Creating and selling ebook is one of the best ways to open a steady stream of passive online income. As a blogger, the best thing about ebook creation is you don’t need to possess extra skills to create the product. All you need to do is to do what you’re really good at- writing. In fact, instead of writing an ebook from scratch, you can even re-purpose your published blog post and convert it to an ebook.
In a blogger’s perspective, writing an ebook may be an easy task. The toughest part is acquiring customers to sell your ebook. Having experience in creating and selling ebooks, the one thing I can say is selling a product isn’t an easy task and it should never be overlooked.
In this post, I’ll explain a few ebook selling mistakes (the worst sales mistakes) almost every newbie blogger used to commit and how to avoid them in order to make the sales process streamlined and focused.
Mistake #1: Choosing the wrong platform
Although you’re not required to be a tech savvy person to start selling your ebook, you’ll need to be aware of different platforms and choose the right one for selling yours. There are many ways to sell an ebook from your blog. Some of them are:
- E-junkie: E-junkie is the easiest way to setup a digital product on your blog, so you can start selling without worrying the technicalities of selling. It requires a monthly fee of $5.
- Marketplace: Unlike E-junkie, you don’t need to pay a monthly fee if you’re selling on a marketplace such as Amazon or Lulu. The product visibility is higher as there are thousands of potential buyers on the marketplace, so you can sell it to people who are not actually your blog readers. You only need to pay when you make a sale.
- Using ecommerce plugins: If you prefer self-hosted selling, you may use premium ecommerce plugins like Easy Digital Downloads.
When I started selling an ebook for the first time, I chose e-junkie to sell my ebook, but it was the wrong decision. The ebook is about Google Summer of Code, a summer based Google internship program for students.
Because the ebook was a seasonal product, most customers used to buy it during the summer. And the sales won’t be rolling out throughout the year. As e-junkie requires a monthly platform fee, I later decide to release it on a marketplace instead of using e-junkie, so I can save paying the monthly fee.
Pro tip: Before picking a platform, take a look at different aspects of selling on that platform, and ask yourself if it is profitable to you. This will help you make a better choice.
Mistake #2: Not building an email list
Regardless of the niche you’re in, when it comes to selling an ebook, your email list is your biggest online asset. If you’re not still convinced to start an email list, chances are you’re leaving a lot of money on the table.
When a visitor lands on your blog, it’s likely that he won’t be ready to buy your ebook right away. By encouraging him to subscribe to your list, you’re building a strong bond with your potential customer. With proper nurturing, you can convert your leads into customers.
Recommended reading: Exactly how I increased my email open rates by 300%
Pro tip: Start building an email list from your blog. Use free plugins like Optin forms, so you can create beautiful sign up forms without having to tweak it.
In addition, create a landing page for growing your list. If you’re on WordPress, you can find lots of different landing page plugins. Enstine has recently purchased Thrive Landing Page plugin. Make sure you read his review before jumping in to pick a landing page plugin.
Mistake #3: Following your instinct without validating it
When it comes to making a decision, most of us follow our instinct before testing and validating it. However, while making a business decision if you don’t validate your instinct, chances are it may ruin your overall sales.
Let me talk about my case.
Back in 2012, when I launched my first ebook, I made a wrong assumption that if I rank my landing page on a particular keyword, I could end up making lots of sales. Back then, my marketing strategy was primarily focused on SEO and as a result, I even succeeded in ranking my landing page on top of SERPs.
However, a lot of sales I made were through forum marketing rather than from my SEO efforts. It is because the niche of the ebook is too narrow, so does the keyword search volume.
Before jumping in to focus on SEO, if I had checked the keyword search volume, I would have focused on other marketing strategies, in turn making more number of sales.
Pro tip: Never get into assumptions. Instead, validate it before jumping in to follow them.
Mistake #4: Not networking enough
Ryan Biddulph has recently launched an ebook on Amazon. I was amazed how he got many verified Amazon reviews so quickly.
If you know Ryan, you’ll probably know that he’s very good at networking and had connections with many bloggers including me and Enstine Muki, the owner of this blog.
Wondering how did he get such awesome respond for his ebook?
It’s simple. He outreached different bloggers and asked them to download the ebook for free, share it on their social profiles and write a product review on Amazon. Best of all, bloggers are humans. They like to help each other, so if you underestimated the potential of networking, you should look at his case and the result he gains.
Always remember that the general rule of thumb of networking is to give them first before asking them anything. Comment regularly on different blogs, write a review for others ebooks and create a strong relationship with them before asking a favor.
Over to you
A lot of bloggers are making a six-figure income by selling ebooks. If you’re looking for inspiration, you can find many self-publishing success stories. While selling, make sure to avoid the four mistakes I pointed out above.
Did you start selling ebooks on your blog? Would you like more points to add to the list? Share it in the comments section and let us know your thoughts.
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