Offering free stuff as a marketing tactic is an accepted practice in most industries.

However, in most cases, the party offering the free information or bait is actually interested in charging for it. Even if that charge is the exchange of a name and email address. So, for some, free isn’t free and may be too expensive. Take the “free” evaluation. Free in this case might mean that the recipient must take time, accept an appointment and sit through veiled sales presentation.

Free is one of the most powerful marketing words on the planet but, what makes free really free is trust. In order to use this tactic effectively the recipient must trust that you won’t abuse their permission. If you have no previous relationship with a prospect you cannot go overboard assuring them that you won’t misuse their information. You must actively sell your free information by communicating just how valuable it really is.

Taking steps to build trust with testimonials and referrals, providing great free information with no strings attached and being consistent is how you lower the barrier to free. Once this is done effectively, and you haven’t abused the trust you’ve earned, you can move to steps that provide greater education and demand greater involvement.

In fact, now your free information might actually be something they would pay for.