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Ebook creation: To link or not to link

by IMstarter
14 replies
When creating an ebook do you include affiliate links or do you leave them out?

If you include them, do you make much money from the links/do many people actually go on to purchase the product you mention?

Does putting links in the ebook decrease the perceived value?

If you have have to mention a product for example, Aweber...is it better to just put a normal non affiliate link in or is more of a case of 'if I'm going to link to them anyway I may as well make some money out of it?'
#creation #ebook #link
  • Profile picture of the author James Fame
    Originally Posted by IMstarter View Post

    When creating an ebook do you include affiliate links or do you leave them out?

    If you include them, do you make much money from the links/do many people actually go on to purchase the product you mention?

    Does putting links in the ebook decrease the perceived value?

    If you have have to mention a product for example, Aweber...is it better to just put a normal non affiliate link in or is more of a case of 'if I'm going to link to them anyway I may as well make some money out of it?'
    I would declare it in the legal portion of the book, that you receive commissions for recommendations. It's in some compensation disclosures on sites too. When you sell a book, for example on hypnosis, I don't think it would be unethical if you got a fee for recommending a book.

    What you must NOT do is to deceive the customer by telling him it's not an affiliate link, and then linking as an affiliate.

    James Fame
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    Fire me a pm if you have a question. I build businesses and provide consulting. I do not do finance/money/internet marketing niches. Fitness, self-improvement and various others are welcome.

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  • Profile picture of the author KevinChapman
    I'll include affiliate links if I really think that the product will help my readers but I also includes links to my other products but again only if it'll benefit the reader.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brannigans
    Like all things it depends...

    To be honest though, in my opinion, if you are giving away a free ebook the chances are you want to build credibility and trust for your site / brand / whatever you are promoting.

    I know that when I read an ebook I find affiliate links scattered through out it everytime someone mentions Aweber, hostgator, etc distracting and totally pointless.

    You want people to be focussed on your content, not constantly distracted by excessive outside links.

    Links back to your site in the footer etc can be a good idea. It helps to build up the cred and recognition of your site.

    If in doubt I'd keep all affiliate links on your site and leave them out of your ebook. At the end of your ebook I'd have 1 link back to your site and a call to action.

    Something like. "I recently wrote a step by step guide to getting started with Aweber" And then your readers will click back to your site and follow your AFFILIATE link over to Aweber.
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    • Profile picture of the author IMstarter
      Originally Posted by Brannigans View Post

      Like all things it depends...

      To be honest though, in my opinion, if you are giving away a free ebook the chances are you want to build credibility and trust for your site / brand / whatever you are promoting.

      I know that when I read an ebook I find affiliate links scattered through out it everytime someone mentions Aweber, hostgator, etc distracting and totally pointless.

      You want people to be focussed on your content, not constantly distracted by excessive outside links.

      Links back to your site in the footer etc can be a good idea. It helps to build up the cred and recognition of your site.

      If in doubt I'd keep all affiliate links on your site and leave them out of your ebook. At the end of your ebook I'd have 1 link back to your site and a call to action.

      Something like. "I recently wrote a step by step guide to getting started with Aweber" And then your readers will click back to your site and follow your AFFILIATE link over to Aweber.
      I agree that Aweber, hosgator etc links are annoying. A lot of people try to push these affiliate programmes and customers will have probably come across them several times which is distracting.

      Getting them back to the site where the link affiliate product is at is a good idea and it's the route that I will take.
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  • Profile picture of the author retsced
    When creating an ebook do you include affiliate links or do you leave them out?

    Only if they're relevant and beneficial to the reader. I lose all respect for people who place affiliate links inside reports for the sole purpose of making money.

    If you include them, do you make much money from the links/do many people actually go on to purchase the product you mention?

    Depends on the quality of the eBook. If it blows them away, then chances are they'll click on the links.

    Does putting links in the ebook decrease the perceived value?

    Not if they're relevant and are for products you already use, and you know will give value to the person.

    If you have have to mention a product for example, Aweber...is it better to just put a normal non affiliate link in or is more of a case of 'if I'm going to link to them anyway I may as well make some money out of it?'

    If your eBook teaches people how to set up email campaigns using a service like Aweber, then an affiliate link is fine IMO. You should obviously tell them it's an aff link though.

    However, if you're just briefly mentioning email marketing, but are not teaching anything about it, you're clearly only placing an affiliate link there to make money. That's selfish IMO, and I wouldn't trust any other link you present to me in the future.
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonlwe
    When creating an ebook do you include affiliate links or do you leave them out?
    Yes. But only if they're relevant to the content and knowledge of my ebook. And also, I'll tell them that that's my aff. link and if they don't wanna buy it through there. I have another link which links to the same thing but with no affiliate ids.

    If you include them, do you make much money from the links/do many people actually go on to purchase the product you mention?
    If you don't include them, will you even make money from affiliate linking?

    Does putting links in the ebook decrease the perceived value?
    More or less, it's a yes.

    If you have have to mention a product for example, Aweber...is it better to just put a normal non affiliate link in or is more of a case of 'if I'm going to link to them anyway I may as well make some money out of it?'
    I'll say put both links and let them choose. It's much of a respect.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    Be sure to control your aff links by pushing them through a redirect of which you own.
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    • Profile picture of the author Craftaway
      Just a suggestion:

      If you decide to include affilliate links, you must disclose that you are an affilliate somewhere in your book (disclosure law). Consider putting something in your legal disclaimer (at beginning of book) like, "items designated with "*" are affilliate links. These are items I personally use and recommend (if that is true). I do receive a small commission for every referral and if you are interested in any of these items/services I would appreciate you using my link to these providers which can be found at the back of the book on the "Resources" page".

      Then, add that page in the back and put your links all in one place.

      Again, just an idea

      Kim
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    • Profile picture of the author IMstarter
      Originally Posted by John Romaine View Post

      Be sure to control your aff links by pushing them through a redirect of which you own.
      What exactly do you mean by control?
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      • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
        Originally Posted by IMstarter View Post

        What exactly do you mean by control?
        Well, instead of just putting the affiliate links in your ebook pointing directly to the destination, point them to your own domain with a redirect that you control. This way if the affiliate links change, or the affiliate program changes (or there are any changes for that matter which may affect your links and render them useless) you can make the necessary amendments inline with those changes.

        Otherwise, you risk publishing and distributing an ebook that ends up full of dead links. Thats not cool if you end up selling hundreds or thousands of copies.

        Make sense?
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  • Profile picture of the author rmolina88
    Putting affiliate links in your Ebooks is one of the best strategies for getting additional income aside from the initial sale/download. Just make sure you let your readers know in the disclaimer.
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  • Profile picture of the author Omiro
    Link

    I've never seen an e-book from one of those "gurus", or anyone else for that matter, that wasn't affiliate linking to a product or service they were mentioning.

    You'd be crazy not to link considering your book is going to get pirated as soon as you release it
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  • Profile picture of the author ContentWritingPhD
    Banned
    You should include affiliate links. The reason is simple. Note that your eBook with be shared to different document hosting sites all around the world and if your book goes viral, you know that there’s a good chance for you to earn a lot of money.

    While it’s true that others would get really annoyed with affiliate links, I still feel like including them will be beneficial for you. If there would be complaints, I don’t think there’ll be lots of them.
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  • Profile picture of the author lizbot
    I doubt it's relevant, given that you're largely talking about services like Adweber and so on, but it's worth mentioning that Amazon's Affiliate program forbids the inclusion of their affiliate links in eBooks.
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