One of the simplest and most lucrative ways to make money on the internet is by selling E-Books. Other than the hard cover version, the e-book comes in second when it comes to sales ratings. You can find and download just about anything that has been printed somewhere online.

While you can make money with e-book sales, would you believe that free downloads can make your small business even more money? Providing your e-book for free will generate more business for you in the long run.

First of all an e-book provides you with the full-version, while a free e-book is usually a revised or shortened content of the original version. While you may think the word free will entice customers to download your e-book, this is not always the case. Just offering your e-book for free is not enough, you need to add value to your free e-book by including content that has something worthwhile to offer your customers; they need a reason to want to download your eBook. This is also considered a teaser; it leaves your customers wanting more.

You might think “wouldn’t it just be easier to sell my e-book”? Unless your e-book is on the best seller list you might have a hard time getting your customers to buy it and people love the opportunity to get something worthwhile for free. Your main goal is to get your customers to download your free-eBook in order to generate sales and promote your small business. By offering an abridged version of your e-book for free, you can entice your customers, encouraging them to buy the full e-book version or a product that you are selling.

People will be more likely to download your e-book when they see it’s for free. Not only will the free download generate more business for you, it is a great way to build your customer list. When providing the information for your free download, require that your customers sign up to your opt-in list before they can complete the download. This serves two purposes; it helps build your list - either by them signing up through your newsletters or going to your website to download your book, and also helps to increase traffic to your website.

You can offer your e-book as a free download on other websites, too. This helps by bringing traffic to your website and generates interest in your service or products. If you decide to do this, you need to set up an affiliate account that allows both you and your customers to get paid. Once you have an account you can add their affiliate link to your e-book that is on their site, when someone clicks on their link to make a purchase, both of you will receive credit for the purchase.

You can also offer your eBook as brand-able: meaning an e-book that contains links that are specially formatted to be changed with a simple editing program without allowing editing access to other parts of the e-book. This allows your affiliates to offer your e-book containing their links. This generates business for both you and for them.

Free downloads are a great way to market your website, e-book, product and services, build your list, and generate traffic. More traffic means more potential customers - more customers, means more business, and more business means more money. This is why free downloads can make your small business more money than e-book sales.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Entrepreneur and outdoor photography adventurer Caroline Melberg is President and CEO of Small Business Mavericks, a division of Melberg Marketing. She has over 20 years of experience creating marketing communications materials and writing copy for some of the largest and most successful companies in the world. Her small business columns are syndicated online, and she publishes the popular e-Zine “Maverick Internet Marketing Secrets.” Learn insider Maverick Marketing secrets you can use immediately to find new customers and increase your sales. Get your FREE subscription at www.SmallBusinessMavericks.com today!

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