I don’t know about you, but for me the days of excitedly signing up for a free teleseminar on this or that subject are long gone. For quite some time it’s seemed to me that most of these are nothing but glorified pitch fests.

Rarely is there ever any meat. Most of the time they just explain what you need to know, and the perils of not knowing (or wonders of knowing), then how you can you spend a bunch of money with them to learn it.

To make sure this is indeed the case, I recently signed up for a couple more free teleseminars with big names. They were promoted as the event to learn all kinds of powerful, business-building secrets.

And you know what? Except for the lesson on how to pitch on a teleseminar without actually giving away anything useful, they were a HUGE waste of my time.

Frankly, I have better things to do than sit on a phone call and listen to someone’s clients give raving testimonials. Or hear a list of all the things I need to know. In fact, if that’s all you’ve got, I feel a bit like my intelligence is being insulted. And I’m certainly not going to spend any money with these folks as a result.

Maybe it’s naïve…
Maybe it’ll keep me from becoming a millionaire…

Maybe it comes from my background as an Environmental Educator and teacher…

But I believe if you offer something of value in a free session then people will be more likely to pay you for even more helpful info.

Sure there’s the argument about “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free??” But I’m not saying give away all your tricks and secrets. I just think if you help others it comes back to you.

One of the big reasons I’ve been charging $7 for my Small Business Success Teleseminar Series is just to make it clear that they are NOT free (http://www.success-stream.com/events.htm). Hopefully, as a result, people will trust they’re going to get something of value for their investment of time and money.

I know I’ve gotten a number of powerful, business-building tips I was able to put into action from the experts I’ve interviewed. And that’s what I expect from others. Even if the teleseminar is free.

Are you jaded by the overwhelming number of fluff-filled free teleseminars out there?

Do you still sign up for, and listen to, free teleseminars (and get anything of value out of them)?

Do you think free teleseminars are still an effective way to market a service or product…Or have they outlived their usefulness?

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About the Author: Practical Marketing Expert Stacy Karacostas, founder of SuccessStream Sales & Marketing Solutions, specializes in taking the stress, struggle and confusion out of growing your small business. She's the author of the 2-page marketing plan workbook Putting Your Business on the Road to Success, and The Small Business Website Bible. Stacy also writes the fun and informative Marketing Junkie blog and Bright Ideas weekly newsletter. For more practical, business-building wisdom help yourself to a copy of her free report The 7 Deadliest Small Business Marketing Sins... Are You Guilty?