I definitely agree that e-books can provide some great value both to the producers and the readers, but only if the producers are looking to produce them with quality in mind, as opposed to pure profit.

I think when you have a real relationship with someone, or some company that you know is the real deal, an e-book is a great piece. Granted I don’t know any statistics on the value they provide, but my friends PR firm did an Inbound Marketing Playbook.

I was working in a company that was clueless so I gave it to my boss and he was like “this is amazing! where did you get this?!” I got props from the boss, and my friends PR firm was positioned as a thought leader.

I loved this.

…my first foray into online marketing was as a university student looking to make a few extra bucks, and so I bought an e-book for $50 that was supposed to teach me how to make a living as an affiliate marketer.

Most of the stuff in that e-book was not actionable, it was poorly written, and I’m pretty sure some of it may have been borderline black hat, but nonetheless, that was my first exposure to pay-per-click advertising, and the beginning of a path that would eventually lead to a career in marketing.

So, in some ways, that $50 e-book was worth more to me than my law degree (which was considerably more expensive).