One of the biggest questions people who want to begin an online business and sell their products is how to actually make any money since it seems everyone is giving away free stuff. They ask “Why would anyone actually buy anything if you can get everything for free?”

There are many people making money online with their information. It is true that most websites are giving away a free taste of their products and services but there is a method to this madness. It’s like the free taste they give you at your local ice cream store. Usually it’s in an attractive pink spoon. When you have that small free taste, most people will want more and end up buying an ice cream cone or a sundae. The same is true for websites selling information products. This is one of the reasons for all the free stuff you find online.

Another reason is for the website to build their list community. They do this through the exchange of information. The online entrepreneur is giving away the free taste but at a price. The price for the free taste is the website visitor giving their contact information, their name and email address. Once a business begins to compile a database of subscribers, or a list community, they can contact them with more free tastes of new products. So what exactly is in the free taste of your product? There’s a science to giving away the free stuff because you don’t want to give everything away or there’s no reason for your customer to purchase from you. What you give away as your free taste is the Why and the What of your information. Why the information works and What is in the full, paid version of your product. The part you sell after the website visitor has joined your list community is the How of your information. The How of your information is the actual step-by-step process or recipe you teach.