The other day I was on a call, and I literally gave the listeners all the steps in the Brain Audit. And the more I gave, the more they were keen to buy the product. This kinda took me by surprise. I’ve long been under the impression, that if you give away all the steps in your system, then there’s nothing else to give.
I found out otherwise. 
I found out the age-old concept of the bikini to apply. That by giving away 90% of the concept, and keeping 10%, the attraction factor was just as strong, if not twice as strong (there are reasons for me saying ‘twice as strong). And yes, what the bikini didn’t reveal, was the part the audience most wanted (naturally), and was the part they were willing to pay for.
34 responses so far ↓
1 Brian Clark // Jul 24, 2007 at 12:23 pm
Gene Schwartz made a fortune giving away the best parts. And yet it’s so hard to convince some business people to give information away. Even if you’re selling information, people will still buy for those remaining unrevealed pieces.
Love the bikini analogy.
2 Link Karma | Copyblogger // Jul 30, 2007 at 2:58 pm
[…] The key to effective information sales — The Bikini Concept. […]
3 Gids // Jul 30, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Absolutely spot on. Works on SEO sales as well!
4 Arshad Merali // Jul 30, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Sean… you’re on the money! So many people focus on keeping all their knowledge to themselves, afraid that the customer won’t need them anymore. They fail to recognize that the real value is in their execution.
This unfortunately also causes an impact to the level of customer service they provide as their objective becomes to protect their knowledge rather than help their customer.
5 Sean D'Souza // Jul 30, 2007 at 8:24 pm
And it’s not like we don’t give a lot away. We do, but I really thought that giving away almost the entire plot was a bit too much (after all what is left for a customer to buy?) As it turns out, I was wrong.
The bikini lives.
Thank goodness
6 Mark // Jul 30, 2007 at 10:23 pm
One great thing about giving away so much is that it stimulates your creativity to come up with even more ideas and high-quality products and services. One of the problems many small companies face is that they get hooked on the revenue stream from one product or service offering, and have little if anything in the pipeline when their flagship item starts losing momentum, which it always does.
7 Sean D'Souza // Jul 30, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Oh it does stimulate your ability to create more–that’s for sure. But one product can also go the distance. However, it is possible to have just one product and do really well off it. e.g. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has sold 15 million copies to date.
But I’m arguing for arguing sake. In the case of most small businesses, they’d be buried if they they didn’t have more than one service or product offering.
8 Mark // Jul 30, 2007 at 11:24 pm
You’re absolutely right, of course, that a small company can go a long way with a single product. (Although, Covey certainly didn’t rest on his laurels!) I guess what I was really getting at was that by giving away a lot of high-quality product, you’re breaking through that tendency to build an artificial moat around your work. Instead, you free yourself to create trust among your fans and the viral nature of the web and social networks gives you much more leverage than traditional distribution channels. Makes you want to create more.
Great articles here. Thanks to Brian for recommending the site. Looking forward to reading more!
9 The Escape Design & Web Agency Blog : Blog Archive : Giving Stuff Away - The Bikini Concept // Jul 31, 2007 at 7:01 am
[…] some time now and along came a link this morning to Sean at Spiders Secret and his metaphor of The Bikini: I found out the age-old concept of the bikini to apply. That by giving away 90% of the concept, […]
10 Sean D'Souza // Jul 31, 2007 at 3:14 pm
Mark, I totally agree. When I wrote the Brain Audit in 2002, it was just a 16 page book. From that very tiny book (if you can call it a book), we now have a small research project on the Brain Audit.
And instead of making concepts more difficult, it’s made the concepts easier–yet deeper (if you know what I mean)
11 Mark // Jul 31, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Sean,
I know exactly what you mean. Great insights here! Thanks.
– Mark
12 Shaine // Jul 31, 2007 at 9:48 pm
I think that part of this lies in that if you give away a lot of information, there is the fear by those in attendance that they will not be able to remember what you said. Or, since you are being so generous, that there may be more “hidden” in your product.
13 Sean D'Souza // Jul 31, 2007 at 11:53 pm
Yes, that’s truer than ever. Because every bit of information can go one inch wide and one mile deep. The information isn’t purposely being hidden (though I know some people who would), but from a ‘consumption’ point of view, it’s just too much to give at one go.
If too much is given, the participant/recipients get nothing. So whether we like it or not, there will be not just something, but a lot of something ‘hidden’ in the product.
14 Thomas - Technical Blogger The Bikini Concept - Give More Away to Increase Demand « // Aug 1, 2007 at 8:00 am
[…] by Brian Clark of copyblogger, I discovered the post by Sean of Attversumption.com So what if you give most of it away?: The Bikini Concept. From Sean’s post: I found out the age-old concept of the bikini to apply. That by giving […]
15 The Bikini Concept of Writing - How To Grow Your Blog Traffic // Aug 3, 2007 at 2:25 am
[…] via: Spider Secret […]
16 blogtantra.com // Aug 3, 2007 at 4:55 am
Creativity attracts everyone..!! Thats what i say..!!
17 Sonia Simone // Aug 3, 2007 at 10:53 am
This post is a brilliant example of the power of analogy! Very nicely done.
