Giving Out Free Tutorials To Market Your Business

There’s a good reason why companies of all shapes and sizes continue to this day giving out freebies to their customers. You might think they’re losing money by doing this, but it’s actually the opposite. Financial experts have long computed the profitability of giving away freebies as a marketing strategy, and as long as you’re giving away the right thing at the right time and marketing it correctly, you’re sure to gain more from it than you’ve spent.

Which Online Business Can Benefit from Giving Out Free Tutorials?
Among all types of businesses, it’s actually those that receive income from teaching that benefits the most from giving out free tutorials – even if the opposite seems true.

Say, you’ve set up your own Internet marketing consultancy firm. If you give out free tutorials on designing a website using SEO techniques, it might seem like a bad choice because the advice you’re giving away could have been something a client might hire you for. But actually, all your free tutorials amount to is simply giving customers a taste of what they can expect from you. Businesses offering services, all kinds of services, should give out free tutorials that would leave their users wanting for more and build your credibility.

Credibility is hard to build from scratch. It’s harder to prove if you don’t have concrete evidence, and that’s why you need to give out free tutorials. You don’t have to advertise about your tutorials too much because people will immediately flock to get them since they’re free. When they try it out and like what you’ve did, voila! You’ve got your credibility built and all you have to do is fan their interest some more until they’re ready and willing to pay for your services.

It’s a different process altogether with businesses selling products instead of services. Their tutorials can’t very well give out information as to how their products are made, unlike service-based businesses, because that’s tantamount to giving away their secrets to success as well. Rather, their free tutorials should be indirectly related only to their products.

Topics used for their free tutorials should most especially be related to how their products could be more beneficial to their users. A business selling dog food, for instance, could provide feed tutorials on the proper way on grooming their pet toy dogs. At the end of their tutorials, they could include a brief advertisement on how their products could also improve the natural softness, thickness, and shine of their pet dogs’ coats.

5 Tips on How to Make an Effective Tutorial
Now that you know just how useful giving away free tutorials can be, here are some things you can do to ensure that your end product is something that will not only be of great use to your customers but serve as a sales or performance booster for your business as well!

Tip #1 Make two versions of tutorials: one that’s purely text-based and one that’s either video-based or with lots of graphics. The first one is for those who doesn’t like spending too much time downloading tutorials and prefer more detailed instructions. Video or graphical tutorials on the other hand are suited for those who prefer simple step-by-step guides.

Tip #2 Don’t assume anything. If your tutorial is targeting beginners, make sure that you explain all technical terms used in your tutorial. Do not skip any important step simply because you believe your user already knows that part. If you wish, provide a link that a user can click if he doesn’t understand a particular step and which others who already understand can readily pass by.

Tip #3 Always use and before-and-after photos and effects so that your client will greatly experience the impact or changes achieved by your tutorial.

Tip #4 Label your tutorials clearly. State the topic and provide a brief description. Include the level of proficiency required and of course, don’t forget to let them know who made the tutorial so that credits will remain yours even when it’s posted in other websites.

Tip #5 At the end of your tutorial, always invite your users to send you whatever comments, suggestions, or inquiries they may have regarding your work. Provide them with your contact information. Lastly, invite them to drop by your website or join your newsletter to receive similar tutorials for free!