Many people will create a product to give away that they will not be selling. They often find a problem that many people have, and create a unique product to solve that problem, but instead of selling it they give it away.



A well-known ice cream company did exactly that when they started and continued with that principle right through. On certain days of the year people would get their free ice cream and realise that it was one of the best they had found, they would then go back and buy more. Through word of mouth more and more people went to buy their ice cream, and the result was a very profitable business when they sold it.

If you use the approach of giving items away then make it a relevant product, and if that means spending a few hours producing it or paying someone to produce it for you, then it will be time well spent. You will find that people will come back for more, and will buy from you when they know they can trust you.

Offline companies give many items which are seen as free gifts and people are used to seeing "Buy one get one free" or you get extra points if you buy this item. It is a careful strategy because it is not on all their products. Some times it is an item that is not selling too well, other times it is too much stock.

If you give away something don't let there be a hidden agenda as less people will get it from you. Examples of how to do this is at http://www.lionel1.com/.

Give away and let them choose to come back to your site time and time again. Look at it as advertising, and then see how successful you have been with that type of marketing approach.