The Flywheel / Marketing / 10 Gifts

10Marketing · step 2 of 4

Gifts

Give something of real value first, so people meet the work before the pitch.

The Giftbox: cover

The tool for this step

The Giftbox

Give before you ask. Give the people it's for something of real value first, with nothing asked in return, and watch what they do with it.

How to use The Giftbox →
Download the GiftboxPDF · 3 pages: cover, board, how to use it

What it is

Gifts gives the people it's for something of real value first, with nothing asked in return. A gift is a real piece of the experience, whole on its own.

It is how a new thing earns attention honestly. People believe what they have held more than anything they have been told.

How to run it

Step 1Find the piece worth givingA real moment from the experience, small enough to give away and good enough to remember.
Step 2Make it whole on its ownA gift that only works if they buy the rest is a sample with a hook.
Step 3Give it, and ask for nothingTo the early adopters from the Compass, where they already are. No form before it, no pitch after it.
Step 4Watch what people doWho keeps it, uses it, passes it on and comes back, against numbers set before you gave it.

What you produce

The Giftbox: give before you ask. Give the people it's for something of real value first, with nothing asked in return, and watch what they do with it.

Examples

A

One letter, posted

A single real letter, sent to people in paper-journaling groups, with a note: “No subscription. This one is yours.” Many wrote back. Some posted photos of it. That was the campaign before there was a campaign.

Where it goes wrong

  • A discount is not a giftMoney off is still asking them to buy. Give them something real.
  • Strings attachedA form before or a pitch after turns the gift into a trade.
  • Giving to your old listGive it to the people driving the trend, not the customers you already have.
  • Not deciding what it must showSet how many must keep and pass it on before you give it, or any result will look like success.

What it hands on

The Lighthouse carries the message and the gift to where these people gather.