Sell e-book or give away for free?

23 replies
Anyone tried both selling and giving it away for free?

I've just about finished my e-book. It's now in the proof reading stages.

I'm just wondering whether people have had more success selling their ebooks or putting it up for free? I guess both have their advantages but I'm wondering which made them more money 3-6 months down the track?

I'm guessing giving it away for free (requiring people to enter their email so you can build your email list) is better long term as you can build a list by giving it for free and not to mention you'll surely get a lot more people interested than if it cost money, but selling it for a decent price (I'm think no more than $5 for mine since it's fairly short) would be beneficial short term. But I'm thinking medium term, which will provide more success?
#ebook #free #give #sell
  • Profile picture of the author gcbmark20
    Hi,

    I think you've pretty much answered the question yourself within the post.

    WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

    More subscribers?

    New BUYERS?

    Do you want to release it as a WSO?

    Then you could attract affiliates too of course.

    As you say if it is a SHORT report then FREE may be the BEST option.

    But I haven't seen it so maybe even though it is SHORT it may have some of
    the greatest content within it that the world has ever seen.

    WHAT VALUE do you put on it compared to what you've seen else where
    online?

    You have to get used to making your own business decisions sooner or
    later.

    IT WILL SET YOU FREE!

    It will give you that experience that money cannot buy.

    Don't worry about it too much.

    Or you won't take any action whatsoever.

    Do what is best for you and your business and your future leads and customers.
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    • Profile picture of the author AffEngineer
      One thing I've started to do on my blog that's worked REALLY well is to give the ebook to anyone that shares a particular post. Any post I want ranked I tell them to share and send me a screenshot as proof. I've been increasing in serps like crazy since they're all organic!
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  • Profile picture of the author giulio74
    You can give away a short report of your ebook for free
    then once they are registered to offer them the complete book

    or give a discount to those who register book to your list

    or you can do both things

    in doing so, get members to list and sell the book.
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    • Profile picture of the author criniit
      It is great that you are thinking about the medium/long term rather than just making a quick buck like most people are on the WF.

      I have done it both ways, releasing an ebook for a small price tag $7 price point and giving it away from free. I can tell you without a doubt you will make a lot more money giving it away for free and building your list.

      But before you do that make sure you have a follow up sequence in place that will both educate your list but make you money as well.

      I know you said you wanted to make some money in the "medium" term, what you could do is put some recommended affiliate links inside of the ebook itself. Also you could add an OTO (one time offer), when people grab the ebook for free you send them to a page (before the download page) offering them a product or service for a small charge.

      Best of luck with your ebook!
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  • Profile picture of the author forthright
    I like to throw in ebooks as added value with other products. Since ebooks are relatively cheap to make so you can include them as instant downloads once a sign up or purchase is made. This has worked nicely in the public records niche. Someone purchases a background check and on the checkout page a free ebook is included. Helps sales.
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  • Profile picture of the author forthright
    I like to throw in ebooks as added value with other products. Since ebooks are relatively cheap to make you can include them as instant downloads once a sign up or purchase is made. This has worked nicely in the public records niche. Someone purchases a background check and on the checkout page a free ebook is included. Helps sales.
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  • Profile picture of the author karlmay1980
    If its good give it away, then take the content from it and build that into a course (Video or Audio) or even a live boot camp for high ticket sales.

    At the end of the book link to the sales page for the high value stuff and you will make money from them, add a few extra bonuses too but the fact its the same content in general doesn't mean you can't charge high ticket prices.

    You don't need many buyers to be making good money, you will build your list quick and have people raving about it if you deliver on the free book first which can go a long way to selling the course when it comes to it.

