I recently came across a remarkable story about a Minnesota man who found himself in a rather sticky situation at a local grocery store.

He had spent an excessive amount of time at the deli counter, but it wasn’t his lingering presence that caught everyone’s attention.

It was the astonishing fact that he had managed to stuff his pockets with a handful of soy sauce packets and nearly two pounds of sausage and beef stick samples!

While you might wonder how this peculiar tale relates to coaching programs and digital courses, stay with me because it provides a valuable lesson about the delicate art of offering free samples.

Now, before we dive into this, let me assure you that the charges against our friend were eventually dropped.

But his adventure left me with some insights about free samples and digital courses that I’m excited to share with you!

My initial reaction was that he might have gone a bit overboard, but here’s the essential lesson he teaches us:

People love free samples! It’s a universal human impulse.

And if you sell digital courses, you should love free samples too.

Retailers have been using free samples as a sales and marketing strategy for centuries.

And studies show that it boosts sales, in some cases by as much as several thousand whopping percent!

When customers can taste or experience a product for free, it provides them with firsthand knowledge of its quality, flavor, and utility. This firsthand experience builds confidence in the product, making them more likely to purchase it.

Offering free samples lowers the perceived risk for consumers. They can try a product without committing to a purchase, which reduces the fear of wasting money on something they might not like. This reduced risk encourages them to give the product a chance. 

The principle of reciprocity plays a significant role. When people receive something for free, they often feel a sense of obligation to reciprocate by making a purchase. It’s a psychological trigger that can lead to increased sales.

Free samples can introduce customers to products they might not have considered otherwise. Many consumers stick to their tried-and-true favorites, but a free sample can encourage them to explore new options, expanding their purchasing habits.

People love to share their experiences, especially when they discover something new and exciting. When customers enjoy a free sample, they are more likely to share their positive experience with friends and on social media. This word-of-mouth marketing can lead to additional sales and brand awareness.

In essence, free samples create a win-win situation.

Customers get to try something without risk, and businesses have a chance to showcase their products’ value, potentially leading to increased sales and brand loyalty.

But here’s the crucial difference between free food samples and samples of your course:

After they eat their food sample, they’re going to be hungry again and need to buy more to continue eating.

However, if you give away all of the intellectual property in your course for free, they don’t need to keep coming back.

You risk going out of business, facing burnout, and having to return to a 9-5 job, preventing you from doing the work you were meant to do and serving your clients at the highest level of transformation.

Not only does this not serve you, but it doesn’t serve your future clients or even the client you gave the information to for free.

The game is to be sold, not told, and if they don’t pay for it, they are unlikely to put in the work needed for true transformation.

Think about it.

YouTube University has been around for decades.

But how many people do you know who are still struggling with the same issues?

Because information is not the same as implementation.

So be sure to give your clients a taste of the right type and amount of information so that you gain their trust and whet their appetite while keeping them hungry for more so that you can deliver true transformation through your full program.

If a cashflowing course is at the top of your priority list, I go over all of this and more inside of my Course To Cashflow agency, the full service done for you agency that not only coaches, but helps you build, launch and sell your program so you can create lifestyle freedom and build multigenerational wealth.

To get on the waitlist for our next opening, sign up here.

Author: Gina Greene

Gina Greene is a highly sought-after wealth coach who specializes in helping ambitious entrepreneurs build businesses that create lifestyle freedom and multigenerational wealth.

Published and interviewed in many different places, she mentors her community of business owners, teaching them exactly how to build a hyper-profitable business by monetizing their intellectual property with a focus on digital courses and backend sales systems.