Giving Value is the Key to New Media Success

I have always believed that it is much better to give than to receive. I have been giving away tickets to Sounders and Seahawks games for a couple of years now. Some people have asked if I got the idea in some marketing book or heard about it from some social media guru. The answer is no. While I do read widely on the subjects of business, leadership, and marketing, the roots of my ticket giveaways come from much more humble ground.

It was August of 2009 and the Seahawks were playing their last preseason game on Thursday night. I decided to try an experiment. I had four tickets to the Seahawks game. I wanted to see if my audience was listening. I sent a very short and simple email to about 500 people that said, " Hi, my name is Michael Lee and I have Seahawks tickets to give away in a drawing. All you have to do is respond to this email and your name will be entered. Good luck!"

My email box lit up like a Christmas tree. It was quite funny actually watching my Outlook inbox grow before my eyes. The audience WAS listening and they had their WIIFM hats on. (What's In It For Me) I learned an important lesson that I try to emulate with every email that goes out with my name on it... Give something of value to your audience. They will let you know you if they want to engage further.

Since that August 2009 day I have sent approximately 200 people to events.... so far! And I am sending four more people to the Sounders game this Saturday, June 11, 7:30pm against the Vancouver Whitecaps. You may still enter up until noon on Friday, June 10th! Just send an email to Michael.Lee@expresspros.com and mention the words SOUNDERS & BLOG in the body of your message. Winners will receive their tickets on Friday.

I will talk about the ROI I have seen from the ticket giveaways in another post and the results might surprise you!

Have a great weekend and remember with new media the ancient rules still apply… It is more blessed to GIVE than to receive.