    You could also ad in a one time offer for the course after they subscribe saving the quick movers some money even before they download and read the book.
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  • Profile picture of the author ideachaser82
    It's a win win situation. You can sell it for about $5 and make decent money or you can give it away when people sign up to your mailing list. Or what you could is when you write the ebook, you could just only sell it first to see how well sales will do then then next time you can give it away for free. It's all up to you on what you want to do as a business and profit decision.
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  • Profile picture of the author lotsofsnow
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    • Profile picture of the author onpointinfo
      Hi

      Here are some steps to take to help you make a decision !

      Its to late to do the 1st step but could do this in the future

      1) Advertise your ebook via ppc to see if it sells before you create it , and if you get orders then tell them that you need to refund their money, because you are updating the ebook and did not finish yet, but now you know it sells

      2) Split test 2 different ads to see which of the titles perform better, which will tell you 2 things ! (1) WIll it sell or (2) which of the 2 ebook titles gets better responses from your ppc advertising and assign that title to your ebook since now you know for sure that people respond better to that title for the ebook

      Note:
      If money is not an issue, you could save a lot of time and money before you create an ebook for any niche that you are unsure of by just simply testing and advertising it. This is not necessary to be successful, but if the budget permits, it is just one way to test the market and to help you make decisions...and more !

      Now, if it does not sell well, you could offer it still for free to build your list !

      Just my 2 Cents ;>)

      is not an issue toad some unexpected in, then if you get orders, you simply tell them you had some issues and Before you make a decision, do a split test on 2 different titles of your ebook

      2) See If you have not tested the title of your ebook, you really do not know what type of responses you are going to get when you start trying to sell it
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    • Profile picture of the author karlmay1980
      Originally Posted by hpgoodboy View Post

      It is better to sell it first and later on give it away for free.

      If you give it away right away you devaluate it and if you sell it first you add value.

      A free eBook isy shally some re- hashed junk. If you want to sell it you have really make sure it's good.

      If you then give it away later the people who download it will have a much higher opinion of your work and you as the author.

      By the way this is based on experience and it is something that I am doing.
      I disagree with a few points made here.

      The bit that a free ebook is usually rehashed junk is wrong, maybe most are but thats not to say theirs is, its been written with selling in mind and will be the same whether its given away or not.

      You might be right that some have the perception that free ebooks are rehashed junk but thats not going to change just because you sold it first for $5, you can barely buy a cup of coffee for $5 these days so the likelihood an ebook that sold for $5 is going to be give much more value than one that has always been free is not really going to be the opinion of most people. It might change if it was sold for $97 first and proof was shown before opting in.

      Your point that a book is devalued by giving it away first is also wrong, think real world books... What do authors do when books are published before they go on general sale? Give them to influential reviewers, media that sort of thing for reviews and to build up buzz.

      You might say but the average ebook seller isn't a famous author so thats not going to work, think Kindle then where most publishers are independent, what do most courses teach to build up buzz and get reviews? Give it away via the KDP program for 5 days.

      There is no devaluation there, you just have to have the right things in place to collect the reviews and buzz from happy readers.

      Then even if you want to sell it later you have these to help convince people to pay, price is irrelevant if it does what it says.

      My other point is if you put an ebook out for free and its always going to be that way you can never devalue something thats free.

      Just my opinion.
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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    Give it away if you want to get on the radar. A Free ebook might do a better job than a sales page if you know what you're doing. The key is to get people to KNOW you so they can LIKE you. If they LIKE you, they can TRUST you. People only BUY from people they TRUST. Seriously.

    You can't trigger the buying process without this familiarization process. See The Buying Process - How To Convert Potential Customers Into BuyersWillTan.com (not my site)
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    • Profile picture of the author Solarstone
      Thanks for the responses guys. It's only a 20 page e-book so I'll give it away for free to build a list for now. I plan on writing a few more e-books, most likely longer ones and I'll put those up for sale and see how it goes. I guess I won't know until I try it myself.
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  • Profile picture of the author workoutstuff1
    If its an e-book that you have created, there is a middle of the road way to handle it.

    Make a posting on this section of the WF: Wanted - Members Looking To Hire You

    Let people know that you are looking for reviewers and that you are willing to give them a review copy in exchange for a review, and ask them to PM you for more details.

