When you get a small packet of detergent in the mail, taste a new chicken product at the grocery store, or sign up for a free trial at the gym, you are sampling the product or service. If you like it, if it’s better than your old brand, or if it meets your needs, you are more likely to buy it after you try it.

That is why sampling is one of the very best marketing techniques. Sampling is often cheaper than advertising, too. Debbi Fields, of Mrs. Field’s cookies, promoted her cookies with sampling when she first started her business. Who could resist a free cookie?

You might not have a product or service with the sensory appeal or addictive quality of Mrs. Field’s cookies, but you should still consider sampling to promote your business.

There are many ways to provide sampling. Retail stores do it with fitting rooms—try it on before you buy. Car dealers do it with the test drive. Service providers, particularly consultants often use the “free consultation” to promote their companies. And, we’ve all been to the Sam’s or Costco feeding frenzy when they have 40 different foods for shoppers to taste. (My kids thought they’d been out for lunch on many Saturdays!)

The key to sampling is to get your customer to experience your product or service—to touch it, smell it, see it, taste it, hear it.

If you sell information, articles and press releases are samples. If you make organic baby food, give samples to nurseries and hospitals. If you perform at children’s birthday parties, provide free samples at schools, parks, malls.

Sampling is especially useful when you are starting out. Usually, you have time to offer free samples, particularly of service businesses. If you are starting a house cleaning business, offer to clean one room for free so they can see how well you clean. For a tutoring business, offer one free session. For website design, offer one free page.

If you sell products online, find a good promotional item related to your business and offer a free one to those who sign up for your newsletter. It could be an add-on product, like free coasters if you sell home décor items, a free hand lotion if you sell spa products. The more expensive your key product, the more you want to choose a quality giveaway to represent your company.

If you have an expensive product and just cannot afford to give free samples, try a smaller version. For example, if you make exquisite hand-made quilts, you obviously cannot give your customers quilts for free. However, if you are trying to get a large vendor to resell your quilts, you might be able to provide quilted samples such as pot-holders or placemats which are representative of your work. You could definitely put a digital photo of one of your creations on your business card.

Action item: Come up with at least one way you can promote your business with sampling and try it this week!