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Related Sites:
EBookCompiler.com
eBook creation software (Free Download)
CoverFactory
Create eBook Covers (Free Download)
EBookPower.com
Add multimedia to your eBooks
EBookSubmit.com
eBook marketing & promotion made easy
EBookFriends.com
Friendly community for eBook authors, publishers, & marketers
EBookInterviews.com
Read about eBook authors' experiences
EBookCode.com
Free Help on eBook HTML coding & scripts
EBookJungle.com
Search engine for eBooks
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Affiliate Downloads
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Affiliate Program Reviews
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| How Increase Profits When Selling eBooks |
Increase Profits
Once you're selling eBooks from your web site, you will want to look
into ways to increase the profits on the eBook you sell.
Let's look at the alternative ways that may be available:
- Increase The Number Of Sales
The obvious approach is to simply try and sell more copies of your eBooks.
There are really two ways that you can try and increase the total volume
of sales you make:
- Reach More People:
Basically you try to get more people to your web site.
Underlying this effort, is the assumption that if your site convince
a certain percentage of people to buy, getting more people to your site
will get you more customers.
This is the most obvious approach to increasing your sales, and it can
work, provided your market is not already saturated. Check out
sites like
Traffic4me.com
for ideas to
help you get more people to your site.
- Sell More Effectively:
Rather than trying to get more people to your site, you try to sell to
a higher percentage of your existing visitors.
If you follow this approach you should be looking at things like the words
on your site, the clarity of your sales message, the credibility your site
provides, the attractiveness of your product (perhaps add some free bonuses?)
and so forth. To follow this approach re-examine the chapter
on Your Web Site, as well
as look at copy writing guides like
Make Your Words Sell†.
You can find a whole series of
copywriting resources
at
MarketingBlast.com.
A slight variation of this, that can be combined with improving your site,
is to follow-up more effectively. When a prospective customer asks a question, follow
up, as quickly as you can, with an answer. Make sure prospects receive
the information they requested as soon as possible - after a day or two,
check back to see if they understood the information that you sent them,
and that it did actually answer their question. This can be a lot of work
if done completely manually,
but fortunately you may be able to automate at least some of, either by using a
sophisticated e-mail program (usually fairly expensive),
and/or by using a smart autoresponder service
like Aweber†
(comparatively cheap).
The advantage of this approach is that you can see results almost immediately.
Make a change, try it for a set number of visitors, and measure the effects on
your sales.
Another thing that you may wish to consider, is cutting prices. Normally
cutting prices will help you sell your product to a larger proportion of
people, although the downside is that you could end up earning less money
if you cut your prices too much! Check out
Make Your Price Sell†
if you need help on different pricing strategies.
Try to sell more effectively is an under-used strategy, especially by
Internet startups - so don't dismiss it! Also, you shouldn't forget that
there's nothing to stop you combining this approach with trying to
reach more people.
- Increase The Profit Per Sale
You can try an earn more from each sale that you make. For example,
you might find that you sell just as many copies of your product (or
perhaps even more), if you raise prices.
Another way to increase profits is to use bundling. Suppose for example
you sell 4 different eBooks each at $10. Theoretically, if a customer
bought all 4 for $10 each, you'd earn $40, however most customers might
buy only 1 or 2 of your eBooks. If the eBooks work together as a package
you could bundle all 4 together, as a package, sold at say $25. This way,
you're giving your customers a great deal, and also making more money for
yourself!
One last way to increase profits is to "up-sell". Basically what
you try to do is when a customer has expressed interest in buying your basic
product, offer them a great deal on your more expensive product, or on
your bundle of products. Many customers may take you up on this deal, but
you should be careful not to over-complicate your ordering process, or else
you may end-up worse off.
Make Your Price Sell†
talks about different pricing strategies, and is worth a read if you are looking
into this option.
- Work The Back End
If a customer buys from you then he is convinced (or at least he was at
the time he bought) that your products have some value to him. He has also
placed some trust in you - and a powerful approach is to use this
relationship to sell additional products to the customer. This is known
as "working the back end", and is the single most effective
strategy that you can use to increase your profits.
Of course, it is absolutely critical that you retain the customers trust,
by providing good service and great products. Also you should not try to
sell Back End products to a customer who has an unresolved problem - solve
their problem first!
The ideal Back End product should be in someway related to, and complementary to,
the product that the customer has already purchased (as well as offering you
a decent profit - so it's usually more expensive than the "lead product").
Your relationship with
the customer is strongest when it relates to the field in which you have
already shown some expertise!
Of course you can create your own Back End products, but other options include:
- Consultancy or Services
If you've written a great eBook you've already shown your an expert in your
field. Some customers will want help or advice that goes above and beyond
the information covered in your eBook - and some of these customers will
be prepared to pay for this help. If you're interesed in selling consultancy
services, this could be a great opportunity.
- Third Party Products
If you don't have time to create additional products of your own, then
perhaps you can buy products from somebody else and resell them to your
customers.
Obviously, you will want to make sure that these products are legal,
good quality, and worth the money before offering them to your customers.
But, assuming that you're confident that they are, this could be a way
to increase your profits almost immediately.
- Our eBook directory at EBookJungle.com,
includes a list of sites which offer
"Resale Rights"
to eBooks and other info-products.
- Another idea might be to sell something related to your eBook.
For example: if you sell an eBook that teaches people how to draw and
paint, then maybe you could sell art materials. Or, for example, if you sell an
eBook about how to use their PC, maybe you could sell computer stuff... and so on.
If you don't know how to get hold of this type of stuff (whatever it is), perhaps
you could find a Drop Shipper.
A Drop Ship distributor is a wholesale company that will ship
a product directly to your customer for you.
There are many directories of drop shippers - you can start
looking for then here
- Affiliate Products
A lot of web sites have affiliate programs, which pay you a percentage
commission on their sales. If there's a product that you particularly like,
you could offer the product to your customers.
Once again, it is
important to double check that the product is one that you have faith in:
if it's not a product that you would buy yourself (and preferably have
already bought yourself), then don't offer it to your customers.
For a lot more affiliate programs, check out our
Affiliate Directory
where you'll find reviews of lots more affiliate programs. Take a special
look at
Pay Per Sale Affiliate Programs
as these are the ones you want.
- Cut Costs
The nice thing about selling eBooks online is that usually the costs associated
with selling the eBooks are very low. However, do not assume that there
are no ways to cut what costs you do have:
- There are variable costs which are directly dependent on the
volume of orders you process. An example might be the transaction fees
associated with processing each credit card payment.
Assuming you don't have a lot of fixed overheads (like office rental etc.),
when cutting costs,
variable costs may be the best place to start.
Obviously, you will want to make sure that any changes that you make,
will not negatively impact on your sales.
- There are also fixed costs which are the same regardless of the amount
that you sell. Things like domain registration and hosting, or monthly leasing
fees on your merchant account (or office rent if applicable) are part of your fixed costs.
Unless your fixed costs are enormous (or you're selling a very low volume),
then the fixed costs may not be a major issue.
Once again, be sure that any changes that you make,
will not negatively impact on your sales.
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