Today I found myself deep in thought about something every online business owner wrestles with: What kind of free offer will get people to sign up for my e-newsletter?
That question led me down the rabbit hole of trying to define what makes an offer truly irresistible.
I kept coming back to a concept I’ve heard many times: the 10x rule for offers. The idea is simple. Your offer should feel like it’s worth 10 times what someone has to pay (or in the case of a freebie, what little effort they have to give). When something feels insanely valuable, people naturally want in.
Think of it this from two perspectives:
- What if a dealership sold a $250,000 Ferrari for just $25,000? (conversely, a dealership offering a $2.5 million bonus for buying a $250k Ferrari)
- Or what if you bought a $40 Roku and got a $400 TV for free?
The demand for both scenarios would be insane.
The catch with those examples, of course, is that they’re physical products. Physical items come with real costs: manufacturing, shipping, inventory, storage, etc.
But with digital products, the game changes.
If I create a training video and sell it for $100, I can just as easily give it away or bundle it with other products without any extra cost to me. There’s no warehouse, no shipping box, and no damaged returns. Just a link or a download button.
That’s powerful.
So I thought, “Why not apply this thinking to my own offers?”
Let’s say someone signs up for my newsletter and gets a free $10 ebook. That’s fine. But what if I also include a free $100 training video? Now, the total perceived value jumps to $110, and it’s still free to the subscriber. That’s the kind of 10x value that grabs attention and builds trust.
Derek @ Business Building Online.com