I was recently corresponding with Joe the Rasta Marketer about separating people who are ready to spend money from those who are just so-called “freebie seekers.”

As you read this brief post, you will instantly grasp a truth that will increase not only your understanding, but your profits as well.

Back in the 80’s I was doing a bunch of direct selling–sitting down with people across a kitchen table, office desk or restaurant table, pitching my heart out.

But I had a problem: While I was doing bundles of appointments each week, my close rate was pathetic–maybe 10%. I’m a good salesman and should have been closing at least 30% if not 50%.

I asked another, older, wiser salesman friend what was wrong. He asked me how I got prospects, how I set appointments and how I pitched them.

I was amazed when he pointed out…

“I was DATING not Selling”

Since I was already married I wasn’t quite sure what he meant. He went on to explain.

He went through my list of prospects and pointed out that I tended to meet my prospects at social gatherings, most of them were single young women and most often we ended up meeting at a restaurant and that I paid for the meal. He made it very clear…

“These Women thought it was a Date”

Not a good way to make money.

The need to separate freebie seekers from buyers comes from selling in the offline world–direct selling via a sales person, direct mail and other forms of offline marketing.

If I am about to send out 10,000 pieces of snail mail at $2 each, I want to be sending it to 10,000 prospects, not 9,000 people who are interested in getting a freebie and 1,000 people who have the ability and willingness to spend money with me. After all, it costs $20,000.00 to send the mailers either way–why not send them to prospects?

The same is true when you are a sales person–you want to spend your time with qualified prospects, not people who just want to shoot the breeze (or get a date).

“But Online Your Rules are Different”

In most cases you aren’t sending out snail mail and it costs the same for you to send out 100,000 emails as it does to send 1,000. There isn’t any lunch to buy, so as long as these people have properly opted in to your list, it doesn’t matter.

“Everyone is a Freebie Seeker”

This idea is lost on most marketers: Everyone wants to get something for nothing. Everybody. The vast majority of those people are also buyers–they buy stuff they want and/or need on a regular basis.

If they have a strong interest in the target market for your freebie, then they are likely to be interested in products you sell for money. The key is to become the person they trust because people buy from people they believe they know and trust.

“Build Trust through Words”

The best way to build trust is to provide high value content in your target niche. Give your blog readers and subscribers content that proves your expertise, objectivity and humanity.

Do it. It will make you money.