Make a strong, over the top, offer, guarantee, try before you buy, come in and get a no strings attached sample, and then boldly smile as your prospects and clients take you up on it. And, don’t ruin your offer with fine print.

I came across this seemingly killer marketing tactic as I sat in the parking lot of an Office Depot store. The burger joint across the street cooked up an awesome promotion intent on legally and ethically borrowing the traffic generated by the Office Depot store. “Come in and get a free cookie with your Office Depot receipt.” In the words of the Guineess ad guys, brilliant, I thought. But, then I saw the fine print – with the purchase of a combo meal.

This offer went from awesome to lousy with those seven tiny words. Get people in your store and you will make sales. Get them to sample your brilliant content and you will have their attention. Give the 29 cent cookie away with no strings attached.