a single source, nothing corroborates it

Send the sample rather than serving a download

A downloaded file is usually forgotten and unread, while an emailed one lands somewhere the reader returns to and leaves you an address. Wording the exchange as a convenience keeps it from reading as a gate, and a pre-checked box offering a related course converts almost everyone who takes the sample.

The method

1. 01

   Deliver the free sample chapter by email rather than as a direct download, and word the exchange so it reads as a convenience instead of a gate

2. 02

   Offer to email the sample to any address the visitor chooses instead of only serving a direct download, because a downloaded PDF is usually forgotten and unread.

3. 03

   Sample-chapter email forms on book sales pages are one of the strongest list-growth assets you can add.

4. 04

   Put a checkbox on the download form offering a free 30-day email course on the same topic, and only add people to your list if they leave it checked.

5. 05

   Attach an opt-in for a multi-week free course to the sample-chapter form with the box already checked

What it returned

• 5%

  Roughly 5% of sales page visitors hand over an email address for a sample chapter

• 1,000

  Over 1,000 subscribers from those forms in the three or four months after adding them

• 94%

  Across three forms 94% of subscribers left the box checked; only 6% wanted the sample alone

• 95%

  95% of people who fill in the sample chapter form leave the 30-day self-publishing course checkbox checked

Sources

• How I use email for marketingNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · Multiple Incentives · 2013-06-28
• The complete guide to making a full-time salary from one bookNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · 4 ways to continue promoting your book · 2014-08-06
• Driving ongoing book sales with a sample chapterNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · Poor delivery · 2013-09-25