The Alchemist's Dream Discovered on the Web

 by: Stephen Bucaro

Two hundred years ago, the alchemists dreamed about finding something that they could turn into gold. Today that something has been discovered on the Web. It's traffic. Every marketer knows that sales is a numbers game. The more eyes you put your offer in front of, the more sales you make. But how do you get traffic?

On the Web there is one thing that draws people like moths to a bug zapper. It's free information. The juciest free information is that which can be downloaded. When you download information, you don't have to worry about it moving or disappearing like what frequently happens on the Web. You don't have to be online to read the information. You take possession of it.

Writing your own ebook to offer as a free download will draw considerable traffic to your Web site. But I'm not talking about writing an ebook, and I'm not talking about "considerable" traffic. I'm talking about an explosion of traffic.

There are thousands of ebooks available on the web that give you free distribution rights. I propose that you create a free ebook directory.

How does a free ebook directory turn traffic into gold? Here are just a few ideas:

1. Sell affiliate products or services.

2. Sell general advertising.

3. Publish a newsletter.

4. Sell ebook promotion.

Here's how to create your ebook directory:

• Put an ebook submission form on your Web site. Ebook publishers will provide information about their ebook and the URL to download the ebook. You don't really need a CGI form. You can use an email submission form. (see "Submit Forms Without CGI" in the bucarotechelp.com Web Design section.) This means you can put your directory on a free host.

• Don't host any ebooks on your website. When a publisher submits an ebook URL, you should download a copy. Make sure the download URL works and that the ebook is not just advertising, a scam, or worse yet - pornography. You have to accept a certain amount of advertising in an ebook. After all, that's the purpose of offering a free ebook.

• You don't really need a database. Create a section of your Web site for each "category" of ebook. Cut and paste the information you are sent into a page in the appropriate category section. Put only five ebook descriptions per page. Link the pages of each category together.

• The reason you put only five ebook descriptions per page is because on each page you will also put affiliate advertising or general advertising. As visitors browse through the free ebook directory pages, you want to present a good amount of advertising to them.

• Use the front page of your Web site to feature ebooks from publishers who are willing to pay $10 per month for that extra service. If many publishers inquire about featuring their ebook, you can devise other special feature methods, such as search engine positioning.

Free ebook publishers are always looking for directories to submit their ebooks to. The more ebooks you have listed, the more traffic you will receive. It's a very symbiontic relationship. This is a Web business you can start with very little risk. You can start with a free Web host, get free hit counters, and a free search engine. Yet, the potential income from a free ebook directory could be considerable.

Only a few good ebook directories exist on the Web. Below are examples of good ebook directories:

• http://www.ebookdirectory.com

• http://www.ebookpalace.com

• http://free-ebooks.net

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