2013-01-09

The Free Trial Version of You

The craze now for businesses is to give free trial versions of their product to potential customers. Heck, squarespace promotes their product the same way and that’s why I am using their platform now. But why? For one, the business allows the customer to spend time using the product to see if it is worth the price value. Secondly, the customer devotes time to the product and in the process develops a connection to it. Lastly, customer support on the back end reinforces the commitment of the business to the product as well as the customer. In the end the customer feels he/she is getting a great deal not just because the value of the product equals what it is actually worth but the investment of the business in the customer puts the product and its worth at a much greater value. The business does not give away everything during this free trial version though. The better features are available when the customer begins to invest in the product. So am I writing about the benefits for businesses to provide free trial versions? No. I am going to talk about making yourself into the free trial version when it comes to relationships. WTH?

It makes sense though right. The biggest issue with relationships today is there is really not very much investment. We live in the age of social media. Investment comes in the form of a wall post and a one-sentence text. Very little is invested over time and it can be difficult to actually reach a point where both individuals feel that the relationship is worth the time and effort. I know, a text message and a wall post is not much of an investment, pennies in worth. However, I have to also point out that it can be very difficult to make a real investment. That would be talking on the phone or asking if the person wants to hang out. It is sad, we have gotten to the point where talking on the phone is an investment. But nobody wants to be rejected. That includes me. In the process those people never make an investment because of fear and are thus unable to develop a real connection with someone. Enter here the free trial version.

We are all scared of being rejected. But what if you knew that the investment you made was not all of who you are? What if the investment is just a fraction of who you are? Would you not feel better knowing that you gave it your best shot and you didn’t show everything? I feel better just thinking about it. What I think far too many people do is put their whole heart on the table. And when the person does not accept them for who he/she is, that whole heart gets ripped to shreds. If you hold back on showing yourself and if you do get rejected, it does not hurt as bad because you know that you did not invest your whole heart into the situation. You gave them one piece of the pie, not the whole pie. Think about creating the free trial version of yourself. The free trial version of you has many great features, great support, and a great background. If they reject you who cares, you only gave your trial version. If they want to upgrade, it will cost ‘em a greater investment: a phone call or time to hangout.  That’s the only way for him/her to get your best version.