Can you really learn anything new from Free Seminars?

Yes- A good quality free seminar will offer something of value and I often leave feeling inspired. I certainly endeavor to give value to people when I do free seminars. Certainly it is a marketing tool and it allows people to have an experience with me with very little commitment. Those people who want more will choose to do the paid seminar

The real paid seminar will be much more in depth and requires a bigger commitment and I gain and give much, much more.

So-yes there is a free lunch but the gormet dinner costs money.

I agree that free seminars can be worthwhile. I give them myself and I always make sure there is significant value for the attendees.

I think all workshops and conferences, free and otherwise, are really about "showing up." Especially for us indie professionals, it is easy to hide away in our offices because no one is "making" us go anywhere. But when we make an effort and show up, amazing things can happen. I think the universe works with us as soon as we show we are interested.

Free seminars work I think. In fact I think they're usually better then the ones that you pay for up front.

Good Events and Seminars are not something you whip together. I have produced many Events and a few Seminars, and each time it came down to getting something specific out of it. I could produce lunches and Happy Hours and build my chit, but I don't have a lot of money to spend and time is also a key - so every Event I produce is very important personally. I put time into it. The return is the compliments on what attendees learn and that turns into something else that's a network gem.

Every time a good event happens, people remember and come again - and in time that can develop into business and an opportunity to thrive.

I recently attended a free workshop put on by local SBA. One of the attendees shared with me that the info she got was better presented, easier to understand and more helpful than similar info she got from a workshop on similar topic that she paid $120 for.

So, I conclude it is possible to get valuable info from free workshops and, sometimes, to get better info. It depends on the source.

Also, attending gives you an opportunity to meet others with similar interests and make contacts you might not otherwise have made.

Therefore, I see a lot of value.

for some reason this thread brought me back to a seminar i went to 10 years back..

i was in the car biz at the time..i was on a selling streak like none i had ever had before. i was breaking sales records...then they sent me to a Tony Robbins seminar. i had a great time..i whooped! i hollered..and i thought i learned a lot..but then i got back to the dealership and proceeded to get into the deepest slump i had ever encountered before that time.

i don't know how well my sharing this actually fits in this particular thread.. but for some reason i was compelled to recall this.

do you think it's possible to be exposed to great info, but then it takes time for it to sink in before you learn to use it correctly? i've always wondered why that happened to me.

I think that, as everyone else has said - yes you can learn from a free seminar. Now - a trip to Las Vegas so you have to sit through a sales pitch on time-share condos, nope - you won't get a thing.

If the presenter or facilitator is ethical and smart, they will give a couple breadcrumbs of value - but as Kay Singer said - it is a marketing tool. It is the Mrs. field's cookie deal - give them a taste, and if they like it, they buy the whole thing.

I have learned from a free seminar or free introduction class. I actually had a pretty amazing breakthrough. So, it did lead me to want more - guess it worked!

I've learned a great deal from free seminars and other resources. One thing I have learned is that, sooner or later, if something is really important to me it becomes more cost-effective to pay for learning it.

But without the free resources, I might not even learn about the things I later decide to pay for.