If you mean business, watch, then read what's below the video... then watch my other videos and read what I've written about them. Then act.

This is how it works if you want to make money

• Step One (per earlier video): Give the people what they want. Ask not how you can make money, but what you can provide that people want or need. Figure out how you can provide something that people will value more highly than they value a certain amount of money
• Step Two (per this video): Actually give them something that they want, without thought of money.

(Keep reading to learn how this works and get a teaser on the next step.)

How can you make money by giving stuff away?

I'm not talking about the late-night TV "Order now and get a free gift" type of giving stuff away, either. I'm talking about actually giving stuff away -- and not just cheap schwag with your logo on it -- good stuff. It has to be good or nobody will buy anything from you.

This works because any business' most valuable asset is its reputation, its brand. Building a brand is about building trust. What better way to build trust than to give something away?

"Great," I can hear you sneering, "So how does this get me paid?"

You're not giving away the orchard, just a couple of tasty apples. If people like the apples, the cross-sell and the upsell take care of themselves. You give away a couple of Golden Delicious apples, and the customer buys a bag of them, plus a bag of Red Delicious. While they're there, they might get a jug of cider or a warm apple fritter. The fritter might taste so good that they pick up a booklet containing delicious recipes to make with apples.

That's just one example, but I can think of similar examples in a thousand businesses. Say you ran a gutter cleaning business in the fall. You might offer to clean one gutter for free. After the homeowner saw how nice it was, they'd probably want to have the other gutters cleaned. Better than having to buy a new roof. More than that, you've got a prospect for your winter snow-removal business and your summer lawn maintenance business.

You see how that works? Give stuff away and build your brand.

Next installment: Up-selling and cross-selling. You should subscribe.