Free is not a business–it’s zero-cost marketing for a business. And it works best at the largest scale: a small percentage of a big number is a big number.

In the new Web 2.0 economy and what I am overusing as B2B 2.0, how can we apply “Freemium” to scale for our businesses.  I guess it depends, doesn’t it?  If you are a manufacturing company where most of your target audience knows who you are and buys from you one way or another, this plays a lot differently then if you are a software firm launching a new product into the marketplace.  Both very B2B, but very different in their approach.

But for the majority of businesses out there that don’t have their customer base “locked up”, the question of “What’s a free customer worth” should be tackled.

Problem is, convincing the regular customer to be a part of this model is difficult.  So, let’s start basic:   When you figure out where your thought leadership is, give at least some of it away for free.  Track the heck out of it and get some information from them (name, email), but give it away.  Establish yourself as a thought leader in your specialty area, start creating relevant content, and give it away.

Anderson goes on to talk about the 4 types of free:

• cross subsidy – get one thing free for buying another
• subsidized – third party ads support free
• freemium – a few support the majority (basic “free” version)
• gift – given away for non-monetary rewards

I really like the idea of doing zero cost marketing.  Marketing to the masses by offering a freemium product and getting a small percentage to subsidize the masses.

Related posts:

1. 6 strategies to make your content relevant
2. A practical example of creating a relevant dialogue