How to tell a useful free resource from filler

Most free resources exist to collect an email address, which is a fair trade when the thing is genuinely useful and a waste of your time when it is not. These four signals separate them quickly.

Does it say what is in it before you give anything?

A resource confident in its contents lists them. One that will only tell you after the form is one where the contents are the weak part.

Is it a complete thing or an advert?

• Complete: a checklist you could work through today, a template that opens and runs, a guide that reaches a conclusion.
• Advert: three pages of introduction and a call to book a consultation.
• The test is whether it is useful if you never speak to the publisher again.

Is the format one you can actually edit?

A template delivered as a flat PDF when it should be a spreadsheet is a brochure. The format tells you whether it was built to be used or to be downloaded.

Does the gate match the value?

A one-page checklist asking for a phone number and company size is mispriced. A substantial workbook asking for an email is reasonable. The friction should be proportionate to what you receive, and when it is not, that tells you which side the exchange was designed for.