Scott Alle And David Teten

Case about Scott Allen And David Teten

The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online.
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"Bottom line: any dollar value associated with “lost” sales, we felt was exceeded by the marketing value of making it free."

Their primary inspiration for it was The Cluetrain Manifesto, which was made available for free on their site, and then published as a print book, as well as some of Seth Godin’s books, which had been given away for free in electronic form. they didn’t have a large marketing budget, nor very much personal time to spend promoting it. they felt it was a low-cost, low-risk way to give it a little additional buzz. It was also a way to send out virtually unlimited review copies at no cost

They also did some cost analysis and figured that it costs almost as much in ink to print out the entire book as it does to just buy it at a discount. They did some research and found that the vast majority of people still prefer to have a print copy. So we figured that the vast majority of people who download it for free either
a) wouldn’t have bought the print book anyway, or b) would go ahead and pick up the paperback. And the people who don’t buy it will still talk about it, recommend it, perhaps review it, etc. – free marketing.

They also saw an increased demand for their servises they offer as consultants and speakers, yet this effect did not show until after about 2 years.

Giving it away is still no guarantee of a best-seller. They are sure that the book sold better as a result, but it wasn’t enough to create a tidal wave of demand, especially in a world where so much content is now given away free of charge. It’s one
strategy, but it can’t be your only, or even your primary, strategy.

The information on this page comes from their blog and an e-mail interview.

Why are we giving our book away

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