18 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
18 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

EBOOK OR 7 DAY MINI COURSE

by M.T.
15 replies
Hi Wariors,

I have for some time been giving away ebooks to build my list with a optin box on my blog which works,

however recently i have been in discussion with another fellow internet marketer who has a optin box for a mini internet marketing course,

which is basically 7 emails and he sends out 1 each day with some valuable content.

Which would you say would create the most or fastest sign ups?

Have any of you on here tried both ways?

What would YOU prefer to see on a blog or website? both op-tin boxes would have good graphics..

Thanks

MT
#day #ebook #mini
  • Profile picture of the author Nicholas William
    give the same content away in both formats. Some people like instant gratification, others perceive the mini course to be more valuable
    Signature
    Words can't explain how excited I am with facebook advertising... I promise to share more in the new year! www.enicholas.com
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1132792].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author David Walker
    I use both.

    I advertise thefree ebook then when they have opted in I also tell the subscriber they can expect an email from me over the next 7 days. Summarises the content in the ebook.

    David
    Signature
    Download My Private Collection of 100 "Copy & Paste Profit Templates" That Have Earned My Clients & I Multiple Thousands of Dollars Online... For FREE!
    More Cool Stuff: My Blog | Need Traffic? Mine Converts... | Special Bonus (Just Because!)
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1132798].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author JAIDEEP2959
      Sending 7 day mini course is the better option as the recipient feels related to you and does not feel like getting scammed.

      If you sell him after giving 1 free ebook, he/she feel rushed into buying.
      Signature
      FREE: Make Money from Untapped Market of using PC Speakers for TV
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1132812].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author mikeyman120
      I also do both. I offer a free ebook and in my bullet points I mention I will sign them up for my internet marketing newsletter. See affiliate ebook in my sig below for example.

      Mike
      Signature
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1132815].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Paul Ransom
        I believe the 7 day course will provide better list retention and customer actions (leads, sales, affiliate commissions, etc.)

        But you can easily split test both methods and know for sure which works best for your market.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1132851].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author Jay Truman
          no experience with this, but remember some top marketers explaining that a 'x/xx' day course could delay/stop the buying process because the prospect will have the option to wait the 'x/xx' amount of days to get the free information instead of having the urge to purchase right away.

          im sure there are more factors than that, but something to think about.

          people like instant gratification, so i'd say give them it all at once and follow up with them with content from the report/ebook.

          good luck
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1132874].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Dukester2
    Banned
    [DELETED]
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1132848].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
      I like the presentation control and 'permanence' of the free eBook.

      So far as the presentation I can easily include attention getting pictures and links, affiliate or my own, in the book. With an email, I have to assume that they'll be opening my mail in a protected, text only, mode without links or pictures active. Secondly, in a free eBook, I don't have to worry about not using 'free' or any other spam flag words when I'm writing, no silly f*ree stuff.

      People tend to keep stuff around that they downloaded while they're likely to click the delete button after reading an email. If your information is good they're more likely to send a PDF to a friend or make it available to download for their forum friends than putting together 7 scattered emails to send along.

      Of course, the 7 day mini course is a good way to see how well marketers follow thru and the quality of their info. I know I've signed up for a few 7 day courses where the list owner never sent the whole course or the course was lame rehashed Wikipedia material.
      Signature
      Product Reviews | Earn Online Cash | Free HTML Templates
      Free WordPress Themes: Boring Memo | Dateless Mini-Site | Info Magazine | 100 Twenty-Ten Niche Headers
      Discount Templates, Graphics and Scripts: Templates for Website
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1132880].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author AyaImmortal
    Both methods work very very well, I personally suggest using a 7 day mini course because the retention rate for those tend to be a bit better.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1132987].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Midas3 Consulting
      Ryan Deis will argue that the mini courses tend to prolong the buyers transaction as they wait until they have recieved all the free stuff before purchasing and indeed may end up not purchasing at all as the impetus has evaporated, for his niches he found an overall decrease in sales.

      I split test in a health niche between offering the PDF as an instant download and sending the mini course and the single PDF resulted in the increased sales, so goes to show, what works for one scenario doesn't always work for everybody.

      What we finally settled on was advertising the PDF as a free course on how to achieve XYZ, gave them that on day 1, then halted all communication for 3 days, then started sending them more valuable free information pertaining to the content of the e-book. This in turn increased sales further as we caught the initial people who thought no further content would be being sent but also caught those who were dragging their heals and had not purchased based on the e-book alone.

      I've found this the best combination for sales as it allows you to capture both type of purchaser and keep in constant contact with the potential buyer.

      The only proviso here is that the content you give away has to be top class, literally at the same level of the stuff you're charging for.

      One small thing we trialled as well was that we converted a couple of the chapters into a mp3 and provided it online in streaming format with a link underneath to our order page with the buy button front and center.

      That increased conversions by about 8%.

      Note , providing the audio as a download proved less succesful, as I guess they download it, move away from your page and buy button etc.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1133013].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author geoffcruz
    i asked the same thing last week and most of the answers was ecourse, so i went with the ecourse
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1133018].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author ADAMw3
    I would definitely do both. Reason being is that there are some people out there that want immediate information quickly. These people want the free ebook.

    Others want more information over the course of a week or so. These people would be more interested in the 7-day course obviously.

    By providing both, everyone will be happy which means more opt ins for you.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1133232].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author MarcMilburn
    I like the idea of a 7 day mini-course for a couple of reasons.

    1. It implies a higher perceived value and would also suggest that you're going to give them more information.

    2. It gets them used to receiving e-mails from you when you continue to e-mail them after the mini-course has finished.

    3. Some people will download the eBook to their computer with the intention of reading it later and never get round to it. I've signed up for hundreds of IM free reports, saved them to my hard drive and then not looked at them.. which means the authors are e-mailing me with offers afterwards and I'm not interested because I haven't read anything they've given me so far.. its not the Internet marketer's fault but could have a negative impact.

    It just feels much easier and less time consuming to read a little bit every day for 7-10 days than to read a whole ebook.

    Just my thoughts...
    Signature

    "Discover The Simple Niche Marketing System That Banked As Much As $4,928.34 In Just 24 Days... From Scratch!"
    http://www.FastProfitsFormula.com

    http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...-discount.html

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1137308].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Moneyland
      great helpful info here and I think I will use both. Can I ask - how many emails would you say you need to send - just 7 over 7 days or do you need to send more over a longer period? Some people I have subscribed to myself have sent me emails over many months so I am unsure how many I need to send and over what period?

      Also how many links to your product do you put in the free ebook guide? I know it needs to come across helpful and informative, I am thinking just one link at the end is not really enough and would really appreciate your comments and any suggestions as i don't want to come acrosstwo pushy either.

      Thanks in advance.

      Cheers if you can give any advice.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1137447].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Mandy Allen
    I have a mini course on my sales page that sends a seven day course. I only have a link to the main product at the very top and the very bottom sign off. The content in the mini course is related to the product but different, it is very good information and I hope will inspire people to buy the product which is much more in depth and larger. There are no links to other products in the book or the course. There are links to helpful sites or articles in the book though.

    Enjoy the journey.
    Signature
    Learn To Blog With Mandy Allen
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[1137490].message }}

Trending Topics