You will be successful. I can see it already.

P.S. I’ve already passed your book on to 2 friends who are trying to start businesses.

That made me think you had one up

@Kelly – I added your squeeze pages post to my Starred Items post here: http://alexiapetrakos.com/links/starred-items-so-much-fun-stuff/

@Jane – welcome! your link didn’t show up… if you want you can @ me on Twitter if you want to share the link…

I might try it my way, short, to the point and it’s here if you want it and I hope you find it useful.

I got the chance to ask David Meerman Scott at SXSWi about this approach for us list builders and he recommended adding an invitation to something that requires signup within the thing you’re giving away – best of both worlds.

@Franis: I do have ways for people to pay me (and am working on a few things to make it easier ) but I will keep your suggestions in mind – And when you get your ebook done, let me know!

@kelly: I neglected to add your blog post on squeeze pages to this post (which I will remedy shortly) – that’s what pointed me to those other posts I listed.

What if you changed the concept of the squeeze page to fit your new attitude? Maybe the example of what to include in the “squeeze page” is the problem. Look at the examples of how Havi Brooks does it, by making people feel bigger rather than squeezed. Make it an appeal for supporting an artist, much as you’ve done here. Explain what you said here and fill it with ideas about how to give back – to you. Granted, freeing them up, completely – is where it’s at. Since you’re giving the book away now anyway, provide a “donation” button for those who want to give back to you or contribute to your lifestyle. Advertise that you’re going to pass on part of their donation to something like a micro loan fund to the disadvantaged in other countries. (I’ll put you in touch with someone who does that, if you’d like to know how.)
Maybe what you’re looking for is to craft a NEW series of things-to-do that gives back to you as well as them. Win-Win. A process that you’re not going to market to others, unless they’re smart enough to see what you’re doing that works for you.
Of course, the classic idea is to have something for sale, and also offer other things that are something content-rich for free. If someone wants to further your efforts so you can afford to work on and contribute more, they can buy if they want to do that.

In our culture, people often do not value what they do not pay for. (Strangely enough, people don’t use what they pay for also if it requires effort – no matter how much it costs!) In this case – you’re asking that people spread the word by forwarding your e-book, and that’s how they can give back to you. Cool.

Give ‘em another job too. A job that they can do to give back to you as they find value in what you say!

Anyway, now that I’ve come up with these bright ideas for you, I’m going to try taking my own advice. These questions you’re facing have stopped me from even FINISHING my e-book, probably! At the minimum, where are my own PayPal donation buttons for contributions to me???