being chosen on low price. This is asking for problems, and frustrations. "Free" here should be the general knowledge, insights, and ideas you can share with everyone -- and this is often provided in things like a blog, newsletter, or your website. Once you have the leads, and a track-record of satisfied clients, you can be paid for your work in setting up and estimating costs.

3 comments:

Seth Godin said...

You are 100% correct, Mark. A free estimate is a chance to play the "price is all that matters" game. Avoid them at all costs.

PS what's up with the ebay photo?

Construction Marketing Ideas said...

The image dates from an earlier posting http://constructionmarketingideas.blogspot.com/2007/06/trade-show-creativity-marketing-guru.html.
The image doesn't match this entry, I suppose -- I must have coded it "seth godin" so when I went looking for an image file, I pulled it up. Can easily replace it, of course, but now with this comment, we'll lose something in the process.

Seth Godin said...

I think it's great.