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Cory Doctorow, a now acclaimed science fiction novelist and professional blogger for Boing Boing, has an interesting take on the freedom of eBook publishing. And bear witness, it’s not quite gospel, but sometimes it sure sounds like it. He says he’s been giving away eBooks for free, and boy has he made some money off it.

His is a different story – the fact his books are fiction novels and collections of short stories – but for what this post is about, it’s even bigger. Giving away eBooks for free is not news, but why so many do it is often misunderstood.

Doctorow gave hundreds of thousands of copies of his first science fiction novel away for free. His rational was that you would be making money by those who chose to still buy the book, lose no money if readers who would not have otherwise picked the book the up did, and lose only some if a surprisingly low number of readers chose to read the eBook instead of the printed book. All his books have surpassed expectations on sales, and he’s now an acclaimed science fiction novelist.

The point here is that giving away free material, even if not as long as an eBook, has immense value in terms of branding. Doctorow was on the front page, so to speak, of hundreds of influential blogs and news sites when he did this. No, it’s not for everyone, but in terms of branding and marketing, it’s golden.

What will happen?
You commission someone to write an eBook for you, post it, and expect millions to just reach out. Depending on your business and marketing plan, various things might happen. First, you won’t be giving away millions of copies if you’re not well placed online. However, what will happen is, if the eBook is good, if you push it with many forms of marketing including social media, you can give away more copies. Now, those buyers if they like it might give your free eBook to a few more people or spread the word. Even if only 1,000 people read your book, if the subject is right, it can lead to more business. Why? You’re not just another business. You are showing expertise. You are becoming a hot brand, maybe in small business terms, but still a more known commodity. If you get 100 new clients because of it, most businesses would call that a success.

Why more sales?
People like free stuff, and in terms of giving away eBooks, some companies can see more effects than others. What’s interesting is that any company can do this to create more sales. There really are few who can’t say something in a short eBook. It can increase brand awareness, start to create a steady stream of prospects and buyers, and all for the cost of one free eBook you give away. More to the point, just as Doctorow used eBooks to build name power, so too can traditional businesses to get better known.

Build Your Brand
There are thousands of new eBooks given away every day, but what some fail to see is the real value. If you’re a small business with a tight marketing budget, in a crowded field, how can you stand out? If you’re a larger company in a more specific niche, you may wonder what you can do with a limited marketing budget. Giving away some form of free material – whether it’s a shorter white paper or a longer eBook – creates leads. That’s the main reason: you find more suitable prospects.

This is not all new material, but consider that by giving away information you’re telling more people about your expertise in a certain subject, and you’re also building buzz for your brand. If you, as many do, simply capture 1,000 emails by giving away a free eBook if someone subscribes, you’re doing more than building buzz: you can connect with many new prospects.