Reciprocity – How To Make Friends and Generate More Sales

Giving away free stuff may sound an odd way to make money but it works.

I don’t mean you have to give away products or services, but rather information and knowledge.

Take this blog for example. I am a freelance copywriter and I use this blog to provide you, my readers, with information about copywriting and marketing. I hope these blog posts give you plenty of ideas and tips about how you can improve your sales writing and marketing activites to make your on (and off line) businesses more profitable.

By providing you with knowledge and expertise I show my own knowledge level whilst empowering you.

This practice can be tied into the six psychological shortcuts of influence which will help you convert more sales. Reciprocity is a key factor in triggering a psychological need to give something back – i.e. you give me something for free therefore I feel that I must buy from you.

The mechanics of this and other powerful triggers are explained in this excellent post Educate to Dominate Your Competition by Copyblogger. Have a read and it will show you jusy how powerful this conept can be.