I am having a bit of trouble making my mind up for the complimentary distribution of my first e-book that will be used to promote my blog. Option 1 The first idea that came to mind [several weeks ago] was to offer the free e-book by those who were willing to an opt-in [supplying their email address into an electronic form] in order to download the item. However, I think a signficant number of individuals would not be willing to divulge their personal information because of SPAM. Collecting the email addresses would be great for future email marketing campaigns. Option 2 Simply offer a direct link to the e-book without providing personal information to access the download link. I won't have any email addresses to use for email marketing campaigns, but the e-book would still accomplish blog promotion by deeplinking, etc. What do you suggest?
I'd go for email collections any time. Just make sure you deliver quality content to your list, and everyone's happy
Well if you are a new blogger or the blog you are trying to promote is brand new then i won't recommend email idea. You can get email ids later First try to gain the trust of your visitors by providing them with quality free ebook which has link to your blog. If your ebook is damn good you might get large amount of links using link bait. All the Best!
If you are really good at a particular topic and you have the confidence that you can influence your readers through the writings of yours, you can go for the e-mail collection option. I do think that e-mails of customers nowadays are vital for online businesses. People can always unsubscribe (if you provide the way) if they don't like your content.
If i were you, i prefer the first option. i think collecting the e-mail adresses is always a good way to make business, and i think it wont be change for a long time. On the other hand this idea is depends on my personal future perspective, other people can think in a different way.