ree has been around forever.

In fact, you may think the word "free" in advertisements has worn out its welcome. That it's a tired word that has lost its appeal.

But you would be wrong.

The word free, along with free offers, free information, and free gifts still dominate the advertising world. The appeal of getting something for nothing is timeless, and is still effective today, when it is done correctly.

If you are going to offer something free, do not offer junk. Whatever you offer must have value. It's even better if it has high value.

You see, the world is filled with poorly structured offers, where businesses try to get away with doing things as cheap as possible. In the end, it comes back to bite them. Consumers are savvy. They're not going to respond if they see through your offer.

But if you offer value, consumers will reply by the score.

You can see this principle in action in numerous markets where the first product is offered just for the cost of shipping. For instance, I've seen one company offer to send a hardbound, gold-leaf version of Moby Dick for just the cost of shipping. It seems to do very well.

If you make an offer like this, how do you make money?

Through back-end marketing, of course. In the example I just gave, by agreeing to receive your free copy of Moby Dick, you're also agreeing to receive a new book in the series every 30 days. You must pay full retail for the books that follow, or send them back to avoid being charged.

Now, if this company were simply selling classic novels for full retail price up front, their response rate would be quite low. But by offering a high-value product for free on the front-end, they get many more people to reply than normal.