Are you aware of “viral eBooks”?
I’ll agree that the idea isn’t really novel, but it functions like a ton of bricks.
In reality, it has directly brought me hundreds of thousands of visitors to one of my websites in the last three years.
AND: completely free.
Viral eBooks are a “free traffic tactic,” meaning you don’t have to pay for advertising in order to get traffic.
However, since you’re not paying for this publicity, you should instead provide material that readers want to share.
It takes work, but if you put in the necessary effort, the rewards can be enormous.
Let’s examine it:
You can make viral eBooks in the following two formats:
The executable (EXE) format indicates that it is only compatible with PCs.
This kind of eBook resembles a website that has been assembled.
All it takes to view these kinds of eBooks is to download and double-click them; they look amazing.
However, as was already said, it is limited to PCs, and while the software needed to produce these kinds of eBooks is often quite inexpensive, it isn’t always free.
(As of this writing, the program I use is from eBookCompiler.com; it retails for about $30.)
As an alternative, you can produce and share eBooks that go viral in the wildly popular PDF format.
One benefit of PDFs is that they may be successfully read by everyone, regardless of whether they are using a PC, a Mac, or “other” to view your eBook.
The individual who downloaded the eBook must have the free Adobe Reader installed on their computer in order to read PDF files.
The majority of individuals do, and in the event that they don’t, downloading it quickly from Adobe.com solves the problem.
While PDFs are less versatile than EXE-style eBooks, they can be viewed by a wider audience.
For instance, you can incorporate music and video into eBooks using EXEs.
Using PDF, this is not possible.
Instead, you would need to give the reader a link to the online location where they can watch or download the audio or video in PDF format.
Taking this into consideration, you should select the eBook format based on your personal priorities.
In my opinion, creating your eBook in two different formats will only make the distribution process more difficult.
Adhere to either option.
There is a plethora of software available for making PDFs that go viral.
While some of this software is incredibly pricey, others are free.
Just browse Download.com or Tucows.com to see a wide range of possibilities.
I personally use software that I expressly built for producing viral PDFs.
Another benefit of my program is that it makes it simple to create completely brandable PDFs.
This implies that users can add their own affiliate links or website information to personalize your PDF.
This feature gives the reader a strong incentive to disseminate the PDF because they may now directly profit from its dissemination, which increases the likelihood that the PDF will spread widely for you.
This PDF branding software is available for free at BrandPDF.com.
These are the two eBook formats that you can choose from. How do you actually make things go viral now?
First things first: identify the type of website visitors you hope to attract, then write an eBook on a topic that appeals to them.
Your eBook must be genuinely helpful, engaging, and reliable. Don’t produce a subpar eBook since no one will read it and, consequently, no one will visit your website.
If you’d like, you may also add multimedia connections to relevant audio and video within your eBook to further enhance the appeal and distinctiveness of your offering.
Naturally, these download links direct users back to your website, increasing traffic to it.
You can consider hiring someone to ghostwrite an eBook if you’re not knowledgeable about the subject matter, which would enable you to connect with your target audience.
Many ghostwriters are willing to submit a bid for a project you post for free on eLance.com.
Professional writers known as “ghostwriters” will craft original content on any topic you like and grant you full ownership of the work, allowing you to use it anyway you see fit.
(A lot of ghostwriters charge relatively little for their services.)
As an alternative, conducting a thorough interview with a subject-matter expert could be a wise move.
Naturally, the individual you interview benefits from free publicity as well, so they might be receptive to your time.
You can conduct this kind of interview over the phone or via email.
A phone interview’s audio would be edited (to fix any errors), and then transcription would follow.
The eBook can then provide access to both the audio and transcript.
Longer interviews (more than a few basic questions), in my experience, don’t work well over email because it can require a lot of typing on the part of the interviewee, and I find that the momentum of the process quickly wanes with each question asked, which can cause major delays.
Because of this, and in an effort to make the interview process quick and simple for the subject, I have historically opted for phone interviews, which yield between 7,000 and 10,000 words of content in an hour.
Once the recording is complete and the transcript is organized, send the finished product to the interviewee for approval before publishing.
I’ll say it again: your eBook needs to be reputable and of the highest caliber.
It will spread farther, the higher the quality.
Perhaps aim for an eBook that, if it were being sold, could comfortably fetch $20 rather than something that is free to give away.
This should provide a general idea of the kind of value you wish to provide in your eBook.
More people will pay attention to something if you provide greater value in an area of interest for your target market.
That is all there is to it.
And lastly, how can the eBook become as viral as possible?
A crucial topic that has been brought up several times is producing an extremely high-quality eBook.
Another crucial element that was mentioned is that offering individuals substantial incentives to share the eBook is a far better idea than just hoping they will.
Give them incentives for spreading it to do this.
Specifically, by making it branded so that the person distributing it can include their “home page” address or affiliate connections.
As an illustration:
“This eBook is brought to you by JoeBloggs.com.”
If the eBook is free to sell, then you automatically have the right to sell it if you own a copy of it.
Have a ready-made, business-like website and sales page that are linked to from within the eBook, making it simple for people to start selling it.
These are essentially resale rights that transfer automatically from one eBook owner to the next.
Additionally, the eBook should sell well for everyone who resells it if the offer, sales copy, website, and product are all of the highest caliber.
This means it will spread swiftly and widely for you.
If you provide a means of profit to all those who download the eBook, it will continue to spread for many years to come.
My experience has been like this.
Do a Google search using my name to witness this directly.
Additionally, be mindful of the permissions you grant the eBook; if you grant it too many, it will proliferate rapidly.
To avoid confusion, clearly state the rights on the first page or two of the eBook.
Don’t only state “Master Rights” either.
Clearly explain the rights to everyone.
Furthermore, let me add that the more eBooks you produce, the bigger “viral net” you’ll have out there, bringing you traffic on a daily basis.
As I write this, I’ve been making viral eBooks for almost three years, and there are currently over thirty of my books available on hundreds and thousands of websites.
Additionally, there are tens of thousands, or possibly hundreds of thousands, of personal computers in use worldwide.
Additionally, every day, all of these eBooks operate automatically to increase visitors to my website.
Establishing a personal collection of viral eBooks can also help.