Years ago I was a freelance internet marketer looking for work.

Despite plentiful traffic, I wasn’t getting new clients. Of the few clients I had, one said something really interesting to me one day. In not so many words, it went:

“Gregg, I knew I needed to do something but wasn’t sure what. And even if I did, I had no idea how I’d do it until I found you.”

At the time, I didn’t catch the huge potential in that feedback.

Aha-Moment
And to be fair, the realization didn’t come all at once, but soon after my mind latched onto something that would triple my client list in the coming month. I realized this client had two problems:

1. Not knowing what to do
2. Not knowing how to do it.

So I tried something new. I decided to help them solve just the first of these two problem. I set up a page that said, simply, “send me your URL and I’ll record a free video telling you three things you can do to make more money from your website.”

Within weeks I was turning clients away.

One-Liner
Why? Because in five minutes of talking into a mic with my screen recorder running, I was simultaneously giving them free, valuable help by showing them what to they needed to do to make more money. But, at the same time, I was making myself the perfect candidate to do that work.

To put this into a one-liner, I’d say:

“Give away a partial solution to the problem your product completely solves.”

Here are a couple more examples of how this principle applies.

Example #1
This is part of the reason I feel that, in some shape or form, making ski lessons completely free for newbies is such a strong argument for growing our sport.

It’s solves the problem of cost associated risk for newbies, but the only way to get that rush again is to pay…and what better place to go than the resort who gave you the chance to learn.

Example #2
And, speaking of free, it’s also the power behind free samples at the grocery store. Part of the problem of buying a new type of salsa is the risk you won’t like it.

A free sample removes that risk but it doesn’t put it on tonight’s burrito unless you buy.

Ask Yourself
It’s a simple concept, but a powerful one that once you see you’ll start to re-see over and over again. So ask yourself:

Is there a piece of our product that, on it’s own, solves a problem our consumers have? And, if so, does any one of these do a better job of making us the preferred solution to the whole problem?

Give it some thought. These aren’t always easy to find, but they’re almost always worth it.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.