Do you like to get things for free? Sure- everyone does! Your readers are no different. This is why you should strongly consider offering a free eBook on your blog or web site.
An eBook is typically a PDF file of a collection of blog posts pertaining to one subject, a report, manual, or book which can be downloaded and read using the popular Adobe Reader (download it for free) or some alternative PDF reader. To create a PDF, you could buy the Adobe Acrobat program or you can download free (or trialware) software programs which does the same thing. Some people make a living by creating and selling eBooks but some create eBooks simply to give away. Here are some reasons why you should consider doing this:
Promote Your Business and/or Service: This is obviously the number one reason to offer an eBook. For example, say you own hobby shop which specializes in baseball cards. You could put together an eBook on how to collect baseball cards for someone who is new to the hobby. The goal would be to first provide value to the reader- then promote your store with a simple page containing a picture of your store front, address, hours, email and URL, along with what your store specializes in.
Entice People To Subscribe To Your Blog’s RSS Feed or Newsletter: You may have noticed some bloggers offer a free eBook (or report) when you sign-up for their RSS feed or newsletter. It has been proven that offering a freebie like this does increase the number of subscribers your blog’s RSS feed and/or newsletter has.
Builds Trust: If you write a fantastic eBook pertaining to your topic and it offers your audience some useful advice or helps them with a problem- your audience will begin to trust not only you but what you have to say!
Sharing = New Readers: If someone thinks your eBook is fantastic, chances are they may email the link for it or your blog to people they think may be interested in it. These people may not only download your free eBook, they may also become regular readers of your blog along with subscribing to either your blog’s feed or newsletter.
Free Way To Market Your Blog: Some eBooks find their way onto bit torrent sites or other free download sites. If you include a page in your eBook about your blog including the blog’s URL, the people who download and read it may just decide to check out your blog!
Increase Your Social Media Followers: Using the same example, if you include your social media information, this could lead to new people following you on Twitter, Facebook, or any other social media you belong to.
Creating an eBook from scratch can take some time but the benefits are well worth it! If you have been blogging for a while, chances are you could create an eBook by combining a series of posts you did on one subject or possibly expand a tutorial you have posted already. How fancy you want to make it is dependent on you. But what matters is the content. The content your eBook contains has to serve a need!
Are you offering an eBook on your blog or site? Why are you offering it? What has been your experience with offering eBooks? Let me and everyone else know in the Comments below. Thanks!
