I personally have bought many ebooks and do not regret doing so. True you can find a lot of the information for free on forums like this but if you do not know what you're looking for then it doesn't do much good. I like buying an ebook, printing it and then going back to it whenever I need to. I don't just buy an ebook without doing my research so do not feel like I have been scammed by anyone that I have bought. I have made good money with the ebooks I have bought and I still have a few that I need to get started on - creating my multiple income streams and I feel that I would not have gotten quite as far by just looking on forums.
ebook author throw himself to the wolves I think most SEO software is overpriced (largely because people like Shawn create great stuff free) but I have paid over $10,000 to have some custom scripts made. Yet people recommend some "overpriced software" on some forums (via affiliate links) as though the product at the other end of their affiliate link is all you need to succeed. Is all SEO software overpriced? Isn't software just like a book a type of information packaged in a certain way? Did anyone here hand code their operating system? I am not sure that it really matters to look at any type of product or service on average and lable things as how they are on average. It really matters to find things that help you achieve your goals. If you find a good book (like A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History) sometimes you are not paying for what is in the book, but also what biases or other information are not included in the book (as any author, business model, or information format carries biases). I have sold thousands of ebook, but I also have other sites that make far more money for the effort required. I still read lots of books. I think it is important to mix the TYPES and FORMATS of information you consume. Conversations at conferences, off the record instant messages, radio shows, books, forums, blogs, etc etc etc I have probably made well over 5,000 forum posts at various forums, but from time to time I may be on forums more or less than at other times. I don't think anyone is a bad person because they don't comment much. I think stuff just goes in waves and you have to do what you feel like doing at that point in time. I have seen brilliant tips given on forums, but I have also seen some great ideas passed off as being inaccurate or untrue when they were spot on (as any author, business model, or information format carries biases).
I was selling some adsense e book for $15 a while ago sold a few but after a while it died out so I stopped selling..It contained pretty good content... + i thre in a free dvd with templates and other stuff I dont know who would pay 97 but lols
I've been aware of these AdSense ebooks for years and never bought them. I thought anyone who would pay out $97 for one of these had to be a sucker who lacked the research skills to find the info on their own. But recently I committed myself to generating more revenue out of my existing content, and took the plunge. I figured that with all the hours I invest in blogging, if I could increase CTR just a little bit each day, it would pay off. Well, it did. I bought two products - Michael Cheney's AdSense Videos and the AdSense Gold (AdTracker) software, and they helped substantially improve the AdSense performance on my sites. It wasn't just the "pictures" trick, either - that actually hasn't made an appreciable difference on the sites where I've implemented it. I've also put a lot more time in learning Wordtracker, which is a worthwhile investment. I'm not sure that the "secrets" helped so much as the commitment to a disciplined, holistic approach to improving site performance. Spending $97 was a reflection of my commitment to taking extra steps to maximize my income. Was it the AdSense tips, the lurking on Digital Point, the work on SEO, or refinements in design? I don't know, but I believe the e-products helped. Having said that, I found that the returns diminish if you buy additional products. Joel Comm's ebook didn't seem to have much that hadn't been covered by Cheney. Not sure I got $97 of value out of that. Also, once these folks get you in their autoresponders, they'll pound you with offers for new products. Most of these ebook sellers make their money through their expertise in list-based marketing, rather than their specific ebook. It's the platform as much as the product that helps them make $19,000 a second (or whatever the pitch may be).
No book is 97$ worth It is better to invest that in domains, hosrting or whatever you prefer. p.l.u.r.
I do lurk, mainly to check a few threads. Occassionally I will find an interesting AdSense implementation that I will bookmark for possible inclusion in a presentation. But I've done 99% of my research from my own testing and experiences. As for ebooks, I'll leave that to the free market to decide. I regularly invest in marketing materials because it costs less to get all the info at once than to spend my time doing the research and coming up with the same answers. It's simply smart economics as far as I am concerned. Joel
Information is power. Packaged information can be sold at a profit due to human natures inherent laziness.
If the information on sites is organized and complete, I go for doing it myself. If I've spent the day researching and end up with nothing great, then I'll buy the ebook and save further frustration.
Ahhh another sales mantra I missed ...... convenience sells!!!!! so packaged information sells not only to lazy people... but tired & frustrated people as well!!!!
Yes, the marketplace decides. Obviously on many forums, it is hard to sell ebooks. Like here. But like Joel, I buy ebooks for my own information. I learn more quickly from a good ebook than spending hours on this or any other forum. But for specific questions, a forum is good in that one usually gets a decent answer right away.
from my experience, some ebooks are a bit vague...they beat around the bush too much, i prefer learning through reading forums like this
I used to get all these ebooks and read the content. Most of them are dealing with how to place the adsense ad, how to choose the color etc, which we can get in google adsense optimaztion itself. As whitespider said none of the books says how to get traffic and make money. Only these peoples concentrate on the adsense placements only. If you notice they normally refer to other affiliate site or software for reference .
I think some ebooks are okay and on the other hand some are just really bad. It is a business. You get what you pay for. IMO, i think $97 is not enough for a good adsense ebook. You want to make hundreds of thousands right? So why pay only $97 .... No ebook writer will tell you all there top secrets for that price. I dont write ebooks and i dont know any of this ebook sellers. I am just another webmaster. ....... Experience is the best ebook, I think.
When you purchase a book, e or printed, you are buying three things: 1. The information contained within 2. The time spent to develop or acquire then organize the information 3. The fresh ideas and insights that will be sparked within you while reading What is an hour of your time worth? Would you rather spend that time digging for a few nuggets or would you rather absorb mass quantities from somebody who has already organized the knowledge you seek? A good nonfiction book is a lot like hiring a consultant. Yes, you could probably research and figure it out for yourself, but it would take you much much longer and you would not benefit from the consultant's insight or experience.
Here is a question for those of you who raise your voices against books and ebooks: What is the ratio of good, solid and revealing information compared to the social noise and, yes, utter crap scattered throughout this and other forums? Social Noise & Utter Crap < 1 2 3 4 5 > Good, Solid & Revealing Information On a level of 1 through 5 where does the typical SEO/SEM/I-Marketing forum rank? Please do not get me wrong. I am not attacking Digital Point or any other forum. (Though I will admit that I am prejudiced in favor of certain domains) SEO Forums are valuable resources for many reasons.