I have to challenge you on something you said.

"Let’s take a free ebook… An ebook is just a digital pile of crap. It doesn’t cost anything to reproduce.  You don’t have to get accepted by a publishing house.  You have to print it out or sit in front of your computer screen and read it. Everyone knows an ebook is as worthless as a jar of dirt."

Looking at the upper right hand column of this page, you see Clayton is giving away free ebooks when you subscribe. Are those  "as worthless as a jar of dirt." I think not!

Now I would have subscribed without the free ebooks Clayton was offering, but they did make a great bonus gift for subscribing.

We sell some ebooks. Like a Stop Smoking program,  an ebook called Vinegar Magic with over 300 uses of vinegar, and various other ebooks.

Personally, when I read a book such as Gene Schwartz’s "Breakthrough Advertising" It really bothers me to mark up the pages. So I would prefer to have it in ebook format so I can print it off and mark up the pages, and then when I am going to re-read it I can print the pages I had previously marked up, and have a clean fresh copy and not be distracted by prior notes.

Also, consider…

Why do you buy books (hard cover), DVD’s, Tape sets, etc? For the physical product or for the information contained in it?

Ebooks can contain extremely valuable information too.

That being said, I do find quite a number of ebooks filled with crap, and written by people who don’t know what they are talking about, or just repeating the same old same old everyone else is saying.

‘to be FREE or not to be FREE’

dilemma re my eBook for a few days.

Word on CW Street is that I should charge, but I have decided to give it FREE.  So how to avoid the word ‘free’?

I was wondering if I played on the word ‘priceless’ if this would work?

All the best,

Jason

I’d like to add one more. As many of your know, the bulk of my business is in the investment newsletter field. In addition to selling investment newsletters, I also do a ton of lead generation where we give away a FREE report to capture a name.

Unlike most lead generation pieces that simply "tease" you about the secret stocks that will build your wealth (that you’ll get, of course, in our FREE REPORT), I actually give away a name or an investing idea of value. This runs counter to what many people do today. However, I have found it to be quite effective. That way the readers actually profits from reading my lead generation piece before they enter their name to receive their FREE report.

This is what I mean when I say you need to create a value-based message that: Counters the skeptics.Exudes leadership and trust. Demonstrates real value just in reading it.

The reason I believe that this strategy works is that you have already given the reader a "sneak preview" of what they can expect to receive in their free report. My aim is to get my prospect thinking, "Wow if Mr. Investment Advisor is giving me one of his top stock picks here (on the signup page) with risk, cost, or obligation to do anything, I can only imagine what I’ll read in his FREE REPORT."

This is what I mean when I say…"…the pitch you use to get people to sign up for your e-zine must have its own inherent value. They must feel richer from reading it – whether or not they sign up."

Signing up then becomes a continuation of the value people received from reading your sign-up page and the beginning of a relationship, not just another FREE offer.

My advice: On your next lead generation piece try giving a way a few solid gold nuggets of real and actionable information. In other words, add a little bit of "teach" to your "tease" without, of course, giving away the store. You may find, as I have, that "Your FREE report then becomes the icing on the cake, and not the cake."

All good wishes, Doug

Come on… You know Doug is just fishing for readers.  =)

You have to sell the freebie.  Unless you can convince Mr. Prospect that you can solve their big problem in a short amount of time or instantly, then no opt-in for you.

Let’s take a free ebook… An ebook is just a digital pile of crap. It doesn’t cost anything to reproduce.  You don’t have to get accepted by a publishing house.  You have to print it out or sit in front of your computer screen and read it. Everyone knows an ebook is as worthless as a jar of dirt.

But some of us might be able to get opt-ins by giving away a napkin with writing on it if it delivers the right benefit. 

All the best,

Jason

And I definitely think your target market makes a huge difference as does the source of the traffic and how you drive that source to the landing page. 

Please share your findings when you have the data to support or refute your "theory"

But I disagree that it is dead.

The approach needs to change…and differentiation is the key if you choose to use the word "free."  Your "free" offer needs to be different from those typically done in the marketing world.  Like a U.S.P. , your "F.S.P. (free selling proposition)" needs to  change with the times.

Maybe a free ezine by itself is tough to market, but a a free copy of a physical book with a subscription to an already "free" ezine included works.

It’s all about the value proposition, and if you figure that people online like something physical to hold, it can work in certain campaigns.

There are a number of very successful marketers offering this already.  They use the word free, and sometimes actually make the physical product offer totally free…but in most cases just charge a nominal amount for postage etc…

That being said…

I do believe that we are in a trend that will end up where "free" marketing will eventually die.  The different approaches will cease to be effective…and thus result in what Doug printed here…the death of "free" marketing.

Thank you for the excellent conversation starter Doug!

Joseph Ratliff
Author of The Profitable Business Edge 2