Page 199 - 100 Great Marketing Ideas (100 Great Ideas)

Skype does not allow members to call landlines or cellphones free.
These require a further (very modest) subscription, and that of
course is where the money comes in. The cost of running the system
is minimal—unlike other online businesses, there are no goods to
send out or invoices to prepare, and people are simply billed by direct
debit every time the subscription or the usage charges fall due.
Giving away something of real benefit has certainly benefited the
founders of Skype: the company was sold to eBay for $2.6 billion
in 2005.

In practice

• Ensure that what you give away has real value.
• The giveaway should not be sufficient in itself—there needs to

be a strong potential for follow-up sales.

• If possible, the giveaway should encourage other people to join

in with the scheme.

190 • 100 GREAT MARKETING IDEAS