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Do free reports/ebooks have to be long?

by aldentan
33 replies
Was wondering whether an ebook has to be of substantial length to offer real value to a person who opts in. What do you all think?

Have any of you come across free reports which are kind short, but yet awesome?
#free #long #reports or ebooks
  • Profile picture of the author Michael Mayhew
    I've seen 4-7 page reports with some valuable content.
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  • Profile picture of the author marimuda
    The short reports I've seen from some big names get down to 25-20 pages, If you can squeeze the point down on paper and represent yourself and get them convinced that they need your product with less pages, even when it is styled + images & graphs if needed. Then there is no need for a long report.
    Don't think that much abvout the length, but the quality of the content and you will be fine.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      I think it varies a lot, both from niche to niche and (perhaps more importantly) from traffic demographic to traffic demographic, depending on people's expectations and how you've described it when incentivizing the opt-in.

      I always regard the primary purpose of the "free report" (or whatever you call it) as being "to ensure that your subscribers look out for, open and read the subsequent email series". So a sense of anticipation, however one produces that, is my aim, really.

      One way to do that is to provide such valuable content that they're really impressed and start valuing anything from you. But that's only one way - there are others.

      I regard its secondary purpose as being "getting something back from the people to whom it's circulated behind my back", so I always include links to my site, and often one very small mention of a product promotion (taking great care to make sure that it looks more like an afterthought/bonus than like the reason for providing the "free report").

      I've certainly never used one as long as 25 pages, and would be very reluctant indeed to start doing that.

      I think it's important for article marketers and bloggers to use one style for their articles/blogs, free reports and email series, and to try to "make everything match" in style and tone. That way people's expectations tend not to be too disappointed. The mistake is to try to be "all things to all people". That won't be too difficult to you, Alden, with your refreshing writing style?
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      • Profile picture of the author Nightengale
        As others here have said, it varies.

        I'm a very analytical person, so I tend to want to be very thorough -- which means I tend to make mine too long.

        However, my mentor has a different take on it: she says she likes to see them shorter. The longer the freebie is, the longer it will will take your prospect to get through it. And they may never sit down and get through the whole thing!

        Your goal is for them to get through the whole thing and click the link at the end to your sales page!

        That made a lot of sense to me. I was making my reports about 15-20 pages, which is WAY too long. Don't make my mistake: equating length with value. Short freebies like tip sheets, worksheets and checklists can have just as much value as a longer report.

        Look at it this way:


        1. Direct marketing really IS a harsh taskmaster. Given the price of your product, profit margin, click-through ratio and sales ratios, you can only afford to spend X amount of time producing your report anyway.

        Plus:

        2. People have VERY short attention spans. They're used to clicking AWAY, both with their mouse and their TV remote. Don't let them click away from your site!

        It's certainly not an exact science, but using this info, you can certainly get a feel for how long your freebie should be and how much time you can spend producing it.

        Hope that helps!

        Michelle
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  • Profile picture of the author aldentan
    Wow 25 pages. i was thinking short like 10 pages or even less
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    I've seen a lot of questions lately regarding the length or number of pages for an info product. I understand that some people feel if the report doesn't have a lot of pages it must not be a very good report. But that's a huge mistake.

    Based on the "more is better" theory people load up written reports (video and audio too) with meaningless fluff to beef up the page count. Doing this, they end up shooting themselves in the foot because then word gets out that the report is loaded with fluff or filler.

    The answer to this is simple. Create a report or guide or course or whatever that explains everything the reader needs to know to accomplish the task at hand. That's it. If you absolutely feel the need to pad the page count I'd suggest you offer a resourse section where the reader may get free (or paid if absolutely necessary) tools to help with the primary goal. Other than that, you're done. Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author wfhblueprints
    I think with free reports it is about QUALITY not quantity. If you can deliver a quality report that gets the information across in a couple of pages.....why make it any longer and dilute the quality....

    Aim for quality and you will be fine....

