What is clear is that people need coaxing to buy things, and for some that may be bonuses to pay to attend webinars, or free stuff to get their email. The bottom line is they can be sold. Sure, some would say it's the content, but I don't think that is really it. People like feeling like they are getting more than they paid for. That's not bad, but it sets them up in a way because if someone has the "right" shiny object then they are willing to buy.
Let me give you a sample of how people are sold. Lets say Company A is pitching a webinar on publishing. They show zero proof that they have even sold books, but get some "testimonials" of supposed students to say they were great, and a person is sold. They then throw in items they value at far more than the price of the course, and another person is sold. Another person sees social proof, and they think they are getting a bargain to boot, so cha ching, hit the buy button.
The only problem with this premise is that it will always take more gimmicks to get a customer like this. They are sort of like the people who want something for nothing. They are the hardest to please and really not the people you want to buy because it will always come at a price later in the form of refunds (after they have downloaded all your stuff), reporting emails as spam (after they got the freebie, but too lazy to unsubscribe), and even some will try to ruin the seller with bogus reviews of how whatever product didn't work even though they didn't even use it.
When I was in sales for a company, one of the things we did not do was offer discounts. The reason was it was unfair to those who paid full price, and discount seekers were the most problematic customers. Over and over this proved true in other sales situations where discounts were the norm. You have to learn to target your marketing to people who buy your product because they need or want it, not because they like the gimmicks or freebies. That means targeting people who can afford your product not those who will send you emails begging to have it for free because they can't afford it or are not willing to pay for it.
There are certain rules in online selling which don't apply to the real world, but I have a feeling it is due to the gimmicks marketers have used as opposed to real rules.
