How to Get More Results from Your Free Reports...

[LB]

How many times have you signed up for a list to get a free report, or downloaded a free report- but then never looked at it?

I think we all have.

Typically, marketers (like us!) use free reports to get the viewers to take additional actions like buying our products, clicking on affiliate links or just building trust for a later product launch.

None of this can happen if no one reads your reports!

So here is a simple way to get an extra chance for your prospects to read that free report you're using as a list offer.

I should warn you that this is not "black hat", "ninja" or "underground". It just common sense.

Simply put, name every single file you offer to customers with long descriptive names.

I have a PDF file on my desktop right now named "jk2009P.pdf". What the hell is that?

When you name a report descriptively you get another chance that your prospect will read it every time they come across it on their computer.

Make-Money-with-Ninja-Cats.pdf

The above tells me exactly what that file contains. AND this cuts down on support from people who lost their downloaded files.

Common sense, not sexy but too "stupid simple" not to do it.

[dvduval]

Definitely a good idea, as it is very common to get a ton of stuff in your downloads folder, and then just delete it when you are clearing stuff out.

[Lindsay Brynn]

Thanks for the tip! This is definitely true. There are files all over my desktop where I am like "what is that?" .

[Paul Buckley]

Yup. It's annoying to have to open a PDF to find out what it is because it's filename offers no hint.

[pjCheviot]

The reason they begin life with stupid names is to stop people guessing them and therefore downloading without opting in etc.

The real secret is to get your customers to rename them BEFORE saving them to wherever! Stick a little note on the download page explaining this.

Just my thoughts . . . .

[Daniel Flower]

Good tip mate. Common sense goes a long way in the internet marketing world.

Dan

[Andrew G Gowans]

Originally Posted by pjCheviot

The reason they begin life with stupid names is to stop people guessing them and therefore downloading without opting in etc.

The real secret is to get your customers to rename them BEFORE saving them to wherever! Stick a little note on the download page explaining this.

Just my thoughts . . . .

My thoughts also but you beat me to it.

Not just for opting in but for purchases also.

I am sure you are familiar with the various blackhat methods of obtaining ebooks for free, without buying or opting in.

Giving the .pdf file an obscure name doesn't eradicate the problem but certainly helps to reduce the risk.

For those who do offer free ebooks for opting in, how many make the document secure to make copying more difficult and allocate a password to the subscriber once they have confirmed?

Andrew G.

[LB]

Originally Posted by pjCheviot

The reason they begin life with stupid names is to stop people guessing them and therefore downloading without opting in etc.

The real secret is to get your customers to rename them BEFORE saving them to wherever! Stick a little note on the download page explaining this.

Just my thoughts . . . .

Shouldn't be an issue if you have things set up properly.

At minimum, the report should be in a subfolder like domain.com/folder/folder/folder/report.pdf
You can also specify your robots.txt to instruct search engines not to index it.

This really should not be a problem for a free download, there is no reason to steal free.

[Mike Hill]

Great Tip... another great tip is if you have several files you are giving away and you zip them up, make sure you put them all into one folder before you zip them, otherwise they will be scattered on the users computer. That's always aggravating...

Mike Hill

[pjCheviot]

Originally Posted by LB

Shouldn't be an issue if you have things set up properly.

At minimum, the report should be in a subfolder like domain.com/folder/folder/folder/report.pdf
You can also specify your robots.txt to instruct search engines not to index it.

This really should not be a problem for a free download, there is no reason to steal free.

Why put it way, way down a folder tree?

Not so much "stealing free" but - them getting the download without you getting the opt-in details!

Also any "free" downloads should be zipped up with lots of goodies all promoting your stuff - just in case it gets "handed around" As Mike says above!

[Steve Sanchez]

You can include a psychological key in the beginning of your free report saying that the only way to get this book is from your site. If they received it any other way then they need to delete it.

How many people do you think will delete it?

[LB]

Originally Posted by pjCheviot

Why put it way, way down a folder tree?

Not so much "stealing free" but - them getting the download without you getting the opt-in details!

Also any "free" downloads should be zipped up with lots of goodies all promoting your stuff - just in case it gets "handed around" As Mike says above!

I don't think it's needed for a free report.

My point was that if you're really concerned about someone guessing a filename (who has that much time?) then putting it a few folders deep makes it nearly impossible.

Really, who cares? It's free!

I want it in peoples' hands, but optimally they are opting in first if that's my goal.

[Peggy Baron]

I have gotten in the habit of renaming pdf's to suit me, and I download them into a folder under the subject title like "PLR", "ArticleWriting" "SEO" or whatever.

I might not read it right away, but when I want to find something on the subject, I know right where to go and will read it when I'm ready.

Cheers,
Peggy

[pjCheviot]

Originally Posted by LB

I don't think it's needed for a free report.

My point was that if you're really concerned about someone guessing a filename (who has that much time?) then putting it a few folders deep makes it nearly impossible.

Really, who cares? It's free!

I want it in peoples' hands, but optimally they are opting in first if that's my goal.

I think you're missing my point - I'm agreeing with what you said in your OP - just elaborating a bit, by giving a reason for the initial stupid names. And a further reason for telling your customers to rename it something sensible when downloading.