The reason I’m writing today is to let you know about a new giveaway site that specializes in graphics. If you have any web properties, chances are you are going to need some graphics.

This site has not just graphics, but opt-in and website templates, how-to ebooks and graphics-related software products. There are some genuinely valuable offerings here.

But before I give you the link to the good stuff, I’d like to offer some insight (or maybe it’s hindsight)…

1. Giveaway sites are better for the givers than the receivers. In other words, the folks who are offering free gifts are getting your email address, etc., right? So, as you might have heard many times in the past - nothing is truly free.

2. If you are a giver at one of these sites, you can definitely build up a list of subscribers very quickly…BUT…the great majority of those folks aren’t buyers - they are freebie-seekers.

So if you are the list owner, you’d better be good at offering true value that your new list members - the freebie-seekers - will be willing to spend money on, or your list will be all but worthless.

3. If you are one of those freebie-seekers, you should be aware of the inner dialog going on inside your head. If you aren’t willing to cough-up a little currency now and then (i.e. invest in yourself), you probably aren’t very serious about developing a real business - and the results you get will reflect that.

4. When you hit a giveaway site, be VERY selective about the freebies you choose. Each gift you select will put you on another marketer’s list. And if you find and download products from several giveaway sites, you will end up trapped in email HELL! This is one of the biggest traps for newbies (it happened to me too!) - so BEWARE!

Yes, you’ve gotten lots of cool products to take up space on your hard drive, but now you are getting three or more emails per week from each of the people whose products you downloaded. 60 products x 3 emails = 180 NEW emails a week!

Now assume that each email takes you two minutes to read and/or go to the site they are linking to. You’re talking 540 minutes a week - that’s 9 hours! And remember, this is an extremely conservative estimate.

Here’s what I recommend:

A. When you select the free product, you will almost always be presented with a one-time-offer, or OTO. So, not only do they now have your contact info, they are trying to sell you something right out of the gate.

Like I said earlier, no marketer in their right mind wants a list full of freebie-seekers, they want buyers. And that’s one of the major reasons why there is almost always an OTO (usually quite inexpensive) at giveaway sites.

They want to convert you and gain your trust as soon as possible.

B. Unless you absolutely need that OTO right at that very moment for your business, DON’T BUY IT! It’s human nature to fall for the Law of Reciprocity - meaning that we naturally feel obligated to someone when they have given us a gift.

Be aware of this tendancy and don’t repay the “favor” unless you really need what they are selling. Believe me, if they are willing to offer such a deep discount on their OTO, chances are that 10 other marketers are offering similar or greater value somewhere else - probably for less cash. You need only browse through eBay to verify that.

C. Give each marketer up to four (4) emails to demonstrate their worthiness to continue sending to you*. The first should be a thanks and general information type of message. The following few should be pure content - no sales pitches.

Ideally, the content should correlate to the product you downloaded from them, i.e. instructions on how to get the most out of it.

D. They should mail to you no more than three (3) times a week and their messages should consist of 80% content (I’m talking helpful stuff) and 20% sales pitches (of products they have personally bought and used or read).

I consider in-depth product reviews to be content, since they inform more than persuade. So a product review AND recommendation is a good way to have a single message that fits the 80/20 criteria.

If a marketer fails to deliver valuable content and is pitching you every time you turn around, UNSUBSCRIBE IMMEDIATELY!

Remember, you are NOT at their mercy, they are at YOURS. And like the basic democratic process, you can vote with your mouse. It takes just a second. Your time is VALUABLE beyond anything else you have! So don’t let some money-hungry knucklehead take up too much of it, because you won’t get it back…

Note: Don’t get trapped into thinking you’re going to miss something if you unsubscribe from someone’s list who isn’t delivering anything of benefit. You’re not - except wasted time and frustration. There are 200 other marketers waiting in the wings to take their place and prove to you that THEY have your best interests in mind.

Obviously, this information applies to you and your list too…

Alrighty then, that’s the three-minute tutorial (or should I say lecture (<;) on giveaway sites. I hope you found it to be of value.

And now, here’s the link to the site:

Get Your FREE Graphics Here.

Here’s to your graphically-enhanced webpages!

Be well,

Russ Guthrie
Gu3 Virtual Marketing
Publisher, “Conquer The Net” Ezine/Blog
Experience The Power Of Unselfish Marketing

* The exception to this is for products you’ve bought, that you need to stay on their list to be notified about updates, etc. But they shouldn’t be pitching you to death on that list either.

PS: Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention this. Pay particular attention to the PROCESS that each marketer takes you through. Their sites, emails, OTO, etc. Some you’ll like and want to imitate, while others will be a huge turnoff. Keep in mind this is how other people are evaluating YOUR processes too.

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