Does the Word "Free" Work to Get More Business?

When I started my business I got a ton of paying clients by training a handful of others for "Free" who just paid me with referrals ( paying clients)

Now this kind of strategy works well if you already have a relationship with someone, however… if you DON'T already have a relationship with someone than giving away your product or service for free can lower response dramatically.

Most people don't put a lot of value on ANYTHING that's free. I mean, c'mon… it's free… how much can it really be worth?

They know there's a pitch or catch or something is coming and that what you're giving away for free isn't really all that great. In fact, they're thinking it probably sucks and is nothing but a way to get them to buy something else.

They know that  to get the REAL good info/product/service that you have to offer they'll have to end up paying for it.

Especially in the our industry, 'free' has been so overused most people won't even consider something if it's free.

Recently I was talking to Michel Fortin about this issue of 'free' in the fitness and weight loss industry and he told me he's seen a MUCH higher response when you even just charge $1.00  for something as compared to giving it away for free. Just the fact that people have to pay SOMETHING adds value to it in their eyes.

I've done some pretty extensive testing of this idea using Craigslist.  In some areas (like mine) there are some trainers giving away a month of free training on there (CL). I ran some tests myself and had a MUCH higher response NOT offering a period of free training. Crazy I know, but I had a MUCH higher response when NOT offering a week, 2 weeks or month free of training… I tested it and people saw no value when it was free, when I charged for my services they saw value and responded.

Now "free" can work pretty well for lead gen, like giving away a free ebook or report, but honesty it's not actually free. People are paying by trading something of value in exchange for the "gift"… they're giving you their email.

The bottom line is that if you're going to offer something free DON'T make it your service ( training, membership, etc. ), make it something completely separate (report, ebook, dvds, audio, etc.)

And if you want to give potential clients a low barrier of entry to becoming clients try charging something like only a dollar for the first week or month or whatever instead of giving it to them for free. What's also good about this is if you make them pay that dollar via credit card, now it's an easier transition to get them on a regular payment plan because you have their cc info, especially if you have your contracts and payments set to automatically roll over into regular payments at your usual prices (provided your new client is completely aware of this and signs off on it)