Entertain your prospects but how?

It depends on your niche and your product. I once heard Eban Pagan say it best... when Brittany Spears wants to sell lots of albums, and she is going to release a single off it, does she save the best for when they buy the album and release a crap song, or does she release the best?

Of course she releases the best, because she wants everyone to know how good her stuff is (ok, Brittany, bad example, but you get the idea).

The point is, what do you want to give away... the best part of your product. The common thought process around this is "but then they won't buy"... but this is dead wrong. If you release crap they won't buy... if you release something great, they will think "wow, imagine what the paid stuff is".

Even if you released 90% of your course for free, and charged for the "left-overs", people would still buy in droves (apart from anything else, people buy off people they like, and they would like you for giving away so much free stuff), and not only that, but they wouldn't be disappointed that they only got 10% more... because they tend to look at the value of everything they got from you, not just the last bit.

Talking about surfers on couches... you watch any of his launches... this is exactly what he does... he basically give you the product before he asks for money.

Thanks artsub ... (where the hell is the thank you button on this interface? )
one more thought:

Why wouldn't customers be disappointed if the rest is not living up to the same standard (e.g. the rest is crap)?