    Chris
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  • Profile picture of the author laurencewins
    Firstly, it depends on what font size you use, the amount of images used and the amount of blank space. I have seen reports where the font is so big and everything else is too so it is 30 pages but it really condenses down to about 15 pages if you shrink the font and kill the images and white space so it is all a matter of opinion.

    Personally, I value quality over quantity every time.
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  • Profile picture of the author marimuda
    The most successful Free "ebook " in the IM niche must be the internet manifesto. Don't exactly remember how many pages it has but over 100 pages.
    I agree it is quality over quantity, but don't get to squeezy & use Photos + graphs to make the point as clear as possible.
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  • Profile picture of the author NicoleBeckett
    If I could get some solid information that really helped me out in 5 or 10 pages, I'd be far more grateful than if I got a report that rambled on and on for 20, 30, or 50 pages (and wasted my time in the process). Remember, the people reading your free reports aren't dumb. If you're padding in order to meet some "magical" page length, they'll see right through you.

    Think about it this way... when you turn on your news at night, a reporter gives you the lead story of the day in 1:30 (2:00, if you account for an anchor intro and live shots at the beginning/end). The story doesn't get padded just because 1:30 doesn't "feel" long enough for the story on the fire, the murder, or the mayor who got arrested. Viewers (and readers) want the facts presented in a way that's interesting and makes sense - no matter how long/short it may be.

    Conversely, if you had awesome information that took 50 pages to present, I'd be thrilled to read it. People will spend time reading something long if it's worth their time - but they have to get something of value out of it. Otherwise, you'll lose them in the middle.
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  • Profile picture of the author tsuccess
    I don't believe a ebook has to be long to have value.
    I suppose a good way to think of it is, the longer
    the ebook the more potential value it can have.

    Obviously, a 2-page ebook shouldn't have more value
    than a 100-page ebook.

    This is pretty much how I think of it.
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  • Profile picture of the author TinMan100
    I have read many reports/ebooks/WSO in the last month. I find my self selecting all text, copying and pasting into a text file that I can print or read easily on my phone. That way I am not chained to my desktop. This gets rid of all the superfluous white space, large fonts, etc.

    IMHO - small dense text is the best
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  • Profile picture of the author marcuslim
    I think for free reports, a short direct to the point no fluff ebook is good because there is a greater chance that the person will actually read it. If it's more than 100 pages long, they are less likely to do so, it just takes too much time.
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    • Profile picture of the author nellterry
      It's true what the pp are saying... Quality matters more than the quantity. I read something recently that said to throw page count out the window altogether. Just write what you have to say and get everything on paper. That's your product.

      Of course, if you don't have anything useful to say, then you should probably reconsider making an info product.

      People want help solving problems. Identify a niche with a problem and very few solutions already written about it online, and you have a goldmine.

      Just write well when you solve the problem for your audience and don't add fluff.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ben Gordon
    An ideal free report should range from 15-40 pages. More than 40 pages will make most readers bored and under 15 pages will likely not contain enough value and will be considered short by some. This is my opinion from years of experience and experimentation.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brendan Vraibel
    When you're creating an info product you need to have the mindset of your targeted consumer. Would you rather read 10 pages of powerful content or 30 pages of fluff and useless pictures?

    Just as a quick tip, you can always throw in some affiliate links in your short reports. If you make enough of them they can add up to a nice little passive income that you wouldn't have had otherwise.
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  • Profile picture of the author blogbucks
    I'm going to jump on the "it depends" bandwagon here. :-)

    I find people do have short attention spans but they also want great no-fluff content. Your report should address both of these things.

    If you can give them meaningful content in 5-10 pages then that's the perfect length for the report. If your reader is left feeling like you've left something out, something you've built their expectations that they are getting when they signed up for your report then you will need to go onto more detail before you satisfy them.

