I've been reviewing some random direct response sales letters this week on the web, and I've noticed that a few of them offer a free 'mini-course' as a teaser for the actual product.

How effective is this? Seems to me this method might be more appropriate for higher-priced products, when the consumer might spend a bit more time researching and delaying before actually handing over their money. However, with lower or average-priced products, I’d be concerned about a loss of momentum when the user visits the site, signs up for the free course, goes away and doesn’t make the purchase at that time. Sure, they might read the emailed ‘course series’ with enthusiasm and return to the site to buy … or the emails might wind up in their spam box, they forget about it, and never return to the site again.

Furthermore, I saw a six-part mini-course offered as a freebie for a product that cost $25.00. I signed up for the course and immediately received a very lengthy email full of 'tips' and 'privileged information' relating to the primary product. There was so much information in this e-mail (only 1/6 of the entire mini-course, you understand), that I wondered to myself, why would I even bother buying the product? There's a ton of information right here in my inbox. And it's free.

I do understand the strategy and importance of capturing emails, but I feel there must be other ways of doing this, such as offering a free newsletter signup or some other kind of brief but tantalizing preview. There’s such a thing as giving too much away, I believe.

Wondering what others thought about this and if this tactic is one that’s frequently employed.

Hi Susan ...

I've found that it can be a 2-edged sword... I frequently have lost occasional sales because people can get so much free content on my www.daytradinguniversity.com site, but it helps me differentiate and demonstrate content knowledge...

I've had people complain "you're charging for this video, but I can learn a lot of similar techniques for free in the free areas of your site" ...even if it's not accurate, it's perception that counts..

So I'm thinking of doing more blind-bullets and more teaser content copy, eg "Here's the first 3 of the Top 7 Secrets to..." type of approach..

And in my streaming free videos, eg I'll start with some terrific content, then fade to black and say "oops for the rest of it, you've got to join as a member" type of thing..

good point re sales momentum too ...


ken