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In my last post, I wrote about the proven marketing strategy of giving away a free ebook. One of the common debated questions between online business people is how to give away your ebook. On one camp, some people say you should never give away your ebook without asking for an email address in return. There are variations to this method. Some people ask for an RSS subscription instead of an email address. On the other hand, many internet marketers say it’s better to make your giveaway truly free and not ask for anything in return.

Ask For Email Addresses or Not?

I think the answer to this question depends on your goals and your industry audience.

If your goal is reach the most number of people, you should not ask for email addresses. Many people are reluctant to giveaway their email address because they think businesses might spam them. Also, since you’ll reach more people, this means you’ll get more links and that will lead to a better SEO ranking. For example, David Meerman Scott currently has the fifth ranking for the term viral marketing with his ebook, The New Rules of Viral Marketing. He doesn’t ask for email addresses whenever he releases his free ebooks.

However, if your goal is to gain a powerful communication channel, then building an email mailing list is the right call.

Basically, it boils down to the old “quality versus quantity” dilemma. If you don’t ask for email addresses, you’ll get a lot more leads and you’ll spread word about your business and blog farther and wider across the net. But, those leads won’t be the highest quality since you won’t have a way of keeping in touch with them. If you collect email addresses, you won’t get as much traffic or as many leads, but your leads will be higher quality since you can repeatedly contact them through their email address.

Also, consider the audience of your industry. Some audiences are more receptive to giving away their email address. Other audiences like younger ones don’t even check email on a regular basis.

If you don’t know your audience well enough, it might be worth it to just test both methods. Use one method for your first ebook. After that ebook launch, wait a couple weeks and then release your second ebook with the other method. Then, compare the data and see which method brought more sales.

Also, look around your industry. What method seems to be having more success?

Both Methods Work Well

One great thing about choosing between these two methods is both methods work well. The action of giving away a free ebook puts you way ahead of most online businesses. Your task is to figure out which method is better for your business, but don’t worry too much about making the wrong choice. As long as you have a quality, relevant ebook and work hard to promote it, you’ll get great benefits with either method.

There are successful online business people and social media experts that disagree with other about the methods. Compare David Meerman Scott and Rich Schefren. Both are successful business men. They are also considered social media experts within the internet marketing community. Yet David gives away his ebooks without asking for anything while Rich uses his free ebooks to build a list.

Feedback

Which method do you think is better for your online business?

One of the proven methods for building your brand and reputation is releasing a free ebook.

Basically, you write about a relevant topic in your industry. You don’t even have to come up with something new. Many bloggers take their best blog posts and use them as the basis of their ebook. Also, you don’t have to make your ebook long. I know of a popular ebook that was less than 20 pages. I think you should aim for at least 15 pages. If you can write more, that’s great.

The Advantages of an Ebook over a Blog Post

If you’re going to base your ebook on blog posts, what is the advantage of repackaging your content in ebook format?

First, an ebook has a higher perceived value than a blog post. This is especially true if you make your ebook look professional. You can do this by getting a nice looking ebook cover, adding images where appropriate, and using other design elements like fonts, eye catching formatting, headers, footers, and icons. If you don’t have design skills, find a professional designer. Check out ChangeThis for examples of well-designed ebooks.

Second, some people like to print out what they read. Sure, they can print out your blog posts but your ebook will be formatted much better for print.

Third, free ebooks are relatively scarce in many niches. It will be a big deal whenever you release your ebook. You can accompany your ebook launch with a press release. And if you tell other bloggers and website owners about your ebook, you’ll probably get a lot of links and traffic, since you’re provided a ton of value to your industry. Because of its uniqueness and perceived value, the potential for a free ebook to spread widely and rapidly through word of mouth is much greater than a blog post.

How to Give Away Your Free Ebook

There’s some debate over the method to give away ebooks. Some people say you should get email addresses or RSS subscriptions in exchange for the ebook while others say you should give it away with no strings attached.

In my next post, I’ll talk about the pros and cons of each method.

Over to You

Have you ever created and give away an ebook? Have you ever read a free ebook?

I recently learned about HelpAReporter.com from my sister. I co-own an online dress store with her. I don’t know anything about fashion so she creates the dresses and writes the blog while I do the promotion and marketing.

I was surprised when she told me that our dresses were going to be covered on a popular site for women. She doesn’t like to do marketing so I asked her how she got this great buzz. She told me she found the lead through HelpAReporter.com.

How Does HelpAReporter.com Work?

HelpAReporter.com works very simply. Basically, you sign up with your email address and then you’re added to a mailing list. You’ll get 1-3 emails a day with queries from reporters.

Many of these reporters are website owners looking for content. If your content fits what they are looking for, your content will be published on their site and you’ll also get a link back. Some of the website owners are even looking for products to feature.

Here are a couple queries from a recent email:

• A major news company is looking for a story about regional banks.
• A career site geared for women wants business people to share their opinion regarding women’s fashion in the corporate office world.
• A blog about moms is looking for tips and products that can help families get control of their finances in 2009.
• A mainstream health magazine is looking for anecdotes about yoga and fitness.
• A health care site wants to interview a networking expert about common networking mistakes.
• A regional publication wants your opinion on the play of a high-profile college basketball team.
• A city magazine is looking for recommendations on local art galleries.
• A foodie podcaster wants to interview professional cooks, chefs, cookbook authors or food industry insiders.

As you can tell, each email will cover many different industries. Unless you’re in a totally obscure niche, you should be able to find a query (or two) that fits your business within a week.

Who Will Benefit From HelpAReporter.com?

I think any business can benefit from HelpAReporter.com. It’s especially a great tool for business owners that don’t like to do marketing. Marketing is usually all about getting out there and promoting your site. However, HelpAReporter.com is different because the reporters are coming to you with their requests.

Relevant Details

You’ll get up to three emails a day. Each email will have around 15-30 queries. The title of the emails will start with “[shankman.com]” so you can easily tell which emails are from HelpAReporter.com.

Over to You

Have you used HelpAReporter.com before? If you have, what did you think of it? If you haven’t and want another channel for promoting your site, check it out and please let me know what you think. Thanks!