Opposing Philosophies on Viral E-Book Marketing
July 22nd, 2008 by Bob Bly
I have the greatest respect and admiration for David Meerman Scott.
But the advice he gives on his www.webinknow.com blog on viral e-book marketing is diametrically opposed to mine.
David advises: “Make the content totally free with no registration requirement at all so people are more likely to download it and share with colleagues.”
As a result, his latest free viral e-book was downloaded 250,000 times.
I advise my readers to require the user to submit his e-mail address … and opt into my e-list … in exchange for getting my free viral e-books like my latest on selling to the “GOM” market — men age 50 and older.
You can see the landing page — and get the free report — at www.marketing2goms.com.
I understand David’s thinking: he wants his e-book, name, and ideas to spread as quickly and widely online as they can.
I don’t care about that: my purpose is to build a large opt-in e-list of qualified prospects for my paid information products.
Why? Because with an e-list, I can consistently and reliably monetize my online promotions — and measure the results to the penny in real time.
If you are an Internet marketing entrepreneur, your e-list is your most valuable asset — the key to building a successful online business.
Everything you do should be aimed at either making a sale or getting the visitor to opt into your e-list.
Obviously in David’s world — mainly corporate B2B marcom — the goals are quite different, though I am not fully convinced they should be.
What about you? Do you currently give away free content online as part of a viral marketing campaign (if not, you probably should)?
Do you let people download it without capturing their e-mail addresses, as David does — or use free content offers to build a large and profitable e-list, like I have?
Does David know something I don’t? Or vice versa?
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