Years before I started to make money online, I learned something very important – from a lawyer, of all people 🙂
I had my own company (book keeping, argh), was just starting out, and I’ve heard about this Internet-thingy (it was in 1995). So I went to a free meeting to learn more about how to use the Internet for my business.
What I learned on that afternoon changed my life. It was simple, in fact, but with a great impact. I learned this one word:
GIVE
How can giving make you money? I’ll tell you a bit about my experiences.
My First “Giveaway”
The law firm that held the meeting back then offered a free answering service. People could ask juridical questions, and they would answer them for free. One of the lawyers could proudly tell us how this in fact had landed them one of the biggest clients in Denmark.
So I went home and made my first home page with Microsoft Publisher. It had all kinds of awful code inside, but I put up my book keeping free-questions form, and it got me started.
Later on, giving away free tips for the computer, the Internet and the home page gave me an income that still today pays my rent and then some.
A Free Report Makes You an Expert
Have you ever met an author? People tend to have a large respect for authors. They know something. If you can write a book, you can become an author too and gain status as an expert in your field, even by giving away ebooks for free.
But there are better ways to make money with free ebooks.
Put Your Affiliate Links Into Ebooks
When you are writing about your niche, there are probably things you use that has to be bought. Find out, if these vendors offer an affiliate program, and join. Write about these products, you use, and put in your affiliate link in the book.
Does it work? Yes, actually. People are reading the book, and they want to take a look at the product, you write about, so they click on your link. If they buy, you get paid.
Having Your Own Products?
If you already have info-products, you sell, you can write a free report, leading up to this product. You should offer an affiliate program yourself, and let your affiliates brand your free report with their links. I’ve recently joined this site that offers easy on the fly PDF branding. Haven’t used it yet, but I’ve checked it out, and the procedure looks very simple. Take a look at it.
Don’t Know How to Write an Ebook?
Oh, that’s the easy part – when you know how 🙂 Read my two blog posts about writing ebooks and reports here:
I fully agree. The giving away of e-books has also worked very well for me. The new year gift gave income, so your system works. But it’s true: the first time you hear you can earn money by giving something away it sounds like Chinese.
The use of a giving away to make money is a good idea, but the webmaster must have a certain charisma to get a hearing. You must call the attention of others and that’s not always easy. An electronic book on the subject is effective, provided it has authority.