    Then after you get some reviews under your belt, launch a WSO, and post the reviews. or ask people to post their reviews on the thread itself, or the WSO thread.

    With that being said, if you PM me I can take a look at it, and give you a review if you wish.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alice12345
    Sell it first and then give it free if the sale is not good. =)
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  • Profile picture of the author Vickcarty
    Dear! Your decision depends on your mission! If your mission to build list then it is a good decision to sell to fir free. But if you are having some other aim then not! But using a free ebook is a convertible strategy for getting solid leads! Use sites like resell rights and get a huge number if list!
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    • Profile picture of the author marketingdynasty
      I think you should give it away for free to add value and build your list. Make your subscribers fans of yours. Make them know that you provide valuable information, so when it comes time to buy one of your products they are more likely to buy it.
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  • Profile picture of the author amuro
    Originally Posted by Solarstone View Post

    Anyone tried both selling and giving it away for free?

    I've just about finished my e-book. It's now in the proof reading stages.

    I'm just wondering whether people have had more success selling their ebooks or putting it up for free? I guess both have their advantages but I'm wondering which made them more money 3-6 months down the track?

    I'm guessing giving it away for free (requiring people to enter their email so you can build your email list) is better long term as you can build a list by giving it for free and not to mention you'll surely get a lot more people interested than if it cost money, but selling it for a decent price (I'm think no more than $5 for mine since it's fairly short) would be beneficial short term. But I'm thinking medium term, which will provide more success?
    You may want to give away the first 2 chapters - including Introduction if you got one for free.

    Build a squeeze page with either Kompozer, Optimize Press or some other landing page software or plugin you can find highlighting those as main headline.

    At the same time, provide bullet points on what your prospects will get upon subscribing for your free report and list.

    Once they filled in their name and email, simply redirect them to your offer of the free e-book and at the same time, email them with the actual download link of the first 2 chapters.

    Put your banner - which you should be able to create easily with the tools you can find on Google or Youtube or outsourced to Fiverr - on the download page linking to your full e-book offer.

    If they still did not buy for whatever reason, simply follow up with them on whether they received the first 2 chapters and then explain why they should get your full e-book before giving them your link again.

    If you can do videos, that will be much better as videos together with e-book have a much higher perceived value.

    With e-book, you can only charge between $5-27. With e-book and videos, you can charge between $17-47.
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  • Profile picture of the author jamescanz
    Originally Posted by Solarstone View Post

    I'm just wondering whether people have had more success selling their ebooks or putting it up for free?
    Sell sell sell !

    When I first started online I gave away all the good stuff for free...

    Was no wonder why I never made any sales
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  • Profile picture of the author JerryKuzma
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    Many of us have learned a hard lesson on this topic.....but some of the responses above were very good.

    However, let's boil it down to something simple: GIVE away something of medium value, then follow up with a PAID OFFER with a higher value.

    So, give away 2 chapters (or an AUDIO of those 2 chapters---that's what I tell my clients to do), and then lead the prospect to a paid offer for either the full book, an audio book, or an audio/video/pdf package.

    The best of both worlds, using the same content!

    Be encouraged.....

    Jerry Kuzma
    Perissos Media
    UK
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  • Profile picture of the author linathinfotech
    All depends on your goal. If its a unique one, you can give a free sample and then charge for a full e-book. Free is the best way to build mail list but its not necessary with that list, you will again get success. Just give a sample for free.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sheryl Bagley
    I think free is the answer. Either you're giving part of it or full content.
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  • Profile picture of the author davidaclark
    Free but make sure you have links in it to relevant paid products. That way you get the best of both worlds, you give the ebook away for free to build your list and you make money from the product(s) it promotes.
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  • You can give FREE report and sell your main ebook for a cost.

    As long as there is value in what you are offering, you should charge it and not give away for free
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