How do you feel about WSOs that are over 100 pages long?

There are a number of contradictory issues in play here:

• Honest and honourable WSO creators feel the need to give value for money so they want to make the WSO bigger to provide that value.

• Unscrupulous WSO creators want to make the buyer feel that they are getting value by offering WSOs with huge numbers of pages.

• Some people want instant success these days and the horror of having to read through 100 pages of information to get that instant fix just doesn't float their boat.

• Some people want blow by blow, screenshot by screenshot details of how to achieve the goal.

So, what do you do?

Personally, I'd look a little deeper to see what the WSO is all about. With many WSOs that say they are 50/60/100 pages long you'll find that 10 of those pages simply have the chapter heading on them and other pages have one or two paragraphs in over-large fonts; so, by the time you've taken out all the 'packaging' you're down to 20 pages anyway! My usual expectation is that the true page count will be about 50% of the advertised number.

Second, I look at the advertised content/subject. Most WSOs are a variation on a theme so unless the promoter is genuinely coming at something from a truly new and unique angle then I wouldn't expect it to need more than about 20 pages (or 40 advertised 'pages').

Look at who is promoting the WSO, look at and their background and experience. If its a name that is well known and is respected then I'd expect the marketing blurb to be more accurate (and the content more valuable) as they have a reputation to protect.

Finally, if I was promoting a WSO and it did genuinely have to be sizeable to fit everything in then I'd consider splitting it up into smaller pieces.

If I'm putting something major together I would expect it to be able to command a fairly high price. However, high prices can put people off so I'd split it up.

That way I can reduce the price for the initial offering which gives people the option to view the concept of the work and see for themselves some of the content. If I've done that properly they will then see the overall value and go ahead and buy the follow on elements.

Different people with different point of view.

Some people believe WSO with lots of pages is a sign of quality product, sometimes it is and sometimes it's not but the truth is, that a very wrong approach.

The length is purely determined by the niche or topic.

A couple of things may have happened in this situation.

Either...

The WSO thread selling the 75 page product didn't do a good job of selling the value of reading the 75 pages, or...

The person complaining equates value to the medium of the product delivery, instead of the actual context of the product.

Sad situation, either way.

Rainee

Yes, If the first 50 pages sound like:

"Let me tell you everything about me, my family, my dog, my car, my house, what I had for breakfast, and here's a detailed story about how I struggled for years before I became the awesomeness that I am today. Also check out my other products here, here, and here, and be sure to sign up to my....."

Yawn...

On the other hand, I have also purchased lengthy quality books on marketing including a 354 page book with solid information written by my friend Ewen Chia, titled: "How I Made My First Million on the Internet and How You Can Too!"

I think that most books that are professionally published and properly edited for fluff, will in most cases contain useful to the point information back to back, no matter how many pages long.

With WSO's however, it's pretty much up to the author to decide whether to fluff or not to fluff.

If the content's legit and not a bunch of filler, page length means nothing whether it's 10 pages or 200. Case in point - quite recently an 81 page product was made WSO of the day. No fluff.

Depends a bit on the target market too, I suppose. People seeking a shiny button that will give them an answer 'yesterday' are more keen to digest shorter products, in my opinion.

Hi guys, thanks for your replies. For the case in question, there is no fluff about bummer life story, also it's in 12 point single space, so it's not like some 40 page books I've seen here which are really a 3,500 word article blown up into a 50 page book using 18 point font and double space, and refer to this as "nouveau publishing". (One person actually did this, not using that term but that this was the new trend.)

Also, how do you feel about if you're reading a book, they start to say, in order to this to happen, you have to do this. Oh, by the way here's a link on how to do this. I mean they way I see it, if I have to go to a link on how to do this, why should I buy your book??? Once again, thanks for your replies.

The length doesn't bother me as long as it's a continuous flow of useful information.

what is a Bummers life story?

I prefer shorter, and straight to the point.

