Madonna, David Bowie, Prince, and most recently Radiohead have all developed the art of giving something away, knowing that they’ll receive something back.

The artists have all either given away or allowed low-cost or free downloads of their music, through a variety of channels like bundling the single into the local newspaper, or offering the entire CD for purchase for a price that you, the customer sets.

In Radiohead’s case, they sold 1.2 million copies within 1 week of releasing their latest, In Rainbows. Without a set price, some thought that they wouldn’t make any money at all, but in fact their average sale was $8USD.

What are some things you can do to give away your product, your expertise, or your consulting advice? Consider that the “freebies” that you send your potential customers acts as a “sampler:” they have an opportunity to get a sense of you and your services, and you reach a wide base. This is why Costco offers tasters at the end of each aisle in the frozen foods section, why Trader Joe’s has a sampler appetizer section, and why Whole Foods allows you to try their produce.

One effective way that this comes into play is promotions like with Netflix, which typically encourages friends and family of existing customers to try their service for free for 30 days. At the end of 30 days, many are “hooked” and continue on with the service. Another example is RingCentral, which we use for our toll-free number and our fax services: they allow new users to try the service out and make sure it suits their needs. If it does, a potential customer turns into a long-term customer. If not, a potential customer just walks away.

If you’re pleased with your services and products and you believe in them, how will you share that with others? You might consider any of the following:

1) Offer pro bono services for a local charity
2) Offer pro bono services to a local event
3) Write a free e-book available for download
4) Create a “resources” section for tips on your own website.
5) Offer high quality links to partners, associates, and other related vendors
6) Write for a blog where you analyze trends in your industry or in your line of work
7) Run a social event that promotes a local cause or candidate: and offer your company or business as the primary sponsor
8) Join a club or group related to your work and serve in an officer or organiational position
9) Set up a roundtable with other professionals, make it invitation-only, and put your heads together to work on each others’ issues
10) Sponsor a day that focuses on your business (e.g. cell phone recycling day, paper shredding day, free eye exam day, etc.)

Think of at least four different ideas that will promote yourself this year, and implement them on a quarterly basis. With evaluation, see which of these tools work well and fine-tune your model so that you are able to share your knowledge, increase your customer base, and receive significant profits.

When you are focused on building your business, it’s easy to get carried away into thinking your task is to contact every single client in the world who will use any or all of your services.

Snap yourself out of generalized thinking!

The more specific you are about the type of customers you work with, the easier it will be for you to find those customers!

In great detail, use your imagination to develop your ideal client. How are they? What types of issues are they having. How are they feeling? How do you step in and assist them? Where do they live? Where do they work? What type of organization or company are they in? What role do they play?

As you develop this Ideal Client Template, you’ll be able to be more specific about if a propsective client fits that template. If not, they’re not your client! They’re someone else’s client.

Follow your gut instinct in this regards, as you will usually be able to tell within a few minutes if someone is a good fit for you or not.

For example, if you’re representing a catering company, and you’ve made a commitment to serve large banquet-style events at workshops for Silicon Valley-based tech companies, then your friend’s cousin’s garden wedding for 20 people will not fit. You might take that job, but you will at least know that this is not a correct fit for your ideal client.

As you develop more clarity about your Ideal Client template, you will find the supporters who will refer these clients to you. Who do you typically work with as a natural fit to your business? Identify your business associates and develop your circle of connectors to branch out into a wider world of potential customers.

For example, a typical circle of people who naturally refer business to each other are a financial planner, an estate-planning attorney, a CPA or Enrolled Agent, a life insurance salesperson, a real estate agent, a mortgage specialist, and a health insurance specialist. If you are one of these types of people, you will want to develop your own circle of connectors. Find one or two good, solid, trustworthy professionals in each of these fields. As you work together, you will find that you provide better service, and meet more people, through each other’s book of business.

As you develop a tight group of people who look out for each other, share leads, and provide specific types of assistance to specific types of clients, you will all provide a higher level of service because the transition from one professional to the next is smooth.

Here are some ideas for organizations where you will meet and find your own circle of connectors:

BNI (Business Network International)
NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners)
Women’s groups
Topical groups
Trade associations
Book clubs
Alumni groups
Volunteer boards
Community events that you help organize
Places of Worship, if you already attend
Sports groups
Mom’s groups or parent’s groups
School groups
Art clubs
Dining groups
Garden groups
Other hobby-related groups

I also recommend you take a look at some of the social networking sites, such as
LinkedIn linkedin.com
Facebook facebook.com
MySpace myspace.com
YouTube youtube.com
Meetup meetup.com

Joining is a good way to meet online with people who share your common interests. Some of your connections may result in business transacted, so keep looking to build a strong network of associates.