The worst thing you can do in business is giving out something without getting anything in return. It doesnt have to be product purchase, it could be good will or a good word of mouth at least. Personalization of your approach is the best way to avoid this. You may give out something for free but never take the time to personalize it and to make the customer feel why things are given for free, it won't give any result!

I have one example of this.

I come to see this website <a href="http://www.cesabarre.com” target=”_blank”>www.cesabarre.com
he offers free malware or computer virus removal online, he is good with what he do and most importantly he does it for free!