However, if I purchased an ebook that was 100 pages long...

It wouldn't bother me

It all depends...

If you give me what you're offering, and all pages contain information to that effect - I'm game. Anything outside of that, I'll be turned off, and usually won't buy from that person again.

The biggest risk is future business imo. Then again, that's always the risk when you release a product - good or bad - how does it reflect on you and your ability to teach?

Not at all turned off by it. I want it to be as many pages as it takes to provide the information promised.

I don't care if it's 1-page cliff notes, as long as it works!

I see that one person would prefer would prefer small bite size, but for the most part, most don't mind AS long as it has actionable information throughout. Thanks guys I appreciate the feedback.

However long it needs to be to get whatever the point a cross is fine with me. It could be 10 pages or 100 pages..... I don't care.

Fluff and Puff, it does seem to be the going thing these days, I purchase a lot of WSO products, sometimes its about getting a product that I might have need for in another project other times its about saving time and money.

As an example, I purchased a product (about a year ago) that promoted a method of creating kindle books out of images, (seemed something that would fit in well)

What I found though was a lot of Huff and Puff and not much else, in fact they never really even covered the subject matter at all.

(The product was cheap, in more than one way)

Turned out they were only interested in selling you on an upgrade plus an upgrade after that I think the total cost for the entire program was nearly $2500.00

(But they lost me at $7.00)

Then they proceeded to bombard me with Seminar emails, but you see they did not provide any real value in the initial product, not even the value of $7.00

If the content is good, then it does not matter how much material is present as long as it creates the right kind of environment to get the customer moving in the right direction.

People all learn differently some by visual cues, others by reading and even audio only.

If I have to read through 100 pages of information it had better be good material otherwise I will feel like the WSO seller wasted my time.

I hate to waste time and that is a big problem that so far many of the big name marketers have not really figured out.

(the human mind is capable of sustaining long form content however most of the time we tend to be conditioned to consume content in smaller chunks.)

I create Videos and I have noticed that longer videos, tend to get fewer views, while shorter videos tend to get more views.

This might be due to the fact that we live in a world where every day is filled to capacity with activities often so much that at the end of the day we find ourselves rushing around trying to get that last thing done and laying in bed at night thinking about all the things that are yet to be done.

All in all I would rather have a fantastic snack than a meal that makes me go to sleep...

If I ask what time it is...

Don't tell me how to build a watch.

Whatever length it is, so long as it serve its purpose as what it claimed to be, it is a good WSO. No point in driving a message across using 10 pages that can be achieved using 2 simple sentences.

Thank you Sarevok, Paleochora and Shaunchu for your replies.

I tend to think that more pages = more content = more value, especially if i bought the product. It's less likely that I'll find a paid product boring since I parted with my hard earned money to read it

It's different for a free WSO though. I view the information as more "cheap" and will likely just take a quick scroll through. If i don't see something interesting immediately, I hit the "x" button and possibly unsubscribe from the person's list.

A good WSO is a good WSO if it is more than 100 pages or not. It is all about quality and value. Reading less than 100 pages is easier though and there are lots of people that do not want to have to read too much. So you will sell more if it is shorter.

Definitely not! If you went to college, you read a hundred pages of content easily... and that doesn't prepare you for real life in any way. So no; I won't be deterred by a 100 page ebook as long as its not filled with OTOs and worthless information.

I think it's fine as long as the content is good and there is a need for that much info in the niche. I wouldn't mind a wso that's over 100 pages as long as the info is good!

When the soap runs out, quit rubbing!! When there is nothing left to say, stop talking.

The number of pages really doesn't matter to me, but if the material is Ho Hum stuff, I won't last 100 pages. If it's great content, 100 pages will fly by, no prob!

Its a question of Quality vs Quantity. The longer something is, doesn't mean its more valuable. I've gone through WSOs with so much fluff its hilarious. And I've gone through other WSOs who were short and to the point and the information was great.