First off, I would like to apologize for not posting much of late. I’ve got a LOT of coals in the fire at the moment, but that’s no excuse not to share something worthwhile every now and again.

Here’s the thing: as many of you know, I’ve been teaching SEO classes here in Louisville while trying to attract some students in other locales, and the feedback has been great thus far. I am in the process of taking the book I wrote for the classes and turning it into an e-book to possibly sell online. I’m at a little crossroads as to how to best go about that in order to:

1) Gain the most exposure for the consulting firm
2) Educate people to the point they could do their own SEO campaign if they so desired or help them realize that SEO is not a one time event or an easy process (it’s very time consuming!)
3) Encourage people to spread the word about the book and the firm while also not shorting the consulting firm’s long term viability (i.e. don’t give away the milk in order to sell the cow)

In order to achieve those objectives, I’ve been wrestling with the following scenarios:
A) Give the book away and encourage people to pass it around because that would generate the most buzz and increase awareness of the firm rather quickly

B) Develop and/or obtain videos, podcasts, and other material to include with the book to sell online at various price points (each package would be a little different). Currently, I’m thinking price points of:

• $67 for just the book and one or two other related e-books
• $97 for the book and several other related e-books
• $197 for the book, videos, podcasts, and other related e-books

There might be a ten day introductory period at launch for each package where each is $20 off to gain some momentum, but then everything would settle into the price points outlined. If the response is great enough, those price points may increase, too.

It’s tough for me NOT to charge something due to the fact that I’m giving away “trade secrets” so to speak. Yes, there are a lot of SEO books sprinkled throughout the market, and some of them are free (even some good ones), but I believe this is a little different from the other stuff out there (it’s very hands on and specific about what to do to be successful).

One theory suggests that if you give something of great value away, you get it back two fold. Another theory suggests that it is unlikely the people who would be buying one of the e-book packages would subscribe to one of the SEO subscription packages offered by my firm as they are more interested in doing everything themselves. I see both sides of the coin, and the business side of me says “you HAVE to sell the thing for money somehow,” while there is another part of me that says “you’ll make more in the long run if you give it away, and the firm will be recognized as a viable resource for many years to come.”

My question to you is: what would you do and why?

Please let me know by commenting below or e-mailing info@smbconsultinginc.com, and no reply is a bad reply–I’ll share some of the best responses in a week or so and again as the time gets closer to sell or give the book away. I’m going to stew on this for the next month or so. I appreciate your input in advance.