18 j-ne.ws » Blog Archive » The Bikini Concept - Give More Away to Increase Demand // Aug 25, 2007 at 10:32 am
[…] The Bikini Concept - Give More Away to Increase Demand which stems from Attversumption.com’s So what if you give most of it away?: The Bikini Concept gives us an idea of how we would be able to use social media between organisations and its […]
19 Kishore // Aug 27, 2007 at 7:53 pm
Wooh guess the concept of bikini works every where in life
20 Colin // Aug 28, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Are customers happy after they’ve purchased the whole thing, or do they feel like they didn’t need to spend the money?
I wonder if it could be like a movie that shows its best scenes in the trailer. Could customers ultimately be disappointed that there isn’t -more- of the same?
Although I can definitely see how it would help the sales. Sometimes, companies get too protective of their secrets and make site visitors jump through hoops to get a taste, which hurts conversions. Good post.
21 Bernadette // Aug 29, 2007 at 6:45 am
A great post Sean. I think a lot of the more traditional businesses these days are still stuck in that mind set of whats yours is mine and whats mine is my own. They think that by clinging onto what they have and jealously guarding all their secrets that they will always maintain their edge. What they fail to grasp is that we now live in a very fluid market place, where the only thing we can be certain of is change and that every new idea is built on the foundation of someone else’s old idea. As they say ‘ there is nothing new under the sun’. The more we share, the wider our pool of resources becomes and the more we can be inspired in our individual quests to better our products and services. This of course means that we must all be a lot more transparent in our businesses and lives. I think in the long run the great pay off is that we are not only more authentic in the way we live and work but we develop a much deeper level of emotional connection and trust with our clients.
22 justwebcontent.com > Content Matters > Blog Archive > The Bikini Effect // Sep 4, 2007 at 5:20 am
[…] “So what if you give most of it away?: The Bikini Concept“, it discusses the thorny question of free content in an original […]
23 The ‘Free’ Business Model: A Strategy for Attention, Traffic and Profits // Sep 22, 2007 at 10:07 pm
[…] When it comes to blogging, you often want to grab hold of the first-time user who arrives at your site. You want him or her to track your blog by subscribing to it. You do this by giving quality information away for free. Don’t be afraid to share your ‘secret techniques‘. So what if you give it all away for free? […]
24 Molly Gordon // Oct 6, 2007 at 11:22 am
Great image, Sean. And terrific responses. I’m curious about how you cultivated such a lively exchange.
25 Monday Mash-Up: The Business of Real Estate Blogging : Real Estate Marketing Blog // Oct 16, 2007 at 6:04 am
[…] Bikini Concept: give away 90% of what people want, and they will give you money for the remaining 10%. In blogging […]
26 Chuck Westbrook // Oct 19, 2007 at 3:03 pm
You just taught me a lesson. Great illustration of a resonant point.
27 The Bikini Concept: Part 2 // Oct 19, 2007 at 3:57 pm
[…] the Bikini Concept? And how you could give it all away? Well, not all away, but give a lot away and cause intense […]
28 Remember the Bikini Concept? Well here's Part 2 // Oct 19, 2007 at 4:45 pm
[…] the Bikini Concept? And how you could give it all away? Well, not all away, but give a lot away and cause intense […]
29 Do You Understand the Importance of Outbound Links? : Real Estate Marketing Blog // Oct 23, 2007 at 6:03 am
[…] Some argue that linking out to other sites isn’t worth doing because you drive people away from your blog. My theory is that if I send them to useful content often enough that they’ll keep coming back for more. And don’t forget about the Bikini Concept. […]
30 schoolofbussines.info » Blog Archive » The ‘Free’ Business Model: A Strategy for Attention, Traffic and Profits // Oct 23, 2007 at 7:28 pm
[…] When it comes to blogging, you often want to grab hold of the first-time user who arrives at your site. You want him or her to track your blog by subscribing to it. You do this by giving quality information away for free. Don’t be afraid to share your ‘secret techniques‘. So what if you give it all away for free? […]
31 Sean D'Souza // Oct 23, 2007 at 7:56 pm
And yes, you can indeed put your money where your mouth is.
http://spidersecret.com/1000-worth-of-goodies-free-surely-im-joking/
32 Want To Get $300 For Christmas? // Nov 2, 2007 at 11:16 am
Wow Sean.
That’s a great analogy and I never thought of it.
I’ll apply this tactic right away on my own blog.
Now, I’m going to read the other part. Hope more is coming soon.
If you have any other suggestions
or comments, let me know
Cheers,
Codrut Turcanu.
“How To Succeed Against All Odds!” Break The Ice!
33 The bikini concept | Peter Crocker Business Copywriter Sydney // Dec 8, 2007 at 9:49 pm
[…] Sean D’Souza, a marketing writer I follow, has described revealing a lot of your best material as “The Bikini Concept” because a little taste makes people interested in finding out the rest. Here’s a link to Sean’s full article. […]
34 7leads // Jan 12, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Blogging is truly about giving. You then receive.
Enjoyed it.
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