The other day I saw a person trying to get free stuff from various businesses with the promise that they will advertise the company’s products utilizing their huge user base. These weren’t small ticketed items and services either as they can retail for well over $1000. In the past this was actually an easy way for social influencers to get free stuff such as them telling businesses that they have 100,000 followers which would in theory mean them talking about your offering could be worth thousands. So at the time many people would be happy to give them free stuff.
Nowadays though people have been getting smarter where just because you show a big number such as how many people apparently follow you it could also mean a large percentage of those followers are non-active accounts. Or at the same time, people who would never actually purchase anything from them. It’s almost like saying, imagine someone saying they own fifty stores and can sell your products in them. However, their stores actually don’t generate any real sales overall compared to the guy that owns one store and is trusted by most. That is the business you would want to put your products in as an example.
It often shows too as people who pitch with just plain numbers like this I find often have discrepancies when you look at other aspects of their business. For example, any fundraising sites they have seem to generate virtually no supporters even though they claim they have a six figure following. That doesn’t add up. So before spending or giving away your valued services for free with the promise it will provide you a lot of exposure be sure to check what those numbers really mean.