Ebooks
-- Self-Publishing Your Way to Internet Success Part
10 Developing Your Marketing Strategy
By
Shelley Lowery
Developing a marketing plan is an essential part of
your ebook's success. You must develop and implement a
strategic plan that includes both short-term and
long-term strategies in order to succeed.
Short-term marketing strategies are those that bring
you a temporary boost in traffic. Although these
techniques are very important to your over-all plan,
they are only a temporary traffic source and must not
be solely relied upon.
Short-term marketing strategies include:
Purchasing Advertising
Although there are many forms of advertising that may
be purchased on the Internet, the best form is ezine
advertising. Consider purchasing sponsor ads within a
publication that targets your specific audience.
For further information, read the article entitled,
"Internet Marketing Strategies -- Purchasing
Advertising." http://www.web-source.net/pur_advertising.htm
Forums (Discussion Boards)
Participating in forums that target your potential
customer is a great way to share your expertise and
make more sales. Although blatant advertising is
prohibited, most forums will allow you to include your
signature.
Search Engines
Listing your ebook's sales page with the top Search
Engines and Directories will provide you with some
additional traffic. However, ranking within the top
twenty or thirty search results is very difficult. You
may want to consider paying for a higher ranking.
There are many Search Engines that will enable you to
bid on keywords and pay a specified amount for each
visitor you receive.
For further information, read the article entitled,
"Internet Marketing Strategies -- Paying For
Traffic." http://www.web-source.net/pay_traffic.htm
Long term marketing strategies are those that bring
you a steady stream of targeted traffic over time.
These strategies will continue to produce results even
years down the road.
Long term marketing strategies include:
Opt-in List (Ezine)
An ezine, also known as an email magazine, online
publication or opt-in list is simply a newsletter
available via email and/or online.
Having your own publication will enable you to build a
list of targeted potential customers.
For further information, read the article entitled,
"Internet Marketing Strategies -- Building an
Opt-in List." http://www.web-source.net/optin.htm
Free Trial
A great way to increase your ebook sales is to create
a trial version of your ebook and freely distribute
it. This will provide your potential customers with a
sample of your ebook and encourage them to purchase
the full version.
Articles
Writing articles is one of the most effective
strategies you can use to increase your ebook sales.
Write articles that target your potential customer and
allow them to be freely published.
For further information, read the article entitled,
"Write For Publicity."
http://www.web-source.net/write.htm
By creating and implementing a balanced marketing
strategy, using both short-term and long-term
strategies, you will increase your sales considerably.
To further increase your sales, list your ebook at
various ebook sites.
Listing your ebook with a number of ebook sites will
increase your sales considerably. Each site will pay
you a specified percentage for each sale. This payment
is known as a royalty. The royalties paid will vary at
each site and will depend on your selling price and
format.
No matter which ebook sites you choose make sure that
you retain all of the rights to your ebook. This will
enable you to sell your ebook wherever you'd like and
not be limited to just one site.
Here are a few ebook sites to get you started:
InfoPost
http://www.infopost.com/
InfoPost will enable you to upload your ebook to their
site, set your selling price, and provide a
description of your ebook. They take care of the rest.
They'll host and deliver your ebook and process your
payments. They pay 80% royalties and you can withdraw
your earnings in cash, use it for merchandise at their
sites, or even donate it to your favorite charity. You
retain all rights to your ebook.
BookLocker.com
http://www.booklocker.com/
Booklocker provides you with a web page for you to
refer your customers. They handle all of the
transactions and delivery. They pay 70% royalties on
ebooks priced at $8.95 and higher and 50% royalties on
ebooks priced lower than $8.95. You retain all the
rights to your ebook. In addition, they offer of great
print on demand option. They'll print your ebooks one
at a time, accept payment and ship your book directly
to your customer (usually within 48 hours). They pay
35% royalties on POD orders.
1st Books Library
http://www.1stbooks.com/
1st Books Library is an online publishing company that
will turn your manuscript into an ebook formatted in
PDF and a number of other formats. You retain all
rights to your book. They provide your book with
worldwide distribution and make it available in more
than 25,000 bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and
Amazon.com. They pay 100% royalties for ebooks up to
the first $300 in sales and 40% thereafter. They pay
30% royalties for paperback and hardcover versions.
Take your time and plan your marketing strategy
carefully. Track your response rates for each strategy
and concentrate your efforts on the strategies that
work the best for you. If you've developed a quality
ebook and have followed the steps outlined within this
series, you'll be well on your way to self- publishing
your way to Internet success.
Copyright © 2001, all rights reserved
About the Author:
Shelley Lowery is the author of Ebook Starter. A
complete
ebook design kit that takes you step by step through
designing, creating and marketing your own ebook. Give
your ebook a professional look in just a few simple
steps
with over 100 ebook interface and cover templates.
http://www.web-source.net/ebookstarter.htm
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