    Set the appropriate expectations for what they'll get out of the report. Over deliver on the quality of the content and they won't care how short or long it is. They'll thank you for the fact they can actually use what you've given them.
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  • Profile picture of the author Daniel Wilson
    I personally hate it when a report in WSO section is 1 page valuable new information and then 40 pages of basic SEO and how to register to google's gmail or something like that crap.

    You information should be useful all throughout.
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  • Profile picture of the author jamesquin
    Personally, I think quality is the most important factor. So many free reports are so badly written, full of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors and so obviously just intended to promote affiliate links. If a report is like this, even if the information is good, I personally will never buy anything promoted
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  • Profile picture of the author aldentan
    Thanks guys. Hearing all this makes me feel more enlightened. I too think it's quality over quantity.

    I guess also from my experience in reading reports (and from various courses I attended), I hate fluff and overhyped garbage. E.g. how often has some speaker or someone advertise "The best advice in the world" and it's actually some generic crap like "Don't give up"
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  • Profile picture of the author Seleon
    Personally on ebook and reports I am looking for short 5-10 pages at most content that gets straight to the point and important stuff. For stories, I did pick up a regular book or novel...
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  • Profile picture of the author GeoMasters
    Free reports just need to provide what you promised before opting in. I myself hate writing reports so I buy PLR or outsource. Lately I've been doing a lot of "enter your e-mail for a video revealing the number one secret" type of thing. The video has value and it also happens to be my sales video. I say this because it sounds like you just might not want to write a long report if you're going to give it away for free, so yea focus on providing the value you promised up front vs length.
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  • Profile picture of the author Samrath Gupta
    According to me! If the report is giving something valuable or as promised then it doesn't matters if it is written in 10 pages or 100 pages....

    Perhaps now people like short reports
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  • Profile picture of the author Thabacus
    Quantity is boring. Quality is exciting. Give attention to the detail, make it quality, and you'll be thanked and remembered no matter how short your ebook or report is.
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  • Profile picture of the author officer_iron
    Length has nothing to do with quality. I've read TONS of ebooks that are 40 pages long, but should have been condensed down to about 4 pages. Writers want to have longer ebooks, so they fill it with giant text and useless fluff just to build up the page count. Anyone with any IM experience can see right through this. I'd much rather have something that's shorter and to the point.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alex Barboza
    I don't read long ebooks or reports anymore unless I have lots of free time which is not very common.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ash R
    I have a different take on this: it depends on where you're marketing it.

    If you offer a free wso, for instance, it better be great quality. Because folks here are sharp, expect a lot, and your freebie will impact your reputation.

    But if you offer a freebie in a giveaway or through swaps, lower quality can sometimes work. People signing up through those events are on lots of lists and try to get many freebies - most of which they don't read. So if you just want to provide any other freebie, any good quality PLR product will work in these cases.

    If you're focused on providing quality, and want to write it yourself, I'd lean towards a short but fluff-free style.

    Also, your primary goal is to build anticipation, have them be happy to be on your list, and start building a relationship with them - and then ultimately sell to them. So think of providing a freebie that will do these things.

    Hope that helps!
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  • Profile picture of the author Osman_M
    Yea as everyone is saying, its all about value not quantity. To be quite honest I have read 4-10 page ebooks and they were best ones that I have ever read.
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  • Profile picture of the author ProScribe
    I think the idea that quality is more important than quantity is right. Some of the most important things I have learnt in IM could be expressed within a paragraph.

    You also see the same thing on WF when people start an informative thread which in itself could be an eBook but all the useful information can be expressed the space of a few paragraphs.

    That said there is I think percieved value in longer eBooks and I'm not sure how well how short eBook would go down if you were selling it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ben Gordon
    Yes, I agree with what others are saying here, quality will always over weigh quantity, however, your report must still be reasonable length.
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  • Profile picture of the author Elluminati
    I agree with blogbucks and Seleon. People want to cut to the chase and find out information without all the excess storytelling. Personally, I'd rather not read anything over 15 pages as my job requires reading, writing and editing all day, every day. But quality is what matters.
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