Yes, most ebooks are meant to be sold as products, but that's not the half of what you can do with them. They're just as useful as giveaways and credibility builders, even if you're an affiliate marketer or a freelancer with no interest in direct product sales. That means you can still put them to use.

So, what can you do with an ebook?

1.) You can sell an ebook for an individual's personal use, which is like selling any other digital product.

2.) You can also sell them in packages with Resale Rights and Master Resale Rights. The package would include your ebook and a sales letter, and your target market is other entrepreneurs. This means you've expanded the worth of your ebook to 'business asset' as well as a how-to manual on a given subject.

3.) You can sell an ebook with Private Label Rights. For all intents and purposes, this means you're selling someone a draft of your ebook that they can alter to their liking. It's a variation on the Resale Rights strategy I mentioned, and if you choose either of them, make sure your licensing do's and don'ts are clear to whoever buys them.

4.) You can give them away, and tell other people that they can give it away too. While this may not seem like something that'll make you money, the strategy here is to DRIVE TRAFFIC. This works to build credibility and point links at freelancer sites, merchants, squeeze pages, or anything else.

5.) You can sell short reports instead of ebooks. They're made the same way, but the short report is around 10-20 pages long, and sells for a small sum of money. This method cuts down on returns and puts your ebook in the impulse buying range.

6.) You can write ebooks for other people as a freelancer. Instead of a business, you're being paid a set sum to write for someone else. This is an independent contracting arrangement, and is a good option if you can write.

7.) You can use them as bonuses for another product. Even if you choose to sell video or audio products, that doesn't mean you can't get some use out of an ebook. You bundle one or more of them as an extra to your existing package, and they sweeten the deal with potential customers.

8.) You can use them as bonuses for a list opt-in. This is a classic tactic used in conjunction with a squeeze page.

9.) You can use them as spinoffs to a completely unrelated business. If you do something offline, you've accumulated skills and knowledge that other people will pay to get. Make an ebook out of it and sell it online, and you have an extra income stream.

Ebooks are versatile, cheap and easy to make once you know how, and can be put to work in a lot of different ways. So the next time you see ebooks online, remember that they're popular for a reason.