Giving Out Free Reports and Build More Traffic

Everybody loves to get something for nothing, don't they? So offering a report or ebook for free on your web site is simply giving people what they want. Oh sure the technique is as old as the hills, give away an ebook or report in exchange for joining your mailing list. But do you know how to get your free report into the hands of people you might never otherwise be able to contact? Do you know how to make people really want to pass your report to their friends? This post will share a few tips and techniques for giving away free reports and ebooks to build an email list of loyal customers.

So you might already understand the basic concept but I'll cover it here briefly. You offer a free ebook on your web site, and all people have to do is add their email address to your list. You post a sign up form to your autoresponder (also called an opt-in form) and setup automatic delivery of the ebook or a download link when someone submits the information. But does it have to stop there? Should you be satisfied with just that one email address? Absolutely not, I say.

Another part of the old technique is you'll include affiliate links within your report. Sure, we all know that; you sign up to be an affiliate for products related to your report, put the link in your report and get paid a commission when people buy those products. This will get you a little further than just a plain old report, but wouldn't you like to kick that process into a higher gear?

What if you give away that same free report with those same affiliate links in it, but make those links customizable? You can use a special software known as "PDF Brander" which will allow someone to change the links you specify, exchanging their affiliate link with yours.

Now you've given that person a real reason to pass your report along, they can make money by doing so. Since that person might not have already been an affiliate of the products you refer to in the report, you could still collect a second-tier commission because they become an affiliate "under" you. Not only that but if you leave a couple of links back to your own web site within the report, you've just gotten your link infront of another potential site visitor.