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As consumers and clients become more astute and educated in the services and products you offer partly enabled through the media and of course the Internet, there is an increasing expectation that as a professional services provider that we will provide “tasters” of our services and products at no cost.

If effectively executed this can be a very effective business strategy that will enable us to attract more clients and therefore enabling us to grow our professional services practice.

Here are 5 keys to effectively implementing this strategy:

1. determine what your clients most want and will be prepared to ultimately invest in and create your “taster” product or service around this so that they not only receive immense value but realise that you are an expert in this matter
2. wherever possible, ensure that you productise your service in the form of an ebook, white paper or audio programme – that way you will be able to leverage your time and resources rather than providing many hours of free coaching or consulting
3. ideally deliver your information product from the internet with a requirement that your potential client provides you with their name and email address which will enable you to to build your list of potential clients who you can then market to over time to enhance the likelihood that they will become a fee paying client
4. ensure that that free product, coaching or consulting you provide is of the highest standards – because you are offering it for free it is still critical that it supports your brand, your corporate identity and reflects what you stand for.  If a potential client does not perceive your offering as both addressing their needs and wants and being professional in its delivery, you reduce the chance of this prospect becoming a new client.  An example for me recently was a free audio tutorial I accessed from a branding coach where the audio was of such poor quality I could not bear to listen to it.  The content may have been great but I just did not stick around to listen to it and if i were looking for a branding coach I am unlikely to purchase any products or services from this branding expert as I did not perceive them as credible and professional.
5. market and promote the fact that you offer the consultation or product at no cost (here are 11 suggestions to start with) on your website, your blog, your podcast, your newsletter, in your email signature, through online press releases, through article marketing, on your business card and through strategic alliances, business partners and joint ventures.  I will be covering this last strategy in more depth in a future blog post.

Using this free to fee strategy, you will be sure to attract more clients and fill your professional services practice.